PULSE

(thirtytwo) july 10

They're calling you some sort of miracle child, you know. You're in the news all over the state—this guy who should've died like three times, but hasn't," Lev said, leaned back on his arms on my bed.

This wasn't shocking to me; honestly, I had assumed as much. After all, between my motorcycle accident, the incident at the roof, and the most recent accident in the street, I should've probably died twice, if not three times. I was well aware of this, so it was only a matter of time before the media got a hold of it.

"Don't worry about it too much, though," Lev continued. The way he was sitting on my hospital bed, leaning back and relaxing as he talked to me as if this was completely normal, it was easy to forget at times what had happened and why we were in a hospital. "It'll blow over soon, I'm sure. People are never entertained by the same story for too long. I'm sure everyone will forget about you in no time and when you start college next semester, you'll just be the same asshole everyone is used to again."

I nodded.

He tilted his head to the side, watching me. "What's bothering you?"

I sighed, looking out the window to avoid his eyes and Candace's, who was sitting against the wall reading a paperback book. There was no use in telling them what had been eating at me since I woke up in a bleached white hospital bed. After all, none of them had any idea what I was talking about.

No one remembered Ava except me. Asking about her was like asking about a technology that hadn't been invented yet; all I got in return for my questions were expressions of confusion and more tests done on my head to make sure that I was really alright.

It didn't matter how I tried to convince people that there was a girl with me on the night of the accident—that I was unharmed because of this girl. There was nothing that I could do to prove to them that she existed. After all, when I met her, she had suddenly appeared in town without any documents, memories, or even a last name. She was practically a ghost to the world for all the time I knew her; I just didn't realize it until she was gone.

When I first woke up the day after the accident, I'd freaked out when I discovered that no one seemed to know her. It seemed like a practical joke; how could people forget someone who had been such a huge part of all of our lives?

But when nothing changed as days passed by, I realized with startling certainty that it was real.

"Aidan?" Lev prodded, craning his neck to see my face.

"It's nothing," I said.

"Is it about that girl again?"

I shook my head slowly.

He sighed, standing from my bed and brushing his hands off on his pants. "Well, we can get going, if you're ready. Your mom already signed all of the forms, so we can leave any time."

"Okay," I said quietly, turning back to him. "Let's go."

Lev nodded, smiling slightly as he helped me out of the bed and onto the cold tile floors. Candace handed me my shoes and I quickly slid my feet into them, letting both her and Lev loop their arms through mine as we left the room. I was feeling more than well enough to walk on my own, but there was something strangely comforting in feeling them both next to me, holding on in case I fell.

No one bothered with us as we left the hospital and headed across the parking lot, toward where Lev's mom's car was parked. Candace insisted that he drive and that I sit in the passenger's seat near him, and for once, it felt good not to argue.

We pulled away from the hospital without a word, all of us clearly eager to leave it behind. As we drove, I retrieved my cell phone from my pocket and navigated to my photo album for the first time since the accident. There weren't many photos stored on my phone—a few photos of homework assignments, a few videos of partial songs that I didn't want to forget—but the vast majority of them were of Lev, Ava, and I.