The Accident: Part 3

The next thing I remember is coming to and finding myself under a desk by the front windows of the office.  Except, initially, I didn't know where I was.  Then I remembered.

There was blood everywhere.  It was horrific.  There was a pool of blood near my head, there was blood on my hands, on my jacket, on my sweatshirt, on my jeans, on my socks, on my shoes, and in my hair.  It looked like a crime scene.  And I was in the middle of it.  

I tried to get up, and the first thing I saw was five people, including the doctor, standing in a straight line facing me.  Gawking.  No one made a move to come near me, let alone help me, or say anything to explain the situation.  I felt like I was at zoo, and I was the animal on display for everyone to stare at.  Except I am a person, and at that moment my heart sank.  I realized that no one in that whole office cared about me, and that I was going to have to figure it out myself.  I was in shock.  My body was trembling and shaking.  My eyes were now dilated, and the winter sunlight streaming in the windows made me squint.  I was confused, and hurt, and broken.  A piece of me would never be the same.  

After a few seconds, I tried to slide myself out from under the desk, and tried to sit up.  It wasn't until that moment that one of the people, the nurse who had checked me in, slowly approached me.  "Can you help me?," I croaked.  

I was met the words "An ambulance is coming."  No more details were offered.  I had no idea what had happened, let alone where I was bleeding from, and the only thing they could tell me was that an ambulance was coming.  That stung. 

At that moment, a patient walked into the office.  I looked up at her, and in my very confused state, I recognized her.  She was the mom of one of my peers, and I told her my name.  She recognized my last name, and thankfully, she ordered that one of the employees bring me paper towel and some ice.  I felt as though I had a friend in my little, very bloody corner.  

I reached up to find out where the blood was coming from, and with my left hand I found the source.  My left cheek had a gaping hole in it.  I could not believe what I was feeling.  I knew that there should be skin where I had felt emptiness.  I wadded up some crunchy paper towel and placed it on my face, and wished that the hole was figment of my imagination.  

I needed my mom to be there.  I tried desperately to call my mom.  No answer.  I tried my dad.  Also, no answer.  The other patient offered to call my mom.  My hands were shaking so much that I could not slide open my phone, let alone scroll through to find a phone number.  My phone now had bloody fingerprints all over it.  The patient got my mom on the phone.  My mom was at the bookstore in the same shopping center.  Thank goodness.