Coincidences

Act X

A burst of cold air froze me and a warm hug heated me up. I only saw lights, circular lights floating in the ceiling. I also saw faces, and faces. I felt scared. I jolted my head backwards in shock.

I felt a stinging sensation on my neck.

I grasped a view on what's going on. I was on a hospital bed, my arms injected with some sort of fluid. A heart rate monitor was active and beeped in a rythym.

Dad was there, along with a doctor and a nurse. Next to him was Mrs. Hudson, wet with tears. And Zoey...

She was absolutely fine. She clung to me tightly, asleep. She didn't want to let go. She had dried tears on her cheeks. I reached out to her, but, with the pain flowing to my brain when I did so, I instinctively held back.

Dad, obviously struck by the situation, hugged me, too. He came up my ear and said, "Ya seriously gonna give me a heart attack?" I nodded jokingly. He didn't seem pleased.

Mrs. Hudson blurted, "I am so glad you have come to be, Martin. I am most certainly glad." She started to talk that way again.

The nurse fled to hand over some reports. The doctor, introducing himself as Dr. Jonathan Reed, checked if they were any vitals harmed. Receiving a thumbs up as a good to go, he announced that I have to stay here to recover. The collision wasn't very pretty.

"How do you know?" I weakly asked him.

Dr. Reed pointed at my dad and Zoey's mom. At first, I thought he meant that they told him about the details, but when he asked them to politely to leave, he locked the door and said, "If I may..."

He sat down on a stool, played with a pen, and began, "First off, sorry. I'm the one who crashed into you. Look, I brought you immediately to the hospital, and thank goodness I'm a licensed doctor." He looked at Zoey. "The girl already knows."

I pressed on my temples. "Is she okay?"

Jonathan made a nod. "The only major injury she has is her arm." I noticed the cast. He then motioned to my broken leg. "You, too."

I sighed. I sunk into the blanket and inhaled. My lungs cried in pain, feeling heavy. I kindly asked for water, and he handed me a full glass and a capsule.

"Take it. Pain reliever," he claimed.

I swallowed the bitter drugs and washed it down. I felt numb and the pain faded away.

Jonathan said, "At least, don't tell them, okay? I can lose a lot, if they knew."

Pitying the poor guy, I forgave him with a wink. He thanked me.

"What a relief. This is the best I can do at the moment. There I was, rushing home after a long shift, hoping to catch forty winks, and I happen to bump into you," he jokingly narrated. "Now, I'm back here, helping you get back to your feet."

"You live nearby?" I questioned him.

"Yeah. My house is a few blocks away from yours, same street." He handed me his business card, complete with his name and address. "Visit me sometime."

I doubted I would. Still, I took the card and placed it in my wallet, set aside on the table next to the bed.

"You'll be here for a couple of days. Skip school, ya know what I mean?"

He was more of a charismatic guy. He wore a fashionable designer jacket and an informal shirt under the white coat. He took life easy, even if he ends up in a mess, like now. He was, I assume, 35, at the least.

He poured himself coffee from the coffee maker. He continued, "Speaking of days, how many days have you stayed here? Guess."

I picked a random single digit number. "Three?"

"Bingo!" yelled Dr. Reed.

His pocket vibrated, and he answered a call. He hung up, saying to me, "Gotta sign some forms or something. See ya later, alligator." He left in a comical march.

I reached for my phone, only to realize a book was below it. It was a technology book. My technology book. I wondered why it was there. I grabbed my phone, and the screen was covered in notifications, like messages reciting, "Hey, how ya doing?", "Are you still in the hospital, Martin?","What are you, a stop sign?", missed phone calls, and the battery low warning.

I tried to call Dad, but the signal sucked in this place. I gave up and threw my phone to this side of the bed, whilst ringing the final battery warning.

The buzz woke Zoey up. She glanced at me, her eyes still watered. She was probably as oblivious as I was, especially with the look she gave her. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning," I said, seeing the first rays of day.

She smiled, "Good morning."

I contemplated the moment, alone, just the two of us.

"Can you get me a glass of water? The medicine left my throat dry," I requested.

"Sure," she answered, hurrying to the water dispenser.

She came back with the plastic cup. She gave it to me, hands touching ours, and sat on the stool again. I poured the coolness down my throat, hydrating my body.

"Sorry I put you into this," apologized Zoey. "I just... wanted to give you your book back." She lifted the book for me to see.

Huh. That's why.

"You left yours at the lab. And to think I was the forgetful one," she chuckled.

"Don't worry. I don't know a lot myself."

"No, I don't know anything at all," she said, gloomy.

I asked, "What do you mean, exactly?"

She clutched on the sheets. "I didn't know... you too..." She held back the cascade of tears. "I shouldn't have thought badly of you. You must... sniff... know how it feels... and..."

I stretched my arm out, despite the sluggishness my body was feeling. "Woah, calm down. Why are you crying?"

Wiping her eyes yet again, she muttered, "Nothing. It's nothing."

The window, open wide, let a relaxing gust of wind flow inside. The tension on her brain eased. She took a deep breath.

She said, with confidence, "You are a person I can trust on, someone who speaks without hesitation." She asked, "Can we be friends?"

It took me a long time to process, also 'cause my head still aches and all.

I responded, "In your own words, how can be friends if one isn't trustworthy? Will we be friends?"

She froze like a stone. I smiled.

"Well, I trust you."

The phone, tired of everything, died.

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