In the lobby, family and friends gathered.

There was no news yet on Jimmy and Allison’s condition, but

as soon as there was, someone would let them know. In the mean time, they were encouraged to sit in
the lobby and wait for the doctor. They settled in, some pacing, some falling asleep, and others fidgeting
in their chairs. Everyone wanted to know how their friends were doing, and no one had the answers
they sought.

Then, an hour into waiting, a door opened and a nurse walked in their direction. Everyone became alert,
those sleeping waking up, ready to hear some news.

“I’m looking for Sheryl McFadden?” the nurse said, and Allison’s mother stood, her hands shaking a bit.
“Come with me, please.”

They watched the pair walk away, no one able to form the words to ask for any news on their friends. A
small cry was heard in the room from Jimmy’s mother. Everyone gathered around to provide support for
each other; it was hard not to think the worst.

***

Allison asked for her mother to come sit with her before she was told the results of the pregnancy test.
The nurse said she’d see if she was here yet. A few minutes later, her mother entered and looked
relieved to see that Allison was okay. Sheryl took her daughter’s hand, hugging her tight before letting
the nurse speak.

“The pregnancy test came back positive,” she said, and Sheryl’s mouth gaped. Allison looked at the
nurse, then at her stomach, asking a question she’d never imagined needing to ask.

“How could the baby have survived?”

“We’ll need to run some tests to be sure the baby did, but if so, you are pregnant,” the nurse said. She
smiled at Allison, and her smile said so much; she was sorry, she was happy, she was worried. “I’ve
alerted the doctor and he is setting up an ultrasound to check things out. Do you know the date of your
last period?”

“Well, I tend to skip around a little, but I think it was in the first week of February,” she said, quietly.
Now she thought about it, she hadn’t had her period in a while, but blamed that on her body. She
skipped around a lot and could go months without having a period. She hadn’t felt sick or gained weight
or anything else the pregnancy books said was normal.

“Alright, I’ll let them know,” the nurse said. “Can I get you anything? Water, ice?”

“Water would be fine,” she said, wanting to be left alone with her thoughts for a while. She looked at
her mom, who was still just as in shock as she was. “How in the world did we miss that?”

“It does happen,” her mother said, rubbing Allison’s back. “For now, let’s just wait to see what the
doctor has to say.”

The nurse returned with a Styrofoam glass of water, and Allison asked her how she could have missed
this.

“It’s very easy,” the nurse said, rolling a small stool over and sitting down. “Some pregnancy tests for
home use are not very accurate; some won’t read if it’s too early, others won’t pick up low levels of the
hormone. Sometimes, women are just not aware of symptoms, and other women don’t have symptoms.
You said that you tend to be irregular at times, so it’s also possible that the main symptom of a missed
period was just not an obvious sign for you.”

“I was waiting for more obvious signs,” Allison said, nodding. “I’d been researching and asking friends
and I was thinking there would be something obvious for me. I never dreamed that I would miss it.”

“You’d be surprised how many women miss it,” the nurse said. “It’s common to find out in the 3rd or 4th
month. The ultrasound will help confirm how far along you are.”
Another tech came in with a machine and introduced herself as being from ultrasound. The nurse
turned to leave and Allison gripped her mother’s hand tighter. The tech laid the bed down a bit, leaving
it at a slight angle for comfort, since Allison’s back had started to hurt. The tech squirted warm gel on
Allison’s stomach and soon there was a grainy, black and white image on the screen.

“There’s your baby,” the tech said, moving the wand around. There was movement on the screen and
the tech smiled. “That’s a good sign. They don’t move much at this point, but they do move a little, so
it’s good to see that. I can print out some pictures for you, if you like.”

Allison nodded, almost numb. She watched the tech manipulate the controls on her machine and a few
minutes later, printed out the pictures. There were labels on the pictures, showing the head, a hand and
a foot. Allison marveled at the pictures and asked the tech if there was any way to know if there was any
injury to the baby.

“Not yet,” she said. “But over the next few months, your doctor will do more intensive tests and should
be able to tell how the baby is doing. But try to think positive thoughts, okay?”

“Thanks,” Allison said.

She and her mother sat together and waited for the doctor, wondering what was taking so long. She’d
arrived to a fanfare of people fussing over her, checking for injury and now it was quiet. She realized she
wasn’t as badly hurt as her husband, but she still wondered why she was waiting so long for everything.

“Have you heard anything about Jimmy?” she asked, looking at her mother. It hurt to turn her neck, she
noticed, and wondered if that was good or bad.

“No,” her mother said, shaking her head. “But everyone is in the lobby, waiting. If I hear anything, I’ll let
you know.”
“They kept taking him somewhere,” she said, indicating the other curtain. “There was a lot of shouting,
but I couldn’t make anything out. I was swarmed with people when I came in, but once they figured out I
wasn’t badly hurt, they all kind of left.”

Her mother was about to answer when a doctor entered her cubicle. He put some x-rays up on a lighted
board, then stood in front of the gurney.

“I’m Dr. Lisbon,” he said, shaking hands with Allison’s mother. “I’ve been going over Allison’s x-rays and
scans.”

“What’s the damage?” Sheryl asked, holding Allison’s hand.

“You’re left arm is broken in three places, but I feel that the fractures will heal without surgical
intervention,” he said, and Allison felt a bit lost in the lingo. “The injury will require a cast for several
weeks, but should heal on its own. I will write you a prescription for some pain medication and that
should also help with any swelling.

“Your CT was clear, so I don’t see any internal injuries on that, which is good news. Your blood work all
looks good and you’ve had the ultrasound for the pregnancy. It’s too early to know if there are any ill
effects from the accident, so further scans and testing will fall to your obstetrician.”

“I notice it hurts to move my neck,” Allison said, glad to hear that she had minor injuries. She felt lucky.

“That’s just a bit of whiplash,” the doctor said. “I didn’t see any evidence of injury to your neck, so just
use some ice on it for any swelling. Have you had any pain medication?”

“I think so, but there were so many people around me at first that I’m not sure,” she admitted, and the
doctor nodded.
“I’ll check your chart and then grab a nurse and we’ll get you going. I don’t see any reason to admit you,
so you can go home in a little bit here.”

“Can you tell me anything about my husband, Jimmy Rickliefs?” she asked, as the doctor turned to
leave. She was growing frustrated at the lack of information.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any information, as I’m not the doctor on his case,” the doctor said. She opened
her mouth to protest, but he was out of the room, and she sighed.

The doctor was quick to return with the nurse from earlier. She explained that she was going to give
Allison some pain medication that might make her feel sleepy so they could fix her arm. She felt herself
drifting to sleep shortly thereafter and welcomed the momentary release.

***

Matt was the first one to hear the door to the back open. It seemed like hours ago that Allison’s mother
had been called back, but when he glanced at his phone, he realized it had only been an hour and a half.
Now, a nurse was escorting Allison and her mother to the lobby. Allison’s arm was in a sling and a hint of
pink bandage was visible. Matt hurried to Allison’s, as it was clear that she’d had a good dose of pain
medication, and he gently lowered her into a chair.

“The doctor on Jimmy’s case will be out shortly,” the nurse said, then returned to the back.

“How is she?” Gary, Allison’s father asked, as he sat next to his daughter.

“Just some whiplash and a broken arm,” her mother responded, as Allison yawned. The worst of the
medication side effects were wearing off, but she was still sleepy. It was now around five in the morning,
two hours after the crash. “She’s going to be sore, and she’s bruised, especially where the airbag hit her
arms, but she’s okay. She’s got some cuts on her face since the windshield shattered before the airbags
deployed.”
“Rickliefs family?” a voice asked, and they all turned to see a man in dark blue scrubs, with light blue
covers on his shoes and a green cap on his head. “I’m Dr. Madison. I have an update on Jimmy’s
condition. Would the immediate family follow me, please?”

“Everyone here is family,” Jimmy’s mother, Barb, said, and his father, Joe, nodded. “Please, speak to the
group.”

“Alright,” the doctor said, pulling a chair into the center of the group. “Jimmy is in surgery at the
moment. When he came in, he was not doing well, but the trauma team got him stabilized. In a situation
like Jimmy’s, it’s imperative to move fast, so we did as much for him in the trauma bay as we could.” The
doctor paused, so that the news could sink in. “Right now, as I said, he’s in surgery. He’s got a badly
broken right leg. His right hip is fractured also. He got lucky in that he did not break any ribs and he does
not have any internal bleeding. However, during the accident, his head was flopping around, for lack of a
better term. This means that his brain was, again for lack of a better term, sloshed around as well.” He
asked for a bottle of water, and Matt handed his over. The doctor laid the bottle on its side and rocked it
back and forth. “This is the general motion of his brain during the crash, although it would happen much
faster. This has caused a brain injury, which has caused him to slip into a coma.”

The doctor paused again, handing Matt his water back, and let the news sink in. The silence was
suffocating, but shock was written on the faces of everyone gathered.

“This has resulted in a large bruise on the back of his brain. He is lucky in that we aren’t seeing any
bleeding in his brain at the moment. We will monitor him very closely for any bleeding. This type of
injury does not usually cause any permanent damage, but every brain injury has the potential to cause
damage. The best we can do is take things one day at a time.”

“What sort of problems will the injury cause?” Jimmy’s father asked, holding his wife’s hand.

“We often see seizures with this type of injury. Because of that, he’ll be receiving anti-seizure
medication while he’s here. But outside of that, there’s not much that is normal. It all depends on the
patient and other injuries in their body.”

“Can we see him after surgery?” Allison asked, her voice wavering.
“Of course. I’ll have a nurse take you down to the surgical waiting room,” the doctor said, standing. He
shook hands with Jimmy’s parents and then left.

A few minutes later, a tall nurse in red scrubs entered the waiting area and they followed her to a set of
elevators. As the elevators brought the group down to the surgical waiting room, Allison leaned on her
mother, feeling fatigue and stress settle into her body. The ding of the elevator brought her to alertness
once again, and the group reunited in the downstairs elevator lobby. The nurse led them to the surgical
waiting room, explaining that the doctor would come out after surgery.

The room was clearly made for long waits. The walls were beige, but colorful pictures hung on them. The
chairs were tan and cushioned, allowing the occupant to be comfortable. Everyone sat down. Some
started to talk quietly to each other, others began to drift to sleep, the stress of the night catching up.
Allison sat with her father, leaning her head on his shoulder, letting the stress of the night and the
fatigue from the pain medication send her to sleep.

It felt like seconds later that a voice lured Allison from her deep, medicine induced sleep. She rubbed
her eyes with her good hand and look to her father.

“Allison, the doctor is here to talk about Jimmy.”

She looked around to see others waking up, trying to be alert for the doctor. The man before them was
tall, his face lined and his hair grey. When he spoke, it was with a thick German accent.

“I am Dr. Niederhall. I’m an orthopedic surgeon here at UC Irvine Medical Center,” the doctor said. He
looked tired. “Jimmy is in recovery now. During surgery, I assisted in the repair of his shattered ankle
and fractures in the knee, hip, and femur.” He paused, knowing it was late and everyone would need
more time to process information. “We used a variety of plates, screws, and pins to fix the fractures.
Over the next several weeks, those will help his leg heal. The pins will be removed after a few weeks’
time, once the fractures they are holding together are stabilized.”

“What are his chances for recovery?” Barb asked. No one wanted to know, but yet, it was important.
“At the moment, it’s hard to say,” the doctor said. “But if I had to hazard a guess, I’d say 50/50. He’ll be
moving to ICU once he’s recovered from surgery. I’ll see him later today.”

Everyone stood and the doctor led them back to recovery. Allison went to Jimmy’s bedside and took his
hand. His face was a mess of cuts, bruises and stitches. There was a tube sticking out of his mouth, and a
tube in his nose. There was something in his neck, which looked like an IV. A large cast was visible under
the covers. A nurse approached the group, working with Jimmy’s IV.

“This is just morphine,” he said, smiling at everyone. “It will slowly drip into him to provide more
effective pain relief than if he got a shot every few hours. Stay as long as you like. We’ll be moving him
up to ICU in about an hour or so.”

“How is he doing?” Allison asked, looking him over. His face was puffy around the lacerations on his
forehead, and one eye was black and blue and swollen, no doubt from the airbag. Everything on him
seemed to be black and blue and he looked horrible.

“He’s doing just fine,” the nurse said, smiling. Val thought it was what medical people always said in
situations like this. “The swelling in his face will go down soon. He looks worse than he is. I’m going to
apply an ice pack to his eye.”

“Thank you,” Barb said, as everyone gathered around his bed.

“Go ahead and talk to him,” the nurse advised, as he finished with the IV. “It can help the patient heal
faster, if they hear familiar voices. He may not respond, but he can hear you.”

“Jimmy, I’m right here,” Allison said, leaning over him as soon as the nurse had left. She started crying,
looking into his face, which held no expression. “You’re going to be just fine. I love you and I’m not
leaving your side.”
His parents went next, his mother unable to contain her tears. Everyone else crowded the bed, taking
their turn to speak to their friend. The nurse gave them time, allowing everyone to see Jimmy before he
was moved upstairs. They knew that they were in for a long day.