Fainting for me is now like a way out of things. When I wake up it is pitch black. I check my phone to tell the time and its 3am. I look around but I can’t see anything. I turn my phone around and try to use it at a torch as I find my way home. There is no light; I’m in the middle of a field next to a river, so of course there is no light. I eventually get home after I trip over a few things on my way. I knock on the door, and wait for someone to open the door. Finally Tim comes to the door after I knock again and he lets me in. I tell him what happened. What happened with Archie, and that I ran, and then I heard the beeping again, and fainted. Before I know it, I am going to the hospital. Aloha is driving, and Tim is in the back with me, holding my hand. He keeps on asking my questions, wanting to double check that I am not mentally ill.
I wait in the waiting room while Tim in on the phone with my father, telling him that I was just feeling a little faint. Aloha is talking to me, but her voices has faded away while I think of Archie. I can’t keep my mind off him. My name is called and I go in a room with the doctor. Tim takes my seat next to Aloha and holds her hand.
“Hello. I am Dr. Mal, I will be testing you today. Please can you give me your name and date of birth?” He tells me, gesturing to the chair that I am supposed to sit on. I sit down and look at him.
“Hi, I’m Zella Wright. 12th of March.” I tell him. He takes multiple tests on me while asking me questions on what has been happening recently, and asking why I have been having these beeping noises. I have been having them around 2 times a month recently, but before that I have only heard the beeping sounds 4 times. My brother has been so worried about me, he eventually convinced me to go to the hospital because of them. The doctor appointment went smoothly, he just told me to try and not faint next time, and to concentrate on the beeping. I don’t really know why, but he said it will help me.
When I get in the car, Aloha sits on my right. She puts her left hand on my leg, and slowly moves it up and down. I look down at it, and that’s when I notice it. I notice a diamond ring on her finger. An engagement ring.
“What?! You two . . . you guys are . . . ENGAGED?!” I say, a lot louder than I was meant to say it. Aloha smiles at me and I can tell that she wants to scream too.
“Squash proposed last night.” She tells me. I look at Tim, he has the biggest smile on his face.
“I sure did.” He says, “And even better . . . she said yes.” I awkwardly hug Aloha in the car. We keep on talking about the engagement for ages. She said that Tim finally got to her father and that they have his blessing. I am going to have a sister-in-law, I think.
Weeks go past; I go and see Archie as many times as I can. I have school, but any other time I’m not there, I run to his house. He isn’t well, but he could be worse. I have missed him so much. One day I go to his house and I knock on his front door, and his mother opens the door to me. She has tears running down her face, she wipes her cheeks, missing the actual tears and ending up just smearing her mascara everywhere. I look at her in horror . . . she notices and brings out her arms to hug me. Archie’s died. I know it. I can’t think like that, but when I tell myself to be brave and keep going, I notice that I’m already losing against my tears. They start falling. I sniff, still hugging Archie’s mother, she doesn’t let go of me. Every second she doesn’t let go of me it gives me more evidence that maybe he has died. I can’t deal with it. I move my arms a little, so then I can stretch my long sleeves to wipe my eyes. I end up failing because I can’t let go of Archie’s mother, and I end up just letting the tears falls to her shoulder. I don’t want to ask her about Archie, because I know its bad news. I know that he must be dead, or dying. I can’t deal with it though. I feel like my lungs are filling with my tears, because I find it hard to breathe. I finally speak.
“Where is he?” I ask her, failing to talk normally. I end up squeaking out my voice, with a few sniffs while I speak. She moves her hand up and down my back, but then she lets go of me. She looks deep into my eyes. Her eyes are beautiful, just as amazing as Archie’s. They are a light grey, which makes them look like a bright grey colour.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” She asks me, ignoring my question, which makes me even more worried. I nod, and shut the front door behind me. She sobs as she makes my tea, and I will be surprised if my tea isn’t salty now. She passes me my cup of tea, and grabs some tissues next to her, to wipe her tears again. I look around, and that’s when I notice that everything is a mess. There are boxes around the house still, from when they came back from wherever they went for Archie. Most of the boxes say ‘Archie’s Meds’ or ‘Medical Equipment’. I look back to her, to notice that she is staring at me. She smiles when I look back.
“Archie was a lucky boy to have you.” Was. She said was. She said was. She said was. I nod and smile back at her.
“What’s happened . . . to . . . Archie?” I ask, as gently as I can. “I mean . . . is he alright?” She looks down at the table which we are sitting at. When she looks back at me, more tears have fallen down her face.
“Archie has disappeared.” She told me. Does that mean he has died? Or has he just disappeared? “I don’t know where he has gone. We have looked everywhere. He left after you left about 4 days ago. He went racing after you, but he couldn’t catch up with your car.” She barely is able to talk, but I can just manage to hear what she is saying. “But he hasn’t taken any of his medication . . . so . . . so-“
“Is he . . .?” I don’t want to finish my sentence, luckily she doesn’t let me, and she nods.
“We can’t find him though. But we know that he won’t be able to . . . stay with us this long without his . . . medication.” No. This can’t happen like this. I am finally able to pull my sleeve and I hide my nose, and cry into my sleeve. He ran away to get me . . . and I left him. Now he is dead. He is dead.
Archie is dead. I know it.
Soon after saying goodbye to Archie’s mother, I run. I run to my safe haven. My legs burn and they beg me to stop, but I won’t because I know Archie wouldn’t stop. I know he didn’t. I get to the river, and sit at the trunk of my tree. I feel like I have cried another river next to the old one. But then I hear a cough. A quiet one. It’s a pathetic type of cough. And it came from the shelter by the fishing equipment. I stand up and walk over to the shelter. And there he is. Archie is alive. Barely. I run to him trying to pick him up, whilst hugging him. I can’t carry him, even though he is only skin and bones, and he is so weak, I can’t pick him up. I pick up my phone to call for an ambulance when he speaks.
“Zella. Zella, don’t . . . don’t call anyone. I don’t want-“
“I need to Archie! I need to!” I shout at him, he pulls out his hand to get my phone off me, but he fails. He is unbelievably weak.
“Just . . . Just wake up Z.” He tells me, I put my phone to my ear. “Wake up! I need you to wake up!” He tells me again. I ignore it and wait for someone to pick up the phone. Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep I hear the beeps again. Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep Why now, I ask myself. Why now? Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep “Wake up!” I drop my phone. The beeps come closer together and faster. Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep. I can’t stop them. Why? I hear a hello on coming from my phone, but I don’t reply. I feel dizzy and Archie moves me with his weak arms to the side of the hut . . . I feel like I’m dying, but I try my hardest to fight it. I must save Archie. I must. “Zella! Leave me! Go! Wake up!” I don’t know what he is saying; I don’t know what he means by wake up. “Zella . . . please.” And that’s when I remember the doctor’s advice. I concentrate on the beeping. Beep.Beep.BeepBeep.Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep.
I fall into a bright room, which makes my eyes hurt.
Where am I?
