After Gage left, Brylie told her dad good night and waited on Gage to call.
About 10 minutes later the phone rang.

“Hello,” Brylie answered.

“Is this Brylie?” some voice asked.

“Yes, this is her,” she replied.

“This is Officer Brad Braziel,” he said. “Gage has been hit by a drunk driver.”

“What?” she started crying, “Where is he?”

“He is own his way to the doctor right now,” Brad Braziel replied.

“Alright, have you called his mom?” she asked. “Her name is Shelly.”

“No, this was the last number he called, so I took my time to call and tell you.”

“Well, I’m his girlfriend, and I’ll be at the hospital and I’ll call his mom,” she told him. “Thanks Officer Brad Braziel.”

Brylie hung up the phone and ran downstairs yelling for her mom and dad. She was crying and could barely talk. She told her parents what the officer just told her, and they grabbed their stuff and went out the door.

“I have to call Shelly,” she told her parents.

“Okay, Baby. Tell her to meet us at the hospital,” Jill told Brylie while they were getting in the truck. Brylie went through her contacts and pushed “talk” on Shelly’s name.

“Hello,” Shelly answered the phone.

“Shelly, this is Brylie,” Brylie told her.

“Hi, Honey. Is Gage still with you?” she asked.

“Well, that’s the problem,” she said crying. “He was heading home, and I was waiting on his phone call and Officer Brad Braziel called me and told me that…”
It got silent. Shelly started crying, and Brylie was already crying.

“Well, what happened did Brad tell you?” she asked.

“Yes, a drunk driver hit him, and he is in the hospital, we are heading up there now,” she replied, “come up to the hospital!” she begged.

“Okay, I’m already heading up there right now,” she told Brylie. “I’m getting in my car.”

“Okay, love you. Drive safe.” When Brylie said that, Shelly already hung up.
At the hospital they knew Jill, and so they didn’t have to talk to anyone until they got up to the emergency room.

“Where is Gage West at?” Jill asked the lady at the desk.

“Room 506,” she said.

They ran to room 506 and there he was sleeping in a bed with IV’S and oxygen hooked up to him. Brylie and Jill started crying right when they saw him. There was a nurse in there.

“How is he?” Jill asked the nurse.

“He is fine, but his legs got crushed when he got hit,” the nurse said.

“What side did he get hit on?” Jill asked.

“The passenger side, but if he would have gotten hit on the driver’s side he would not be here right now,” she told them.
Brylie went over to Gage and started crying on his chest. She could not imagine what was happening.
About 5 minutes later Shelly and Sam showed up.

“What have they said?” Shelly asked.
Shelly was so torn up; it looked like she had just cried a whole year. Her face was so red and her eyes were so wet and puffy. Sam looked terrified and didn’t know what to think about it all. He couldn’t believe what he saw.

“They said he got hit by a drunk driver, and the driver hit him on his passenger side. It crushed his legs, so they think he might be paralyzed,” Jill said to Shelly while giving her a hug.

“It will be ok, I promise. I will make sure he will get in the best care possible,” she told Shelly in her ear.
Shelly went over by Brylie and held on to Gage.

“Are you okay, baby girl?” Shelly asked Brylie.

“I guess. Everything bad is happening this week. I feel like it’s my fault,” she said. “I should have gone over to his house instead of him coming over to mine, and we keep him out so late. I should have made him leave earlier.” Brylie started crying harder.

“Baby girl, don’t blame yourself for any of this,” Shelly said.

“I know, I’m just scared,” she said.
They sat next to him waiting for him to wake. They sat there about 3 hours waiting. Gage finally woke up.

“Gage, are you okay?” Shelly said, excited to see him awake.

“Baby, you’re alive!” Brylie said with tears coming down her face.
He lay there not saying anything at first.

“What happened?” he started asking all kinds of questions. “Why am I in here?”
Everyone looked at Jill. They thought maybe because she was a doctor she should tell him what happened.

“Well Gage,” she began. “A drunk driver ran a red light and hit you on the passenger side of your truck.”
Gage just looked at her and then at Brylie and he began to cry.

“Well, what are they going to do to him?” he asked.

“Well, he died instantly,” she told him.

“What’s wrong with me?” he asked Jill while he was looking at Brylie.

“Well, while you were sleeping they ran some tests on you they are going to have to do an MRI on your lower half of your body,” she replied.
He lay there with his hands over his face so Brylie couldn’t see him cry. Brylie came over there and sat by him and took his hand.

“So I’m paralyzed?” he asked.

“We don’t know yet, we need to do an MRI,” Jill told him.
“I’m sorry, Brylie!” he started apologizing.
“It’s not your fault, baby. You don’t need to be sorry. You didn’t know some drunk was going to run a red light,” she started crying.

Brylie lay there next to Gage. The other nurses and doctors came in to take him to do an MRI on his lower half. The family waited about 30 minutes to an hour before they were done and brought him back to the room.
“It will be awhile before they get the MRI back,” Jill said.
“Well, I’m staying up here with Gage,” Brylie stated.
“Okay, well, that’s fine,” they all agreed.
“Well, I’m going to head home. I have to work in the morning, but I’ll be back, when I get a break,” Jack told Jill and Brylie.