Nameless

Chapter Nine:The Accident

                After that encounter with Christopher, he would walk me to the bakery every day. He said it was because I was “too pretty to be so lonesome” all the time. I swear, he has the sweetest personality. He says people automatically stereotype him because of his attire. They associate him with the irresponsible hooligans that terrorize the neighborhood. In reality, he watches out for people in need of help.

                Christopher dropped me off at home, and I unlocked the door, waving goodbye. I walked into the living room to find Merlyn and her friend Martin sitting there. Yay, he’s finally arrived.

                He rises to shake my hand. “Hi, I’m Arin, Merlyn told me you were coming to live with us,” I say. He smiles shyly. “Hello, I’m Martin. Yeah, I needed a place to stay while I figure out what I’m doing for college. I’ve been traveling since high school ended… That’s why I’m starting late” He finished quietly.

Hee hee.  He’s adorable.

“I’m taking us all out to eat in a bit, wanna come?” Merlyn asked. “Sure, can I invite my friend Christopher?” I responded. She bit her lip. “Fine, but you’re paying for him.”

“Yay!” I cheered, superman-punching the air. I ran upstairs to get dressed, and called up Christopher.

Twenty minutes later, Merlyn drove me and Martin (Christopher was driving himself) to Gondola. Merlyn insisted that Martin sat upfront with her, but whatever. I sat in the backseat, with my eyes closed and my earbuds in. I’m still tired from last night’s bout of nightmares, so I’m not surprised when Merlyn wakes me when we arrive. I struggled to wake up as I stumbled from the Lexus. I lost my balance and Martin caught me by the shoulders as I nearly face planted.

Great. He’s known me for an hour and he already thinks I’m a klutz. I mutter a red-faced, “Thanks,” and he chuckles. “You’re welcome, Arin.” He gave me the most genuine smile I’ve ever seen.

I smiled back, and right then Christopher pulls up. He gives a wave and pulls his truck in beside Merlyn’s car. I run over to him as he gets out and give him a huge hug. “Hiiii!” He laughs and says hello back, and we go in the restaurant.

I feel pretty happy. Martin is kind, polite, and considerate. He doesn’t say much, but when he does, he makes everyone laugh and smile. I showed him what was good on the menu and he told me about his favorite video games.

                After the fun meal, I paid for Christopher (ignoring his protests), and I rode in his truck home. He was teasing me about my red, flyaway hair. I smacked his arm as the light turned green. He turned his head to smile at me as he crossed the intersection.

                He looked past me in horror. I snapped my head to the right. In slow-motion, I saw a dark blue, shiny sports car running the red light and heading towards us at full tilt. I let out a scream as it crashed into my door, flipping the car.

                Red hot pain flashed through me. The sound of twisting, tortured metal covered the snap! of my arm breaking, but I knew it must have made a sound. I have only broken my leg before, but that pain was inconsequential compared to this.

“Arin?! Arinda, answer me! Please, be alive, oh god…” Christopher swore. I let out a strangled sob. “Arin! Don’t worry, someone called the cops. Oh, god…”

I can barely see. It looks like part of the roof collapsed in, sealing me away from help. All I could see out my window is asphalt, so I’m guessing Christopher was able to get out. The windshield is shattered, letting in light but it’s hard to see outside. I shifted my weight off my arm, and screamed as the pain increased to a blinding sensation.

                I was vaguely aware of the sound of sirens and Christopher screaming  before I blacked out.

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“Arin? Sissy, you gotta wake up now…Your friends are worried about you...”

“Jace?”I cried.” Where are you? Come here!”

His angelic face happily obliged. I nearly sobbed with relief.

“You gotta get up, Arin. Come on, wake up.”

“No! Jace, you don’t understand, everyone is gone! Daddy and you are d-dead, Jason left me and Merlyn doesn’t care... Please don’t make me go back!”

He smiled at me. “I love you, sissy. You’re gonna be okay”

                                                                         *********

I woke up with tears streaming down my face. I recognized where I was before my eyes opened. The clean smell of antiseptics clued me in. I attempted to sit up and inhaled sharply when my sore ribcage protested. I could barely feel my ribs, except when I moved. My arm, on the other hand, felt like lava and hellfire had a baby and attached it to my right arm.

                I carefully moved my head around and saw Christopher sleeping in a chair by the bed. He had a couple bruises and scratches, but nothing bad.

I took a look down my body. Gauze covered the part of my chest that I could see, and my arm was placed in a thick cast. Everything else was covered in a sheet.

                I wiped the cold tears off of my face and neck with my uninjured hand. After taking a deep breath, I assessed my needs. Besides utter pain, I was hungry, and I had to pee like crazy.

                I reached for the help button but ended up knocking it from the side of the bed. It was looped through the rail, so it didn’t hit the floor. I scooted over to grab it, and jostled my arm. I let out a small cry.

“Arin?” Christopher snapped awake. Crap, I wanted him to sleep. He got up and approached the bed.”How are you?” He asked, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Hungry,” I croaked. He laughed. “I’d assume so; you’ve been asleep for about twenty-nine hours.”

                                                                         *********

I stayed at the hospital for about five days, and then they let me go home. But it looked like I had to stay another night because Christopher had to work late and Merlyn was at her parents’ house for the weekend.

                So I had my bags packed, but no one to take me home.

I snapped off the shower and carefully exited the glass cubical. I dressed, and toweled my hair dry. I heard a small noise outside my door, it sounded like someone was playing with the controls on my bed. I opened the door and peeked outside. What I saw made me grin.

Martin was lying across the bed, with the feet elevated as high as possible and the head all the way up so the bed was V shaped. I laughed, and winced as my bruised ribs protested. His eager grin vanished as concern flashed across his face. After assuring him I was alright, he explained his presence.

                “Merlyn explained you had to stay another night, so I came to get you!” He said happily. “Oh, really? You’re so sweet! Thank you,” I gave him a genuine smile- the kind of smile only Jason could invoke from me.

                He turned bright red. He gave me a lopsided grin as he escorted me out. After I checked myself out and got my prescription, he took me to McDonalds as a, “Welcome Home from Hell” party. I gorged on French fries and chicken McNuggets until I felt like a lead-filled balloon.

Once home, I unpacked and did my laundry the best I could one-handed. Martin had to help me some. We sat around, joking and teasing one another, and had a Harry Potter marathon. We talked about anime shows we liked and which was better, Harry Potter or the Doctor. We sat and talked for hours, not sleeping until the sun came up.