I opened my eyes, but could barely see anything. Everything in front of me was all one big blur; a mixture of tears and... blood. Was it my blood? I couldn't tell. There were flashing red and blue lights all around me, and people too. There were voices nearby. I could barely make out what they were saying. It was as if I was dreaming.
I moved to get up, but I found that I couldn't. Instead, when I tried to lift myself up from the ground with my hands I felt an extreme jolt of pain run up my arm and I collapsed. I tried to cry out, but found that that was impossible too. There was something I was choking on practically that was preventing me from making any noise. I think it was an air tube. I could barely make anything out.
I was paralized, unable to speak, and full of pain. I felt hurt tears come to my eyes. I was in one big nightmare. Suddenly, I spotted two people above me. I think they were two guys. My blurred vision blocked them out. Suddenly one spoke.
"She... she's alive. Help her... please," I couldn't be sure, but I think it sounded like Zachary Hanson. He was fine as far as I could tell. I wanted to reach out to him and ask him what was going on here. I needed someone's shoulder to cry on. But all I could do was lie there... wherever there was.
Then the second person spoke. "Jennifer? Can you hear me? Please try and make a sign. It's all right. You're gonna be fine. Everything will be okay." I think the deep voice I heard was Isaac.
Suddenly, I felt like I was floating. I was jerked up into the air with one fast movement. Then I began to fly around close to the ground. No... I wasn't flying. I was being carried. Isaac and Zac, or actually the distorted figures that had been them had disappeared and in there place now were many other people. They were surrounding me and talking to themselves as if I was the topic of their conversation. I couldn't make anything out anymore.
Red and blue lights got closer until the outside sky was gone. Instead, I was staring up at a low, white ceiling. The people above and around me were running around frantically as if they were an army of ants following orders. I uttered a few sounds, dryly and struggled to focus. I was shaking now. I was terrified. I had no idea what was going on.
A soft rumble from below, interupted my thoughts and I felt as if the whole floor underneath me was moving. Maybe it was. The noises and sights around became dimmer and dimmer... until finally, I collapsed out of conciousness and into total darkness.
* * *
When I eventually opened my eyes again, I was able to see that I was in a white room. My vision came back slowly and the figure in front of me appeared better. There was a short, plump lady in front of me scurrying around putting objects here and there. I looked around. There was a television hanging from the ceiling and a few tables and chairs, Nothing special. I just couldn't figure out where I was, or why I was here.
As I surveyed the room closer, I noticed a bed next to me with no one inside it. There was a door on my other side. It was closed and there was a small window in the top corner of it. Underneath me, was a soft, warm bed with white covering. I listened for any sounds, but all I could hear was the soft whistling of the old lady. Where was I?
All I knew then was that I was tired and wanted more sleep, so I yawned, stretched, then rolled over a bit to get comfortable. Apparently, that got the lady's attention. She turned from the provisions she held in her hands and stared at me for a second. I saw a huge smile appear on her face.
"Oh, you're awake. I'll go get them. Just hold on a second. I'll be back in a jiffy," she sang and shuffled out of the room. The door closed behind her and I was alone.
I relaxed my eyes for a few minutes, not even wanting to think about what was going on. I just needed sleep. I wanted to stay in bed and never come out again. Life was giving me a break.
It definetely wasn't a long break. I barely slept for five minutes when I heard the doorknob jiggle and creek open. I didn't look to see who was there. I was to tired to do anything.
"Jennifer?" I heard someone say. I opened my eyes wide and looked around.
My family was standing in front of me. My mom, my dad, my sister, and my brother were all crowded into the little room near my bed. There were tear stains on my parent's cheeks. I was confused and relieved to see them.
"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here? Where am I? What happened?" Questions poured out of my mouth. My throat hurt and I discovered it wasn't to wise to talk yet.
My parents looked at me happily. My mother walked over to me and sat down on the bed next to me. "It's okay, Jennifer. You're all right now. That's all that matters," she said softly.
"But... what happened?" I said and struggled to sit up. My mother pushed me back down.
"Don't try getting up just yet. You're still weak. Now, you're in the hospital, honey. You were in an accident, remember?"
I stared in shock and suddenly everything came back to me. Zac dared us to beat the train... Ike decided to try the dare... we neared the crossing... and stopped... the train kept coming... there was an accident. The word repeated itself in my mind. Accident.
"The doctor says you're going to be okay. After rushing you to the emergency room they discovered that you only fractured your arm and collected a few bruises."
Another wave of shock came at me. My arm was broken! I looked down at my two arms as if checking just to make sure they were still there. Sure enough, there was a huge, heavy cast plastered onto my left arm. I don't know how I missed it before.
I stared out the room's window into the dark night. 'Wait! Dark night? It was daytime only a few minutes before,' I thought to myself. "What time is it?" I asked my family.
"It's five in the morning," my dad replyed.
"But, it was only five in the evening before!"
"As soon as we heard that you'd been in an accident with a train, we came rushing to the hospital. You'd already left the emergency room and you were asleep in here. We decided not to wake you so we stayed in the waiting room with the Hansons until you had recovered," he explained.
I couldn't force myself to believe that they had waited all this time. Then it hit me! What were the Hansons doing here?
"Um, mom? Um, what happened to Isaac, Taylor, and Zac?" I asked them nervously.
"Zac is perfectly fine and Ike got away with a sprained wrist. That's all. They're out in the waiting room now so you don't have to worry about them."
I frowned. What about Taylor? I had a sneaky suspicion that I wouldn't want to find out.
"Where's Tay? Is he alright?"
My parents gave each other a nervous glance and my two other siblings looked away. That made me worry. "He's alright, isn't he?" I asked in a voice full of concern.
"Jennifer," my mom started, "Taylor is in intensive care... "