Buck was silent as the voice on the other line spoke. He couldn’t process all the details coming at him. He wanted to interrupt more than once, to ask if Maddie was okay, but he refrained. The woman on the other end's voice sounded far away, and Buck couldn’t make out most of what she was saying. It felt like hours had passed when he could understand her voice clearly again.
He couldn’t make out what she said, it took her a few tries before he responded.
“Sir, are you still there?” Her question was left unanswered.
“Mr. Buckley?” She asked again.
Buck snapped out of it, responding quickly. “Oh, yes. Sorry, I’m just trying to process this I guess.”
“That’s completely understandable. Did you hear my last statement?” She inquired.
“I don’t think I did. My apologies.” He really hadn’t been listening to her, after he heard Maddie had been in a car accident.
“She asked to see you. Visiting hours are almost over, so you will have to come in some time tomorrow.”
“Alright.”
The phone beeped and the call ended.
Buck sat there in silence for what was seconds, but felt like hours. He didn’t know what to do from there. Once he collected himself he opened Maddie’s chat. The last message sent was from him, several years ago. He cycled through several messages as though he was going through dialogue choices, before finally settling on ‘Maddie?’
He didn’t know why that was the message choice, but he couldn’t think of anything better. He got no response, so he began worrying slightly. He finally decided to message Chim, though it took him a few minutes to convince himself to do it.
‘Chim? Is everything okay?’
He stared at the chat for a few minutes, waiting for a sign of Chim reading it. The message was left on read for about five minutes before a call came through. It was Chim. Buck reluctantly answered.
Buck hated that it took so long for him to respond to the voice on the other end. He wanted to say he responded quickly, and calmly, but he froze at the sound of his sisters voice.
“Evan?” Maddie’s voice sounded weak.
“Maddie.” He had wanted it to come out as a question, or at least a gentle statement, but it came out harsh and felt forced.
“Oh, Evan.” It sounded as though she had begun crying, and it brought Buck back to things he would have rather forgotten.
“I heard you got into an accident.” Was all he managed to respond with.
“Yeah. It’s not as bad as it sounds.” She tried to reassure, but it sounded as if she was trying to reassure herself, not Buck.
“How bad is it then?” He questioned, not wanting to hear about much more other than how bad the accident was.
“I am concussed, I have some minor cuts and bruises, and I broke my leg.” She responded with a tone of defeat.
“Oh.” He didn’t know what else to say to her, he could have comforted her, or done something to make her smile, but he stayed quiet.
“I miss you.” She sniffled. “I’m sorry Evan. I really am.” Again, her tone reminded her of things he would have liked to keep locked in the vault that was most of his childhood.
It was a Thursday afternoon, about two and a half months after Maddie had moved. Buck was sitting in the living room, trying to do math homework he had put off for three days. He knew Maddie was coming to visit, but for some reason he was more mad than excited. He felt as though she had betrayed him, packing her things and running away for a boy.
YOU ARE READING
Mistakes (Rewrite)
ФанфикThe whole mess of leaving started because Buck was mad. He hated the fact Bobby kept him from something he held and loved so dearly, and he hated that Bobby didn't seem to understand what made Buck so upset. When he left, he cried. His apartment was...
