Serenity Falls

Chapter 35

Here's the next chapter - hope you like it! I've been doing major preparations for NaNoWriMo this past week... is anyone else doing it? It's my first time so I'm doing the Young Writers Programme, but I'm excited! But you probably don't care, aha. So here's the chapter :D

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The smell was the first thing Brad noticed when he began to regain consciousness. Not a horrible smell, but certainly not a pleasant one either. It was heavily dominated by disinfectant, and a lack of dirt.

That smell could only mean one thing. Well, other than that his father had suddenly become obsessive in removing every speck of dirt from their home, but that didn’t seem likely. And when his eyes flickered open and he was greeted with blindingly bright white lights his presumption was confirmed.

"Dad, he’s awake!" Olivia’s voice rang through his ears, clearer than the dull buzz of the background noise of the hospital. Various beeps, hushed chatter and high-pitched squeaks from shoes on the polished floor were pretty much constant in this place.

As he opened his eyes fully, his father’s face came into focus and he frowned at him, slightly confused. What was he doing here? Had something happened? He couldn’t remember a thing. He’d been driving and...

"Brad..." His father’s voice sounded awkward, like he didn’t really know what to say. He cleared his throat. "Uh... how are you feeling?"

"Pretty fucked up, actually," he answered, as he tried to sit up in bed but instead was greeted by a pounding pain in his head. He slumped back onto the pillow, his hand pressed to the side of his skull, as if that would make it hurt less. It didn’t.

"I’ll get you some painkillers," said a voice to the side of him. He turned his head sharply to see a young blonde nurse reading off a monitor that was attached to him. She was hot. He’d have to get her number later.

"Thanks..." he said, rubbing at his pounding head as the nurse walked off. "Uh... what happened?" he added, looking up at his Dad.

"You broke your leg, fractured your wrist and you’ve got minor concussion," his father answered, matter-of-factly. "But you can be out of here soon."

"Whoa... how did I do all that?"

The expression on his face suddenly changed from a look of awkwardness to on the brink of anger. That was definitely not the right thing to say. "You took my car, Brad."

Suddenly, it all came flooding back. It was as if someone had opened the dam and all the water was now rushing back into his head. Everything... he could remember it now. And he was in some deep shit.

"Oh... yeah." There was no point even pretending he didn’t remember now, as his Dad had already read the look on his face. The sheepish look, dashed with a hint of guilt... it was unmistakable. "About that."

"What were you thinking, Brad?!"

"I was just taking it out for a drive, I swear," he said, although it was hardly a convincing argument. His voice wavered as – for the first time – he actually felt himself being scared of his father.

"At five in the morning?!" His voice was raised, causing some of the other patients on the ward to look round. Olivia, who was sat on one of the plastic hospital chairs by Brad’s bed, buried her head further in the book she was reading as she tried to ignore the stares that were coming from all directions. "Don’t you even dare start lying to me, Brad. You were driving back to New York, weren’t you?"

"I just–"

"Weren’t you?!" shouted his father, his eyes fixed onto his son with a stern glare. "You stupid boy! I can’t believe you would even think of doing something like that! And now... look where it’s got you!" He stood up, gesturing to the hospital bed which Brad was lying in.

"I didn’t mean–"

"And now you’ve fucked up the car as well! That’s going to cost me a fortune to get that fixed, and I still haven’t got a job yet..."

The nurse returned, carrying two small white tablets in her palm and a plastic cup full of water. She handed them both to Brad awkwardly, not really knowing how to react whilst they were in the middle of a full-blown argument.

Usually, Brad would’ve taken this opportunity to use a pick up line on her, or at least flash her one of his signature flirty smiles, but he was pre-occupied. He’d never seen his father so angry before, and quite frankly, he was scared of what he was going to do. It was lucky they were in a hospital, with so many people around them, where he felt a great deal safer.

His father sighed, collapsing onto the plastic chair beside Olivia, placing his head in his hands. "I can’t believe you would do this, Brad..." His anger appeared as if it had melted away, and all that was left was sheer disappointment.

"I’m sorry, Dad."

He lifted his head from his hands, shaking his head slowly. "What good’s that going to do?" he said, although his voice was calmer now. "It’s all done now, isn’t it? You’ve fucked it all up, and there’s nothing we can do about it."

There was a silence between them as Brad shoved the tablets down his throat and swallowed.  His throat was dry, and he could feel the nauseating taste of the medicine lingering in his mouth. He wanted to speak, to say something to console his father, but he couldn’t think of anything. His Dad was right... there was nothing he could do now.

"I knew you didn’t like it here," he said suddenly, looking Brad in the eye. "But was getting away really worth all this?"

"I really am sorry. I wasn’t thinking and..." he paused, "well, I don’t want to go back to New York any more. I’d rather stay here."

"Well, that’s good, isn’t it? Because even if you wanted to go, you wouldn’t be able to get there with a smashed up car!" Mr Webb said, the volume of his voice moving up a couple of notches before he stopped and inhaled deeply. "Still. There’s no point getting caught up in all this. Moving on is the most important thing."

Brad nodded slowly, sighing. "You know, this place isn’t so bad, once you get used to it. I guess I could do alright here."

"I know you can." His father caught his eye for a second, before a smile slowly crept onto his face. "You’re alright, Brad. You just need to think a little more before you act."

"Well, I will now. I definitely will," he answered, nodding. "Thanks, Dad."

"No problem. Now, just get some rest, okay? You can get out of here tomorrow. I’ll come back in the morning to pick you up."

And as he watched his father walk down the ward, Olivia following obediently behind, for the first time since he’d arrived in this town, he knew the two of them were okay.

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I'm not very happy with this chapter... the dialogue seems kind of awkward. I might re-write it one day. Still, if you liked it, remember to vote :)