Chapter 3

Hazel's keys fell to the ground and she bent to pick them up but her tears blurred her vision and she searched aimlessly until she found the keys. She hurried out of her apartment, looking like she was doing the walk of shame.

"Ollie, Oliver, please answer me. Please." She called out once again but she still got no reply. She ended the call and checked his location, luckily for her, he always shared his location with her. She got into her car and drove to the location but it kept changing as she drove, it eventually stopped in the hospital and Hazel felt her heart sink to her stomach.

She arrived there soon and rushed into the hospital. The stale sickly smell mixed with the stench of disinfectant hit Hazel's nose as she entered. She swallowed the bile that gathered in her mouth and walked to the reception.

"Hi, I'm here for Oliver Chandler. He was brought in about half an hour ago. He had an accident." She said, tapping the table's surface, impatiently. The nurse clicked her tongue and checked through the computer, she barely raised her head to look at Hazel.

"Oliver Chandler, yep, he's here. Who are you?" She asked petulantly. Her nose scrunched up, the nurse was clearly overworked.

"I'm his younger sister, Hazel Chandler." She continued tapping.

"Can you stop tapping, it is two am, and I can not concentrate with your tapping." The nurse said, glaring at her. Hazel stopped immediately and blushed due to embarrassment.

"I'm sorry." She apologized, and the nurse hissed. Hazel's eyes dropped to stare at her bubblegum-colored acrylic nails.

"Oliver Chandler is in Room 212." She said. Hazel thanked her and hurried down the hall to the elevators. She was running so fast that she was unable to stop when she saw a man coming her way. They ended up colliding and she fell on top of him.

"Are you fucking blind?" The man growled and pushed her off him. Familiar dark green eyes pierced into hers. Hazel shivered under his glare. Of course, it had to be this asshole

"Shit, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to slam into you. I was just in a hurry and …"

"Look, I don't give a fuck why you were in a hurry, just help me pick up my files." He cut her off and got on his knees, picking up the pieces of paper that were scattered around.

Rude much, Hazel thought. She got on her knees as well and helped clean up. She was trying to arrange the papers when he yanked them from her. She didn't even know why she bothered to help him.

"Hey! I wasn't done." She protested. He did not pay her a second glance, he stood up and started to walk away. He acted like he didn't even know her.

"Oh my God, you're such a dickhead." Hazel gave the back of his brown-haired head, the finger, she got up and headed to the elevator. She eventually got to her brother's room and saw a doctor coming out of the room.

"Excuse me, doctor, are you attending to Oliver Chandler?" She asked in a meek voice. The doctor nodded.

"Yes, I am. How can I help you?" Hazel cast a glance at the name tag on his coat, Doctor Benson. Hazel immediately liked him because of his kind eyes.

"He's my brother. Is he fine? I hope his injuries were not too serious." Hazel asked with hope in her voice. Doctor Benson sighed and Hazel saw the sympathy in his eyes. She already knew that his next words were going to be bad. Her stomach lurched and her muscles tensed in anticipation.

" Miss Chandler, your brother's accident was very critical, we had to conduct surgery immediately after he came, we tried all we could but he seems to have lost the feeling in his legs, it will take a lot of time and physiotherapy for the strength in his bones to return or it might never come back." His words pierced her heart, she staggered and he quickly grabbed her before she fell. Doctor Benson stabilized her and helped her to sit down.

"Doctor, do you mean that my brother is now crippled?" Hazel asked in a gut-wrenching voice. Her brother, her pillar, and her support was now a cripple, Hazel could not believe it. The doctor took his time to explain to Hazel what had happened to Oliver but she was still in shock.

"Can I see him now?" Hazel asked and sniffled. Her throat was clogged.

"Yes, you can. Miss Chandler, please be careful and courteous around your brother. He is in a delicate state right now." Hazel smiled, nodded, and walked away, she got to the door, and held the metal knob for a few minutes, contemplating how she was going to face her brother in this state he was in, her insides were on fire but she took a deep breath and forged a fake smile and stepped into the room.

Luckily for her, Oliver was asleep so immediately felt at ease, she sauntered over to his bedside, and heartbreaking silent sobs racked through her body as she stared at her brother's severely bruised body, the sobs broke into a loud wail and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand so as not to wake him. Luckily, the sound didn't affect him, Hazel cried until she fell asleep by his side.

*******

Hazel woke up to someone tapping her, she wondered why she had slept off in such an awful position and what the hell was she smelling. Immediately she opened her eyes, the events of the early hours of the day flooded her memory and she felt disgusted with herself that she had fallen asleep at such a terrible time in her brother's life.

She raised her head to see Oliver staring at her in a curious manner, like a child who was just meeting someone for the first time.

"Hi," She whispered, she didn't know what else to say. Oliver grinned, his eyes crinkling at their sides.

"Hey." He whispered back and Hazel knew everything was going to be fine. She stood and took his hands in hers and moved closer to him.

"How are you feeling?" She asked with concern evident in her voice. Oliver groaned as he remembered the state he was in.

"I feel like a tractor drove over me, reversed, and drove over me again." He winced as he tried to get comfortable. Hazel shuddered at his words, she remembered the state of his car and tried not to imagine how terrible the accident must have been.

"Shit, I get what you are saying. I'm sorry you had to go through that. Can you remember the accident?" She inquired.

Oliver closed his eyes and tried to recall, " Fuck, it's all a blur but I remember going to the bar, I remember calling you, I think I was drunk and driving. I can't remember anything else. Do you know what happened to me?" He rubbed his head, trying to recollect what had happened, had taken a toll on his brain.

Hazel sighed and sat down, "You called me drunk, I said I was coming to pick you up but you told me not to bother because you were already driving home, I got pissed and I was about to tell you to park the car and wait for me when you screamed and then I heard a loud crash and you stopped talking." Hazel paused, her throat clogged with tears, she choked back on her sobs and continued.

"Thank God for shared location, I followed it but your location kept changing and it stopped at the hospital, I was scared, so scar… " Hazel couldn't continue with her sentence, the tears won and she cried her heart out.

Oliver couldn't bear to see his sister cry. He patted her hand softly and hushed her in a gentle voice.

"Hush now. I'm fine, I'm alive. I'll never leave you alone." He stretched his hand to wipe off her tears. Hazel nodded at his words, feeling comforted.

There is a knock on the door, Hazel tells them to enter, the door is opened and Doctor Benson and some nurses come in.

"Good morning, Oliver, morning Hazel." He beamed at them. He had such an infectious smile that they couldn't help smiling as well.

"How are you feeling today?" He asked Oliver. Oliver shrugged and winced from the pain on his side.

Doctor Benson began the routine checkup and the nurses changed his bandages, Doctor Benson moved down to Oliver's legs and lightly hit them.

"Did you feel that?" He asked. Hazel held her breath and crossed her fingers.

"No." He replied confused. Hazel and the doctor shared a worried look that Oliver was sharp enough to notice.

"Guys, what's going on? Why the hell can't I feel my legs?" He asked panicking as he tried to move his leg but to no avail.