grenades; parkbomb

{chapter 5}

-Parker's POV-

I go down into the basement of my small house that I share with my mom and dad. I already told them that I'm leaving and they are okay with it. I quickly grab my suitcase and duffle bag, and sprint up the stairs on all fours, like I did when I was a kid, duffle bag and suitcase dragging behind me.

I start to take all of my clothes out of my tall oak dresser, and place them on my small twin size bed.

Then, I fold all of my clothes as small as I can get them, and squeeze them into my red duffle that has my name stiched into it.

As I attempt to zip closed the duffle that is overflowing with clothes, I hear a faint buzzing coming from my desk.

I head over to see that I am getting a phone call from an unknown number.

"Hello?" I ask after I click answer.

"Hello, is this Parker Coppins?" the woman on the other line asks.

"Yes, how can I help you?" I ask as I sit down in my large desk chair.

"Well, I'm calling you from Chicago Hospital and you're close friend Liam was in a car crash last night." The woman tells me. I become tense and frantic as I feel my stomach drop.

"What? Is he okay? How did this happen? Was he drunk? Do I need to-"

"Sir, please calm down. He has requested you come visit him early." Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down?!

I start to take deep breaths and close my eyes.

"Okay, please tell him I will get there as soon as I can."

"Alright, have a wonderful evening." She says as she hangs up.

What if Liam dies? I need to be there for him. I sit down at my desk, and yet again have to cancel my last flight and book another.

Luckily, I find a flight for tomorrow morning at 7.

I quickly finish packing, not able to get the thought of Liam dying out of my mind.

After I double check I have everything, I crawl into bed, still tense. I take deep breaths again, and drift off to sleep with the thought of Liam stuck in my mind.

/time skip to next morning\

I'm on the bus that I used to take to school when I was a kid. Why am I here?

I quickly stand up from the cheap dark blue seats and run to the front of the bus.

"Sit down!" The bus driver yells at me. That voice is so familiar.

Ignoring his order for me to sit down, I continue to run up the isle way, pushing legs out of my way.

The more I run, the longer the isle way gets!

"I said to sit down!" The man yells again. He isnt watching the road now, hes watching me.

I have to get up there. I dont know why, I just have to.

"Sit down before I pull the alarm!" Alarm? I dont remember any alarms on the buses.

"You asked for it!" he says, pulling a rope that dangles from the ceiling.

I hear a loud beeping now. My eyes burst open and I shoot up from my fetus sleeping postition. My dream is over but the beeping isnt stopping! I get up and look around. Im not on the bus anymore. Im in my room.

Then I realize thats just my alarm clock.

Aggravated, I hit the off button on the small black plastic alarm clock that sits on my nightstand and grab my bags and car keys.

When I get downstairs, I see my mom sitting on the big light brown recliner, reading.

"Hey mom, Im leaving now." I tell her.

She sniffles before she talks, and trys to hide her red face and puffy eyes from crying. "Oh, okay honey. Call me when you get there." she says, her voice shaky.

I set my bags down and pull her into a hug.

"Its going to be okay. Ill come home to visit soon. We can skype whenever you want, and call me if you need anything. Okay?" I say. I remember when I was little, she would do this for me, when I would leave for summer camp. I feel like weve switched places.

"Okay, I love you." she says into my shoulder, leaving wet spots on my red tribal print hoodie.

"I love you too. Tell dad I love him and will miss him." I say, pulling away and looking her in the eyes.

"Okay, you should go." she says, wiping hear small eyes with her sleeve.

"Okay, bye!" I say as I pick up my bags again.

"Bye doodle!" She used to call me that when I was little. I remember she said that exactly when it was my first time leaving for summer camp.

I turn around and wave bye to her as I close the garage door.

As soon as I shut the door, I feel hot tears spill over my eyes. I throw my bags into the back seat of my car, and quickly drive out of the garage towards the airport.

I scheduled someone to go pickup my car from the airport and drive it back home.

/time skip to 5 hours later\

-Liam's POV-

I like to think of bad things that happen as grenades.

The way a grenade works is, you pull the handle on the side of it, throw it, and then it explodes.

My handle got pulled when my mother told me about this "exception".

I was thrown when she told me I was not a part of our, her, family anymore.

I exploded when I shattered the door.

-

I wake up to hear a faint "Okay, thank you so much" coming from outside of my small room.

Where am I? I look around to see white tile floors, white celings, and light brown walls. Im in a very squishy bed and have cables and cords hooked up to me all over.

My thoughts and observations are interrupted by the door being opened.

I look over to see Parker running in and pulling me into a hug.

I try to stand up, but feel a sharp pain in my neck and chest.

I quickly pull away and adjust my postition to wear the pain is somewhat bareable.

"Liam! Oh my gosh Im so happy youre okay!" he says. Im okay? What is going on.

"Parker, what happened? Why am I here?"

Parker begins to speak, but is interrupted by a soft voice coming from the tall doorway.

"You passed out while driving, and swerved into the oppisite lane." I instantly remember everything.

"Is the other driver okay?" I ask. This is the first time I look over to the voice. The woman is tall and has long brown hair. She looks about 5 years older than me. She has bright green eyes, and square glasses.

"Yes, she has a minor break in her left leg. You hit Corrine Smith."

Corrine. I look at Parker, and we are both speechless.

The woman, confused, asks if she can do anything else for me. I tell her no for now.

"Corrine." I say, not knowing what else to say.

"Yea, maybe you should get back to sleep bud. You look really tired." Parker tells me. I am really tired. And dizzy.

I close my eyes and quickly fall asleep, still confused.