The stars, the sky, they fascinate me more than anything. Looking into the eyes of the night sky as they look into mine, it's amazing. Living in the country part of town helps a lot, because the lights of the city aren't present.
It usually begins with me searching for Orion's belt ,consisting of three shining stars lined up in a vertical or horizontal line, then my quest to find more unique constellations is underway.
It was a typical Friday night for me, instead of partying with my friends, I was laying on my damp trampoline in the middle of my backyard admiring the stars. With a paper and pen close by, I wrote down the new constellations I saw, and what I thought they meant. Most of my friends wondered why I was okay with being alone most nights, and questioned why I didn't crave to have a guy by my side as I watched the sky. I guess I'm just different than everyone else. No one exactly understands, so I normally just write everything down, figuring out ways to fully understand myself.
The sound of my phone ringing disturbed me from my deep thought. I looked down to see it was my sister, Ashley Caroline calling. I sat up on the trampoline, placed my notebook to the side, and answered the call, "Hey"
On the other end of the phone, Ashley frantically said, " Amber, y-you need to come to the hospital now. Something happened to Brooke. Please hurry." Before I could ask what happened, she hung up the phone. I took a deep breath, doing my best to avoid a panic attack. Not knowing what was happening was triggering me a lot. I gathered my things together from off the trampoline, and put them in my purse once I got inside my house. No one was home anymore, my parents must have left for their date night. I grabbed my keys from off the side table next to the door, and gripped the cold door handle of the front entrance to my house. Locking the door behind me, I shut it and made my way to my car.
When I arrived at the hospital, I was directed to the intensive care unit where Brooke was. Walking back there, I found it hard to keep myself together, I was so worried.
Rounding the corner quickly, I bumped into a guy, and it completely stopped me in my tracks. I looked up at him, and found his brown eyes extremely attractive. His jawline was insanely sharp, and the smile that appeared on his face was priceless. "Sorry," I said as my eyes drifted from his. "No, that was my fault, sorry." he said as the end of my apology left my mouth.
I gave him a quick, fake smile, and continued walking towards the room I was told Brooke and her family were in. Before entering, I knocked, and heard a faint, "Come in." I slowly opened the door to see Brooke in the hospital bed, with tubes and cords running all over her body. I could feel the tears coming from inside, but I pushed them down.
My sister ran over and hugged me tight, as she whispered in my ear, "Amber, she's not going to make it."
Those six words struck me hard. Brooke was my very best friend, she'd helped me through all of my struggles. From when my parents got divorced, to when I was addicted to self harm, she was always there to hold me. Pulling away from Ashley Caroline, I walked over to Brooke's mom, who was basically my second mother, she loved me and cared for me like her own, and buried my face in her shoulder. As I let go, she said still cradling my arms, "She got into a car accident on the way home from youth group tonight. An eighteen wheeler ran a red light, and when he hit her, her car spun and got hit by several other incoming cars."
Shaking my head, I bit my lip and walked to the side of the hospital bed. Realizing that the only thing keeping her breathing, was the ventilator, I let a small tear run down the side of my cheek. "The doctor recommended that we all get a few minutes to talk to her before she goes," her mom said. I turned around and slowly nodded my head glancing over at my sister. We all exited the room except for her mom and dad, who were given the first opportunity to speak to her.
Several minutes of silence later, her parents came out of the room, and let my sister go in before me. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to my very best friend. How this be happening to her? How could God take her away from me? These thoughts ran rapidly through my head, and eventually it was my turn to go into the room to make my peace.
Taking a couple deep breaths, I walked over the threshold of the door, and shut it behind me. I sat down in the chair directly next to the right side of her and grabbed her hand closest to me. I couldn't stop the tears this time, they were coming out like never before. The pain I felt in that moment was one I had never felt before.
Fighting to catch my breath, I said, "I love you so much, thank you for everything you've done for me Brooke. You don't deserve this." That's all I could say, my silent sobs took every breath out of me. With my head down on the edge of the bed, I heard the ventilation machine stop running. The room went silent. I hesitantly looked up, and Brooke was no longer breathing.That was it, that was the end of my best friend, and I couldn't do anything about it.
Seconds later, nurses busted into the room and quickly rushed me out as tears streamed down my face. Everything around me began to fade, people were crying, and things started playing in slow motion. I couldn't handle it. I grabbed my bag from off the ground of the hallway and ran down to the door that led to the stairwell.
I pushed the heavy door open and shut it aggressively behind me. I dropped to the ground on the first step, pulled my knees to my chest, and buried my face to them. My sobs got louder and louder, and suddenly I heard the door of the stairwell on the floor below me open. I couldn't stop crying, I was so hurt. At this point it didn't matter who was going to see me. Footsteps coming up the stairs got closer and closer, and I hid my face deeper in my legs. A male voice said as he reached the level I was on, "Hey is everything okay?" I wiped my nose and eyes, and looked up with blurry vision, there were still tears covering my sight.
The guy knelled down on the step below me and grabbed my hand, "What's wrong?" I shook my head, I didn't want to talk about it. As I avoided eye contact, he said, "Okay, we don't have to talk about it, but I don't want you crying here by yourself. I'll stay until you feel better. What's your name? I'm Grayson." I recognized that voice from somewhere. I finally looked up and realized who it was; it was the guy I ran into in the hallway earlier. I sat for a second and gathered enough air to say, "Amber. You don't have to stay."
Without hesitation, he responded, "But I want to."
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thank you so much for reading this first chapter! this is my first fanfic so i hope you read it with an open mind :) chapter two is in the makes and is coming very soon! so be sure to follow me so you can be notified when i post it :)
ily,
amber ❤️️
