Maybe In Another Life

Chapter 5

"What's the date today?" I asked the kid next to me as I was filling out the test. "February 27th." He answered. It seems like just yesterday my father passed away. It seems like moments ago I went to a party and made choices I'd regret. Yet it was a whole 2 months ago. Time works in strange ways. Last night when my mother had me wrapped in her embrace I felt so free. I understand now that my dad is happy in the realm of God. I understand that with my mother and my sister it'll be okay. Speaking of Mom, I'm going with her to get ice cream today. The bell rang at the end of the 45 minutes and I turned my test in before heading home with Melanie. When I got home I met with my mom in the kitchen and told her about my day. I told her about the test and how fun dodgeball was in gym class. I told her about lunch with James. Today was a good day. Now, it was going to be capped off with some time spent with the family, getting ice cream. Melanie ran out the door when she heard the words ice and cream put together. Mom and I laughed before heading out ourselves. Melanie was lying on her back in the back seat and my mother was in the passenger side door. I reversed out of the drive way and began driving to the other end of town. We made it a little over half way with conversation between all 3 of us. "So, how was your-" my mother was cut off. The car began to spin and the air bags deployed. Glass from the windshield came inwards slicing open my face. Melanie hit the backseat with whiplash before hitting the ground. The front passenger door dented inwards, slamming into my mother. The car stopped spinning and began to roll. Melanie flew out of the sunroof and landed on the pavement, letting out a scream of pain. The car flipped off the side of a hill and landed on the passenger side door. I was covered in blood and I couldn't move my leg. My lungs hurt more than anything ever had. I looked up and saw a car half dangling over the edge of the hill. I looked back out at what was in front of me. I looked over at my mother. A piece of glass was lodged in her neck and the blood was trickling. Her hair covered her face. Half of her body was hanging out of the passenger side door. Her chest was still. Suddenly, I lost my bearings, and everything went black. I awoke in a hospital bed. I was numb, and my chest felt like pins and needles. My clothes were stained red. The beeping of a machine rang in my ear. There was chatter outside of the room. "Weston! You're awake!" Melanie's voice sounded coarse in my ears. I looked over to see her. Her leg was wrapped in a bloodied bandage, and she was in crutches. "I'm okay to go home, I actually got the best of the accident." She said. Accident? What did she mean? My head was throbbing as pain traveled through my brain. I couldn't remember anything from today. Not school, not home, not anything. I went to move, but Melanie interjected. "No, don't do that! You have a collapsed lung. Both of your legs are broken. You're gonna have a hell of a time getting out of that mess if you try to move." She told me. "What?" I asked. I was dazed. "We went for ice cream, Wessy. We were hit by a drunk driver. You ended up in terrible condition, and mom...she didn't make it." Melanie got choked up at the last part. "You've been out for a good few weeks. The accident was in February, it's March 12th now." She told me. "God, I'm so glad you're okay." She let out a sigh of relief. "Mother's funeral already took place. We all wanted to wait for you, but you were expected to be out for much longer than just a few weeks." She said. I missed my mother's funeral? What was going on? "What about school?" I ask her. "It's been depressing. Everyday I walk in there with a pounding headache from my concussion. People ask me how my leg is feeling. They ask me how I'm doing now that my mother has passed away. They ask me about you." She answers. "How have you even been getting there?" I asked. "I've been staying at my friend Hannah's house. You're awake now, though, so I won't need to do that soon." Melanie replied. Just then, a doctor came into the room. "Looks like someone woke up from their nap, huh?" The doctor said in a lighthearted tone. I tried to let out a laugh, but the pain in my chest was too much. "You're legs are broken. They're already almost healed, both breaks were minor. You collapsed your right lung. It's amazing you're even awake right now." He told me. That sentence helped me to process everything. It's amazing I'm awake. I am, but my mother isn't. It was beginning to hit me. The ice cream, the accident, and the image of my mother's lifeless body hanging out of my car window were all running through my mind. "We're gonna run a quick X-ray on your lungs, okay?" The doctor said. "Uh, okay." I say, aloof of the environment around me. "This is amazing. Your lungs are gonna be okay. You'll make a full recovery. To be honest, you could be out of here in a weeks time." The doctor says. A weeks time, huh? I probably shouldn't even be alive, and you're telling me I can be out of here in a week. I began to get angry. Who would be stupid enough to drink and drive? They killed a person. That person was my mother. Why did my mother have to die? Why couldn't it have been me? At that moment I came to a terrible realization. In a matter of a couple of months I had become an orphan, and if I was gonna be out of here in a week, then it was gonna be a very miserable one.