Redefining Beautiful

Chapter Nineteen: Caution

I thought it was a horrible nightmare. Trevor getting injured, Trevor in a coma, Trevor in the ICU were all just parts of a movie playing in my head when I was asleep. I woke up when I heard the sharp beeps of the monitor and my head on Trevor’s chest and realized...it was reality.

A young woman was sitting in a chair on the other side of Trevor’s hospital bed. She was staring at her phone, scrolling down on something. I didn’t know who she was, but she looked kind of like Ms. Williams except her hair was brown with blonde highlights.

When we made eye contact, she smiled at me. “I was waiting for you to wake up.” She said, her voice cheerful. She tucked her phone into her purse, then walked over to Trevor’s hospital bed. “I’m Sherlene, Trevor’s older sister.”

“I’m-”

“Charlie!” She chirped. “My mom told me about you. She said that last night she would have woken you up, but she wanted you to keep Trevor company.” She paused. “Not only that, but the two of you look incredibly adorable together.”

This was all strange to me. I was trying to process exactly everything that was going on. So turns out my nightmare is reality and Trevor’s older sister, who he has never mentioned, was sitting and waiting for me to wake up. Now what?

“I’m sorry.” I slid off of the hospital bed. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep there and-”

“Don’t even worry about it. You’re such a good friend for being here.” She ran her hands through Trevor’s soft, blonde hair. “I feel so helpless.”

“Join the club,” I frowned.

“Are you going to visit regularly?” She asked me, but she was still staring at Trevor.

“I was planning to come by everyday after school, so yeah,” I replied.

“Awesome.” She glanced at me. “I’m going to stay in town for a while to be here while our mom is at work. Guess we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

“Yeah.” I liked the idea of getting to know Sherlene because that means getting closer to Trevor, and closer than Destiny will ever be.

Sherlene gave me a ride home. I wished I could have stayed at the hospital because I felt like I would miss something. I wanted Trevor to wake up, and I be there.

“Where the hell have you been?” My father reprimanded me as soon as I entered the house.

“Trevor got into an acc-”

“I am aware.” My dad snapped.

“Honey, Ms. Williams told us where you were, but you need to communicate to us.” My mom tried being the reasonable one. “What if something were to happen to you and we wouldn’t know where to find you because you’re just taking off everywhere?”

I really didn’t need this right now. I already had a lot on my mind.

“There is no doing what you want, Lee.” My dad crossed his arms. I nodded, and walked past my parents planted at the entry to the hallway.

My parents never really cared where I went or what I did before. Now they want me to always communicate with them? I can’t tell them what I’m going to do before it happens because I’m in this unexpected, jumbled mess. Why is it that parents don’t understand how hard it is to be a teenager in this generation?

J.C. brought Eli, Roy, Henry, a few other friends of Trevor, and Casey to room 101 later that Saturday. We decorated his room with flowers, Get well soon! posters, teddy bears, his favorite candy, sports magazines, and then Roy thought it was appropriate to put a playboy magazine by his bedside.