A Better Boyfriend (GirlxGirl)

Twelve- Destiny

Scarlet responded to my needing to go home with a slightly saddened smile.

"I'll see you soon," she said.

"Hey, yes you will," I promised, pulling her into another hug.

It wasn't as though I could go very long without seeing her now, anyway. After all, it was her birthday.

So, I told Scarlet goodbye and started to head in the direction of my own house.

I wandered in to find that my dad- Phillip- was passed out on the sofa, with a bottle of Fireball whiskey on the ground beside me.

Just great.

I wasn't going to bear any thought to his alcoholic tendencies, as I made my way upstairs to collect Scarlet's gifts into a bag.

My phone began to buzz, then.

It had only been around half an hour but I still felt as though I was taking forever to return to her on her birthday.

The call couldn't have been that important, could it?

It was coming from a number that I didn't recognise, but I also felt it was probably a good idea to answer it.

"Hey," I said.

"Destiny. I'm at the hospital right now. With Scarlet. I-"

It was Chase.

What the fuck?

What was going on?

"Chase?" I asked.

Alright, so I may not have necessarily liked the guy, but I could tell by the panic in his voice that something seriously shitty had gone down. The big SSS, in short.

"Just get here, soon, please," he said.

I released a shaky breath, grabbed the presents and my dad's car keys (alright, so I hadn't passed my test yet, but I could drive, and this was an emergency) and left.

I got into the car and drove the twenty-three minutes to the hospital. Yes. I counted each one. What had happened? Was it Scarlet? I felt sick to my stomach. I hadn't even left her for that long and...

I rushed to the front desk after I had briskly exited my dad's vehicle and asked them where Scarlet Austen's room was.

They let me know and I made my way there to find she was lying in bed with bandages around her head. Her eyes were closed.

"What?" I whispered.

Chase was sat beside her bed, all hunched over and concerned. He looked older, right now, as though the stress was aging him. The stress was about to start aging me, if I wasn't careful to control it.

I dropped the bag of presents on the floor beside Scarlet's bed and sat in the chair next to it.

"She was rushed in here and they put bandages on her and-" Chase cut off.

"Is she going to survive?" I asked.

"Well, they hope so," Chase said.

They fucking hoped so. They better start knowing.

"This is ridiculous," I said under my breath.

"That's what I thought," Chase replied with a solemn tone.

"Chase. Start speaking. Start explaining. How did she end up here?" I asked him.

"She was heading back home from god knows where and as she was crossing the road to our house, some fucking idiot comes out of nowhere, tries to swerve to avoid her but just doesn't, and hit her. She fell over the front of the car and shards of glass ended up in her arm. She then fell onto the ground and that's where they reckon she got her head trauma," Chase said.

No. Maybe she got her head trauma from playing dodgeball with some magic pixies.

Alright, so, perhaps I was just one of those assholes who used humour to function under seriously stressful circumstances, but it kind of helped.

Something was clearer now, though, Chase did care, quite a lot, actually, which made the way I was feeling all the more difficult to face.

"Head trauma? Fuck, Chase," I said.

"I know," he replied. It was as though he wasn't sure what else to say, and I honestly couldn't blame him for that. I wasn't sure what to say either, but then again, I hardly ever spoke to Chase, and when I did, it wasn't as though the two of us exactly got along.

"She's going to have a slight brain injury," the doctor told the nurse, as he entered the room to check over her, "She may struggle to remember things for a little while, but there's no internal bleeding, which is really great to see, and brain activity is good. She should wake up in a couple of hours or so," he told Chase and me.

So, I supposed that now it was simply a waiting game. I just hoped that I would find Scarlet alive and well at the end of it.

Shit, though.

The doctors had said that she could forget things.

That wasn't good.

I swallowed anxiously. How does a day go from being so good to so scary in a matter of moments? I supposed that was why we had to embrace the present moment, because none of us ever had any idea of what could happen next.

I sat and waited and waited and waited some more. Eventually, Scarlet's eyes fluttered opened and she looked around the room with bewilderment. And who could blame her? she had just been hit by a car. I winced as I thought about it. I wasn't sure I even wanted to think about it.

"Where?" Scarlet asked. "Where am I?" she managed to get out.

"Hey, love. You're at the hospital," I told her, squeezing her shoulder slightly.

Scarlet winced at my touch, so I quickly dropped my hand back down by my side.

Chase had left to go and get a coffee, because of course he had.

"Who are you? Sorry..." Scarlet said, as she placed a hand upon her forehead.

Crap.

"I'm Destiny. I'm your best friend," I said.

"I'm sorry, I'm sure I know you, I just-"

"Destiny, we're going to need a moment with your friend here," the doctor informed me, as he entered the room, and I had no choice but to leave.