Troubled Life

Chapter 2

I arrive two hours before I am supposed to. Knowing Ellie might be upset, I call her and ask her if I can come in. When Ellie answers her phone I ask her when Allie will be there and she said about an hour or so. Ellie told me to come up to her room and help her pick out an outfit. Walking upstairs is always scary. Her stairway to the humongous attic has no railings and the stairs creak with every step. But when you see the attached room, you're glad you pushed the fear back down your throat. "Erica! You're here!" Ellie exclaims, "I for sure thought your Dad would say no!"

"Well he didn't! And I'm here!" I say.

"Well, I am so glad you are. Come on, let's go pick out the outfit!"

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I woke up on a couch. I couldn't remember what had happened. I thought back, "What had happened, anyways?" I thought, "I remember drinking beer, and then Ellie, Allie, and I all found some really hot boys! We talked and talked on and on! So why am I so...... Tired and sick?"

"Erica?" Ellie says. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah, I'm up," I reply. "Just tired, and I feel kind of sick."

"Yeah..... The reason? You drank a lot of beer. You have a hangover."

"Oh! Gosh dangit! What is my father going to say?"

"Don't know... just don't mention it to him. My parents will probably be home soon and you probably shouldn't be here when they get home!"

"Yeah, probably should be getting home." I try to get up, but as soon as I do, I fall. I probably shouldn't have drank that beer; I can barely walk. I get up again and lean onto the wall. It takes me ten whole minutes to walk to the front door. By the time I get there I know I have to get to my car and I have no clue how! What am I supposed to do? I grab an umbrella, they have about.... ten of them. I lean on it to get to my car. I hop into my car two minutes later, I start it up and speed off down the road towards my house.

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"I was driving too fast. Way too fast," I think in my head. "One minute I was driving, the next I was flying through the windshield and into the trees."

I am driving home, when, out of nowhere, a truck comes flying past the stop sign and hitting me on the left side of my car. I went flying through the windshield and into the forest.

"Oomph!" I groan as I hit two of the trees and tumble down through the branches and onto the ground. I must have blacked out or something because I woke up with my head thumping and my whole body aching. Though, the worst of the pain is in my right leg and arm. I try to get up, but as soon as I move pain shoots up my back. I scream in agony.

"Why... why... Why?" I scream, "Why me? Why did this have to happen?!" I pull myself up painfully, with a branch. I nearly slip on the blood. I didn't see it before, I was in too much pain to notice. I walk very slowly towards the road. It's very painful. As I step onto the road, I see the other driver. He is laying on the pavement crying, he must be hurt. I walk over to him and sit down.

"Are you okay?" I croak. He looks at me and smiles, more like a wince. "No, I'm in a lot of pain. You must be in a lot more pain than I am, after all, you're all cut up. You also have a fractured arm, from what I can tell."

"Oh?" I ask. "How's that?

"I have studied fractures, sprains, and breaks since I was 14 years old."

"Oh!" I exclaim, and for the first time I realize he looks my age, 17.

"I'm sorry that I wrecked you and your car," he apologizes. "Didn't mean to."

"It's okay." He looks at me skeptically. "Really! It is!"

"If you say so," he replies. "I just really feel bad that you got hurt." "The way he says you... it seems as if..... no that's crazy! Could it be? No! Is it? It can't!" I thought, "Ryan?!" I exclaim. "Is it really you?"

"Erica?"

"It is! What are you doing in town again?"

"I moved back. Couldn't stand NYC!" he winces.

"Try not to move much, Ryan. It will only make the pain worse."

He smiles; I lay down. Pain shoots through my body again. I yell in pain. Ryan take ahold of my hand and squeezes.

"Hang in there! The ambulance will be here soon."

"How do you even know that they'll come? They probably don't even know that we crashed." I say. Just as I say that, I hear the sirens. I look to Ryan in awe,

"How..."

"My car will automatically call the police when in a crash."

"Oh! That makes sense."

Just then the paramedics bring the stretchers and put us in the ambulance. I wake up in a hospital bed. It takes me a minute to remember where I am. Then I look to my left and see Ryan in another hospital bed looking at me.

"Hi Erica," he said, blushing."You've been asleep for a while now!"

"How long exactly?" I croak from not talking for a while.

"Four days." Four days!" Woah! That's a long time!"

"Yeah. I've been up for two of those days."

"Sorry I kept you waiting."

"You know Erica, I've missed you."

"You have?"

"Yes."

"I have thought about you day and night, Ryan. I love you, and I hoped that didn't change. I see it hasn't," I smile, wincing as pain shoots through my body.

"Indeed it hasn't."