I looked at him like I have done so many times before. This time, though, he looked different. The dark irises under his eyes stood out against his pale skin. His hair was matted and flying in all directions even though it was short. He looked up at me and smiled a tired smile, a smile I had seen so many times on my parents, but not on him. No, that smile looked strange on his face. I smiled a reassuring smile hoping he would just belt out laughing and playfully punch me in the arm, but he didn’t.
“You should get going,” He said casually, “It’s getting late and you have school tomorrow.”
“You sound like my mother.” I said jokingly, but he only smiled halfheartedly and it hurt me knowing I didn’t know what he was thinking. As much as I wished, I couldn’t ask him what was wrong; I couldn’t ask him why he had been so tired lately. He would only respond with the same story he had been telling me for the past week; college is hard work and he had to work hard to get his grades up, He’s not in high school anymore, he’s more mature and he wants to prove it. I knew this was all a lie, he never had to work hard for good grades and he never thought any work was hard, but maybe he’s right. Maybe college is a whole different story, what was I kidding, something was wrong with him and I had to find out, quickly.
“Okay, well I’ll see you soon” I said smiling
“Alright,” He said not looking up from the bright laptop he had been glued to since I got there.
“Okay,” I muttered mostly to myself. I turned heading to the dorm room door and slipped out before I had to bite my tongue again. I walked down the narrow hallway leading to the big doors of the college. The night was cold and frosty, it had just snowed the night before and the town was still covered in white. The white made me feel like if I was in a Christmas play. I always wanted to be in one of those but I had a horrible case of stage fright. I got to my truck and got in. I sat there for a few minutes before I realized I was crying. I stuck my head in my hands and cried harder than I ever had before. I didn’t want things to change with my best friend. He had been my best friend for as long as I could remember, but now all of a sudden he’s been acting like I was an old friend and I was someone he didn’t know. I wiped the last tears away and pulled out of the parking lot and that’s when it happened. Maybe my mind was crowded and I didn’t notice. Maybe there were still some tears in my eyes distracting my view, or maybe just maybe I was too scared to look up and drive away from someone I had once known but changed in a matter of months. Either way I looked up too late and saw the shining light glowing straight through the wind-shield driving crazily. I tried to swerve but I had already collided with the other car. Bells rang in my ears and I saw white. I felt weightless and pain-free but that only lasted a moment before I heard screaming and blacked out.
“What happened? Is she going to be okay?” My dad’s voice was loud yet muffled by the wall.
“We don’t know for sure but as of right now, she only has temporary injuries. “ A deep man-like voice responded.
My eyes were closed and they felt too heavy to lift open. Slowly I opened my eyes, I found myself in a bright room with lights shining down on me like a spotlight on the stage. Everything in the room was white, the walls, the sheets, even the nurses’ gowns. I looked around for a calendar to see what day it was, it couldn’t have been long, and my parents still didn’t know what was wrong with me. My hands started searching for any bruises or cuts and I found a deep gash across my left arm that felt new and open. When I looked, though, there was a light brown cloth wrapped around it carefully. The door flew open and my eyes fluttered over to the tall man walking in. The first thing I noticed was a tattoo sticking out of his white sleeve of his doctor’s coat. He had a thick brown beard with hair that was shorter than a buzz cut. He seemed to be around his early 50’s. His clothes were so clean I wondered if he washed them every day. I closed my eyes before he could see I was awake. I didn’t want to know what I had done yet, I wanted to be ready. I felt his brown eyes staring at me but then he left. I slowly opened my eyes again to make sure no one was around to see I was awake, but a small woman with a nurses’ gown was watching me and saw my sudden movement before I could close my eyes again.
“Dr. Brown!” She said hurriedly and slurred. She rushed out but kept glancing at me as she walked out. A few minutes later Dr. Brown walked in with a more professional expression on.
“Good Morning, Georgia. How are you feeling?” He asked curiously as he poked around at the tubes that were in my nose.
“I’m good.” I said shaky, “Where are my parents?”
“Their right in the lobby, they’ve been here since the cops told them what happened.” He said smiling.
I didn’t respond but started looking out the door to give him the idea to get my parents. He didn’t get the flow and just stood there looking at the clipboard in his hands.
“Can…Can I see them please?” I said with a scared voice. I didn’t mean to sound scared but when you wake up somewhere you weren’t when you fell asleep, with people you don’t know, you’re scared. He nodded solemnly and walked out the door but not before leaving the clipboard on the bed. A few minutes later my parents walked in looking exactly how I left them.
“Honey,” My mom cried before she was fully in the room. She had a cardigan on and a black purse around her arm. She ran towards me with a lost expression on her face.
“Hey mom, what happened?” I asked into her shoulder that was pressing up into my face.
“You got into a car accident, you’re okay.” She said this as she was crying and crowded into my dad. My dad held her silently without saying anything to me. He only whispered words I would never know, into her ear. Then she wiped her tears and sat on the couch while my dad walked toward me.
“How are you feeling baby?” He asked with concern written on his face.
“Fine…fine.” I said not looking at his concerned face. I didn’t like lying to him, he was always so honest with me.
“Good” He said with a smile, “Everything’s going to be alright you know.”
I smiled because his words felt true. Everything’s going to be alright. I thought to myself. He let go of me and walked out of the room to look for the doctor.
“Hey mom, so what happened? Is the person I crashed into alright?” I asked
“Yes their fine sweetie, you got the worst of it. Thank God you were wearing your seat belt! If you weren’t you would have flew straight out the window-“
“Mom, I’m alright I didn’t fly out the window.” I said reassuring her with the soothing voice she always uses with me.
“I know, honey its just…strange to think about. I could have lost you today. Your father and I were sitting in the living room and we just get this call that you were in an accident and I just ran to get the keys and was in the car when your dad hung up with the cop.” She took a deep breath and stared at the blank wall in front of her.
“Mom, I’m fine.” I said breathless by the story she just told me. My mom never moved fast. I had never seen her cry. She was always the strong one and now she was crying in front of me. It was too much. “So how much did I get hurt?” I asked changing the subject.
“Well,” she responded more calm now that we were in non-awkward territory, “You have a broken arm and a couple bruises.” She responded ranting off about how thankful she was and blah. Then my dad came back in with a pleased expression and his hands behind his back.
“Why are you so happy dad?” I asked sitting up and smiling his contagious smile.
He whipped out two Snickers bars and handed me one.
“You looked in need of some chocolate.” He said already opening one and sitting down at the same time.
“Yeah, Thanks dad.” I said with a smile I hadn’t worn in a long time.
I looked at my parents and the way my dad’s arm was around my mom’s shoulders. I looked at my mom’s red worn out eyes and the smile that contrasted it. I looked at my dad eating his snickers and staring clueless into the wall. Everything’s going to be okay, I thought. I’ll heal and it’ll be like I was never in this mess. Then I’ll work things out with Jake, my best friend that left for college, and I won’t have to be clueless on our relationship.
“Hey mom, did you tell Jake about this accident?” I asked.
“Umm…” She said looking at my dad cautiously. “I know he was your friend but you have to be strong when I tell you this. He was the one you got in an accident with. He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and he’s in a very serious coma. They’re not sure he’s going to make it but, they found him holding note. It was addressed to you.” She said handing me a letter that looked torn and as if it was in a battle. I pulled it out of her hands and opened it. The first words I saw were I Love You. They were written in his perfect handwriting. I sat there holding the letter re-reading the few words. I stared at my mom and she was staring at me with a curious expression. Everything’s going to be alright, I thought.