An Unpredicted "Us"

We All

We all forget life is truly short. We don't know when we are going to die and most of us take that for granted. People chase the money and I get it. We need money to live thanks to the world and the way it's set up. We need to remember something more important than money...time!

We are on borrowed time. We don't know if we will be gone tomorrow or next week or five years from now. Most of us expect to live into our nineties or even early hundreds in this world now. And I can promise out of every single person on this planet many of us won't get to see tomorrow morning...but we think we will.

We fail to realize that every step we take is a dangerous one. That's why something as simple as walking can be considered a risk. I mean! Come on! There are literal risk analysts who have jobs for this reason.

Many of us find it rare to just die overnight. But people do! And we are people! So, we need to be grateful for right now. Because as the old saying goes, tomorrow is never promised.

The light is bright. My eyes hurt. My head hurts. My stomach hurts. I raise my hand above my eyes to block out the bright light.

"Hannah?" Lacey's voice brings me back down to earth. "Oh my God! Thank fucking God!"

"What happened?" I have the raspiest voice I've ever heard. "Where am I? How...I was shot! And I am in the hospital. Fuck! I don't have great health insurance!"

"Girl!" Macey's voice makes me look over. "Health insurance is now important right now. You're alive and I don't care how much that costs. I thought I was going to lose my best friend."

I smile as I realize Lacey, Becca, Macey, Mike, Claire, and even Brenda are all here. My smile fades as I realize the one person that I want here can't be here. Not without telling the world what we are. And after I felt what I felt for him. I don't want to lose my best friend but I'm willing to gamble on the fact that she will get over it. Ryan is the only person I want right now.

"Hey, honey!" Brenda says all bubbly like she cares. "I know we haven't seen eye to eye lately, but you've always been part of our family, and when I heard what happened...I rushed here! I will always consider you like a second daughter."

Shit! Shit! Shit!

"They caught the guy!" Claire explains and steps closer to the hospital bed.

I'm looking at all the cords and tubes connected to me. I look down at my stomach and move the robe. There is one small spot with stitches and it's black and blue around it, but overall, it's not that big of a spot. It hurts like hell though.

"Who was he?" I ask while staring at the door hoping to see Ryan come in. But what if he did? What the fuck can I do about it? What can he do about it?

If we told the world, it would ruin three lives for sure if not more. It might shock some people, and others would be happy for him and me. But everyone else! Nope! No fucking way!

"Has anyone told Ryan?" I ask softly, struggling to sit up. I watch as Claire's eyes widen, and she gives me a look of 'Shut the fuck up.' Mike, Macey, and Becca look confused. Brenda looks suspicious as fuck. And Lacey looks baffled and pissed.

"My dad?" Lacey asks with curiosity in her tone. "Yeah, I just texted him letting him know what happened.

I shake my head and rub my hand against it as the pain radiates from my forehead to the back of my neck. "When did this happen? When did I have surgery? When did you tell Ryan?"

"This all happened within the last hour, Hannah. Calm down. The surgery was fast and successful. The shooter missed all major organs. It was hardly considered a surgery. And Ryan? You mean my dad?"