Strange Thoughts

Chapter 3 - Popping Pills

I awake to the sound of Jenny slamming her fists on my door.

"Art, if I have to tell you to get up one more time you're not getting supper tonight!" Well I'd be up now if I'd heard her.

"Why do I have to get up?!" I say, slightly, no, extremely annoyed. It's 6 am, not the most convenient time for me to get up at on a Sunday.

"Your friend Eddy is here! I too wondered why he's here so early but he says he has to tell you something important!"

I get out of bed and slip on a plain white shirt and sweat pants and grab my phone. I walk downstairs and to the side entrance where Eddy is waiting outside. I open the door and see Eddy pacing around in circles. I jump down to the concrete and walk over to Eddy.

"What's wrong Eddy?"

"Art, quick! Go get your bike and follow me. I'll explain what's going on when we get to the hospital." The hospital? I start to become anxious but I do my best to hold it in. I run to my garage, get out my bike, and speed up to Eddy so that I'm right behind him. We ride through the neighborhood streets to get to the hospital. It isn't the most time efficient way there, but it keeps us off the big streets where the crazy drunks drive at this time. We pull our bikes up to the emergency room entrance.

"Is this what you texted me about last night?"

"Yeah, did you not read it?"

"No..." I feel guilty, it must've been pretty important.

Eddy walks into the hospital and down the halls with me trailing not far behind. We walk into a room with a hospital bed in the middle. I almost feel like I'm about to faint when I see who's lying in the bed.

It's Sharli.

"Oh my god! What the hell happened?!" I blurt out.

Eddy is tearing up. "She tried to commit suicide."

"How? Is she awake?"

"She took a shit ton of sleeping pills before going to bed. right now she's in a coma." Eddy starts sobbing and hugs me. Across the room I recognise Sharli's parents, who are too, bawling their eyes out. I try with all my might to show the slightest remorse but it's impossible. "Flat emotions", just another symptom of schizotypal personality disorder. I'm sure eddy understands, but I feel Sharli's parents do not, judging by the dirty looks they're giving me. I feel like crawling up and dying right now, but according to my facial expressions, I'm pretty content with life right now.

"When will she wake up?" I ask the doctor accompanying Sharli.

"I have no idea, but she seems to be in a minimally conscious state right now, so she will likely recover a lot quicker than most people." I feel slightly reassured and I can tell that Eddy does too as he pulls away and goes over to stand next to the hospital bed that holds his girlfriend's unconscious body.

After a few minutes of silence (except for the beeps coming from the heart monitor) some of Sharli's relatives start showing up to her room. Most of them are either crying or completely emotionless, just in shock over what has happened.

"Art, I can't bear being in this hell any longer. want to come over to my place?"

"Sure, why not. I have no where better to be right now as long as Jenny is residing inside my house."

"Okay, let's go get our bikes."

And we do exactly that. Eddy lives farther away from the hospital than me, but it only takes a few minutes longer to get to his house. On our way we see Eddy's parents driving to the hospital, but they don't notice us. When we get to his house all of the lights are still on and the door is unlocked. His parent's must've been in a hurry. We both go inside and sit ourselves down on the sofa in the living room. Eddy turns on the tv and we watch a documentary on chinchillas for a few minutes.