“George!” I shout. He appears next to me. “I need you to help me get her out.”
“Theo, you don’t know what injuries she has. Shouldn’t you wait for an ambulance?” He says hysterically.
I way up my options. Blood is soaking though her shirt, spreading down her hanging arms. She’ll bleed to death before they get her out. “She’s bleeding too much. She needs a hospital now!” I snap. “Just reach in and undo her seat belt while I hold her.”
Between us we manage to lower Lilly carefully out of the car. I scoop her into my arms and move her straight into the Mas. I recline the seat and lay her carefully on it. Her whole body is bloodied and her leg is twisted at an odd angle. Fuck. I check her over, desperately trying to find the source of the blood. Her head. I can’t find the wound, through the hair and blood. Shit. I spot a cardigan on the back seat. I do my best to fashion a pressure bandage around where the bleeding is coming from.
“Theo, you should wait for an ambulance. They know what they’re doing!” George shouts.
“Not fast enough!” I say as I move around the front of the car.
“What about Cassie?” He asks.
“Don’t care.” I growl. I swear to god, if Lilly dies… I can’t even think it.
I jump in the car and drive as quickly, but carefully as I can. George is right, I don’t know what injuries she has, but I’m not prepared to risk losing her.
I pick up her limp hand. “Hold in there for me, sugar. Please.” My chest feels like it’s being ripped open. Her skin is pale where it’s not cut or covered in blood.
I pull into the A and E of the nearest hospital. I scoop her up, handling her as carefully as I can. The doors glide open and I rush into the reception area. “I need help!” I shout at the receptionist. “She was in a car crash.” Her face blanches as she takes in Lilly’s state. Within minutes Lilly is on a gurney and being rushed inside. A team of doctors and nurses start injecting her and putting tubes down her throat. I try to follow them but a thick set nurse steps in my path.
“Sir, you cannot go in there.” She says sternly.
“I need to see her.”
“No, you need to let the doctor’s work on her. You being in the way will not help her.”
“But…She…” I have nothing. “Is she going to die?” I ask quietly.
She gives me a pity-filled look before giving me the usual doctor spiel. “We’ll do everything we can for her.” She pats my arm before moving through the double doors.
The sign above the doors says resuscitation. I run my hands through my hair. I can’t lose her. I won’t lose her.
I stand outside that room for what feels like hours. Eventually a nurse tells me I need to wait in the waiting room. I nod and numbly stagger in that direction. George, Molly and Hugo are all there. Molly bursts into tears when she sees me. Hugo catches her as her knees buckle. I watch everything unfold around me as though I’m watching through a TV screen, detached and uncaring. It feels like this isn’t real, like I’m watching someone else go through my own motions. This doesn’t happen. These things happen to other people, not Lilly. Not us.
I took my eye off Cassie for a second. I let her get to me and I snapped at George. That’s all it took. I can see Lilly’s face as I screamed for her to get out of the car. In true infuriating Lilly fashion, she wouldn’t. She thought she could talk Cassie down. For a fleeting second I wonder if the baby is okay, but I soon shun the thought, because in all honestly, until I know if Lilly is okay, it doesn’t matter.
Someone slaps me, hard. “Theo fucking pull it together!” Molly shouts. I stare at her, confused. She puts her fingers to her lips. “Oh god I’m sorry.” She starts crying. “Is she okay?”
I drop into a chair and put my head in my hands. I have no answer for her.
“Dude, what’s going on?” Hugo crouches in front of me.
“I don’t know. I…I don’t know.”
“Oh my god.” Molly starts crying again. “The blood!” George consoles her, holding her to his chest.
I barely register her words. I’m numb. It’s like my mind has just gone into shut down. I’m not ready for this. I can’t deal with this.
“Yeah, look I’ll go to your house and grab you some clean clothes. Give me your keys.” He holds his hand out. I glance down at my clothes. My white shirt is red, soaked with blood, Lilly’s blood. I hand him my keys. “George can you go and move the Mas from the ambulance bay?” He takes the fob off the ring and hands it to George.