35 - Riker crashes his car
"How hard is it to read a freaking map!?" Riker shouts at you.
You're sitting in the passenger's seat, trying to give Riker directions. You're headed to Colorado, but Riker has never driven there from California before. And he's gotten you both lost.
"Riker, I told you. You were supposed to get off the highway at exit 42."
"There was no exit 42!"
"Then how are we at exit 47? 42 comes before 47, Riker!"
"Well I didn't see it!"
"It's dark out. You should be paying more attention!"
"Just give me the freaking map. I'll do it myself!"
He ripped the map out of your hands. You sigh, and cross your arms. Reading a map is harder than it seems. Especially in the dark.
All of a sudden, you hear a loud car horn and Riker screaming. And then everything goes black.
Later...
"I s-should've b-been paying m-more attention! T-this is all m-my fault!"
"Riker, the doctor said she'll be fine. She'll wake up soon, ok?"
"It's all m-my f-fault..."
You hear Riker repeating over and over that something was his fault. You were so confused because you heard his dad's voice, and last time you checked, you and Riker were the only ones in the car. And you heard beeping too. What is that from?
"Calm down, Riker. Everything will be ok."
You finally open your eyes. Everything is a bit blurry, so you have to blink a few times to get everything into focus. Riker is curled up on a chair with his face buried into his dad's chest.
You look around, confused. Are you in the hospital? What happened?
"Riker, come on. Stop crying. She's ok. Why don't you give her a hug."
Riker's dad pulls Riker off of him, and makes him look at you. When he sees you're awake, he jumps to your side, and pulls you into a tight hug.
"Riker?"
"What?"
"What's going on? Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital," he says, still holding you.
"Why?"
"W-we were in a car accident," he says, his voice shaking.
"We were? Why?"
He takes a deep breath before answering.
"I guess I sort of just lost my temper a bit... And it was late and I was tired. I was trying to read a map in the dark, and I don't really even know what happened. But we crashed. And my car is totaled."
"Why am I in the hospital?"
"After we crashed, y-you were... u-unconscious. A-and I just got so scared! But the doctors said you just have a slight concussion, and you'll be fine."
You can feel his whole body shaking.
"Riker, calm down."
"Sorry... I was just so scared."
"Why?"
"I crashed my car, and made you have to go to the hospital! This is all my fault, and if I'd just been a little calmer about everything, this would've never happened. I'm so sorry!"
He starts crying a little bit. You push him off of you so you can see his face and wipe away his tears.
"Didn't you say the doctors said I'd be fine?"
"Yeah?"
"Well then stop crying. There's nothing to cry about."
He takes a few deep breaths, and finally composes himself.
"Why were you so scared if you knew I'd be fine?"
"I don't know... I guess I just started thinking about everything. And I guess I just thought... if I crashed and something serious happened to you because I was being dumb, I'd never forgive myself. I'm just so glad you're ok."
You pull him closer, and kiss him.
"Why's your dad here?"
"He's here to drive us the rest of the way to Colorado. The doctors said when you wake up, you're free to go."
"Oh, awesome."
Riker helps get you ready to leave, and then you both get into the back of his dad's car. It's past midnight, and you're really tired. You fall asleep in the back of the car with your head on Riker's shoulder.
