I Am You

Chapter Seventeen

The next morning, I was dragged out of my bed by Dylan. We had been saving money for buying a car for quite some time now, and we finally had saved enough to go through with it.

'Oh my god, why couldn't you let me sleep for a few more minutes?' I spat out lazily as I sat at the table.

'We're finally getting a car! Can you be at least a little bit excited?' he said, pushing a plate of scrambled eggs and avocados towards me.

'Well, it's not like we're getting a fucking Tesla. With the money we've saved, all we can afford is a second-hand.' I said while stuffing a spoonful of eggs in my mouth.

'But it's still a car. We don't have to walk or take buses all the time anymore.'

'Yeah, it'll get the job done I guess.'

'So much for high spirits.' he mocked.

I just clicked my tongue in annoyance.

After we were done with breakfast, we freshened up and headed out. Dylan was overly enthusiastic about the whole thing, it was tiring. Even though we were getting a second-hand car, he had done his research. Personally, I couldn't care less. Provided, it was a car on four wheels, I didn't care which one.

I'll not be getting into the details of it all because just thinking about that day makes me groan.

At last, we went home with me, wanting to take a five-hour long nap and a black Camry. The colour was of my choice, if you couldn't already tell. Despite it being a second-hand, it didn't really look like it. It had been a very tiring day. When we got home, all I wanted to do was crash on the couch, with a slice of pizza in my hand and watch Netflix. But as soon as I sat down, I got a call from Natalie. I picked it up.

'Hey, what's up?' I said lazily.

She didn't say anything. Weird.

'Hello? Nat?' I repeated.

Did she butt-dial me? I was about to hang up when I heard her soft sobbing.

'Nat?' I said, this time a little bit concerned.

'It was my fault.' she said as she cried.

'Nat, what happened? Where are you?'

'I'm at the hospital. Carly, my sister, fell down the stairs. She... she hit her head really bad. She was unconscious the whole way from my home to the hospital.' she said between her sobs. 'I don't... I don't know what to do.'

'Oh my god.' I said as I got up from the couch, already walking towards the door. 'Send me your location, I'm coming there. Just wait for me, okay?'

'Okay. Hurry, please.' she whispered and then hung up.

'What happened?' Dylan asked.

'Nat needs me, her sister is in the hospital right now.' I said, opening the door.

'Oh, no. Take the car, it'll be faster.'

'Thanks.' I said as he tossed the keys to me.

I drove as fast as I could without running people over. Once I was at the hospital, I called Nat. She told me that she'd meet me at the entrance. As I waited, I looked around. Hospitals brought back bitter-sweet memories. On one hand, it reminded me of Fred's death. But on the other hand, hospitals were where Fred and I spent the most time together. I would tag along whenever he came in for a treatment. I used to drive him to and from the hospital most of the times. It reminded me of how much I missed him.

I snapped out of my thoughts as I saw Natalie walking towards me. I hugged her before she could say anything.

'How is Carly?' I asked.