The Virus

Twelve

*Flashback*

"Ophey!" He screams. I look around slightly and see Noah sprinting towards me. He gets to me and crouches down beside me. "Ophey." He breaths more softly now. His tone is almost disapproving. I ignore it and lay my head back on the pavement. It hurt to crane too much. I look around. Cars everywhere. All stopped because of me. Half of my school were outside the gates. All gawking at me. My head throbbed so much, I just wanted to sleep. I wanted to shut down and block out all of the noise.

I hear my name again but this time it's someone different. Laura. "I'm so sorry. Please. O. I'm so sorry." She sobs into my ear.

I chuckle slightly but stop when pain explodes in my temple. I pat her arm reassuringly as if to say it was okay, that it wasn't her fault.

I force my eyes open one last time and see tears sliding down Noah's cheeks. "You really know how to beat yourself up." He chuckles, putting some humour into the situation, trying to distract himself from the worry. I smile up at him weakly and close my eyes. I let myself relax and let go. Allowing the darkness to envelope me. "Please don't leave me. Don't go." I hear him plead.

*End of Flashback*

"Ophelia." He whispers into my ear.

"I'm so sorry!" I blurt out before throwing my arms around him. He's hesitant to accept and as I pull back there's a confused look on his face.

"For what?" He asks, looking puzzled.

"For leaving you." I whisper. I squeeze my eyes shut. I remember that night. I remember it so well. Too well. The pain. The horror. But mostly Laura. She was all that was of that night.

"Ophey." He murmurs snapping me out of my reverie. "Are you okay?" He asks as he wipes a tear from my cheek.

I nod. "That night. The night I... Laura..." I trail off at a loss for words.

"The night you got hit by a car. Correction. Two cars." He finishes with a slight chuckle.

I nod, a smile beginning to appear on my face but then immediately disappears. "Did you hate me?" I whisper almost inaudibly.

He fixes his eyes to mine and his expression is almost angry. "Ophelia. I'm not capable of hating you. And I was selfish. What you did was amazing. Even though everybody said it. You never took it in. You saved Laura's life. Remember that." He replies before pulling me into a hug.

"B-but I left you. And what good did it do? She's probably dead by now." I mumble into his chest. I stop for a moment, realising what I had said, realising I had never dared to say or think that in the last few weeks. 

"You were wrecked by that car. I'm not going to be mad because you fell unconscious." He says softly into my hair.

"I dream about it all the time, Noah. It stopped for a while when I woke up here. But it's starting again. All the dreams they're slowly coming back. And I think I'm gonna have some new ones before summer is over." I say almost desperate.

He sighs. "I'll be here." He says. And I sigh at his words. Because even though they were out there. And I had my thoughts in here. I was still with Noah, and Noah with me.

I begin to fall asleep and hear him chuckle "Ophey. What am I going to do with you. It's been over two years since that happened. You poor thing." He says the last part with sincerity in his tone. And even though he was degrading me, I knew that's not what he meant. I knew inside he was aching because I was aching. I knew the fact that this kept me up at night. That he kept me up at night killed him. I drift off into sleep as I think about this.

_ _ _ _ _ _

"Look I'm just saying. I wouldn't mind." Laura defends. 

I laugh out loud. "'Wouldn't mind' yeah okay more like would absolutely love." I reply sarcastically. She rolls her eyes at me. And Megan grabs both of our shoulders. 

We immediately stop laughing and face her. "No guys for real though. McDonald's or KFC?" She stared at us her eyes wide, completely serious. Laura and I look at each other and burst out laughing.

We continue down the path and exit the school. School ended less than ten minutes ago and everybody was rushing home. "Ooo." Laura coos as she runs into the deserted road. "There's a coin!" She exclaims.

I roll my eyes. "The guys are coming. I can't be asked to deal with them dumbasses. Just leave it." I reply.

"Wait, it's a £2 coin. No way. I can get extra fries with my burger with that." She points to the coin.

I glance around as the group of boys get closer. They're about to spot us. "Laur-" I say.

"Wait! It's stuck. For gods sake." She murmurs.

The boys exit the school and Jake begins to yell my name. "Ophelia." He laughs.

I roll my eyes. "Laura." I whine.

She rolls her eyes at me and leans one hip and then focuses her attention back to the coin. "Maybe I could pry it off." She says to herself.

As I glance to my side for the boys, I see a car. It's going fast. Too fast to stop. "Laura!" I scream as I run at her. She looks up at me surprised and scared as I throw her to the curb. I look back and all the boys are fixated on me. That's the last thing I see. I'm hit at full speed. My body is thrown into the air and the car screeches to a stop by the sounds of it. But then as my body begins to fall to the ground. Another force catches my side. I'm still awake. The pain is unbearable. I should be dead i think to myself. 

"Ophey!" Noah screams as he makes long strides towards me. I glance at Laura who's still at the curb. She's in shock, completely unmoving. It's like everything's in slow motion. I look into her eyes. Her deep hazel eyes and I snap awake again.

I feel Noah close to me and I sigh in relief upon realising I'm not alone. I snuggle into him and breath in his familiar scent. A mix of mens cologne, mint and a soft vanilla that always hangs around him. I smile and nestle myself closer to him.