Persephone's Garden

I jump into a bush after a dying friend

        It started to rain shortly after the ambulance arrived. Things got confusing after that. 

        At first, the people who got out of the ambulance thought I was the one who had been hit. It sort of made sense. They found me staring out into the night blankly, on my hands and knees. Before I could say anything, I was bundled up in a blanket and carried to the ambulance doors. The woman who had called 911 shouted at them and told them I hadn't been hit, and she described Ethan. 

        Well, there was nobody to treat, apparently. The woman and the nurses argued for a long time, and I noticed that lady could cry and scream an awful lot. People prodded at me with strange needles to get me calm, because my heart was bouncing like a jackrabbit. 

        When the woman's voice was hoarse and she couldn't yell anymore over the sirens, the nurses started asking me if I'd seen anything. 

        I was still in total shock. Ethan had been hit by a car. And now he was gone. Had I imagined the man? Nobody else had seen him. Ethan could be dead, for all I knew. 

        "Young lady, you didn't see anything?" I was asked that eight times a nurse. I couldn't answer. How could I explain it, when I didn't understand it myself? Where had Ethan gone?

        "Oh, honey." My mom's soft whisper jolted me into a state of confusion. I looked up from staring at me feet. She had an umbrella, and looked at me so sadly. I probably looked pathetic, with my head sopping wet and a blanket wrapped around my shoulders. "Come on. We're going home."

        "How'd you know I was here?" I said. 

        "You were taking a long time to get home. I was going to call the resturaunt, but then I heard the sirens." she said shortly, helping me to my feet and under the umbrella. "How's Ethan? Do you know if he's okay, Ori?"

        I couldn't help it. I fell apart. I started making those awful choking sounds you do when you're crying, and my mother just held me as we stood in the rain. "M-mom, I don't know where he is. W-we were just walking home - car - a man in black-" 

        "I know, I know." she turned to one of the nurses. "I'm taking her home." We got into the car, and I sprawled across the back seats. The calming pills the ambulance had given me were seeping deeper and deeper into my system, and my head felt fuzzy. I fell asleep to the sound of Mom calling Dad to tell him what happened. 

 -------

      Ben: How you doin,' kiddo?

       Ori: Fine, I guess. Wish you were here. 

        Ben: I know, me too. You staying home with your mom?

        Ori: Yeah. I'm off work for a week or so. My excuse is 'trauma.'

        Ben: It'll be okay. Look, I gotta go. I've got a meeting with a client. Feel better, okay?

        Ori: Kay. Talk to you later, dad. 

        Sighing, I closed the chat on my phone and slipped it back in my pocket. 'Pitch Perfect' was playing on the TV, and I was sprawled out on the couch and smothered with a blanket. The sound of Mom sizzling eggs came from the kitchen, making my stomach growl. Rain pattered outside. 

        It had been raining non stop since Ethan...

        I shook my head, trying to block out the thought.