Just a Short Story

- A Short Story -

James gripped the steering wheel, looking worryingly out at his dark surroundings. The only thing holding light in the early morning sky, was the crescent moon. In the back of the car was his best friend, Ethan and his girlfriend Alexis. James had asked Lilly, Ethan and Alexis to come with him to his family's holiday lodge at Lightwater Lake. They had been on the road, driving for quite a while. Since 9:00-pm last night. That meant they had been on the road for 5 and a half hours. The road was made of gravel and James was driving at a quick speed, in hope of finding a way out of the forest they were lost in. Lilly sat next to him in the front of the car. Due to the dark outside, and the tinted windows no one could see out to the sides of the car. James was feeling slightly drowsy, but was determined to kept on going, driving further into the night.

James's legs were becoming numb from sitting in the same position for as long as he had.
"Take another turn up here" Lilly said, still trying to figure out the possible roads to take, marked on the map.
They kept driving forward over and down dirt and gravel paths and roads, Still unaware of where to go or even where they were. Around them, rolling hills stood fast into the ground surrounding the foot of their grass glory.

In the gloomy darkness ahead faint lights edged their way closer to the quartet. James squinted trying to make out what it was. Suddenly it became clear. No longer were the yellow lights edging towards them, they were sprinting, like a cheetah who had found its prey. It was a car. Speeding closer, James had no time to think. Trusting his natural instinct, he swerved off the road and broke through the barrier.

When this happens people say 'I can't remember what happened next' to avoid flashbacks to such a horrific moment. But not James. He saw everything. The sapphire water hurdling, approaching him. Lilly had gone unconscious, and Ethan was holding onto Alexis in the back. No sound came out when James opened his mouth. But gravity wrapped up the show and it was all over. The new car sinking into the deep, wide river.

He took his last look at everyone who sat in the car before everything went black. An ebony prison grabbed him.

He opened his eyes and saw that he had cords attached to his arm, and a drip beside him. Lilly was opposite him, Ethan beside him and Alexis on the opposite side to him. Ethan started breathing heavily and James turned his head and saw the doctors at his side with injections and vials filled with some sort of liquid.

Then James looked across at Lilly. She just lay there. Her shoulders heaving in her sleep. He laid down himself, and looked up at the white ceiling above him. He still knew and remembered what had happened and why they were in the place they were in. He remembered the beam of the lights ahead of him. He remembered looking back at his best friend and all the other people in the car. He remembered the last moment of it when the abyss of cold dark water rushed over them. With the haunting memories he fell asleep.

He woke up and looked around him once again. This time everything became evident. There were Doctors surrounding Ethan's hospital bed talking quickly to each other, demanding different operating tools. James swiftly sat up.
"What is happening!?" James inquired, loud enough for the nurses near by, watching over, to hear.

One of the nurses promptly walked over to him and explained what was going on just a few metres away from him.
"I regret to be the person to inform you of this," She started "But the Doctors, Medics and Nurses are doing their best to save the life of your friend. We are slowly losing him. I believe this is a result of the impact felt during the crash." She finished with a kind smile but a sorry expression on her face.

Those few sentences shook him. The sat there, wide eyes, just staring at the ground under his feet.

"I can't believe it.... I don't believe it...." He managed to stutter.

"I am very sorry," the nurse replied, sympathy filled her voice.

He stood up and left the room to go and use the bathroom that was one room over from where he and his friends were located in the hospital itself. he came back, but the first thing he heard and saw was Alexis crying, Lilly at her side and a white sheet over Ethan.

"He's gone...." Alexis said, trembling.