Jackson POV

I ran after Miya as she pushed through the crowd.

“Miya! Wait for me!” I yelled after her.

As I reached the exit of the basketball courts, I heard a loud screech. I frantically looked around for Miya.

“Miya! Miya!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

From a distance, I saw a car accelerate off into the darkness. Without thinking, I immediately ran in the direction. The street lights shone onto a figure like a halo, that laid on the ground. As I got closer, I saw that that person was Miya. I rushed to her side.

“Miya! Can you hear me? Miya!” I said urgently as I shook her hand gently.

She groaned and slightly opened her eyes. I let out a sigh of relief as she was still conscious.

“Miya! Miya! Are you okay?” I asked.

Before she could respond, her eyes drifted away from me and closed. Her head tilted to the side against your hand, resting on it for support.

Your eyes widened while a thousand thoughts rushed through your head.

Is she going to be okay? What’s happened to her? What do I do now? I need to call an ambulance.

“Call an ambulance” I mumbled to myself.

I frantically took my phone out my pocket and fumbled it in my hands.

“000” I whispered as I entered the number.

“He..hello? Someone has been hit by a car please.. please get someone here!” I shouted through the phone.

“Can you please explain the situation? We are sending someone right away.”

“I.. I don’t know. I just saw her lying on the ground. She was conscious for a bit but now she’s not responding,” I panicked.

“Okay, just stay with me on the phone until the ambulances arrive. I want you to check her breathing first. Is she breathing okay?”

I leaned in to Miya’s nose and mouth.

“I.. I think she’s breathing okay. It’s sort of faint but she’s breathing slowly.”

“Do you have a watch on you?”

“Yes.”

“Put your index and middle finger on the pulse on her wrist. Using your watch, for one minute, count how many times her pulse beats.”

I pressed gently on Miya’s wrist, and counted her pulse.

“65”

“Okay.”

“Will she be okay?” I asked.

“I cannot make any conclusions. Do you see any other wounds?”

“Umm..” just as I said that, blood started to seep from the back of her head.

I panicked as tears started to gather at the brim of my eyes.

“Help.. Help! She’s.. she’s bleeding. Her head,” I stuttered.

“Okay, please relax. Where is she bleeding? How fast is the blood?”

“I think from the back of her head. It’s slow..”

“Okay. The ambulance will be here in 1 minute.”

As soon as the ambulance arrived, the paramedics attended to Miya urgently. After checking her vitals, they hauled her onto the stretcher then onto the back of the ambulance. I sat down next to Miya, holding her hand tightly.

“You’re going to be okay,” I whispered with my head resting gently on both of our hands.

Tears started streaming down my face. My heart tightened with regrets. It was my fault. If I didn’t meet with her tonight, this wouldn’t have happened. It was all my fault. I should’ve forgotten about her the day Hana told me she was with Wes. Why did I confess to her again.

WHY?!

Because of my selfishness, Miya got into this terrible accident. It was me that made her like this.

I’m sorry… I’ll stay away from you…

Not long later, the ambulance arrived at the nearest hospital. I ran alongside the stretcher to the emergency room where I was blocked off by some nurses closing the curtains. I stood outside waiting impatiently. I could only hear murmurs of voices inside.

There was a short silence when the doctor walks out. I rushed towards him grabbing onto his arm.

“Is she okay?” I asked desperately with trickles of tears dropping down my face, “IS SHE OKAY?”

“Because the patient is unconscious right now and a lot of blood has been loss due to the wound on the back of her head, we need to run some tests first. We will most likely need to perform a surgery. Are you her guardian?”

“N..no I’m not” I stuttered, still trying to digest the information.

“When you get in contact with her guardian, please go to the register to register the patient and sign the consent for surgery.”

I nodded in silence.

I took out my phone and called Hana.

“Hello?”

“Hana! Miya’s in hospital. Do you have her parents phone number?”

“Miya’s in.. hospital? HOW? Is she okay? I have her mum’s number. I’ll text it to you.”

After we hung up, my phone buzzed with a text message from Hana. For some strange reason, my heart skipped a beat but I didn’t take much notice of it. I put in the numbers to Miya’s mum and took a deep breath.

“Hello?”

“Hi. My name is Jackson. I am a friend of Miya’s at uni. She is in hospital right now because of a car accident. We need you to come over to sign a consent form because she may need surgery,” I said trying to sound as calm and mature as possible.”

“What? Mi..Miya? My Miya?”

“Yes Ms. Chan. If you don’t believe me, you can contact Hana because she is the one who gave me your number.”

“Okay. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

I sighed of relief because Miya’s mum believed me. I wouldn’t have known what to do if she didn’t believe me. How was I supposed to convince her of the truth?

***

Two people rushed into the hospital, looking very lost. They immediately went straight to the registration table.

“We’re here for Miya. She’s our daughter.”

I looked up when I heard the name Miya. They must be Miya’s parents. I cautiously walked up and greeted them.

“Hi Mr and Mrs Chan. I’m Jackson, the one that called you.”

Mrs Chan suddenly broke down in tears. The realisation that her daughter was in hospital finally set in. Mr Chan, placed his hand over her shoulder, reassuring her that everything will be okay.

“Miya’s strong. She’ll be okay.”

The doctor that attended to Miya, came around to notify us of Miya’s test results.

“Hi, you are Miya’s guardian?”

“Yes, we are her parents,” answered Mr Chan.

“Miya is in need of urgent surgery because there is a wound on the back of her head. We will need to remove any debris and internal bleeding. Her femur, the bone in the thigh, is broken. We will need to insert metal plate to support the recovery of that bone. In addition, Miya has a broken arm but that will heal with time along with a cast. Because Miya is unconscious right now, removing the internal bleeding in her brain is the first priority.”

“Will she be in danger?” Mrs Chan asked through her soft weeping.

“Her vitals are quite stable so she is not in immediate danger. Our current diagnosis for her unconsciousness is the internal bleeding. You have to understand that with every surgery there will be chances that the patient will be in danger during the time of surgery if there are any unexpected circumstances. By signing the consent form, you have understood the risk factors of the surgery.”

Miya’s parents nodded in silence and signed the consent form. They couldn’t do anything but sign the consent form in order to save their daughter’s life.

“I will take Miya to the surgical theatre. You can stay here to fill in the registration forms,” I said to Mr Chan.

“Thank you, Jackson,” Miya’s father replied with a reassuring nod.

I walked along Miya who was laying on the bed to the door of the surgical theatre. I brushed away a strand of hair that fell on her pale face.

You’re going to be okay Miya. Stay strong.