Thursday, January 22, 2015

The Accident

The following is a short story where you, the reader, are the main character. You've had a horrible accident happen to you, and your friend is the only one there when you wake up. While you don't have any actual written dialogue, any time there is a " ~ ", that means you are talking. Ideally, you'll know what you're saying. Enjoy!

                                                                                                                                                                   


            You’re awake. Oh my God, you’re awake! You’re probably disoriented, confused. Do you remember me? Do you remember who I am? Oh shit. You don’t, do you? It’s me, Daniel. I’m your best friend. We've been friends since we were little.
            I’m guessing you also don’t remember anything that happened, am I right? ~ Ya, I thought so. I guess I’ll just start outright then. You’re in the hospital. Saint Joffrey’s Memorial Hospital to be more specific. You’re under the care of Dr. Vu. You…You’ve been in a coma. You were in an accident, and you’ve been in a coma. For five weeks. A really bad accident. No one was sure if you were ever gonna wake up. I’m so glad you did. I don’t know what I’d do without you.
            Wait, what are you doing? Don’t try to get out of bed. Stay still. You’ve got a problem with your legs. I…I’m not…entirely sure what’s wrong, but Dr. Vu said you won’t be able to walk…So just…chill, okay? Here, I’ll put your bed up, situate your blankets. There you go.
            Okay, so I was told that if you woke up, you can’t go to sleep, otherwise you might slip back into the coma. So I’m gonna do my best to keep you awake, alright? I’ll catch you up on everything that’s happened since you've been out. Not much has, though. Just a warning. So your parents have been worried sick, obviously. They’re fine though. They’re down in the cafeteria getting food. I’d call them to let them know you’re awake, but my phone’s dead, and I don’t have my charger. Plus I don’t want to leave you by yourself to go get them. They’ll find out soon enough.
            Don’t worry about school. We contacted administration, and all of your professors. They know that you’ve been…uh…out. They don’t know what happened, but, apparently, because you’re so well-liked and are doing so well, you’ve been exempt from the work you’ve missed. So that’s pretty cool. Congrats. Hahaha.
            Um, there’s some bad news, though. You, uh. You kinda…well…you kinda lost your job. Now don’t freak out! I don’t know if you remember, but your boss was a huge asshole anyway. A total dick. You hated him. I’ve been submitting your resumé to a couple of places, though. A couple coffee shops, a bookstore, and ice cream shop. Your potential employers know your situation, and you have a few interviews lined up for whenever you want to start working again. If you do, that is.
            So, I mean, do you want to know what happened? About the accident, I mean. ~ Okay. Are you sure? It’s kind of grisly. ~ Fair enough. You deserve to know, I guess.
            We were going into the city. Jessica and I were in one car, you and Jacob were in another. ~ Where’s Jacob? Just…I don’t know how to tell you this. I…He…He’s dead. I’m so sorry. He’s dead. ~ No, it’s okay, really. You can cry. That’s it. Get it all out. ~
            You really want me to keep going? ~ Okay. I suppose it’ll keep you awake. Well…we were going into the city, like I said. We were on our way to the stadium to watch the game. We were late, and it was raining really hard. Jess and I were leading, you guys were following us. I don’t know if you remember, but any time us four go on trips, we keep each other on speakerphone so it’s like we’re together. ~ Oh, why don’t we just drive together? Well, we usually take two cars so if someone needs to leave, not everyone has to. That didn’t exactly work to our benefit this time though, huh?
            Anyway, we were rocking out to music and definitely driving faster than we should have been. We were in the city and only a couple blocks from the stadium. Damn it, we should have been more careful. I’m so stupid. I should have been more careful. Jake was following me after all. I was going too fast. I ran a red light. Jake followed, and that’s when it happened.
            As you guys were coming through the intersection, a big dump truck, one of those city ones, came barreling through. The truck tried to stop, but skidded and couldn’t. It t-boned you, right in the driver’s side. Oh God, the sound was horrible. Tires screeching, metal crunching, you two screaming. ~ What’s that? ~ Oh. No…Jake didn’t die instantly…
            When the truck hit you, it shattered the glass in the window that flew and imbedded itself into your faces. Mostly his. Actually, he got a lot in his eyes. He was blind in his left eye before he died.
            You guys ended up stuck on the front of the truck. Your car was just so destroyed. It was bent around the grill of the truck. Fuck. Jake’s entire left side of his body was mangled. Bones were shattered and twisted. Skin ripped. Muscle snapped. He really did suffer…
            God damn it. God fucking damn it. This is all my fault. I’m so sorry. I need to be the one to tell you. I’m sorry. You’re never going to walk again. Your right leg was completely smashed up, and your left leg was only hanging on by a bit of tendon when the EMTs got you out of the car. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This was all my fault. I don’t deserve to be forgiven. I doubt you’d ever want to anyway.
            I have to go now. Visiting hours are almost over. I killed Jake. He was going to school. He was gonna be a newscaster. Now he’s nothing. It’s all my fault. You’ll never walk again. I can’t make that up to you. It’s all my fault. I’m so glad you’re awake. I’ll let your parents and doctor know.

            I have to go. For real now. One life for another. I can give that. I can’t repay you for your legs, but I can give my life. I’m so sorry. I hope your life turns out great. Remember the good I’ve done. Goodbye. One life for another.

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