An Unexpected Friendship

Chapter 14

My eyes flutter open as the cold floor I'm laying on causes me to wake. I slowly sit up only to be met with an empty space. Everywhere I look is endless darkness. "Hello?" I say, but only hear the echo of my voice in response. I force myself to my feet feeling an achy pain take over my body. "Hello?" I ask again. Nothing. "What is this place?," I whisper to myself. The last thing I remember is being in the car with Alex. We were driving to her house after Servando dropped us at the airport. Then I remember looking past her through her window to see a pick-up truck barreling towards us. I told her to watch out...

"Sophia" I hear a sweet voice say. Relief washes over me hearing another voice. "Alex thank god. What happ-" My breath hitches in my throat realizing it's not Alex.

"Tristan," I whisper feeling tears sting my eyes. He doesn't say anything. He just stands there looking at me.

"Tristan please talk to me. I don't understand. W-what is this place? Am I dead?" I ask trying to trigger a response. "You're not dead. You're unconcscious," another voice echoes. I follow the voice to my left, my eyes focusing on the two figures standing there.

"M-mom? D-dad?" I stutter. By now the tears were streaming down my face. "Hi baby," my mom says softly. I look back to my right, but Tristan is no longer standing there. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion and look back at my parents.

"There you are," I breathe seeing him reunited with my parents. "I miss you guys. Life has been awful without you," I say quietly. "We miss you too, honey," my dad says.

My chest tightens hearing him say that. I walk towards them, but it seems like they're only getting farther away. "Wait," I say picking up speed. By now I'm running as fast as I can towards them. "Please stop! Don't leave me," I beg them. "Open your eyes honey," my dad's voice echos.

Before I can run any farther, two cars come out of nowhere and collide.

...

My eyes snap open bringing me back to reality. I begin to hyperventilate realizing the situation I'm in. "N-n-no not another car accident. I can't do this," I panic. I fumble with the door handle but it's jammed. I wince feeling the aching pain in my shoulder. I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. 'Focus. Where's Alex?' I look to my left to see Alex is unconscious.

I reach my hand out and shake her shoulder gingerly. "Alex! Alex please wake up! Come on!" I beg. She finally comes to after a minute and I feel relief wash over me. "Alex you're bleeding," I realize as she turns to face me. "I think a piece of glass caught my forehead in the collision. Other than that I'm okay. Are you okay?" she asks worried. "I'm okay. I got thrown against the door when the car hit us. My shoulder is a little messed up but I'm okay," I tell her and grab her hand.

I notice a handful of people rushing towards the accident to help us and those in the other car. "The police are on their way! Are you guys okay?" a guy yells to us through the window. "We're okay, but we can't get out!" I yell back. He yanks my door a few times but it doesn't budge. A few other people try, but no one can get it to open.

As we wait for them to get the door open, I notice a smell seeping into the car. "Gasoline," I say to myself. "Hey! How long until the police get here?!" I yell banging on the window. "They're seven minutes out," someone answers back. "What's going on?" Alex asks expressing concern. I run my hand over my face and look at her. "We can't wait for the police. We need to get out of here now," I tell her. I turn back towards the window and bang on it.

"Hey do you smell that?! That's gasoline! That means this car could go up in flames any second!" I yell. "I think I know how we can get them out," someone yells. I watch as a guy runs to his truck and then comes back with a crowbar. "My name is Mark. Listen we're going to get you out of here. I'm going to wedge the crowbar into the door jam and someone else is going to pull on the door. I need you to kick the door as hard as you can," he says calmly.

I nod and position myself so that I can kick the door. "Alright we're going on three. One...two...three...Go!" he yells. I kick the door repeatedly with everything in me. Just as the police, fire department, and EMS pull up, the door pops open. Bystanders rush to pull Alex and I out of the car just as flames start to form.

I feel a paramedic take hold of me and escort me over to the nearby ambulance. "Alex!" I yell breathlessly, not wanting to be separated from her. "Hey it's okay. My name is Gabby. I'm gonna help you out. The other paramedic is going to bring your friend over in a sec," she says sitting me down in the back of the ambulance. She tries to examine me, but I'm too preoccupied looking for Alex. "Listen I know there's a lot going on and it's scary, but I need you to focus on you right now. Are you hurt anywhere?" she asks me. "I got thrown against the door in the collision. Pretty sure my shoulder is dislocated or at least semi-dislocated," I inform her wearily.

Alex finally joins me in the back of the ambulance after a few minutes. "She's got a head lac and a little dizziness, but other than that she's okay. The head lac just needs a few closure strips," the other paramedic states as she helps Alex sit. "This one has a semi-dislocated shoulder so we're gonna have to reduce it. Hand me some morphine," Gabby responds. 'Oh shit this is gonna hurt.' Alex grabs my hand knowing how much this is going to suck for me. "Alright here we go," Gabby tells me. I yell in pain as she pops my shoulder into place. A sling is then placed around my arm and neck to support my shoulder.

"Is there anyone we can call for you guys?" Gabby asks as she and her partner wrap blankets around us. "My husband," Alex tells her. She provides the paramedics his phone number and they leave to call him. We move to the edge of the ambulance so we can see everything that's happening. I rest my head on Alex's shoulder as we sit in there silence.

"Don't blame yourself," I say finally finding the courage to speak. Alex doesn't say anything. Instead she continues to stare at the inferno that has swallowed up her car. "We had the right of way. I watched that truck blow through the stop sign," I press. Still nothing. She wipes a stray tear from her cheek and rests her head on mine.

...

We were in the middle of talking to a police officer when we were interrupted by someone yelling in the distance. "Alex! Sophia! Can someone please tell me where my wife is?" we hear Servando yell. We finally see him talking to an officer who points him over to us. Servando jogs over to us with fear plastered all over his face. "My god are you two okay?" he asks opening his arms. We both tiredly cling to him, gladly welcoming the comfort. "We're okay. Just a little shaken up," Alex tells him. "You had me so scared," he says and kisses our heads.

After another hour of talking with the police and providing information, we were finally able to go home. It was nearly 8:30pm, but we were exhausted. The ride to the house was quiet and I was grateful for it. We pulled into the driveway which led up to a big house. The three of us sat in silence as Servando put the car in park. Today was supposed to be an exciting day, but instead a dismal feeling lurked around us.

"I'm sorry that this is how your first day in Orlando turned out," Alex says quietly. It took me a second to figure out how I was going to respond. "Today was scary. I won't deny that. Even so, I don't regret being here. Today doesn't define every day after this," I say whole-heartedly.

We slowly make our way inside and then upstairs towards the bedrooms. "After everything you two just went through, you should spend the night together," Servando suggests as we make it to his and Alex's room. Neither of us argue as he helps us get under the covers. "I'm gonna be downstairs on the couch if you guys need anything," he tells us and then kisses our heads. I reach out and grab his arm as he walks away. "Stay with us?" I ask. A small smile creeps up on his face and he nods. I move closer to Alex to make space for him. He slides in next to me making sure to be careful of my shoulder.

The three of us lay there quietly, happy to be in each other's presence. Despite the accident, I've never felt more safe with them. I rest my head on Servando's shoulder and grasp Alex's hand with my free hand. Within minutes the exhaustion sets in and I drift off to sleep.