Not This Year

Two

When I woke up, I saw the rosy colour of my bedroom walls, felt the warmth of my sheets, smelled the freshness of the flowers on my window sill across the room.

"Thank God, it was only a nightmare," I thought out loud.

I up out of bed. "Last day of school, gotta look nice," I said. As I was choosing an outfit, I heard a knock on my door. I turned to open it, and there stood Chase.

"What do you want, scum bag?" I asked. Since when does he want to be within ten feet of me?

He looked like he had been awake all night. He finally answered me, "Ouch, that hurt sis. But, there's no school for you, yesterday was your last day, remember? No need to get all prettied up. I'm going to the hospital to see mom and dad. I'll give you a ride if you wanna come too." All I could do was stare at him.

"So...I wasn't just having a super bad nightmare?" I squeaked, my mouth becoming dry.

"Afraid not," he replied. "You passed out in the hospital after finding out about mom and dad. I brought you home in your car and called my friend to take him and his brother to the hospital to take my bike home. I didn't want him to get stranded here and leave his bike at the hospital so I made sure his brother drove him to the hospital and back. He brought us some flowers, of all things. They're with the others on your window sill." He kept rambling on and all I wanted to do was cry.

"Why do you look so tired?" I questioned. I thought maybe after last night he would have stayed up drinking and had a huge hangover or something.

He laughed uncomfortably. "I've been up all night making sure you were okay."

I was taken back by this. My brother, Chase Mathews, ACTUALLY CARING about my health and well being?

"Chase, you feeling okay? Since when do you care about me? Maybe you did fall off your motorcycle/man-made-death-trap and hit your head," I said, and again, he laughed.

"Amanda, as much as I can't stand you sometimes, you're still my little sister, and I would be kicking myself in the ass if I let something happen to you."

This triggered something inside of me that I haven't felt since we were little kids, since before Chase dropped out of high school. I felt thankful... for my brother. I went to him and hugged him tight.

"Thank you, Chase."

"Anything for you, Amanda, honestly," he replied, hugging me back so tightly it was starting to get hard to breathe.

I let go and he released me.

"So, when are we going to the hospital?" I asked.

"Whenever you're ready. Oh, wear jeans, and your leather jacket. It goes better with my bike," he joked. He knew there was no way in hell I would be riding that.

"Nice try, Chase. I'm taking my car. You're welcome to ride with me, free ride and you don't have to pay for gas." I knew the gas part would make it impossible for him to turn down my offer.

"Fine," he said, "But I don't wanna hear some crap music on the radio. We're plugging in my phone."

"Deal," I said. This should be an interesting drive.

I kicked Chase out so I could get ready. I was done in 15 minutes. We walked into the garage and hopped into my car. We drove for all of 5 seconds before he turned on Use Somebody by Kings Of Leon. My favourite song.

'This might not be as bad as I thought it would be,' I thought to myself. We'll see.