Leading You Home

Twentieth

"If two people are meant to be together, eventually they will find their way back."

-Chuck Bass, Gossip Girl

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"You had a visitor wanting to speak to you," the nurse tells me. I watch her with groggy eyes as she checks my vital signs. "She sat in the waiting room while you slept."

"My Mom?" I ask, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Nope," she answers, wandering her eyes toward me for a minute. "She said she was your best friend or whatever."

Carrie. My thoughts slow down and I sigh. It's been a few days since the accident. I thought she might come sooner, but it's been better off that she hasn't. I still have no clue what I'm going say to her. It would be easier if I could see Bradley so we could talk about what we should do, but that doesn't seem likely. I have to do this on my own. And I guess that's how it should be.

"She said she'd return in a few hours," the nurse tells me. Pulling up her sleeves as she watches me closely. She adds, "And that was about three hours ago so you should be expecting her any minute."

Squeezing my eyes shut, I sigh again. My head suddenly feels heavy with worry and responsibility. This must be what it feels like to be an adult. To be forced to confront you're problems. Only when you're mature you don't need to be stuck in a hospital bed to keep yourself from running away.

"I don't mean to be nosy but, why do you look like I just told you the Grim Reaper is coming to visit you?"

I look up at her. "Because it might as well be the same thing."

The nurse nods understandably and puts her hands on her hips. "We won't let her in if you request it."

"I know," I tell her. "But I really should talk to her. She's my best friend and I've been lying to her..."

"Oh," the nurse says like she's finally cracked the mystery. "Does it have something to do with that guy you got in the wreck with?"

I nod and wonder why I'm confessing all of this. And then I realize I haven't told anyone about the craziness that has been my life since I left home. A part of me just wants to talk, and to who better than a complete stranger?

Once I'm done filling her in on the drama that has consumed my life, another hour has past and she's comfortable in the chair beside my bed nibbling on a Slim Jim she magically plucked out of her jacket pocket.

"Holy crap. What are you going to tell her?" She exclaims, tossing that last piece of beef into her mouth. The smell of it makes my stomach rumble. Before I can reply, she stands up so abruptly I jump and cringe at the pain in my torso. "Lunch. I have to get you some food." She holds up a finger. "Hold that thought."

"Wait," I call after her. She pauses at the door. "How is Bradley?"

A light smile reaches her lips. "Alive and well. He's healing in a room on the floor above you."

And with that, she's out the door. I sigh lightly, cautious not to overdo it. Resting my head back, I stare at the ceiling and wonder what Bradley is doing at this moment. Several minutes go by of me sitting alone staring into space, thinking of Bradley and all that I just told the nurse. That's when I realize I don't even know her name.

Beyond my closed door, I hear someone marching down the hall in some very loud heels. Click. Click. Click. Click. The noise stops long enough for me to hear light murmurs near my door. Then the clicking returning and my door flies open.