Perfect Strangers [[A Short Story]]

II

The night of the 10th of December 1995, Agloe, N.Y

FRANK SILVERSMITH

Frank was about to finally ask Jade out for dinner so that he can confess his feelings for her, but she wasn't picking up her phone.

Pacing around the floor of his apartment, he couldn't help but feel dread creep up to his skin.

Strange, he thought.

Jade always answers her phone in any situation. Nobody can stop her from answering a call.

He shrugged it off, thinking she was just busy or even sleeping, no matter how strange that might sound for a person like Jade who was well known to be a person who barely needs rest. Heck, he even asked her friends, most whom he didn't know, if they knew of her whereabouts, but even they couldn't reach her. After a few tries, a few being 16 calls, the call finally got answered.

"Jade! I was so worried! I just wanted to ask you if you want to go out for dinner. Do you want pizza or pasta?" Frank called out

"H-h-hello? Is this Frank? Jade's best friend? This is her mom. Can you come here at St. Raphael's Hospital? She was involved in a car crash and she's currently in the operating room. Thank you" Jade's mother answered hastily and then ended the phone call immediately.

He almost dropped his phone in shock. This emotion was the only thing you can see in his eyes. He quickly put on his winter coat and left his apartment with no hesitation and stepped out into the cold winter night.

After a while

As he reached the receptionist's desk, he told the receptionist.

"Where is Jade Lavenbrooke's room? Please tell me! I'm her friend." he exclaimed worriedly. As a person that loved Jade, he was terribly worried about her condition, she might need an organ transplant or she might die or... His thoughts were cut short when the person at the desk responded.

"Sir, as of the moment, Ms. Lavenbrooke is under observation at the ICU, no one is allowed to visit her until she stabilizes."

"Can you at least tell me where her mother is?" He fervently pleaded, even more anxious than a while ago, when he still did not know the magnitude of Jade's state.

"Go right, then turn left at the East Wing where the waiting area is situated, that is the last place she went to."

"Thank you."

Following the instructions, he ran to the waiting area, ignoring the annoyed screams of the people around him. He only had one thought in mind and that was to know what's her current condition.

WAITING AREA

As he approached the blank white seats, partnered with the blank beige walls of the hospital, he saw the Lavenbrooke family. The usually composed and stern Ms. Lavenbrooke was disheveled and a total mess. He would've been the same if he was in her position, though. You see, Amethyst Lavenbrooke is a divorced secretary in the city hall of Agloe. Her marriage with husband Jack Cunningham didn't end so well. They were a perfect couple so for them to end up parting was an unfathomable thing until it happened. Nobody knows the reason why. Rumors have spread throughout the boundaries of the city but even to this day, no one actually knows the true cause of the divorce, not even Jade.

"Don't be shy Frank, any friend of Jade is a friend of mine, as long as you're not a delinquent, we'll get along" Ms. Lavenbrooke suddenly spoke, shaking him out of his thoughts

"Kidding aside, a chat with me is not what you came for, you came here for Jade. I just finished talking to the doctors just before I answered your call on her phone. Sh-sh-she's in a coma." Ms. Lavenbrooke barely said the words without bursting into tears. He decides to let her be, and so he sat next to her, waiting until she collected herself.

Once composed, she told him that he could visit her right now because Jade had stabilized.

Frank waved farewell and sped off to Room 518, the room of Jade Lavenbrooke.

ROOM 518

He stood outside the room for a good five minutes. He dreads what awaits him inside. To see is to believe Frank! He told himself. Slowly, he opened the door and saw Jade Lavenbrooke sleeping in a bed in the middle of the room, surrounded by many contraptions Frank couldn't bother to learn about. He approached her fragile figure, kneeling on the cold, tiled floor; he spoke to her even though he knew she wouldn't hear him.

"Hey Jade, I know you can't hear me, but I just want you to know that you need to wake up. Your mom's worried sick about you, I am too. You're a strong girl and I trust you enough to wake up as soon as you gather strength. Wake up for me and your mom, okay?" He spoke out loud, tears pooling in his eyes

He let every shield down and let his own emotions, and tears come out.

"I want you to know that-that I...I... love you. There, I said it. I knew you were special since the day I met you. We hated each other, but we eventually got over our wrong expectations and became friends. I loved you ever since. You're everything I ever wished for and... I can't afford to lose you. Please, stay with me."

He cries for what seems like hours to him but only mere minutes in reality. Finally, he stood up and said his parting words.

"Goodbye for now Jade, but I will come back, no matter the circumstances, I will return, for you."

Smiling, he left the room and went back outside, into the chilly and dark night.

The afternoon of the 25th of December 1995, Agloe, NY

And so this pattern ensued over Frank's life since Jade slipped into a coma. Wake up, eat, go to school, go to Jade, eat, sleep and the cycle repeats. Ever since the start of the accident, he always chose to visit Jade instead of doing his own errands. He thought it was the least he could do for her for all she did for him.

He always talked to her. He told her how his day went, but he always tells her to wake up. Today was, however, a special day because it was Christmas. Everybody will be receiving gifts today and Frank received the best gift... a text from Ms. Lavenbrooke informing him that Jade is awake. His eyes lit up like a fire under a fireplace. He immediately ran out from the apartment to the hospital, to the room he knew oh-so-well, and went in.

Jade's family was there, along with her friends gathered around her. She was sitting upright, which is hard if you've been immobile for weeks.

"Jade! I missed you!" He ran to her and embraced her like his life depended on her, which, in a way it does, but there was something... odd. She did not return the hug. Instead, she looked at him as if a random stranger suddenly hugged her. She quickly pushed him away.

"Who are you?! Why did you just hug me?!" She yelled at him. It looked like she would strangle him if she wasn't weak due to being asleep for more than 2 weeks.

Frank thought she was just playing a joke so he wasn't offended. Simply, he said

"Oh stop it with the jokes Jade! It's me, Frank, you're best friend! You can't possibly forget me, can you?" he said this while smiling

"Mom who's this psycho?! Make him go away!"

"Jade! It's your best friend, Frank! Don't tell me you forgot him!" Ms. Lavenbrooke replied

"You're always so good at jokes Jade! C'mon drop the act!" Even as Frank said this, he already doubted his own words, he knew that her reactions were real, far from her fake reactions she gives when she plays a joke

"Go away or I'm calling the police!" Jade said this as she grabbed her phone, dialing 9-1-1

"Stop!" A look of terror and realization spread over his face. Jade didn't know him. She has some sort of partial amnesia where she only forgot me. In tears, he spoke slowly.

"Fine! I'll go away, I'm just a random stranger to you. I really hope... that you remember me, the Frank Silversmith that you once knew. Please, heal for your mom. In the past, you would've healed for me too, b-b-but you don't know me anymore."

Frank's voice was broken, just like his eyes, he didn't care that tears were streaming down his face like waterfalls in front of many people. He only cared about Jade, the Jade who was a shadow of what she once was to him.

He walked towards his house, tears and red puffy broken eyes adorning his face.