The Accident

    He stared at her, with his tense brow pulling down the wrinkles on his forehead and his mouth pursed, struggling to restrain the outburst.

    “This should have happened to you.” The venomous whisper pierced the solemn silence in the room.  A trickle of blood ran from the bandaged head of his wife as she looked at him, she was lost but he was no longer her home.

    “Clean yourself up.” He demanded as he tore a tissue from the box and slung it at her. They were standing at the bottom of the bed. The slender lump that lay still on the bed seemed to be engulfed by the light blue blankets and large pillows. A machine beeped and hummed in the corner of the room.

    “It wasn’t my fault, you weren’t..” She began to weep, clutching the tissue close to her chest. Her face was torn, her forehead covered by a blood soaked bandage and her lip was cut, a deep cut that was held together by two very fine stitches.

    He was standing at the side of the bed now, leaning over the small body that lay under the sheets. He softly kissed the top of the child’s head. He then glared at her.

    “You have ruined absolutely everything. Do you get that? Everything. We will be lucky if he even wakes up.” He attacked. The tissue shook violently in her hands. She inhaled sharply, her body was forcing her to breathe.

    He stormed around from the side of the bed snorting like a bull as he approached her. He grabbed her by the arm and she winced quietly as his grip tightened around the bandage on her forearm. He towered over her and stared at her, waiting for her eyes to rise and meet his own. She continued to sob into her chest but took a step towards him. His grip tightened and she winced again, she took a step back. He lifted the bandaged arm up for a closer inspection. He grunted and threw her arm back at her. He turned and walked out of the room. She could see him through the glass as he ran his hand over his mouth, looked up to the heavens and walked away.

    She burst out in a frantic cry, collapsed onto the bottom of the bed and curled up holding the tissue. She lay a few inches from the feet of the small child, sobbing and struggling to breathe. The blood from her head slowly dripped on to the bed clothes. She lay on the bed and watched the drops of blood fall. She focused closer and closer on the drops of blood, her breathing became more controlled and she barely moved.

    She raised herself from the bed and slowly turned her gaze to the machine and the wires that were keeping her only child alive. She stared with eyes wide and lips trembling. The blood now began to slowly trickle down her nose and the traction caused it to roll onto her fine upper lip. She tasted the blood mixed with the cheap lipstick that she only wore on nights like this. She slowly and carefully raised her tongue to her upper lip, making sure she did not disturb the stitches. She grimaced at the taste and began to slowly crawl along the bed, avoiding any tubing and wiring that were hanging from her child’s body. She lay down beside him. If it had been any other room, any other night she would’ve thought he was sleeping. His wavy blonde hair hung over his face and his small mouth lay open. He was 5 years old and the centre of her life.

    Her hand was rested on the top of his head and she moved closer to kiss him. She wanted to let him know it was all going to be alright. At that moment her husband burst through the door and charged towards her.

    “What the hell are you doing?” He exclaimed in another seething whisper as he grabbed her and dragged her off the bed.

As she regained her balance from being pulled away she looked back at her child and seen her husband cautiously cleaning her blood from their child’s face.

She fell back onto the wall of the room, her eyes seemed to shake as she raised a trembling hand over her mouth. She slid down the wall to the floor and sat staring up at her husband who was now talking to his child while using a damp tissue to clean the blood from his lips.

    He had finally cleansed the last of the blood from the boys face. He was no longer telling his son about his day at work and was just staring at the young, lifeless face. He looked along the body of his child and his eyes began to swell and his vision blurred as he traced each of the wires that were keeping his son with him. His hollow stare turned gradually from the wires and tubing towards his wife who was now unconscious on the floor.

    He took two long strides towards the wall. He dropped to his knees and cradled her head in his hands. Her rich brown hair had become soaked in the blood that trickled from her wound, he brushed it from her eyes as she lay motionless. After laying her head softly back onto the floor he rose to his feet and swung the door open .

“Hey! Anyone, I need help. My wife has collapsed….she was hurt…her head, it’s bleeding.”

A stout, young hispanic nurse brushed past him into the room, lifting her stethoscope from around her neck as she looked for the injured woman. With a glance to her right her eyes widened and she took two quick steps and knelt down beside the unconscious woman.

“Is she OK?” The words seemed to tremble from his mouth as he continued to hold the door open. He was now standing behind the door he had pulled open and was peering around at the young nurse who was pressing two stubby fingers on the carotid artery of his wife.

“Hey, is she ok? She was in an accident…she was bleeding…” the knuckles on his hands were turning pale as he gripped the door but his eyes remained calm as he focused on the scene.

“I know who you are sir and I know what happened.” The nurse shot a glance at him and then rose to her feet. “Excuse me, I need to get her a bed.” She spoke with a detachedly calm and assertive tone that he seemed to be grateful for. He lowered his head and closed his eyes as the nurse swiftly left the room. Thoughts swirled in his mind and a cold sensation grew within him.

“It should never have happened like this, he shouldn’t have been there.” he stared intently at his wife who was lain on the floor. “I need to finish this.”