Hazel winced, her eyes fluttering open in the bright white room. Her head pounded like someone was hammering on it over and over. She lay in a pure white bed and she had several machines hooked up to her. She heard the heartbeat monitor beating steadily beside her and saw a nurse entering her room. Then it all came flooding back to her.

"Frank! What happened to Frank?" She asked the nurse who was tidying up things around the room. And adjusting the machines.

"Frank Zhang? You knew Frank Zhang?" The nurse asks, her expression sad and full of pity. Hazel could hear her heart beat monitor increasing and going faster. Her head throbbed faster.

"Knew? No, he's okay. He's Frank," Hazel said. The nurse winced and walked over to Hazel's side, adjusting a pulse monitor around her arm.

"Miss Levesque, I'm so sorry," the nurse whispered. Hazel's heart skipped a beat-she heard it.

"No. No, he's not dead!" Hazel cries. Tears trickled their way down her cheeks. The nurse placed a hand on her shoulder sympathetically.

"Let me see him," Hazel demands. The nurse opens her mouth to say something but Hazel interrupts.

"If I don't see him, I may as well just walk out of here now. If I can't see Frank I don't care about getting better," Hazel says through gritted teeth. She had known him for such a short time, but it felt like forever. He sacrificed himself by trying to go help people he didn't even know. Hazel really loved him.

"Miss Levesque, you have a major concussion, and you could die if you do anything but rest-without sleeping that is. I will let you see him, but..." the nurse trails off.

"But what?" Hazel asks. The nurse shakes her head as if dismissing a thought.

"You may not like what you see," the nurse says. Hazel just nods her head, wincing from the pain of moving it. The nurse unhooks her from the machines and starts wheeling her bed out of the room. She was wheeled down hallway after hallway, and felt like a child when she almost asked when are we going to be there?! Her head wouldn't stop pounding as they rounded a corner and the nurse wheeled her into a room identical to Hazel's.

Hazel immediately saw Frank, laying down in his bed, his eyes closed and his face peaceful. Hazel choked back a sob. Frank's heart monitor beeped much slower than it should.

Beep

...

Beep

...

Beep

...

Hazel's head pounded harder.

"Frank?" She whispered. He looked deathly pale as well, and his left leg and right arm were bandaged up. Frank didn't stir. The nurse wheeled Hazel's bed next to Franks, and Hazel clutched his cold hand. It was covered in sweat but still deathly cold.

Death

The word hung in the air like a cold mist above Hazel. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused on the beat of Frank's heart. He would get better. He was a fighter, Hazel knew.

Beep

...

Beep

...

Beep

...

Hazel took deep shaky breaths ignoring the pounding of her head and her heart. She grasped Frank's hand a little tighter, hoping to wake him up. He didn't stir. So she concentrated on his heart beat again, trying to match her breaths to his.

Beep

...

Beep

...

Beep

...

"Miss Levesque? We need to go, the doctors need to come and check on him," the nurse said to Hazel.

"No. I need another minute with him," Hazel said. The nurse reluctantly nodded, and stood at the doorway.

"Please wake up, Frank. I love you so much," Hazel whispered. Frank didn't stir, instead he did what Hazel never realized she was most afraid of.

Beep

...

Beep

...

Beep

...

...

Beep

And then Frank did it. And Hazel screamed, but he didn't stop.

Frank Zhang,

Flatlined.