Finding Myself Again (Adopted by Markiplier)

~Three~

~You never know how strong you are until strong is the only choice you have.

I wake up to the door being opened again, I turn around and it's the nurse. "Oh, I'm sorry for waking you, I just came in here to check their vitals, don't mind me." He said softly as if he was gonna wake up my parents, too. "Oh, it's okay," I awkwardly said, suddenly feeling self-conscious. While he was typing in their information into the system, I felt my phone vibrate. 

Luke < 3: hey cutie, whatcha up to? 

I looked at the time, it was 2:30 in the morning. Not uncommon for a teenager to be up this late on a Friday night, but still weird. Why do guys always text at night? All the girls I have talked to text me throughout the day. 

Me: Nothing much really lmao, wbu? 

I looked around the room as I remembered my situation, tears welled up in my eyes, but I didn't want to show my feelings around the nurse so I blinked them back away. I know he probably sees patients and family members cry on a daily basis, but I'm extremely emotionally unavailable to people who aren't super close to me. I don't and can't wear my heart on my sleeve. 

The light illuminated from my iPhone,

Luke <3: same, just got done playing with the guys

I pondered what to reply to him, but before I could type he messaged me again. 

Luke <3: wanna show me what you're wearing kitten? 

I visibly cringed. We've been talking for like what, two months? We're not even dating yet. 

Me: uh, I'm not comfortable with that yet

I fumbled with my fingers waiting for his response.

Luke <3: cmon bbg, I need youuuu 

Me: no is no, luke, you should know me enough by now about how much I stand by that. Besides, I literally can't right now. I'm in the hospital with my parents, they got into an accident. 

I waited two minutes for his response. Two minutes turned into five. The simp fucking left me on read. Talk about using women for their bodies. I sighed. 

"So Karli, I know you probably are capable of staying alone at your house, but legally we can't let you do that. You need a support system at home, is there someone you could stay with?" I thought for a while, Mads is only gonna be in town for her finals, I don't trust Luke enough, and all of my other friends can't because of family issues, or they just can't afford to take in another person. 

"No, all my friends are either out of town or won't be able to in general because of their situation. All of my immediate family is gone, and my distant relatives live in France." 

He nodded in understanding, "That's okay, we'll figure something else out. A social worker is gonna come to talk to you. In the events that your parents do wake up, they're going to have to stay for another month because of how severe their injuries are." 

"Do everything you can to save them, please." I pleaded,

"Karli, this is a level one trauma hospital. Our team isn't like Grey's Anatomy, but we do have the best equivalents for them, we will try everything we possibly can to save your parents. Hope is not gonna go away easily for us." He turned back to his computer, logged out, and turned back to me. "Get some sleep, it's late and we can't have you sleep deprived, alright?" I nodded, not wanting to bug him anymore about it, he has a job to do. 

I tried going back to sleep, but I couldn't no matter what I tried. I got up, grabbed my phone, and headed to the cafeteria. I texted Maddie what's happening, she feels terrible what's going on and she wishes she could help. I know I can always turn to her but I don't want to bug her more than I already have been the many years that I've known her. She's been my ride or die, we'd take a bullet for each other, we'd jump off of a bridge together, she's the only one that I can truly rely on. 

While I was deep into my thoughts, I bumped into someone. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, hey.. are you alright?" My mind was clouded. I didn't even realize I was crying or that I bumped into someone. I looked through my teary eyes and I saw someone I could recognize instantly. I spent all night watching him. Markiplier. 

"Uh, yeah, sorry I wasn't looking where I was going." I avoided his question. He looked down at me with brown eyes filled with sympathy and pity. I felt a hand on my arm and I was dragged to the closest table. "I know what it feels losing someone, I don't know your situation, but if you're in the hospital at 3 in the morning then somethings not right. You shouldn't be alone. I know I probably come off as some creepy old man, but I promise it's not like that." I chuckled. 

"I know you're not, Mark," He gave me a surprised look but didn't say anything. Realizing that sounded super creepy, I backtracked a little. "I mean, I just started watching you. Like, literally before I came to the hospital. I'm not some sort of stalker fan, I promise." 

"Nah, don't worry, I get that more than you'd think, it's okay," he chuckled this time, "Wanna talk about it?" He gave me a look that said that he genuinely cared. 

"My parents got into an accident. A fucking semi hit them, and now they're in a coma. Possibly braindead, and unless they wake up within thirty days, they're gone. I have no one, I'll go into the system. My best friend isn't in town, the guy I'm talking to is being a dick, every single one of my friends can't help and I'm alone. I don't know if I can do this alone. I can't be alone. I might as well crumble into dust with my parents." I sobbed. Mark didn't say anything, but his actions spoke louder than words. He pulled me into a tight hug and rubbed my back. I know it sounds weird. A thirty-year-old hugging a sixteen-year-old, but it wasn't like that. It was fatherly, almost. I also know I said I was emotionally unavailable for people who weren't that close to me, but I spent hours watching him. It's like I knew his entire life story. 

We sat there hugging for a while before we pulled away. "What's your name?" 

"Karli," 

He pulled out his phone and signaled me to give me mine. I unlocked it and slid it over to him. 

"Alright, Karli, I'm putting my number in here. My friend is currently in labor right now so I have to go, but in the morning text me and I will help you figure something out. Tell me the room number and I'll come as soon as possible alright?" I nodded, "Thank you, Mark. I've felt so alone this entire night." 

"It'll be okay." He helped me up and walked me back to my parent's room. Surprisingly, there was a third hospital bed, right between my parents. On it, was a note. 'Hey, Karli. This is Nurse Mason, I came to bring you a bed, but you weren't here. Tomorrow will be a long day so please get some sleep' I sighed and took off my shoes while simultaneously getting into the bed. I fell asleep listening to the machines and my parent's breathing.