All the Ways to Tell You

Thoughts and Fakers

Corrie's POV

Corrie's friends left to get food and the nurse left to do nurse-stuff. She didn't really know. Corrie didn't have her phone or anything to really do, so she just fiddled with her blanket and thought. About everything. Yesterday happened so fast, yet it seemed like forever ago at the same time.

She got shot. Grey had blood on his shirt because he held her in his arms as she lay wounded. His favorite shirt that usually had the faint smell of chlorine and oranges just like him. Grey might like her back. She'll have to go into surgery perhaps in a few hours. Her side ached and the constant beeping of the heart rate monitor was a bit annoying, yet kept her centered because it was consistent. Her life wasn't. She wished it could just go back to the consistent schedule, wake up, go to school, so homework, sleep, repeat. But now she was in the hospital. Why? She wanted to save her friend. In that moment she hadn't cared about her own life. It meant nothing to her. In that moment all she wanted to do was save Emily's life. Not only was She Grey's closest and favorite sister, she was Corrie's friend. She knew it was her fault. Corrie blamed herself for what happened. She blamed herself for not just her own injury, but Angeles's injury, the fear and panic the shooter caused everyone, for the almost killing of Emily. She didn't know what she'd have done if Emily had died. If anyone had gotten severely injured or killed for that matter.

It must have been about half an hour, and the nurse came back in with her almost-too-happy smile. She carried in her hand a greenish messenger purse with pins all down the strap. "Hi hon! A friend came to see you, but it's not yet visiting hours. She told me to give you this though." She handed Corrie her purse. She smiled and thanked her. The nurse made sure she was alright, and made sure she was comfortable, asked her some questions on how she was feeling. She turned the TV on for Corrie, then left again.

She grabbed the remote and flipped to the news channel. And of course her school was on it. "...Two injured and hospitalized after school shooter attacked at lunch, firing several shots and causing a panic at Mclatchey high school this pst Monday. Our reporter Frank is here with an interview with one of the victim's friends..." The screen switched to outside the school with a man with a microphone and a student next to them. The girl on camera sniffled and wiped away fake tears. "I-it's just awful. Carrie was a good friend of mine-"
The reporter whispered "Corrie" in the girl's ear. She nodded. "Yeah I knew that, I just call her Carrie. Um-it's an inside joke between us." She cleared her throat and resumed her fake sniffles. "As I was saying, I just hope she's gonna be alright. I visited her in the hospital yesterday as soon as I could. She's just-she's a great friend. She's really the light of my life and our friend group. When I visited her she told me 'be strong. I'll be alright. Just be strong.'" She sniffled some more. Corrie had never seen or talked to that girl in her life.

"...as you can see by this video taken by a student..." they showed a clip of the shooting someone must have recorded with their phone as soon as it started. She saw him. The kid with the gun. She could hear the whispers of students and the yelling of him as her started to fire. Corrie turned the TV off and instead dig through her purse to find her phone. Of course she had a million snapchats and Instagram messages from random student giving her well wishes and messages of sympathy. She smiled, even though she knew most people just wanted to be known as "the person who knew the girl who got shot."

      She tried to read and respond to as many as she could, but it hurt her head to read. The nurse came in again after about 10 minutes or so. "Hi sweet. So, I'm really sorry, your parents called. They're help up in traffic and won't be here for another hour or so." Corrie sighed and the nurse tried to smile and cheer her up. "But they'll be here, hon. Just hold tight a lil longer. Someone's here to see you and they'll be allowed in as soon as visiting hours start for you."

      She left, leaving Corrie once again alone. She decided to give up on reading messages and just watched YouTube.