Chapter 13: Overwhelmed

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A recognizable feeling overcame me the moment I fluttered my eyes open, only to see a room that wasn't mine and to immediately realize that my head was aching. This brought me back to the time when I woke up in August's house and didn't know where I was or who he was when he came into the bedroom... only this time, I knew where I was, which still began to fill me with panic.

I was lying in the bed of a hospital room.

Just like when I woke up in August's room, I had no idea what happened that got me here. All I could guess was that something must've happened to my head, and not having knowledge of knowing why it hurt so bad caused an uneasy feeling to rile up inside me.

I looked around the large white and turqoise room of which the bright sun naturally lit up through a large window. Guessing what time it must currently be made me wonder how long I've been in this place. So many questions that I couldn't answer continued to ring in my head and I felt too scared and nervous and confused to move anything but my eyes that'd been scanning my surroundings.

A few minutes later, a wave of relief began to settle on me when the door opened and in came who was obviously my doctor, who looked surprised when he saw me and flashed me a smile.

"Oh, look who's up" He said cheerfully. "You have visitors who've been waiting to see you. Would you like me to bring them in, and then we can answer the questions that must be going through your mind?"

"Uh, I guess" I replied. He nodded then proceeded to walk back out the room, coming back a few minutes later with August, Ebony, Tyler, Chris, and Kyra. Excited to see me, they all happily handed their greetings to me and stood around while the Doctor followed in after them, closing the door and beginning to explain.

"How are you feeling?" The doctor asked.

"My head hurts" I simply answered. That was the only thing that I really felt wrong with me; other than that, I felt fine.

"That's expected" The doctor replied. "It should hurt for a little while, but you'll be fine."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Ooo, can I tell her?" Ebony eagerly asked the doctor. When he told her "go right ahead" she didn't hesitate to tell me everything I needed to know.

"So I was drivin' to your crib last night right, and I was waitin' in the car when I heard you screamin' and shit, so I ran inside and your auntie was punchin' you in the head like a spider monkey. So I threw her off of you and to beat up a fuckin 36 year old and you were over there knocked out. I saved your ass and brought you here."

"Wait, where's my aunt then?" I asked, beginning to panic. I was completely stunned by what I had heard, but after being given the information, I did begin to remember her throwing punches at my head and the things she said to me before that. My heart began to feel that unique yet familiar pain that I've been feeling too much lately.

The room grew silent and everyone looked at the doctor to respond... I guess nobody else could bring themselves to do it.

"She's in rehab." The doctor said. Those three words immediately filled me with so many mixed emotions that I didn't even know what I was feeling. After a brief moment of hesitation, he continued, the cheerful tone and smile having turned dull and serious. "She's mentally ill. She's been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and she's also gonna be helped out with her drinking problem."

"And Trevor..." Kyra began before trailing off and not being able to finish her sentence. Instead, Ebony answered for her.

"He in prison for DUI. They pulled him over and he was drunk as hell and had weed on him and all that. He got 15 months in jail."

Holy shit. Trevor in Prison? For 15 months? I didn't realize that he was in such a pit of sadness. I thought he was handling this death way better than I was, because he masked his emotions, and since the rest of my friends were handling well considering they weren't as close to Carmen, I guess I forgot about him. But I realized then that I never really checked up on him. I didn't ask anyone else how they felt.

It's as if my depressed, angry, and frustrated emotions from the past couple weeks built up inside me all at once and I couldn't take it. My shakey legs bent up and I hugged them as I buried my face into my upper thighs and began to sob. I heard the doctor to suggest that he and everyone else leave the room and give me time alone, which I didn't really care about at all. Everyone had left except for August, who ignored everyone trying to call his name and stop him and closed the door behind him. I heard his footsteps move slowly towards the bed and he crawled in with me, but didn't touch me or talk to me. I didn't move a muscle; I just kept position and continued letting the tears fall.

"I can't take this anymore" I said after a few moments of crying, my words coming out bumpy and uneasily. "Too much is happening all at once."

"Ebony called me on your phone and I immediately got so worried" August said in a gentle half-whisper. "I drove here so fast not knowing if you were ok or not. You don't know how relieved I was when they told me you'd be fine."

My crying grew silent, but tears didn't hesitate to pour down my face as I lifted up my head and faced him. He looked deep into my eyes with his own pretty pair of which seemed dialated, worried, and sincere all at once. Using one of the sleeves of his hoodie, he wiped the tears away from my eyes and cheeks.

"Please don't cry. I wanna see your beautiful, happy face" He said softly. I just looked at him, still physically unable to smile. I let him smoothly put his arm around me and huddle me close to him, securing me with his other arm. We sat in a long moment of silence before he suddenly blurted in the most casual yet weird tone, "I just realized that I haven't been as nice to anyone as I've been to you bruh"

It was the way he said it that made a slight laugh come out of me. It was so unexpected and even he laughed.

"Forreal though" He chuckled. "I just care about you a lot. I usually ain't a comforting or sensitive person."

I then looked at him again and within a few moments, the laughter slowed to a stop, but so did my cryng. He wiped away the two runny tears that were left with his thumb and we found ourselves looking in each other's eyes. Then, we began to lean in.

Our lips were close to touching when August's phone rang in the pocket of his hoodie. We immediately pulled away from what just almost happened and pulled his phone out.

"Hello?" August asked after answering the call. All I heard after that was him talking about how he can't be at some place right now because he was with me in the hospital, but I couldn't hear what the person on the other line was saying. After a minute of two he hung up and put he phone away back into his pocket.

"What was that about?" I asked curiously.

"Mind your own nosey ass business" He replied jokingly. I laughed and did that thing where I hit his face with my hand as light as possible to be playful. "Nah I'm just playin', it was my friends needin' me for sum"

"If he needs you, you can go" I told him. "I don't wanna make you st-"

"it's alright, I'd rather be here with you than the dumbasses I hang out with" he cut off.

"Well I like you being here with me" I said, cracking a smile, which he looked at and then grinned himself. After that we just stayed there with my head resting on his shoulder and letting time pass as we sat in silence.

The one thing that I pondered in my mind the whole time, however, was the fact that we almost kissed. I wondered if he was thinking about that too.

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So what do you think of what's happening recently in the story so far? What do you think of the characters and who's your favorite? 

I have a few chapters coming soon that I think y'all will like

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