Making Serious Decisions

The steady beep of the heart monitor, harsh breathing of the beds inhabitant. Everyone was silent, watching the man sleep, having finally calmed after all the events. "How long does he have?" A woman asked as the doctor entered, holding a child's hand tightly. It was her, the little girl, and the blond haired man, who was standing at the window. He'd not spoken since the accident had placed his best friend in the hospital bed.

"We don't know," the doctor shook his head. "The accident was pretty bad. Fractured spine, couple broken ribs, one even punctured a lung. Sad thing is, that's not even scratching the surface of his condition."

"Get to the point already!" The man at the window finally spoke, turning to glare at the doctor. "Does he stand a chance or not? Can you help him? What are our options?"

Visibly wincing, the doctor looked at his chart. "Judging by his condition, I'd say Mr. Jose's chances are slim. To put it bluntly, he should be dead. We're at our limit with pain killers, and this morning he fainted from the shock of the pain."

"What are our options?" The man asked again, looking at his friend in the bed. The women picked up the worried child, hushing the girl as she bounced her in an attempt to calm her down.

"Pull the plug, or let him die on a surgery table, those are the quickest ones. There's a small chance he'd come out of the surgical room alive though."

Looking at the big eyed, red haired girl, the man swallowed. "Courtney has no chance?" He asked, biting his lower lip.

"I'm afraid not sir. Is there any one I can contact to make the decision? Family?" The woman winced as the doctor looked at her.

"Sorry sir, I'm just a good friend." She said, looking to the other man.

"He has no one. Only his daughter and me." The man ran a hand through his clean cut hair.

"Joey, you could do it," the woman covered the child's ears, looking desperately from Joey to the prone figure on the bed.

Tears in his eyes, the blond looked to the doctor. "Just do it," he choked out, shoving the nervous doctor out of his way as he stormed out.

"Pretty bad car accident. Pardon me for asking, but what happened?" The doctor looked at the woman.

"Drunk driver, Jaelle was lucky to survive." Sniffling, she set the girl down. "It's sad she had to lose him on her birthday."