Rollercoaster Ride

“You okay?” John asked, approaching me .

“My brother drugged himself and you think I’m okay?” I answered, leaning my head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and placed his chin on top of my head.

“I’m scared to lose him again, okay?” I sniffed.

“Again?” he pulled away to look at me. “What do you mean by again?” By this time, I could feel our friends were listening.

“When he was six,” I started, but then hesitated to tell. No one knew about this before. I continued anyway. “We were fooling around in our backyard. He climbed this tree and then he slipped and he fell down, his head hitting the ground first.

“Miraculously, he was okay. No serious injuries. But when he woke up, he forgot everything. He forgot his name, his family,… me. He hit his head too hard on the ground that it made him had amnesia for three days.

I was only five at that time but it scared the hell out of me,” I sniffed as the memory hit me again and a tear rolled down my cheek.

“Oh, Daphne,” he whispered, hugging me tightly. “You’re not gonna lose him again. Don’t cry, please.”

I couldn’t help it. I let all of my tears out, burying my face deep in his chest.

- - -

I sat on the chair next to the hospital bed, staring at my brother who was in a very deep sleep. It had been four days since it happened and he didn’t even budge for a bit. His eyes were always closed and his lips were getting paler day by day. I was scared that he wouldn’t wake up again.

The door opened and my head snapped up. Neyla was there, holding a vase of flowers. I didn’t say anything as she walked into the room and placed the vase on the table across the bed.

“Daphne, I’m really sorry about the truth,” she said.

“What matters now is him,” I replied, staring at Kennedy. “I can’t really think of anything else right now. Losing him might be the scariest thing.”

I could feel her walking to me and placed her hands on my shoulders.

“He’s gonna wake up,” she said, “He will.”

I sniffed, fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall. Wake up, Kennedy.

- - -

My eyes opened and looked over Kennedy. He was still in his deep sleep. I got up from the sofa bed and checked my phone. No missed calls or new messages; our parents didn’t care. I had sent them a text message the previous day, and they didn’t reply. Were they that busy to care about their children?

I was bummed I couldn’t contact John for the next whole week. He said he was going to visit his family in Michigan and the family from his dad hated the use of cellphones and laptops during their gathering, so his phone would be turned off all the time.

I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. When I got back, our friends were there. They looked up when they saw me.

“We’re here to pick you up. School’s starting in an hour,” Jared said from the sofa bed I hadn’t made.

“Who’s gonna watch him—“ I cut myself off when I saw Morgan rose her hand, smiling a little.

“College starts in January,” she reasoned as if she heard me questioning in my head.

“Okay. I have to change, though. I don’t bring any clothes.”

“Ew you don’t take a shower for five days?!” Pat said, more like stating instead of asking. “Who’s gonna accompany her home? I don’t want to be with a stinky person,” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. I smiled at his childishness.

“I will,” Garrett answered. He got up and took my car keys on the nightstand. Then he turned to look at me that was still standing in the bathroom’s doorway. “Come on, you don’t wanna be late for the first day of the week.”

I sighed. “Okay.”

We proceeded to walk out of the room after sharing goodbyes with the others. We went to the parking lot and to my car. Technically it was Kennedy’s because he was the one who always drove it and he bought it himself, but he hadn’t been driving it for a few weeks.

“You drive,” I said as I slipped into the passenger seat. “I don’t feel like driving.”

He got into the driver’s seat and started the engine before driving away from the hospital. I must have fallen asleep on the way to my house, because he shook me awake when we were there. I got out the car and immediately went into my room to grab some clothes (the t-shirt was Kennedy’s that I stole last month but I didn’t care) and then into the bathroom to take a shower.

I went back to my room to grab my bag and then headed downstairs. Garrett was in the kitchen, eating pop tarts. I put my bag on the kitchen counter and made myself a bowl of cereal.

By the time I was done, I said to him, “Come on.”

He hopped off the kitchen island and went outside, me following behind. I locked the front door before making my way to the car. I wanted to be away from home right now; it felt so empty without Kennedy’s presence. I hated being lonely in that place.

Garrett tossed the car key to me when we were at school and out of the car, and after locking it. I shoved the key into my pocket before we walked together into the building. We separated because we were heading to our own lockers. I was entering my locker combination when Eric leaned on the locker next to mine.

“Hey Eric,” I said after glancing to make sure it was him.

“Hey. I heard about Kennedy.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, taking the books I needed for the classes before recess.

“Hope he gets better soon.”

I nodded and looked at him. “Thanks,” I smiled.

He smiled back before walking off to his first class. I shut the locker door close and walked to History class. No John at school? This week was going to be a long one.