UNBREAKABLE | ELLIE

[BRENNAN JAMES REECE]

Brennan was almost entirely positive that this hospital was going to drive him insane. While he wasn't particuarly fond of the food that seemed to taste a little less like food and more like microwaved cardboard, at least they gave him a television to stare at. He spent most of his days sleeping, since that felt like the only thing the doctors told him he could do. He had spent his entire life taking care of himself, suddenly thrown into an environment where everybody else was more concerned about his well being than he was. However, he was starting to like his quiet little room. Besides the occasional nurse and doctor checking in on him, Brennan spent most of the day alone. Today had been especially miserable, his body felt as though it burned and the only thing strong enough to subside the pain was the morphine. He wanted to be left alone today, the pounding in head and the sharp pain in his ribs was more than enough to put him in the kind of mood he was almost always in. Perpetually grumpy and hopelessly stubborn, he poked at his food with a fork until finally giving up on eating anything.

Everything he had been told about his accident had came from the doctors assigned to him. Brennan had hit his head just hard enough to cause some sort of amnesia yet luckily hadn't left him with any permanent damage. There wasn't much left of his car, completely obliterated and totaled beyond any hopes of repairing it. That was fine by him, he hated the damn thing anyway and if he had his way he'd never drive another car again. No matter how hard he tried to chase away the negative thoughts that haunted, they always seemed to find their way right back into his mind. Brennan finally sat down the fork as he pushed the food tray away from him, leaning his head against the pillow. Maybe he'd be lucky enough to spend the rest of the afternoon in peace, at least until the painkillers wore off.

[ELLIE MARIE THOREAU]

Ellie yawned. She looked down at the horrible off green scrubs she had to wear and rolled her eyes. This was all so boring. Every med student was so excited to visit Seattle Main Hospital, but Ellie could not have been any more bored. All anyone was doing all day was walk into rooms, remain silent as an attending spoke to the patient, and followed the doctors like little puppets. They had no input and weren't allowed to do any procedures, not even take a patient's temperature. They were med students, not babies.

The group of med students started to move again and Ellie made a rash decision as she often did. Quickly, she slipped into a room and looked out the window to make sure no one had seen her. She smirked to herself when she saw that she was in the clear. Turning around she saw that the room was occupied by a patient. "Oh. Hi, I'm..." Ellie could have been in trouble if the blonde guy decided to make a complaint. "I'm an intern. I'm here to check your vitals. You know, just make sure everything is running smoothly." She flashed one of her famous smiles she often used to get out of trouble.

[BRENNAN JAMES REECE]

He'd hardly been paying attention when she slid into his room, introducing herself as an intern. So many different faces came in to check on him every day that he hardly ever noticed when anyone new entered the room. His eyelids felt as though they were made of cement, and his body felt as though it were weighed down by lead. At this point he considered himself quite lucky that the pain was brought back down to a duller intensity. As exhausted as he was, it didn't take him long to realize that this girl was undeniably beautiful. Brennan wasn't quite sure if she was necessarily supposed to be here, but he didn't care enough to question it. "Oh, okay."  It suddenly dawned on him that he hadn't brushed his hair in what felt like days, and he looked even worse than he felt. Not like that bothered him, the only thing he looked forward to was falling asleep only to wake back up and drift off again. Things would get better though, the more he healed. Or at least that's what they kept telling him, almost so much that he was starting to believe them.

This was the first time an intern had visited him before. Well, at least that he could remember. "Yeah, I guess I'm doing okay." As good as he could be, laying in a bed as his bones healed at a miserably slow pace. All he wanted was to leave this place, and that wasn't going to happen for him anytime soon. Brennan had been trying to not complain about nearly everything. It was nearly impossible not to sit around in such a grumpy state of mind when that's all he had ever done anyway. Sighing, Brennan winced as he leaned forward just enough so that his back wasn't against the bed anymore.

[ELLIE MARIE THOREAU]

"Okay, then.." Ellie smiled smugly. She wasn't really expecting him to believe her. Suddenly she remembered she was there to supposedly check his vitals. She walked over to the machines all hooked up to his body. Looking over the man in front of her, she realized that he must have been involved in some terrible accident. The patient was so young but he looked like he had been to hell and back. His face looked worn, his hair was matted to his head like he hadn't moved from that hospital bed. Not that he could move. His body was bruised and it looked like someone took a bat to his legs. "What happened to you?" Ellie was sure this went against everything she learned in her patient care class, but she couldn't help her curiosity.

When the boy sat up, he winced. The med student never actually dealt with real patients. At Northwestern Medical School, they took pride in doing procedures on real people, but they were always relatively healthy people. They were people giving blood. They were people with the flu. No one seriously injured. She feared hurting him more. Clearing her throat she walked away from the patient bed and to the drawers to look for a stethoscope.

[BRENNAN JAMES REECE]

Sitting up as best as he could, Brennan let out a sigh as he looked down at his hands. He didn't know why he disliked being confined to this bed as much as he did. There were days when he hardly left his room at his apartment, keeping himself awake until his eyes began to ache. Brennan wanted to say something, but kept himself quiet as his eyes followed the girl while she examined the machines that monitored him throughout the day. By the time the first responders had found his car, Brennan had already lost a dangerous amount of blood. Doctors worried that this would only cause further complications during his surgeries, yet the only symptom that really seemed to bother him was the nearly constant exhaustion. Her curiosity was understandable. Brennan's expression was drained and vacant, his body even worse. The idea of looking into a mirror only made him feel worse, to see an exasperated face staring back at him. "A car accident. The last thing I remember is hitting the steering wheel, and I woke up here."

It had occurred to him that this girl hadn't given her name when she came walking through the door, perhaps on purpose. He didn't think it was wrong of him to ask, so he decided to. "What was your name again?" For a few seconds he considered trying to sit up even further, but the idea of sending another wave of crippling pain through his body was enough to convince him to remain as he was. As long as he shifted himself every so often, he could remain relatively comfortable.

[ELLIE MARIE THOREAU]

A car accident. Driving to the mall, the grocery store, restaurants, to a friends house. All mundane activities that no one really even thinks about. People drive on automatic thinking about their boyfriends or the parties they need to attend later that night. They don't think about the death traps that they're getting into and they shouldn't. People shouldn't be afraid to go about daily lives, but Ellie couldn't help but think about this young man. His life was turned upside down by this one accident. How could he possibly get in a car again and continue on with life. Sure, he'll be stuck in this hospital room, but what about after that? How does he go on with life?

Ellie shook her head back to attention. "Oh me? You can just call me Ellie." She cleared her throat. "Oh! Found it!" She flashed another one of her smiles and held up a stethoscope. "Let's get you checked, huh?" Ellie walked over to the mangled up guy then put the stethoscope down. "Would you mind?" Ellie pointed at his hair. "It's just..Look, I know being in this hospital bed must be the worst thing in the world. It's cold in here like, all the time and the rooms could seriously use some remodeling but you don't have to be another drab accessory in this room. I know you're in pain and you can't move around, but don't you have some friends or family to come by or...something?" Ellie knew this was probably against all patient care protocol, but she threw out everything she learned in med school out the window.

[BRENNAN JAMES REECE]

It had crossed his mind that nothing would ever be the same. Brennan wasn't sure how that made him feel. He wondered if he'd ever find himself behind the wheel again, or if he would live the rest of his life absolutely mortified. It felt like such a silly thing to be afraid of, but that was in the past now. Now the fear was very much alive, and it wouldn't let go of him. Brennan had learned to take care of himself from a young age, it was something that never bothered him and he learned to adapt. Now everyone else was taking care of him, unable to do anything for himself. Brennan almost lost himself in his thoughts again when the girl's voice brought back to reality, looking at her.

With his left hand, Brennan reached up to touch his hair for a moment. Sure, it looked like hell. What exactly was he supposed to do about that? He gave her a shrug, although he agreed that this room was miserably cold and complaining about it only seemed to make it feel worse. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. This was the most Ellie had said to him since she walked through the door, trying to comprehend just exactly what she was getting at. "You want me to brush my hair? Uh...sure, I guess." His hair had always been a curly mess, and at least now there was no more blood in it. If combing his own hair was an obstacle, he was going to have to relearn nearly everything. Even the little, simple tasks that no one ever thought twice about. All he had was his left hand, the only free hand he could use. At least he could try brushing his fingers through his curls, grimacing as he tugged at the tangles. "I hate this. I can't do anything, they won't let me do anything." Brennan realized he was venting to someone who most likely hadn't come in prepared to listen to him, but he couldn't help it. Both of his parents knew exactly where their son was, they had been notified almost immediately. As far as friends were concerned, he felt a little ashamed to admit he'd never been particularly lucky in that department either. "I haven't seen or talked to my mom or dad ever since I moved out. I figured if they wanted to see me, they'd have done it by now. Ever since I went on my own they haven't been too interested in me anymore. So...no, I don't."

[ELLIE MARIE THOREAU]

"Oh hush." Ellie tenderly touched his hand and pulled it away from his hair, setting it down on the hospital bed. Ellie wasn't motherly..at all. In fact, she was the last person you wanted babysitting your children, not that she would agree to such a thing. She was full of herself, the definition of self absorbed. Everyone that actually new Ellie was surprised that she wanted to be a doctor. She would have to deal with patients and actually care for them. That wasn't like her at all. However, seeing this young guy so mangled made her feel..bad. Plus he was all alone.

"Look. You're hurt. You understand that right? Your bones are shattered and you're bruised all over. You can't expect to be running around after an accident like that. Just let the nurses and doctors take care of you." Ellie started running her fingers through his curly locks, doing her best to fix the mess. "Think of it as a vacation. I mean they're loading you up on drugs so it's kinda like vacation." She laughed to herself then suddenly became serious. "Parents are assholes. They're supposed to be there for their children when shit like this happens..I'm sorry." For once, Ellie was speechless.

[BRENNAN JAMES REECE]

Brennan knew she was right. It was still unknown when he may be released, but he had the best nurses and doctors anyone could hope for seeing to it that everything went smoothly. He was lucky to be alive, some days he agreed with that statement more than others. There was no use in trying to do everything himself anymore, his hand laying limp beside him. He had grown up in a household where fending for himself was the only way to make it, but those days had come and gone. This was an entirely different world to him, and it eased his mind some to know he was going to be just fine. "Yeah, I know. I just...I guess I'm not used to having people take care of me like this." He still had a long ways to go before he could leave. There was also the uncertainty of life afterwards, how was he going to go about living his life again?

In a way, Ellie was right. He could see this as something of a vacation, he never really had those growing up and could only imagine what they must be like. Sure, he'd traveled out of the city before. In fact, he used to enjoy driving out of the city until all he could see was the open road in front of him. "You've got a good point there. I hardly even remember what my own name is half the time, but you're right about that. All kinds of good drugs." His doctors assigned him the strongest medication to dull the pain, yet he could still feel the soreness and stiffness that wouldn't go away. Sleep came easy though, there were an endless amount of drugs for that too. "No, it's okay. I don't know why I got my hopes up like that, I had expected this much from them. I just think maybe I shouldn't give up so quickly. "