Being Olivia West

Visitors

My eyelids flutter open. It takes my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the harsh light. Where am I? I make out three figures standing beside me. My mom, dad, and a doctor. I instantly feel a sharp pain in my head, ribs, and left leg. I look down and see a big pink cast covering my leg.

"You're awake!" my mom exclaims. I rub my eyes.

"What happened?" I ask. My dad sighs and touches my shoulder gently.

"Honey, you were hit by a truck. Do you remember anything?" he asks. I close my eyes, flashes of memory coming back to me. I see yelling, screaming, tears and headlights. That's it.

"Yeah, a little bit" I say. The doctor comes over to the other side of the bed with a clipboard. I read her name tag: Dr. Layton.

"Well, Olivia, lets go over the analysis of your injuries. You have a very minor concussion, a broken leg, and a broken rib" she explains. I wince.

"Oh man", I mutter under my breath, "who chose the neon pink cast, exactly?". My father laughs.

"I thought you'd like it" he says. I smile weakly. The doctor smiles.

"I'll leave you for some family time. A nurse will be here in a bit to check on you and feed you dinner". My parents nod and the doctor leaves the room.

"A lot of people came by to see you. We had to send them away, though. But not Jack. He insisted on staying in the waiting room until you woke up" my dad smiles. I sigh, not really in the mood.

"I don't want to see Jack right now. Or ever" I say. My mom frowns.

"Honey, what happened between you two? Why were you on the street in front of Jack's house?" she asks. I feel tears slip down my cheeks.

"Jack cheated on me" I say grimly. My parents both lean over and give me awkward hugs.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry" my dad says softly. I wipe my eyes.

"It's okay. I'm done with him" I lie. My parents just kind of hold me while I cry, each sob bringing on a new wave of pain. Eventually the tears stop and I wipe my eyes. My parents leave the room in hushed whispers. I lean back against my pillows and run a hand through my hair. I don't want to see anybody, I don't want to talk to anybody, I just want everything to rewind. The nurse comes in, checks on me, and lays a dull plastic tray in front of me. I pull the lids off the plates and bowls and suffer through my dinner of green jello, mashed potatoes and water. A worker comes in to take the tray away and I instantly try to get as comfortable as I can despite my cast. It only takes me a few minutes to fall asleep, slipping into a land of nightmares.

I wake up in the morning to see the table next to my bed covered in teddy bears, gift baskets, flowers and more sympathy gifts. On the other table I reach for my purse, pulling my phone out. I check my social media and texts. On my Facebook page people are leaving condolences and other messages for me. I hear a knock on the door and it pushes open. Expecting it to be a nurse, I sit up. I'm wrong, it's Jack. I try to back away in my bed but my cast is top heavy. I'm honestly kind of scared. Jack puts his hands up in defense.

"Olivia, it's okay. Just let me talk to you" he says cautiously. That voice. It brings back memories from yesterday. Him cautiously saying "don't walk away from me" right before I got hit by the truck. I look at him, eyes wide. He shuts the door and walks over to me. He sits down on the edge of my bed.

"How bad is it?" he asks. I lean back on my arms.

"Broken leg, broken rib, minor concussion" I say without emotion. I see that his cheeks are wet.

"I feel like this is all my fault" he says. I actually feel bad for him.

"No Jack-" I'm interrupted by him.

"Olivia, if I hadn't done what I did we wouldn't have been where we were and you never would have been standing in the middle of the street. When I heard you were in the hospital I ran here as fast as I could. I could hardly hold it together" he says sadly. I look at him with sympathy.

"The truck was going way over the speed limit, Jack" I try to reason with him but he breaks down.

"I'm so sorry Olivia. I know you hate me but I just wanted you to know that I will always love you" he sobs. I take a deep breath and cover his hand with mine.

"Jack, I don't want you to think that I forgive you, because I don't, but I don't want you to feel bad. Even though I will never forgive you for what you did to me, I just want you to be okay" I say softly. He looks up at me.

"Thank you" he says, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. I look down, probably blushing.

"You should go" I say suddenly.

"Olivia-" he starts.

"I already listened to what you had to say to me, now you should go" I interrupt him. He nods and leaves the room quietly. I break down into quiet sobs. I want to forgive him but I know that I can't.

A few of my friends come in during the day as I slip in and out of consciousness. Every time I wake up I notice a new card or gift lying on my table. A hear a soft knock on the door and wake up from a light sleep. The door open and Anna steps in, holding a plastic bag. I sit up in my bed, eyes on her the entire time. She tries to smile.

"Hi" she says.

"Hey" I reply. She sits down on the end of my bed and places the bag beside her.

"Olivia, I'm so sorry. I can't stand being mad at you. I got a call from your parents saying you were here and at that moment I just felt absolutely terrible. I saw Jack on my way in and he told me what happened between you two. I'm so so sorry" she says sadly. I grab her hands.

"No, Anna, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being so stupid about the whole Jack thing, I'm sorry about what I did to your house, and I'm sorry for everything else, too" I say. She leans in and hugs me. When we pull away, she has a smile on her face. She reaches over and grabs the bag from beside her.

"So," she starts excitedly, pulling things out of the bag, "I brought you a few of your favorite chocolate bars, some trashy magazines, hot Cheetos, sour patch kids, your phone charger, and your makeup bag". I smile and shake my head.

"I'm so glad that we're friends again" I say. Anna offers me a big smile.

"Me too" she says sweetly. We talk and catch up for a couple hours. She leaves when a nurse comes in with my lunch. The room is completely empty. I eat my creamed corn and chicken soup as slow as humanly possible, not wanting to talk to anyone right now. I wash down my meds with a cup of vanilla pudding. Other friends and family continue to visit throughout the day, visiting hours finally ending at 10:00. My pain killers mess with my brain, making me dream of weird things. My sleep is restless.

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Aye! New chapter :) I've been super busy with school this past week so I'm soooooo sorry that I didn't update earlier. I meant to but I never got around to it. Please vote and comment/whatever. Thanks so much☺