'til forever falls apart | gracie abrams

14 - or were you all in a dream? amelie, i don't know

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Gracie stared at her hands.

"No," She whispered, then a little louder, "No, this isn't real, this can't be happening."

They were coated in crimson, shaking, and unfamiliar.

The car was upside down, the tail end of it up in flames.

She gripped the armrests of the hospital waiting room chair so tight her knuckles turned white.

Gracie ran to it, despite the incessant yelling of several teachers and the hot flames against her skin, she ran to it.

The dress felt too tight against her, though it fit fine that morning. She couldn't breathe.

It didn't matter that the metal was so hot it could burn her fingertips off. Gracie saw what she saw. Flashes of emerald against the scorching flames, streaks of blonde amidst the ashes. She didn't think twice.

Gracie felt stained, stained blue with pain and red with blood. Amelie's blood. It poured all over Gracie from her mouth as she pleaded with her to stay awake.

"Melie, Melie, it's me," Gracie cried, with all her strength, she pried the door of the passenger side open, "It's me, Gracie. Please stay awake, I'm gonna get you out of here."

"Here," Mia sat down in the chair beside her, "I got you a change of clothes."

Mia, she was there, too.

Amelie's body had never felt so heavy, so lifeless, in Gracie's arms. And despite the fire, she was cold. Gracie saw Mia run over to her to help.

"You should really eat something," Mia offered, opening a pack of wet wipes as she grabbed Gracie's hand and started to wipe the red off of them, "You've been here for four hours."

"Can't. It smells like a hospital here."

Together, they dragged Amelie from the wreck, though the blonde girl struggled to breathe, to stay awake, alive. Gracie watched her cough up blood.

"Stop," Gracie retracted her hand from Mia's hold, "Sorry, I- I just wanna be alone right now."

"M-Madi-"

"Shh, don't try to talk," Gracie whispered, cradling Amelie's body in her arms on the asphalt that now felt too cold against the skin of her shins.

Gracie put her hand on Amelie's cheek, it had never looked so pale, so hollow. She was bleeding from her head, though no bones looked broken, somehow. She was still alive, somehow.

Gracie would never make fun of her again for being such a stickler to seatbelt rules.

She heard the sirens in the distance. Amelie was going to be okay.

"You hear that? People are coming to help," Gracie reassured, though more for her own sake than Amelie's, "You're gonna be okay."

"Gracie," Mia's voice softened, "Amelie won't be out of surgery for at least another two hours. You're not doing her any favors by sitting out here and staring at the floor. Change, go eat something, I'll wait here and tell you if I get any news."

"I can't," Gracie shook her head, "I can't leave her now."

Gracie could hear the teachers telling the rest of the students to back off. The flashes of red and blue clouded Gracie's vision.