There Must Be Something More

71 | Speak Now

I woke up when I heard Meredith's frantic voice. I immediately came face to face with her. She had a very serious and worried look on her face. Her brown eyes seemed to be screaming.

"Charlie? Charlie?" She said. 

"I'm up. What?"

"Something's happened," she said. And that's all she said.

The next thing I knew I was riding shotgun in Trey's convertible. Meredith, Grandpa Chuck, and Samuel sat in the back. No one said a thing about what was going on, but it was certain they all had the same news to carry. Whatever it was, I was curious. But I didn't dare ask. It was as if something inside me didn't want to know what it was either.

Despite the desperation of the situation, Trey drove calmly. And I was glad. My side still hurt, and I knew I should have stayed home. But I had a bad feeling. I just hoped I was wrong.

The buildings that blurred past us seemed to blur more as I thought and thought about what might be going on.

One thing was for sure, we were heading back to the hospital again. I studied the routes Trey was taking and had it all figured out.

I remembered Meredith and the others insisting for me to rest. They said I needed time to heal. And I knew they were right. A car accident isn't to be taken lightly--I needed all the rest I could get. But the fact that Meredith bothered to wake me up from my peaceful rest two hours later, had to be something urgent. 

I wondered what it was. Did they really have to wake me up from my rest? Was it that serious?

My mind had a million theories.

Could it be that the doctors changed their minds about me being fine and they discovered a chronic damage inside me? Could it be that the accident was worse than I'd imagined? Could it be that they gave me the wrong results and now they had the real one and it actually showed me being in great, fatal danger?

Could it be?

"Could someone tell me something already!" I insisted. The hospital came into view. I saw several cars parked in the parking lot. I wondered if all of these people were in as bad a situation as me. Or in as mild a situation as me. I wasn't sure at that time.

Nobody told me anything. In fact no one gave me an eye. No one gave me a hint. They just rushed to the hospital. Grandpa Chuck let me put my arm around him so he could support me. I hated feeling weak. I hated feeling like I was a burden to my friends. But they didn't seem to mind.

We all sat outside Intensive Care. I wasn't sure what was going on.

Beside me Samuel had the worst look anyone could have. He looked as if he had just lost his school president title to the biggest bully in our school. He looked so shattered. I've never seen him that way.

"Dude?" I asked him. "You okay?"

He looked at me. He pursed his lips. "Man, no matter what happens, we're in this together, alright? No matter what."

I nodded. "Of course. Got a problem you need help with?"

"They said we could come in," Meredith approached us. She and Samuel helped me up. Two people in surgical clothes, one blue and one green, came out of the emergency room. Their faces were hidden behind their surgical masks. Their eyes were trained on me. But Meredith and Samuel ignored their stares and ushered me to the emergency room.

The room was dark. There was nothing else but paintings in dim lighting and the single bed that had a limp boy resting on it. I squinted my eyes in the light and realized it was Liam.