Chapter 19
Eli's POV
Carmen was still as the grave on her hospital bed. Her beautiful face marred by the cuts and bruises left from the crash. The doctors say that she's extremely lucky to be alive. They didn't say anything about the baby. I just couldn't believe any of it. How could I let something like this happen to her? I came back so we could be happier together. But ever since I got here, all that she's felt is pain. Part of me blamed myself. I had done this to her. If I hadn't made that stupid deal with Cody's dad... But the other part of me blamed Cody. Everything would have been fine if he hadn't been there. I could have rescued her like I meant to all along, and she would be none the wiser.
The agonizing tick of the clock was driving me insane. The only other sound in the room was Carmen's soft breathing. Around the third hour, Carmen's mother had arrived, stayed for a few moments, made sure she was okay, and scurried off, mumbling something about an important meeting with a client. They still hadn't been able to find Cody, he had just disappeared, but I wasn't gonna complain. That suited me just fine.
The doctor walked in, quietly tapping on the door. I jumped and looked up at him. He was a tall younger looking man. His face unnaturally aged with stress. He was frowning, his eyes filled with sympathy.
"Is she gonna be alright?" I asked, standing up.
"It's hard to tell at this point, she's stable, but she took quite a hard hit to her skull, that's our main focus. She also fractured her wrist, and bruised a couple ribs, but those aren't anything to worry about." I stared at her, mentally willing her to wake up and tell me that she'll be alright. The doctor looked at the chart as if he had something else to tell me.
"What is it?" I asked him not daring to look away from Carmen.
"Although we believe Carmen will be alright, the same cannot be said for the baby. It was killed on impact. I'm so sorry." I stood silently wondering how she would take the news when she woke up. She'd already been put through so much.
I reached across the cold hospital sheets, taking Carmen's uninjured hand in mine and giving it a reassuring squeeze. The doctor was gone now, leaving me alone with her. She looked so much older than when I had moved. I could see that the little girl that I had grown up with was gone now. She was a completely different person. And I was an idiot. Why did I think that I had any sort of chance with her. She's perfect. I'm just the punk best-friend.
5 years earlier:
I sat in the dark room, not knowing whether to bury my head in the pillow or listen to the screaming. They were arguing about money again. I didn't know why I expected them to argue about anything different. It was always money. It would always be money.
Something shattered downstairs. Followed by more screaming, then another plate breaking. I shoved my head under the pillow drowning out the yelling. I looked over at my desk, still holding the pillow in place, staring at the photo of me and Carmen at summer camp together. Carmen was sitting on my lap with her hands wrapped around me neck trying to hold on because we were laughing too hard. She looked beautiful, even with her hair tied back in a messy bun and evident lack of makeup. But she'd asked me to burn it anyway. but I wouldn't. It was my favorite thing in this stupid house. I reached out, momentarily hearing the screaming again, and grabbed the small picture. I fell on my side pressing the pillow back in place and hugging the picture, trying my best to forget my situation. My phone buzzed, the screen lighting up. I dropped the photo, wondering who could be texting me at this time of night. I smiled as the familiar conversation popped up on the screen. Carmen. I read it and smiled. Dropping the pillow and putting the picture back on the stand. I tucked my phone in my pocket and quietly opened up my window. My house consisted of a basement, where my parent's rooms and the kitchen were located, and a ground floor where the living room and my bedroom were, making my window just a foot feet off the ground.
I climbed out expertly and closed the window behind me. I didn't bother leaving a note at where I was going. They never check in on me when they fight. Actually they never really check in on me at all. I ran quickly down the quiet black street and slowed to a jog as I neared her house. A flashlight shined out at me from her window. The rest of the house dark and silent. I ran across the lawn and tapped on the window a couple times before it opened, revealing Carmen's smiling face. She motioned me in and then disappeared in the darkness of her shadowy room. I closed the window behind me as she crawled onto her bed, carrying her open laptop.
"Okay so I found a new show, and I think you'll really like it." She whispered patting the bed next to her, pulling up Netflix.
She pretended that she just did these secret movie nights randomly, but we both knew that they only happened on days that my parents were fighting, which lately had become increasingly more often. She knew about how they fought. The whole Block did. But she never brought it up. She would just text me telling me to come over because she wanted to show me something. After a while they had just become routine to us.
She handed me a pair of headphones and she put on her own set, pressing play. I grinned as the spooky title screen shot up. Telling me that she had picked yet another horror movie.
I looked at her through the corner of my eye, smiling slightly. She was was the best thing that had ever happened to me, and she might not know it yet, but someday, I was going to marry her.
