Liam
October 7th, 2016 | 4:00 pm
Liam had not talked to Lexi all week. It was now Thursday and although she sat in class with him, she made little effort to talk to him. He felt bad but he wasn't sure what had happened either.
On top of his issues with Lexi, he was also dealing with Rachel. She refused to talk about crying in Liam's arms. If Liam tried to bring it up she would change the subject or shut him down entirely.
Liam had just said goodbye to Ryan and Josh after basketball practice when he saw Lexi waiting by his car. She was standing a foot from it and looking at it wearily, as if she got any closer she might scratch it. To be fair, it was a nice car. His father had bought it for him after he won the state championship. He thought his father had gotten it for him for getting all A's, but no it was for basketball.
"Hi," she said quietly.
"Hi," he said carefully. Liam was still bewildered that she was even talking to him.
"I am sorry for my rude exit on Monday," she said, staring at the ground. "I've been trying to figure out a way to apologize or explain and this whole thing has just been harder than I thought it would be and I shouldn't take out my anger on you because you haven't done anything wrong."
"It's okay," Liam mumbled.
"It really is not, but does that mean we're okay?"
Liam nodded offering a small smile.
"Okay," she said softly.
Liam watched her leave and then got in his car. He drove home and was surprised to see his parents making dinner in the kitchen. Surgeons didn't really have time to cook.
"Hey," he said as he walked in. "Since when did we use the kitchen?"
"Liam," his mom said, rolling her eyes playfully. "We know how to cook."
"Yeah, but you don't," he said, helping his dad set the table.
"We thought it would be nice to catch up over a nice dinner. We have been gone for a bit," Liam's father added.
Liam shrugged it off. He sat down as his mother brought the food. Liam was surprised as it did look good.
"So how are you and Rachel?" his mother asked.
"Good," Liam said plainly.
"How is basketball going?" his father asked.
"Also good."
Liam didn't mean to be so abrasive with his parents. He did love them and he knew they loved him, but they didn't understand him. He wanted to be a doctor like them, but all they saw in him was a basketball player. They never spent enough time with him to really know him. Just what Liam wanted them to see, that way they wouldn't worry about him. It was still hard though, he wanted to be honest with them, but how could he?
"Can I ask you something?" Liam suddenly asked his father.
"Of course."
"Do remember two summers ago when you operated on Henry Cross?"
Liam's father stiffened in his seat. "Why do you ask that?"
"I am working with his daughter this year in a couple classes and I know you said we weren't allowed to talk about it to anyone but I had a question: What went wrong?"
Liam's father shifted uncomfortably.
"HIPAA, Liam remember? We can't talk about our patients," Mom said softly.
Liam studied his parents' expressions. His mother, Monica, was a general surgeon and his father, Victor, was a neurosurgeon. All he knew was that Lexi's father had been brought in with extensive head trauma, no one had ever told him what went wrong.
Liam must have looked upset because his father spoke up again. "Listen Liam, as a surgeon we don't play God, we can't decide who we save and who dies. All we do is try to prevent further damage, sometimes we can and sometimes we can't."
"I just feel bad for her," he said quietly.
Liam's parents glanced at each other. "How is she doing?" his mom asked gently. "Alexandra, right?"
Liam shrugged. "Lexi. She's dealing with a lot, I mean I think for the rest of her life she'll always be dealing with a lot."
"That poor family has been through enough, all you can do is be kind to her."
"If I recall correctly, she did have a rather supportive boyfriend," Liam's father said.
"They broke up actually," Liam said.
"Poor girl," Liam's mother said sadly.
Liam nodded but his thoughts were elsewhere, he was already planning a way to find out what had happened that night.
October 8th, 2016 | 5:00 pm
The dance was in two hours. Liam was already dressed and was hoping it made him look professional enough to sneak into the medical records office at the hospital. He had swiped his dad's badge from his bag and had already planned a cover story in case he was caught. Thankfully no one was there. He walked in with ease and logged onto the computer.
Of course Liam knew what he was doing was wrong and illegal on so many levels, but he was so curious that he couldn't help himself. He only hoped he wouldn't get caught.
He searched Cross and three files came up. First, he clicked Laura Cross, Lexi's mother. She was declared dead before arriving at the hospital.
He then opened Lexi's file, it said she suffered from a drug overdose. The drugs she had in her system had been laced with another drug Liam had never even heard of. Paramedics had gotten a call that Lexi was behind a building near the back exit. They had found the phone next to her and no one else around. She was brought to the hospital and released to the police to await trial. Liam remembered seeing her in the hospital, of course he hasn't said anything to anyone though.
He then opened the last file, Henry Cross. The file was long with many notes, labs, and brain scans. After reading it for about twenty minutes, Liam understood enough. It had taken them too long to extract him from the car, by the time they had gotten to him, his brain damage had worsened so much that there was nothing Liam's father could have done. He attempted to fix it anyway but things only got worse. Mr. Cross woke up with minimal brain function. He could understand small phrases and words. He could communicate back in a similar way. He was a shell of the man he once was. Liam's father had recommended that Henry undergo many more surgeries and therapy programs to gain back full function, but the treatment plan was declined by the next of kin.
Liam heard voices in the hallway and quickly got up and left through the other door. He made his way out of the office and went to the doctor's lounge. He put his dad's badge back in his bag and left as fast as he could.
As Liam drove to Rachel's house all he could think about was all of the things Lexi had gone through. When would her life finally turn around?