Sandcastles

Chapter Seven

John Tyler Williamson has no real family. He's been moving from foster family to foster family since he was ten years old. His parents died in a similar car accident he was in, except theirs was on the bridge going across the river. It was late winter during their wreck, and their car skidded over the edge of the bridge and into the river. The cause of death was drowning. Had they not gone into the river, they would be alive today. But instead, John Tyler had to wait years until he turned eighteen so he could get out of the foster system and live on his own. It didn't take long for him to realize that he hated being alone. But that's all he got, being alone. And that's why I was the only one who could recognize him. I didn't let him be alone that night at the party.

He got the worse end of the wreck. Since he collided head on with our car, the whole front of his car was smashed. I've been told he has broken legs, broken ribs, and other terrible injuries. Unlike Troy, he has no concussion an will be awake as soon as they finish the operations on him.

I almost feel guilty being able to walk away from the wreck with only as much as a nosebleed and a piece of glass in my arm. But now, my nose is fine and my arm is stitched up while doctors are still tending to Troy and John Tyler. All of the Ludwig family stayed in the waiting room overnight while my family went home. Feeling guilty, I stayed with the family so I could get news on Troy in the morning. It was a restless sleep, though. The chairs in the waiting room are uncomfortable and poor Marc and Alexander had me sleeping on their shoulders all night. When I didn't wake up on Alexander, I was leaning on Marc. But they didn't seem to mind. Marc was fast asleep every time I would open my eyes. Alexander, on the other hand, would be wide awake. He would always smile at me and stay silent though.

It's around 4:00 in the morning when I wake up on Alexander's shoulder and realize I cannot go back to sleep. The dryness of my mouth is overpowering so I get up quietly and walk down the hall to a vending machine. I pull out a few dollar bills from the hoodie that Ben lent me before he left last night. Since we had just gone to dinner and been in a wreck, my dress that I was wearing was ripped and torn. Madeline was smart enough to bring me a change of clothes. But it's terribly cold in the hospital, so Ben gave me his old hoodie before they left. Lucky for me, he left a few crumpled dollar bills in the pocket.

A bottle of water falls out of the vending machine. I reach down and grab it, uncapping it and guzzling down a quarter of it. When I turn, I yelp in surprise when I see Alexander standing there. He smirks at me when he sees that he scared me.

Without speaking, he puts a dollar into the machine and presses the button for a soda. When he takes it, he turns back to face me.

"Little jumpy there?" he asks while uncapping the soda bottle. I roll my eyes at him.

"You would be too if you were just in a freaking car accident." I tell him. He lets out a low chuckle before rubbing his droopy eyes.

I lean against the wall and drain the water bottle. I don't want to go back in the waiting room. It's boring in there.

Alexander sits beside me and we both stay silent. I look back into the sleeping waiting room, a little surprised when I see a nurse in there talking to someone. I tap Alexander's shoulder and point. There must be some news on Troy.

But when Alexander stands to walk in there, he stops himself when we see that it's Helen that the nurse is talking to. Then, Helen stands from her seat in the room and follows the nurse down the hall. Alexander sits back down, probably just as confused as I am. If it was news on Troy, they would have woken his parents up, right? Or maybe they were just getting whoever was awake? I don't know. I shake my head and toss the bottle into the trash. Alexander clears his throat and I turn to him.