The Boy Next Door

seventy eight

a few weeks later
AMELIAS POV
"Amelia," I heard.
"Hm?" I mumbled and I rolled over. Rolled over into Owen.
"Amelia get up," Liz said. I opened my eyes and looked at her.
"Liz what's wrong?" Owen said as he sat up next to me.
"We have to go to the hospital, Derek was in an accident," Liz said, "the police just came by and took mom but we have to go now."
"An accident? Is he okay?" I said.
"Amelia can we just get to the hospital?" Liz begged.
"Yes," I said. Owen and I got up and changed quickly and I grabbed my phone. I looked at the time and it was almost 12AM. Derek was out with friends last night. What happened?
"I'll drive," Owen said.
"Okay, thank you," I said. He kissed my forehead. The three of us walked downstairs and got in my car and drove to the hospital. I was so worried. Liz tried calling my mom a million times but she didn't answer. What if he was dead? Derek couldn't be dead. He can't die. We pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and the three of us walked in.
"Amelia?" I heard. I turned to see Doctor Wallace.
"Hey," I said.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"My brother, he- he got into an accident, I need to find his room," I said.
"Okay, I'll help you okay?" He said.
"Thank you," I said. He logged into the hospital computer and found the room for me.
"385," Sheldon said.
"Thank you so much," I said and hugged him.
"If you need anything you know where I am," he said. Liz, Owen and I walked into the elevator and the ride was silent to the third floor. The doors opened and we walked down the hallway, but I wasn't prepared for what was beyond the door. Liz opened the door and the three of us froze. My mom was sitting in one of the chairs crying, and Derek was lying in the bed on a ventilator. I froze. Was he gone?
LIZS POV
Was he dead? What happened? I looked at Amelia and Owen and they were both frozen.
"Mom," I said. She looked up and saw the three of us.
"Hey," she said and got up.
"Is he dead?" Amelia asked quietly.
"No," My mom said, "he's not."
"What happened?" I asked. Owen pulled Amelia into a hug and I wrapped my arms around my mom.
"He was in a car accident," My mom said, "he was making a right turn and someone came speeding up the other lane and hit his side door when they swerved."
"He'll wake up?" I said.
"The doctors think so," my mom said.
"So he has brian activity?" Amelia said.
"He does," my mom nodded. Amelia nodded and went back to Owen. He had his arm around her but she hadn't taken her eyes off Derek.
OWENS POV
A few hours later
It was almost 4am. Amelia refused to sleep, and honestly I couldn't blame her. I was worried about Derek too. The doctors came to check on him every hour and they were positive that he would make a full recovery. Amelias mom needed some time with the doctors so we were sitting in one of the waiting rooms. Amelia was silent, she hadn't said much since we got here. I was worried about her too. She was sitting next to me absolutely silent.
"Hey," I said softly. She looked over at me and I pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.
"Hey," she said.
"You can fall asleep, it's okay," I said.
"No," she said.
"Okay," I nodded. Liz walked back and sat down next to me since Amelia was sitting next to the wall.
"Amelia," Liz said. Amelia looked over at her and Liz handed her a bag from the vending machine. Amelia looked at the bag and then put it in my lap. She leaned her head up against the wall and stared out into space. I looked at Liz and she frowned.
"Amelia he'll wake up," Liz said, "you heard the doctors, they've seen similar cases and the patient has woken up."
"You can't always be so fucking naive," Amelia said.
"Well we can think positively," Liz said.
"I'm going for a walk," Amelia said and got up. She grabbed my arm as we walked down the hallway together. We walked around the hospital wing for a while. Silently. She didn't want to talk and I didn't want to push it out of her. After about an hour Amelia stopped at a window.
"Do you think he'll wake up?" She asked quietly.
"Yes," I said.
"He has to," she said quietly, "he's not allowed to die."
"He won't," I said.
"You don't know that," she said as tears filled her eyes. I pulled her in for a hug and she pushed me away.
"If you touch me I'll start crying," she said and walked down the hallway.
AMELIAS POV
I walked past Derek's room and looked through the glass. He was still on the ventilator. Visiting hours were over, so my mom and Liz were demoted to the waiting room. Owen was a few feet behind me. I pushed him away before and I felt bad.
"Hey," I said.
"Hey," he said.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"For what?" He said.
"For pushing you away," I said, "you're always there for me, and I need to start letting you be."
"It's okay," he said and kissed me, "I know you're worried, I just hate to see you so upset and quiet, but I get it, and you don't have to apologize for how you deal with anything okay?"
"Okay?" I said.
"Why don't we go sit with your mom and Liz in the waiting room?" He suggested.
"Okay," I said. I followed him into the waiting room and we sat down next to them.
"He'll be okay," Owen said, taking his hand in mine. I nodded and put my head on his shoulder. He kissed my head, and the four of us hoped to wake up to better news tomorrow.