my mind is racing at least a million miles per second as corpse hauls ass to the hospital. i've bitten down to each nail bed in anxiousness. once we arrive at the hospital, i escape out of the vehicle quickly, not caring if corpse is behind me or not and running to the receptionists desk,
"hello miss,"
"hello, i'm here for my brother, marek bradley."
"right," her tone softens,
"we can't accept visitors at this time, but once he is in stable condition, you can go in and see him."
"okay,"
i wander over to the waiting room seats, feeling useless and depressed. i notice corpse come and sit down next to me. he gently puts a hand on my shoulder and lips the words to me,
"im sorry." i only start to cry harder. just then he pulls me in and holds me as i cry into his chest, leaving tear stains on his black, cotton tee shirt. he soothingly rubs my back as my sobs start to slow down.
"ms bradley," i hear a doctor from behind me say. i immediately look up at him and he guides to marek's room. just before we go down the hallway, i motion for corpse to take my hand. he gets up instantly and intertwined it, squeezing it tightly as the pad of his thumb rubbed over the back of my hand. we arrive in the room and i am shocked at the sight. i let go of corpse's hand as i gaze upon my brother. seeing him covered in tubes, needles shoved in his arms, a mask over his face, casts on his limbs. just seeing him alone made the tears in my eyes blur my vision. i rush over to the side of the bed and hold his hand.
"hey, dude." i wipe my face,
"you better fucking make it, man." my voice break,
"i don't know what you were doing on that road but... you better make it," i cry. the room falls dead silent. with no doctors, and only a heart beat monitor and my sobs making the room echo. i hear the news coming from someone else's room. i hear the words "car" "bradley" "critical" and i immediately turn on the television to see if the news had identified who the other person was.
i knew in my bones that this had to have been personal. marek was always good with cars, always. i have never been in an accident with him even though he's dodged about a dozen accidents from other people coming at us or cutting us off. there was no way this was a "mistake" on his part. he has five cars for crying out loud, he knows what he's doing.
the cp24 news channel turns on the television. i immediately recognize the pickup truck that was behind the reporter. i then hear him say,
"this evening, one of the most popular online twitch streamers, marek bradley was in a vehicle collision this evening, and is in critical condition."
i turn to marek, almost expecting a response or reaction before remembering he was unconscious. i turn my attention back to the television.
"the other driver on the collision has been identified as tik tok star, vincent hacker."
corpse and i let out a sudden gasp. i look at him, unable to comprehend what i had just heard.
"h-he must've been keeping his promise from earlier." corpse suggested, sadly.
"you dont understand how mad this makes me... i am going to fucking kick this motherfuckers ass, i swear to god."
he got into this mess because of me. he wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for me.
i have never cried harder in my life.
i stay there the rest of the night, corpse too. he pulls up a chair for me to sit down on next to my brother and i eventually drift off to sleep.
