Billy’s grandmother ran outside to see the driver of the car exit his vehicle. She looked glanced over at Katie crying and her grandson picking himself up.

  “Abuela, you have to call an ambulance! He hit Jacob!” he said through a shuddering breath.

  She raised her hands, trying to remain calm and think. Without saying a word, she rushes inside to call for an ambulance. The driver knelt down and rolled Jacob over. He was distraught and checked for a pulse.

  “Come on, kid!”

  “Get away from him!” Katie roared.

  “I’m sorry! He jumped out of nowhere!”

  “You were speeding! We saw you!” Billy shouted.

  The driver gripped his head. Katie and Billy ran over to their friend and began sobbing. Mimi darted toward them. They watched as she let out a low-pitched meow and looked over Jacob. The sound of fast approaching sirens could be heard in the distance. More cars began to drive up, stopping due to the accident.

  A woman jumped out of her car and ran to help. She tied her hair into a sloppy ponytail and began asking questions, kneeling down near Jacob. Katie and Billy explained what happened as the stranger began administering CPR. The womans passenger arrived with a first aid kit and immediately started dressing wound, putting pressure on the more severe ones.

  An ambulance and firetruck arrived, and responders took over. Katie gently grabbed Mimi; her eyes full of tears. Billy ran to his grandmother, grabbing the phone and called Jacob's house to alert his parents. Two officers arrived and started questioning everyone. One of the badges broke away and started diverting traffic, announcing the street was closed off for now.

  Jacob’s parents and Katies father arrived near simultaneously. The second officer tried to stop them, letting them through when they announced that was their son. Katie’s father walked over to console her; his eyes watery. He squeezed her at the sound of Jacobs mother's scream. They watched together as they loaded the injured boy into the back, his mother entering as well. Mimi shifted in Katie’s arms in an attempt to free herself. Finally jumping down.

  “Mimi, no!” Katie shouted.

  She snuck her way into the ambulance as the door was closing. Jacob’s father signaled to Katie’s father as he jogged over to his car to move it out of the way and follow them to the hospital. They all drove away, leaving the distraught kids behind.

  ***

  It had been ten hours since Jacob entered emergency surgery. His father was on his seventh cup of coffee. His mother stared forward with puffy, red eyes as she mindlessly picked her fingernails. Mimi laid under an adjacent chair, sleeping. The doors to the ICU wing opened and a man in blue scrubs entered the waiting area, causing them to immediately shoot to their feet.

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  “You must be the parents of ‘Jacob Danson’? he said.

  “Yes, yes! That’s us. Please tell us anything!”

  “Can we see him!?” his mother asked.

  “Before you see him, please understand…we did everything we could. He has broken bones…uh..ribs, possibly from the CPR. Left radius, which required plates and screws and…his skull was fractured on the right side,” the doctor nervously wrung his hand, “There was swelling and bleeding on the brain, we had to put him in a coma to rest him. He’s critical, but stable.”

  His mother tightened her fists and closed her eyes tight, squeezing the tears out.

  “Please, let me see him!”

  “Of course, please follow me.”

  Mimi awakened and followed as the doctor lead them to a private room. There, Jacob laid silently, intubated, casted and bandaged. Jacob's mother sobbed into his father's chest. Mimi ran under his bed and sat quietly.

  “I will give you two some privacy. I will be at the center station if you have any more questions.”

  “Thank you, Doctor..” the father said, consoling his wife.

  They slowly walked over to the bed. His mother wept; his father stood teary eyed. Machines beeped and hissed as he laid there. The father grabbed a chair and sat his wife down, kneeling beside her.

  “He’s going to be okay. He’s a special kid. He’ll be back to playing in no time,” the father whispered.

  ***

  Three days later, Katie and Billy were there with them. Her father held flowers and the newest issue of the trio’s favorite comic. By now, everyone was up to speed on what caused this. It even made the local news. The boy who saved a cat and risked his own life proved quite a popular headline. While Mimi was still missing, many still thought the act was extremely noble. Donated flowers and balloons took up every portion of the wall and horizontal surface. The largest bouquet came from the missing cat's owner, when Katie revealed during an interview it was that very feline.

  The coverage also renewed local calls to make the neighborhood safer and to crackdown on speeders.

  The driver of the car was out on bail and had time to send flowers and a card, though it laid in the trash. His mother was past the point of crying and was quite angry at the situation, quite understandably so.

  ***

  It had been six days since and Jacob barely improved. This worried the doctors, his parents, his friends and their families. But his father still held out hope he would bounce back. His friends arrived for their daily visit. Giving hugs to the parents and walking over to say hi to their best friend. Katie touched his hand as Billy looked at them both. They felt lost without their friend and the nightmares of what happened keep them up constantly.

  Mimi watched as the visitors went to say their goodbyes for the day, the machines around Jacob began beeping faster. His parents looked at each other before rushing into the hall. The staff were already on their way wheeling a cart as fast as they could. The doctor asked for everyone to wait in the hall. Jacob’s mother began sobbing in his father's arms. Billy and Katie tearfully backed into the hallway, the latter of the two throwing herself into her father's arms.

  The once sharp lines on the monitor now lay flat. The room was live with a lifesaving ballet of doctors and nurses, dancing around each other with supplies and devices. Mimi darted from under the bed into a corner.

  The loud talking, the voices, the sobbing, screaming and even the piercing tone of the monitor stopped.

  All of it.

  The birds and planes in the sky, the cars on the roads, the drops of rain outside.

  All frozen in place.