The first thing I heard when I started gaining consciousness was a faint beeping. Soft talking came from my right but I could only make out a few words. “... accident... fatal... alright...”
My mind finally registered that was a hand grasping my left one and that it was tense and rough. It took me a good thirty seconds to finally force my eyes open to see Aaron sitting in a chair as pale as a ghost. My eyes took a sweep around, confirming I was in a hospital. In fact, even if I hadn’t have looked around, I still would have been able to tell from the smell. “Aaron,” I croaked, my voice raspy.
He straightened, turning towards me. “Tera.” His voice was filled with relief and slight anger.
Soon, three other figures were behind him. David. Joey. My dad. The look on Joey’s face showed me he did not want to be here. he was glued to my dad’s side and his eyes were wide and frantic. I sighed but then ended up coughing due to the pain. “Go home,” I barely managed to get out. “Just Aaron stay.”
“Tera - “
“Go!” I said louder than intended and ended up in a coughing fit again.
There were a few objections but one look from Aaron sent them shuffling out the door. Once they were gone and my coughing stopped, I turned my head slightly in the direction Aaron was sitting and gave him my most apologetic look while asking, “What happened?”
“Gee, I don’t know. I was sitting at home jerking off when your dad called and said you got in a car accident. I got here as fast as I could.”
Silence fell over for a few moments. “Aaron, you have to believe me... I don’t know what is going on and after tonight, I’m pretty sure it’s not hallucinations.” I paused. “I’ve tried everything which included telling myself none of this was real; that this was all fake only to find my worst nightmare flying at my windshield.”
Aaron stared at me for what felt like hours before he finally let go of my hand and buried his face into both of them. “Tera, you need to tell me exactly what happened... Starting from when we were in the car this afternoon.”
I let out a breath and launched into the three events that happened. Through my whole explanation, Aaron sat there passively, holding one hand to his mouth and grasping my hand with the other one. It got tighter as I went on, but I ignored it, doing the best I could to describe exactly what had happened. After I was done, I looked down at myself and threw in the question, “How bad am I hurt exactly?”
“Surprisingly, you only had two broken ribs and just a lot of cuts and bruises.” His tone was very neutral.
Fighting against every ounce of pain that shot through me when I moved, I forced myself into a sitting position and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “You’re my best friend, Aaron. I would never lie to you...”
He nodded and stood, kissing my forehead. “The feelings are mutual.” He then changed the subject. “Can you walk?”
I shrugged and ignored the agony that shot through me. Aaron slid his hands under my arms and slowly helped me out of bed. Embarrassment flooded through me when I realized I was just in a hospital gown. The breeze flowing down my spine made me shiver. “Uhm,” I coughed. “Clothes...”
He nodded and handed me a neatly folded pile of clothes. Slowly, I backed into the bathroom and shut the door. I nearly screamed when I saw my reflection. The whole left side of my face was a bruise and on the right side of my face, a gash ran from the corner of my mouth to my ear. My body was somewhat similar, covered in dark blue spots and red lines.
After a ten minute process, I was finally into the big sweatpants and t-shirt Aaron had brought me. Glancing at the pile of clothes on the floor, I took my time in reaching and picking them up.
