Leah and I had been best friends since second grade, when Kara Daniels tried stealing my chocolate pudding cup in the lunchroom. Leah saw the whole thing from across the cafeteria. She got up from her chair, walked over to Kara and punched her right in the nose. That little bully fell backasswards off her seat, stunned. Leah of course went to the principal's office for it. He called her parents and she got sent home for the rest of the day. Honestly, she got off easy. When she returned to school the next day, we were inseparable and have been ever since. Kara Daniels, of course, never bothered me again. Leah and I did everything together, and even graduated from the same college, but shortly after, she decided to return to school and get her nursing license, after several failed attempts at finding a job revealed that you couldn’t do jack shit with a philosophy degree.
“Leah, I'm sorry. I was going to text you as soon as we got through triage, but they just put us in here. The whole thing has been one giant blur. I thought concussions were supposed to be instantaneous. We sat on the couch watching The Wizard of Oz for over an hour. What if I made it worse by not doing anything?” I said.
“Should I have taken her here right away? What if her brain is hemorrhaging or something?” I think my blood pressure doubled with each word. I don’t know why I started panicking again. Stress is a funny thing.
“Clare. Seriously, calm down.” She kneeled down in front on me as I sat next to Maddie on the bed.
“You didn't do anything wrong. You know by now that you can't take her to the ER for every bump, scratch or fall,” she said soothingly. “You did everything perfectly. Now shut the hell up and relax.” She paused, and then scrunched her nose in disgust. “Did you know you totally smell?”
A giggle escaped out of me and I pulled her toward me for a tight hug, silently thanking her.
“No, I mean, like really smell. Don’t hug me! Yuck!” I laughed harder. I could even hear Maddie giggling a little next to me. Leah had always been my savior when my world was flipped upside down.
“Seriously, are you doing okay? You know, being here?” she asked, knowing the last time I’d been here, having been in that waiting room holding my hand to the very end.
“Yeah, I mean. I guess.” I smiled weakly. She squeezed my hand, knowing when not to push.
“Okay, well take care of my girl. I’ll be back to check on you later. And seriously, find a change of clothes, cause you are just nasty,” she teased.
“Thanks, Nurse Morgan. You are the bestest nurse ever,” I mocked as she rolled her eyes and headed for the door.
Being here was like anywhere else that reminded me of him, the ice cream shop, our favorite restaurant, and the grocery store. It’s like ripping off a Band-Aid, just have to f**king do it and get it over with. Of course, he didn’t die at the ice cream shop.
I pulled myself away from going down that awful road. Leah’s right, Maddie was fine. Just because there were memories here that haunted me and filled my soul with dread didn’t mean that every event here would end with the same outcome. I looked over at Maddie who was now resting comfortably, and I felt calmer.
“You know Maddie? I think we’ll be able to go home in no time!” I said enthusiastically. She looked over at me and smiled, right before she lifted herself up and hurled over the side of the bed, right on my shoes.
Chapter Two
~Logan~
I don’t even know why I answered the phone. My best friend Colin meant well, but he sounded like a f**king broken record, and I didn’t want to hear it. Mostly because everything he said was true.
"Dude, you’ve got to stop burning the candle at both ends. You're gonna end up leaving a bloody cloth in someone's gut or something," Colin said as I leaned back in the hard plastic chair of the hospital cafeteria, staring at my half eaten dinner. Ham and cheese sandwich that tasted like cardboard, with a side of caffeine. Again.
"Yeah, well everyone has a hobby. Some people cliff dive, others garden or practice meditation. I just happen to excel at going to bars, drinking and picking up women." I don't think he found me nearly as funny as I was trying to appear.
The fact is I was tired.
So f**king tired of everything, and...I just didn’t care anymore. When I left the hospital, I didn’t want to go home. I don’t know why I bought that house in the first place. It was so empty. I moved to Richmond to disappear. Colin thought it was to be closer to him, and yes, it was nice having him around. When I actually bothered seeing him. God, I was an ass. But at least he had Ella. He wasn’t a bachelor anymore, and as happy as I was for him, I was also envious. I hated that feeling. I hated most feelings these days. Going home to the big empty house left me wandering the halls with nothing to do but think. So instead, I went out to a bar or a club, trying to disappear in the crowds of people. Until I got recognized. Do people really not have a life? Since when did billionaires’ kids become so damn interesting? It did make finding a woman to go home with easier. No one said no to a night with Mitchell Matthew’s son. Too bad I didn’t actually stay until morning.
“So, that's not really the reason I was calling," he said with a nervous twitch in his voice. Why was he nervous? In all the years I’d known him, Colin had never been nervous about anything. He always faced everything head on with balls of steel. I still remember the night he’d met his wife, back when I’d still be a decent guy to hang out with, before I’d turned into the bastard I was now. We were at a crowded bar around campus when he first spotted her, walking in with a date. He said he knew at first sight she was “the one” and had to talk to her before she disappeared into the crowd. Thinking he was crazy, I turned to tell him so, but he was already gone. A man on a mission. He dodged people left and right, even jumping over a table full of people to get to her. Finally reaching her table, he kneeled down in front of her, totally ignoring her date, and looked up at her with his trademark shit-eating grin and said, "You're going to be the mother of my children, and I've been sitting in this bar waiting my whole life for you. So why don't you say goodbye to this loser and go someplace with me?"
The whole bar was silent by now, having witnessed the table jumping shenanigans and heard his declaration of love. She looked around, turning red from all the attention, when suddenly her horrified face transformed into a mischievous smile. Thinking he’d won her over, he smiled back, waiting for her to say yes and follow him into the sunset or whatever.