Started With a Tube - Chapter 16
Three days later, I get a phone call in the middle of the night. It's Anna and she's crying. And I don't know what to say really because it hits me. I realise in seconds how real the whole situation is; Alec is going to die. Of course, right now Anna tells me that Alec isn't dead. He's just been rushed to hospital because he's bad again. Really bad. And I think Anna just needs some more support. It's two in the morning, but I seriously doubt she would phone me unless things were horribly serious. So, I pick myself out of bed and quickly change into the first thing I find, which happens to be a pair of jogger bottoms, t-shirt and one of Alec's hoodies. I grab my phone and purse and throw them into my pocket. I debate waking up my parents but I honestly see no reason. I travel by myself all the time and the hospital is only a short journey by tube, a ten minute walk since the stations will be shut. I slip out of the house and lock the door, pocketing the key.
It's freezing. That's what I first realise, but I decide that the cold will help me walk faster so I set off. There was no snow this year, even though it was forecast. Who knows, maybe there'll be some in January.
I drag my phone from my pocket and send a text to Alec's phone saying I'm on my way. It'll be Anna who reads it but still, at least someone knows that I'm coming. The streets are lit only by the dim streetlights and they shimmer with frost. Everything actually looks very beautiful at this time of night, when the world is asleep and so should I. I try to savour this feeling of utter alone because I need to. I don't want to be smothered and recently I have been. Mum has been worried about me, worried I'll get bad again. But her worrying only makes me more worried that I'll get bad again. I don't want to go back to how I was. It was boring and scary and I never knew what I would do to myself next. It's not a good place to be and I'm not in a hurry to go back.
I cross the road with my hands shoved firmly in my pockets and sigh. This is my life now. Making sure I'm there for Alec. Spending time with him. Loving him.
And then he'll be gone. Just like that.
But I don't like thinking about that part.
The roads are relatively quiet as it's so late, but there are still a few vehicles passing. I try not to look at anything other than the ground in front of me because I don't want to attract any attention. A girl walking alone on the streets of London in the dead of night by herself: we all know the stories.
I'm close to the hospital now. The cold has settled deep in my body and now I'm just dead set on getting there. My feet push me forward and I don't realise how exhausted I am until a car horn blaring jolts me and I stumble. There's a flash of light and I'm screaming and I'm terrified because there's so much noise and I'm standing in the road because I fell and I look up but the cars so close and
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Started With a Tube
Teen Fiction"According to Greek Mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate being, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves."...
