I had taken the first plane down to Enumclaw. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest as I walked through the hospital doors. My legs shook as I stood at the front counter.
"How can I help you?" The lady at the desk asked.
"Hi, I'm looking for a Gregory Tompson?" I replied. She typed his name into the computer and waited a couple second before giving me an answer.
"He's in room 374A" She said. I nodded and said thank you before quickly making my way to his room.
When I entered the room, he was laying in bed, sleeping. I walked to the side of his bed and grabbed his hand.
"He won't wake up, you know," A voice said. I turned to see James sitting in a chair on the other side of the room. "They put him on medication to make him sleep. He was in too much pain." He continued. I nodded and let go of his hand. I just looked down at his body and tried to keep the tears from rolling down my face. It felt like my whole world was crashing down right before my eyes.
" How's New York?" James asked in a slightly mocking tone.
"Please don't do this. Not now." I replied, not wanting to start an argument here.
"How can I not talk about it, Alice? You left us. You didn't even say goodbye, or anything for that matter. Did you expect to come back and everyone to be okay with it?" He continued.
"I didn't expect to come back, James. I wanted to leave everything behind, start fresh." I said. I started to get frustrated with him.
"So you wanted to forget about us? You wanted to forget everything everyone here has done for you? How could you say that? I really don't want to be mad right now but there are just somethings I have been needing to say since you left...We were a family, Alice. You don't leave family behind." He said. I could tell in his voice that he was getting frustrated, too.
"I didn't want to forget, I just wanted to move on. I didn't want to spend my whole life in this tiny, uneventful town." I replied.
"This tiny, uneventful town used to be a place you called home. It's what we all called home." He said before storming out. I grabbed Greg's hand and let my tears fall beside him.
"I don't want to forget you all.. Oh Greg, you were always there when I needed you to be but now- Now, you can't help me fix what I messed up. I'm sorry I left.. I'm sorry I gave up on everything. I'm sorry for forgetting that this town was- is my home. " I squeezed his hand and sat in the chair next to his bed.
" What are you doing here?" Someone said from the door way. I looked up and saw Natalie. She was a couple years older than me. She quit theater for a while but came back for the last show.
"I got a phone call that Greg was in the hospital, I had to come back." I said.
"You didn't have to do shit," She said as she walked over to me. "Where were you when James broke his foot or when Emma got in a car accident? We needed you then but you weren't there, were you?" She finished.
"I didn't know any of that happened.." I said quietly, not able to look at her.
"Yeah, because you never cared to call to check in with us. You were to busy living it up in New York to care about the people you left behind," She turned away from me and looked down at Greg. "Get out of this room." She demanded. I was to tired to argue so I just left.
I got into my car but didn't have the heart to turn on the engine. I felt like I was back at the theater.. Leaving them all again. I put my head on my steering wheel and cried. This wasn't how I wanted this to go. Why did I think it would go any other way? Just then, I got a tap on my window. I looked over and saw Luke standing by my door. I gestured for him to go sit in the passenger set. We sat in silence for a few minutes until Luke spoke.
"Why did you leave?" He asked.. His tone was different than James' or Natalie's. He didn't sound annoyed or angry..He just sounded hurt.
"Luke, can we please not get into this right now?" I begged.
"Don't I deserved an explanation? I loved you, Alice.. I still love you." He said.
"I couldn't stay here forever, Luke. You knew I wanted to do better things than just sit here and wait for something to happen," I replied. He nodded and looked down at his lap. "Just because I left, doesn't mean I stopped loving you." I said.
"Just because you stay, doesn't mean everyone will forgive you." He said before getting out of the car and walking into the hospital. How could I let this happen? I let my best friends, and the only person I ever truly love drift away from me. I guess Enumclaw isn't so different from New York because no matter where I am.. I'm alone.
