The hospital was quiet and dark, with hallways around every corner that seemed to go on as far as Michael could see. He entered a room to his left, and he wasn't sure what he was doing there, but he did know that his being there had a purpose.
The room was empty except for a single solitary chair in the corner. Some unseen force pulled Michael towards it and guided him to sit down.
Moments later, a doctor entered the room. He frowned at Michael before slowly approaching him.
"Your sister is dead, Michael," the doctor said with horrible finality. "Her neck was snapped by the airbag."
Michael almost choked. The doctor turned and faced the doorway before continuing. "I suppose you can be reassured that she died instantly with no suffering," he faced Michael, his face grave. "But you still killed her."
Michael felt a panicky feeling arise within himself. He had killed her, he had known that all along.
"It was all your fault, Michael," The doctor shook his head, disgust in his eyes. "If you had just let your sister sit in the back seat, this poor little girl would still be alive."
He gestured to the left side of the room, and Michael turned to see a tearful Grace standing there, her body flickering like a hologram.
He tried to stand up and rush towards her, but he felt something holding him back. He looked down and, with a shock, realized he was chained to his chair.
"Oh, no, Michael," The doctor grinned evilly. "You're not escaping. You killed a little girl. You're going to get put away where you can't hurt anybody anymore, at least not anybody important."
Michael struggled against his bonds, but they were too strong. He couldn't escape. He turned to look at Grace again, and felt like crying when he saw the look of fear and sadness in her eyes. She edged towards the wall, away from him, as if he was a dangerous monster that might harm her further. The doctor hurried towards her and guided her towards the door, whispering words of comfort to her. He shot one more look of disgust towards Michael before slamming the door behind him.
Michael snapped awake, and his breath was shuddery. His heart was beating so fast he felt it might explode, and he could feel hot tears running down his cheeks. He pressed his face into his pillow and screamed every curse word he knew. Needless to say, when he turned back up and look at the ceiling, tears still cascading down his face like a waterfall, his voice was more than a little hoarse.
---
Michael didn't fall asleep again that night, and he must have looked terrible because when he sat down at the breakfast table the next morning, Suzanne gave him a worried look. "Are you okay?"
Michael wordlessly shook his head.
"Don't worry," She sighed, patting his hand (Why did people always do that?!). "It's okay to he upset."
Michael knew it was okay to be upset, and he didn't feel like being told that by some old lady who didn't know anything about what he was feeling right then, but he kept his mouth shut. He was smart enough to know that if you're staying with someone for the whole summer, it would be wise not to make them mad at you on the first day.
He finished his cereal and them went to go change. When he came back, Suzanne was talking with someone at the door.
His aunt turned to look at him and Michael glimpsed blonde hair streaked with blue. Ari.
"Oh, Michael, Ari is here and she's offered to show you around the village," Suzanne smiled. "It's a beautiful day." She offered up, as if she was trying to sell him a car.
Michael rolled his eyes and nodded, grabbing his shoes. Suzanne slipped him a twenty before he stepped out the door, winking and saying it was for 'just in case'.
Once he and Ari had departed down the path, Ari turned to look at him. "There's an ice cream shop down the road. Want to get some?"
Michael was oddly excited by the idea of ice cream for breakfast, and he nodded. They began to walk, and Ari glanced at him, a curious look on her face.
"You don't talk much, do you?" She asked.
"Why would you say that?" Michael wondered aloud.
"Well, apart from that, the only word I've ever heard you say was 'hey'."
Michael shrugged, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. "I'm pretty chatty once you get to know me." He was also pretty stubborn, and really only talking to prove her wrong.
"Um..." He wanted to ask her something he'd been wondering about since they'd first met. "Does Ari stand for anything?"
She blushed and bit her lip. "Uh...no?"
"I don't believe you." Michael crossed his arms and kicked a crabapple into the gutter.
"Are you sure you want to know?" Ari asked, smiling.
"Why wouldn't I?" Michael rolled his eyes.
"Okay fine," Ari stopped and turned towards him, not meeting his eyes. "Ari stands for...Arugula."
Michael smiled gently. "I love that name."
"Really?" She looked up at him hopefully. "Usually people are, like, repulsed."
"No, I'm definitely not repulsed."
They continued walking, and since Michael had been asleep for the drive in, his surroundings were completely unfamiliar.
They soon reached a cute little ice cream shop, and Michael noticed a group of boys sitting at a picnic table. Apparently ice cream for breakfast was a thing in Canada.
"Oh great," Arugula rolled her eyes. "People I know."
Sorry for the long wait, but school ended and I've just been really busy and yeah. I actually kinda like this chapter though, so that's good. Thanks for reading!!!
Loser_Luke
(Yay, finally, it happened! An authors note that isn't longer than the actual update!)
