Page 157 of Silent Damage

Mom and I run past hospital staff, weaving around carts and machines. “It’s going to be okay, Gabe.”

We finally get to the room where Jason is, but an ICU nurse stops us before we can fully enter.

“Whoa,” she says, with her hands held up. “We need to slow down. Are you family?”

Whatever need I felt before to stay silent is gone. Jason is hurt, and I need to know what’s happening.

“Yes, I’m his boyfriend; please let me see him.”

The way her face changes makes me want to throw up. The pity in her eyes…

“Before you go in, I want to tell you what to expect.”

Oh my God.

My arms shake as she leads Mom and me into the hallway. We stand in a huddle, and the nurse takes a deep breath. “He’s had a very severe accident, but he’s stable at this time.”

Mom rubs my back and whispers, “He’s stable, hon—”

“What happened?”

“He was in a motor vehicle accident,” she explains. “He suffered a traumatic brain injury. Right now, we don't know how severe it is or what his recovery will look like.”

My vision blurs, and the lights become too bright in the hallway. “Brain damage?” I ask.

The nurse takes another breath. “We don’t know how severe it is, but he did suffer a brain injury.”

Mom pulls me closer. “We’re going to help him, Gabe. It’s going to be alright.”

I can barely get the words out. “Can I see him?”

The nurse nods, and we follow her into the room. Tobias and his henchmen speak with a doctor, and they all look at me when I enter.

Then I see Jason—

My legs nearly give out.

“N-no…”

It doesn’t even look like him. His entire face is swollen, and a breathing tube disappears into his mouth. A hard, plastic collar keeps his neck still, and there’s a bandage around his skull. His arms and hands are raw, covered in scrapes so bad it doesn’t even look like he has skin anymore.

The whoosh of the ventilator mixes with the clicks of IV pumps and the beeping heart monitor to make a soundtrack for this nightmare I’m living in.

I don’t believe it’s real.

Because it can’t be; this can’t be real.

Mom’s “Jesus Christ” pulls me back to Earth, and this time, my legs do buckle, and I fall to the floor. Mom’s there in a flash to help me up, and the nurse runs to get a chair.

“You need to sit,” the nurse instructs. She attempts to help me sit, but I shrug her off and approach Jason.

“What happened?” I hear myself ask in a strangled scream. I fall to my knees next to the bed and run my fingers along Jason’s scraped hands. “What happened?” I whisper.

“Doctor, give us a moment,” Tobias says.

The medical staff leaves, and I’m alone with Tobias, Mom, and a bunch of HellCats.

“The van was attacked,” Tobias informs me.