Disturbing the Peace

Chapter 4

We all look at the hospital bed. Rain, the most emotional of us all, bursts out crying on Marc's shoulder. I've always been the most calm and the best in an emergency situation. I sit next to Leo and put my hand in his open palm. I hear a struggled breath and then find his hand slowly wrapping around mine. I almost cry from joy.

Ferris looks at Rain and Marc and says, "Maybe we should let her talk to him for a little while."

They escort themselves out. I look into the nearly lifeless face that is one of my best friends. "Look, Leo, don't you dare leave me."

I watch all the machines around him beep and look at the oxygen mask hooked up to his face. His fingers try to grip my hand more tightly but I stop them.

"Don't waste any energy communicating with me. Just let me talk to you. Put all your energy towards survival," I command.

I've never talked so seriously before.

We make eye contact. "You are what keeps us alive usually. We don't stand a chance without you Leo. I will be the only me of us that doesn't always panic if you leave me. Our group will go crazy. You keep me sane, Leo! Fight for life and don't you dare give up!"

A slight moan escapes his lips.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot...if you see a light, DO NOT GO TO IT!" I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

A chuckle escapes him before I calm him down.

I examine the situation, determining how gruesome it looks. He has a large scar running up the side of his right arm. Dry blood sticks all around his nose. He labors to breathe. Don't you dare leave me.

Gashes. Everywhere. On his left ankle. On his left thigh. On his right calf. On his forehead. On his chest.

I stay strong for his sake, but when I leave the room, I run to the bathroom to blubber. Thick, constant tears escape my eyes as I wail in the corner of the bathroom. My outfit receives many disapproving looks from people walking in and out.

"Get a life and stop criticizing mine!" I finally yell at some skinny little blonde bimbo.

She simply squeals and runs out without drying her hands.

I blow my nose into a paper towel and dry my tears. I rinse my face in effort to remove the redness from my eyes.

Leo could be gone; I can't survive high school without his optimistic view on everything. This is all my fault.

Maybe I've talked more about Ferris because I love him and about Rain because I'm her "adopted" sister, but Leo's the glue that holds our small group together without any fights. We'll all lose control without him.

I walk out to greet my friends in the waiting room. "Guys, we gotta hope he's gonna make it. He has a good chance of survival. We just gotta hope the river of life flows in the right direction."

Rain sniffles. "I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't!" she cries.

Marc rubs her back. "He's a better man than me. I would take his spot with any given opportunity."

"C'mon, guys, lets just get home and come back to visit tomorrow," Ferris offers.

We all nod. They go into the car with the kind nurse that drove them here, while I am escorted by Kevin Brown back to his car.

I sit criss-cross applesauce in the passenger seat. An eerie silence overtakes the car when he starts driving.

I break the silence, "Soo....? You have us on video for 5 years?"

"Yup."

I click my tongue awkwardly. "And it's all in your laptop?"

"Yes, ma'am. Well, most of it."

My shoulders tense up. "Can I see it?" I ask.

"Be my guest." He gestures towards the laptop, then adds, "There're some headphones in the glove compartment."

I grab the headphones and plug them into the laptop. I go into the files and click the first thing in the folder. "YEAR 1" it's entitled.

I timidly touch the play button. It shows us, five years ago, standing in the cul-de-sac talking about world peace. I ex out and then click on "YEAR 3."

The first thing it shows is us, smoking. I'm finally gonna know what we do when we smoke.

The car stops abruptly. "This is your stop," Kevin says.

"I barely watched anything," I complain, clicking pause. "Is there any way I can watch this at home?"

"Tell you what," he starts, "if you promise not to show your friends, it's all backed up on this flash drive." He holds up a blue flash drive and gives it to me. "It's yours."

"Thanks!" I exclaim.