Let You Go

Chapter 1

I didn't have a single memory without Aimee. We had been best friends since birth. We shared a crib together, our mothers dressed us alike until we were two. She was there for every moment, big and small. As we got older we promised to always be friends. We took hold of each others hand when we turned six and never let go. As I stood there watching them load her into the ambulance I couldn't stop hearing that damn graduation speech I gave two years ago. I was supposed to let go of her hand.

But I couldn't, because my life didn't work without her in it.

I thought I needed to let go of her hand, but the truth was she never let go of mine. We depended on each other. We pushed and challenged each other. Life was a journey we decided to take together.

But now it was shattering around me.

The lights of the ambulance were bright on our little corner of the street. Aimee looked so small on the stretcher, her body barely taking up any room. I couldn't hear over the noise of my heart pounding, my mind screaming at me to jump into the back with them. But once they hoisted her up they closed the doors and started on their way. I stood there frozen for a moment longer, until I realized I needed to meet them there.

I ran towards my car. I didn't even think, I just drove. I was working on autopilot, my best friend was hurt. I didn't pay attention to the rules of the road. Instead my mind wandered to the little girl I grew up with. I saw her when she was six, beating up Conner Smith on the playground because he called me a fatherless weirdo. Or when we were thirteen and her brother tried to throw me into the pool. I saw her little blonde hair blowing in the window of her very first car, as we drove down the road past curfew.

Every moment in my life Aimee was there beside me. Best friends, no we were more like sisters. She took me into her life when my mom and I moved to this little town when I was barely a year old. It was just my mom and me, my dad bailed when he learned she was pregnant at sixteen. Aimee and her family took us both in, giving us a family we never thought we would have.

The street was dark, I was glad the tears held off. If I had to drive while crying I would've ended up crashing myself. I held onto the steering wheel tightly, thinking about all the things Aimee had ever told me. She didn't do drugs, I know she didn't. She turned them down in front of me at our very first party. She drank, this was college everyone did. But since we were still underage we had to sneak into parties. We couldn't even get into the bars, we didn't want fake IDs.

No this wasn't a case of a young person being stupid. This was different. Aimee wasn't reckless or careless with her life. She ate way more healthy things than I did. She didn't smoke, except when she was really drunk. Which rarely happened these days since we were both swamped with finals. My eyes went wide as I remembered our last conversation. She said something about not being able to focus.

No. Aimee wouldn't do that. She wouldn't seek out drugs to help her with school.

I shook my head as the lights of the hospital came into view. I wouldn't think about that. I would let the doctors discover whatever it is that had happened and they would save her. There was nothing I could do now. If she had done something stupid or careless, well I couldn't go back and change it. The damage was done. Hopefully she would learn her lesson.

I swallowed my fear as I parked in the first spot I found. I was holding myself together as best as I could. There were no tears, not yet anyways. I jumped out of my car, barely remembering to close the door behind me. I ran into the entrance of the ER and there was my family. My mom, Aimee's mom and dad. Ryder, her brother, they were all staring at me as I walked into the lobby.

I wasn't sure why, but the moment I looked at them, the damns broke. The tears started to fall as I walked into my mom's arms. She held me tightly as Sara grabbed me from the other side. I felt one of them kiss my forehead, Ryder and his dad standing there watching our little moment. I wasn't sure what to say, I had no idea what happened.