Before I Met You

23: "I Just Wanted You to Know."

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎
"𝙸 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚆𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝙺𝚗𝚘𝚠."

Where the hell am I?

This piercing, bright light is making my head hurt like hell. I blink a couple of times to get adjusted to my surroundings before a bunch of doctors pop their heads up in front of me.

I'm still on my back. I can see them running the stretcher down a long, narrow hallway. Where is Mia? Is she okay? Why do they look so concerned?

"Hang in there," One of the doctors tells me. "You're going to be just fine, kid."

What's wrong with me? Nothing hurts except for my head. I don't understand why they're running so quickly with me. I go to move my head but it's being held still by some contraption. Oh god. Am I dying?

My eyes dart side to side, my breaths becoming harder and harder to take. I'm having an anxiety attack I think. Is that what this is?

"More morphine." The doctor says.

Wait, no. I need to see if Mia is okay.

Why can't I talk?

༺═──────────────═༻

    "I think he's waking up."

    The same damn blinding light enters into my eyes, causing me to squint and blink even more. As soon as I can finally open them I see my parents and Dion in the room surrounding me. I've never been so relieved to see some familiar faces.

    Ow! Shit!

    I grasp my stomach and groan, relaxing back more into the bed.

    "Honey, don't move." My mom is crying as she instructs my dad to go and get a nurse. "You were in an accident but you're going to be okay."

    "Mia?" I finally ask.

    The room grows quieter, just the beeping on the machines echoing into my ears. The pit that's been sitting in my stomach grows more, the pain becoming stronger. Please don't tell me she's gone.

"You had a cut on your side that they had to stitch up and a couple broken ribs." My mom starts to ramble, trying to avoid the question. "The doctor says you should be able to go home in a couple of-"

"Mia?" I repeat again. I can't seem to say anything more than that. She's the only thing I'm worried about right now. I could give a damn about the state I'm in. I'm the idiot that decided to drive intoxicated.

My mom starts to cry, and eventually she excuses herself from the room to leave Dion and I by ourselves. I've never seen him get emotional, ever, but he swipes underneath his eye and clears his throat before he looks at me again.

    "She didn't make it, did she?" I choke out.

    I know he'll tell me the truth.

    "Uh, no." He lets out a huge sigh. "She didn't. I'm sorry man."

    I've never felt this much pain. The type of pain that doesn't allow you to do anything at all. I can't cry. I can't scream. I can't do anything. All I can do is sit here and take it as it eats away at every inch of my being.

    "Xavier, you can't blame this all on yourself. I know that you may want to, but-"

    "Can you just go please?" I say lowly. "Tell my parents to go home too. I need to be alone."