Page 1
Story: Black Flag
1.200 MPH Tape – Sway
200 MPH Tape – This isalso known as “racers tape”. Duct tape so strong it will hold a banged up racecar together long enough to finish a race.
“How’s he doing?” Iasked Nancy, Jameson’s mother, standing outside his hospital room.
After hearing of the accident,we arrived about an hour ago at the Pocono Medical Center but still hadn’t beenallowed to see him.
I understood, seeinghow it was now around three in the morning. It was hardly visiting hours but Iwouldn’t be anywhere else right now. Not when my boyfriend, and the father ofmy unborn baby were here.
Nancy’s teary eyes metmine before wrapping her arms around my neck, holding me for a long moment.“The doctor is in there right now doing an exam. One of his broken ribspunctured his lung. That seems to be the worst of it. Also, the capillaries inhis eyes ruptured from the G-force of the hit so his face looks pretty bad.”
Nancy broke away frommy embrace when a few members of his team approached us. Justin West, one ofthe drivers of Jameson’s sprint car team, and close friend of his, smiledtoward me. It was a comforting gesture and one I appreciated right then.
“Will he need surgery?”Jameson’s younger sister, Emma, returned with three bottles of water handingthem to Nancy and me.
“Not for the lung. Theyput in a chest tube so that seemed to help. He will need pins put in his wristas the bone splintered up his arm.”
I cringed, thinkingabout how painful that must have been for him and knowing that out of anyone,Jameson Riley could handle physical pain. A few other drivers for the cupseries came by to check on Jameson. Bobby Cole, his teammate with Riley Racing,approached us, his dark hair scattered from a night of sleeplessness.
“Is he stillunconscious?” Bobby asked leaning against the wall, his tired eyes hard.
Looking over his team,everyone looked exhausted. Though they looked exhausted, no one would leavenow. Not until they knew he’d been all right.
“He’s in and out. Thedoctors are giving him medicine to keep him sedated. He’ll heal faster thatway.” Nancy looked down at her hands. “He’s got numerous broken bones on hisleft side and you know Jameson, hewon’tstay still.”
I was starting to getdizzy again so I used the wall for support, sliding down until I was sitting onthe floor and pulled my knees to my chest.
Immediately Nancy andEmma were beside me.
“Are you okay?” Nancyasked.
Nancy, though shewasn’t my biological mother, mine died of breast cancer when I was six, was theclosest thing I had to a mother these days.
The guys walked backtoward the waiting room with the rest of his team, leaving us alone outsideJameson’s room.
“Yeah...I just...I’m worried about him.”
“He’s going to be okay,Sway.” Nancy reached for my hand. Her rusty loops of hair that matched Jameson’sfell into her face. “How are you feeling?” She asked brushing my own hair frommy face.
“She puked the entireplane ride here.” Emma answered for me. “Poor Wes was a little grossed out byit all.”
“I wassosickwhen I was pregnant with Jameson.” Nancy smiled. “The first four months werespent praying to the porcelain gods.”
After a debate with mycat, Mr. Jangles, and him eating my birth control pills, I ended up pregnant.Long winded story short, I flew out to Charlotte to watch my best friends firstCoca-Cola 600, we ended up becoming fuck buddies with benefits, discovered weloved each other all along, and that ended in me getting knocked up. There wasa lot more to it, but that’s the short version.
“See, he was an assholeeven back then.” Emma added casually picking at her nail polish.
“He was a perfect babythough,” Nancy defended flicking Emma’s arm. “I did have a horrible pregnancybut he was the best baby out of all you.” Emma glared.“Alwaysquiet and observing.Jimi actually pinched him sometimes just to makesure he was normal and would cry.” Nancy got this far away look as sheremembered her youngest son as a baby. “The first time we took him to a race,it was at Skagit. He was maybe nine months old at the time. His eyes never leftthe track. He was mesmerized by the cars even then.”
I smiled, that soundedlike Jameson. For being the middle child of Nancy and Jimi, he was completelydifferent from Emma and Spencer.
The door cracked openand all three of us stood.
A round dark haired manthat looked like a stubby version of George Clooney walked out. I assumed thiswas the doctor by the white coat.
His eyes found Nancy.“We will be taking him for surgery on Tuesday morning. I want to give him sometime to rest.” He told her. “Our main concern is the pneumothorax.”
I’m pretty sure hecould tell we all had no idea what that was. It sounded like a fancy name for“pain in the ass” to me.
200 MPH Tape – This isalso known as “racers tape”. Duct tape so strong it will hold a banged up racecar together long enough to finish a race.
“How’s he doing?” Iasked Nancy, Jameson’s mother, standing outside his hospital room.
After hearing of the accident,we arrived about an hour ago at the Pocono Medical Center but still hadn’t beenallowed to see him.
I understood, seeinghow it was now around three in the morning. It was hardly visiting hours but Iwouldn’t be anywhere else right now. Not when my boyfriend, and the father ofmy unborn baby were here.
Nancy’s teary eyes metmine before wrapping her arms around my neck, holding me for a long moment.“The doctor is in there right now doing an exam. One of his broken ribspunctured his lung. That seems to be the worst of it. Also, the capillaries inhis eyes ruptured from the G-force of the hit so his face looks pretty bad.”
Nancy broke away frommy embrace when a few members of his team approached us. Justin West, one ofthe drivers of Jameson’s sprint car team, and close friend of his, smiledtoward me. It was a comforting gesture and one I appreciated right then.
“Will he need surgery?”Jameson’s younger sister, Emma, returned with three bottles of water handingthem to Nancy and me.
“Not for the lung. Theyput in a chest tube so that seemed to help. He will need pins put in his wristas the bone splintered up his arm.”
I cringed, thinkingabout how painful that must have been for him and knowing that out of anyone,Jameson Riley could handle physical pain. A few other drivers for the cupseries came by to check on Jameson. Bobby Cole, his teammate with Riley Racing,approached us, his dark hair scattered from a night of sleeplessness.
“Is he stillunconscious?” Bobby asked leaning against the wall, his tired eyes hard.
Looking over his team,everyone looked exhausted. Though they looked exhausted, no one would leavenow. Not until they knew he’d been all right.
“He’s in and out. Thedoctors are giving him medicine to keep him sedated. He’ll heal faster thatway.” Nancy looked down at her hands. “He’s got numerous broken bones on hisleft side and you know Jameson, hewon’tstay still.”
I was starting to getdizzy again so I used the wall for support, sliding down until I was sitting onthe floor and pulled my knees to my chest.
Immediately Nancy andEmma were beside me.
“Are you okay?” Nancyasked.
Nancy, though shewasn’t my biological mother, mine died of breast cancer when I was six, was theclosest thing I had to a mother these days.
The guys walked backtoward the waiting room with the rest of his team, leaving us alone outsideJameson’s room.
“Yeah...I just...I’m worried about him.”
“He’s going to be okay,Sway.” Nancy reached for my hand. Her rusty loops of hair that matched Jameson’sfell into her face. “How are you feeling?” She asked brushing my own hair frommy face.
“She puked the entireplane ride here.” Emma answered for me. “Poor Wes was a little grossed out byit all.”
“I wassosickwhen I was pregnant with Jameson.” Nancy smiled. “The first four months werespent praying to the porcelain gods.”
After a debate with mycat, Mr. Jangles, and him eating my birth control pills, I ended up pregnant.Long winded story short, I flew out to Charlotte to watch my best friends firstCoca-Cola 600, we ended up becoming fuck buddies with benefits, discovered weloved each other all along, and that ended in me getting knocked up. There wasa lot more to it, but that’s the short version.
“See, he was an assholeeven back then.” Emma added casually picking at her nail polish.
“He was a perfect babythough,” Nancy defended flicking Emma’s arm. “I did have a horrible pregnancybut he was the best baby out of all you.” Emma glared.“Alwaysquiet and observing.Jimi actually pinched him sometimes just to makesure he was normal and would cry.” Nancy got this far away look as sheremembered her youngest son as a baby. “The first time we took him to a race,it was at Skagit. He was maybe nine months old at the time. His eyes never leftthe track. He was mesmerized by the cars even then.”
I smiled, that soundedlike Jameson. For being the middle child of Nancy and Jimi, he was completelydifferent from Emma and Spencer.
The door cracked openand all three of us stood.
A round dark haired manthat looked like a stubby version of George Clooney walked out. I assumed thiswas the doctor by the white coat.
His eyes found Nancy.“We will be taking him for surgery on Tuesday morning. I want to give him sometime to rest.” He told her. “Our main concern is the pneumothorax.”
I’m pretty sure hecould tell we all had no idea what that was. It sounded like a fancy name for“pain in the ass” to me.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201