The Tragic Truth
Storyline
I’m waiting in a room with glass windows. At first, it’s hard to tell where I am. I can smell antiseptic and rubbing alcohol everywhere. The smells make me think this is a hospital. A couple moments later, a nurse walks in, wearing turquoise scrubs.
“Miss, he can see visitors now. But 10 minutes at the max.” I nod and get up, walking out of the glass room. I make my way to the entrance of another room, this time one labeled ‘Intensive Care”. I open the door and step inside. There in the bed lays a boy; I can’t make out his face. His eyes are closed, and there’s a respirator, along with everything else that could possibly be hooked up to him. Half of his face is covered in skin graphs, and his arms seemed to have sustained the same type of damage. He seems so peaceful, laying there, sleeping. But there’s still a look of agony on his face. A doctor comes in, looking at me sympathetically.
“I’m sorry...he’s fallen into a coma. There’s not much we can do...and we’re not sure if he’s going to make it.” He nods and walks back out of the room. I take a deep breath, sighing. I sit down in the chair next to him, cross my arms, and lay them carefully on top of the blanket. I rest my head on my arms, swiveling my eyes towards the boy.
“Just get better kid, okay?” I say to him, and close my eyes.
On Tuesday, I didn’t even bother going to school. I had taken too many blows to my dignity just to go to school and get the rest of my heart ripped out by the seams. I didn’t know if I could handle people all day asking me, “Skye? What’s wrong?”
“Did you and Kae break up?”
“Is he living with Clover?”
Goddammit, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.
When I woke up, I felt like I had makeup plastered all over my face. I was still hugging the halter top, which had rubbed-off eyeliner on it. The time was around when my lunch period would be. I rubbed my eyes, slowly sitting up in bed. That’s when I remembered the dream. It seemed so vivid! There was only one question on my mind, though: Who was the boy in the hospital bed?
I was about to go take a shower when someone knocked on the door. God I hope it’s not Kae, I thought. I slowly stumbled to the door and opened it.
“Oh, honey...” It was Zoe. I stared at my bare feet for a moment, and then looked back up at her.
“Come in,” I croaked. She set her purse down on the end table and sat down on the couch with me.
“You look awful, hun,” she said sympathetically.
“Thanks...” I responded sarcastically.
“You know that’s not what I mean...but really, we wanted to make sure you were okay. Well...Derek and I.” I looked up. “Derek’s concerned?” I asked. I partially wanted to know, and I partially wanted to just go hide in a hole.
“You want to know the whole story?” she asked. I nodded. She slipped off her sandals and brought her feet up onto the couch, sitting cross-legged. I followed suit.
“Well, I guess it was a good thing that you didn’t go to Pizza Hut.”
“Oh geez,” I said, anxious yet scared to hear what happened.
“Okay,” she started again, “so Derek and I were acting like we usually do...couple-like, you know? And Clover was fine with it, but Kae looked different. He looked depressed-or-something. I can’t say I know what that emotion was. But anyway, we wanted to know what was wrong. And of course, he just responded with ‘oh I’m fine’. But we all knew that wasn’t true, so we started egging him on, trying to get him to tell us what the matter was. Well, he finally broke. He told us how he wanted to move back with Clover, and he didn’t know how he felt about you anymore. He said he felt ‘overwhelmed’.”
I looked at her sarcastically again. “Overwhelmed, my ass. What? Is it too hard to sleep with your girlfriend every night? Well, pardon me for the inconvenience. I’ll just go-” Zoe cut me off.
“Skye,” she said softly, placing her hands on my shoulders, “just-stay calm for a minute. Anyway, Derek and I both got really pissed off. I mean, I know how your relationship with Drake went, and I know how much of a miracle Kae was to you. And we knew that you had been hurt enough already. Well, Clover didn’t seem to get that through his thick skull, and neither did Kae. Derek started to defend you, saying how Kae didn’t know how good he had it, and Clover was just as dumb as Kae was, because he was sticking up for him. All three of them stood up, probably planning to take it out of Pizza Hut, but they never got that far. Derek finally lost his temper and he shoved Clover to the ground. Then he turned around and punched Kae right in the jaw! I had seen enough, and I didn’t want it to get out of hand, so I stepped in before Kae or Derek could do any more damage. I was just as pissed off as Derek. I started-basically-screaming at Kae, and told him that if he didn’t tell you what he was doing right away, I was going to. Well, that got him freaked out, so he really had no choice but to do it. He went outside and called you, and Derek and I stood and watched to make sure he did what he said he was going to. Clover ran home, and now Kae’s staying with him.”
My jaw basically dropped hearing all of the information. As soon as I got back to school, I was going to worship Derek for sticking up for me like that. And I was really proud of Zoe, too. I guess I knew who I could really count on.
I hugged Zoe goodbye; she had to get back to class. I promised her I would go to school the next day. I spent the rest of the day just wandering around, zoning out. I watched a bunch of old movies and cartoons that I had used to watch as a kid. I got tired, so I went to bed. No trying to stay up to finish homework.
That night, I had the same dream about the boy in my room.
This time I’m lying in bed, hugging my stuffed frog and crying into him. I hear the door click, and I look up, straining to make out the boy’s face this time. He takes a step farther in than last time. “Don’t worry, baby girl. I’m here. Don’t hurt anymore.” I bite my lip and squint to see the face. He’s saying something else, I can tell because his lips are moving; no words are coming out. I move to stand up, but as I do he backs away a bit, so I can’t see his face. If I could only see his face. If I could only I could-
That time I woke up in a cold sweat, screaming and begging for air.
“Miss, he can see visitors now. But 10 minutes at the max.” I nod and get up, walking out of the glass room. I make my way to the entrance of another room, this time one labeled ‘Intensive Care”. I open the door and step inside. There in the bed lays a boy; I can’t make out his face. His eyes are closed, and there’s a respirator, along with everything else that could possibly be hooked up to him. Half of his face is covered in skin graphs, and his arms seemed to have sustained the same type of damage. He seems so peaceful, laying there, sleeping. But there’s still a look of agony on his face. A doctor comes in, looking at me sympathetically.
“I’m sorry...he’s fallen into a coma. There’s not much we can do...and we’re not sure if he’s going to make it.” He nods and walks back out of the room. I take a deep breath, sighing. I sit down in the chair next to him, cross my arms, and lay them carefully on top of the blanket. I rest my head on my arms, swiveling my eyes towards the boy.
“Just get better kid, okay?” I say to him, and close my eyes.
On Tuesday, I didn’t even bother going to school. I had taken too many blows to my dignity just to go to school and get the rest of my heart ripped out by the seams. I didn’t know if I could handle people all day asking me, “Skye? What’s wrong?”
“Did you and Kae break up?”
“Is he living with Clover?”
Goddammit, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.
When I woke up, I felt like I had makeup plastered all over my face. I was still hugging the halter top, which had rubbed-off eyeliner on it. The time was around when my lunch period would be. I rubbed my eyes, slowly sitting up in bed. That’s when I remembered the dream. It seemed so vivid! There was only one question on my mind, though: Who was the boy in the hospital bed?
I was about to go take a shower when someone knocked on the door. God I hope it’s not Kae, I thought. I slowly stumbled to the door and opened it.
“Oh, honey...” It was Zoe. I stared at my bare feet for a moment, and then looked back up at her.
“Come in,” I croaked. She set her purse down on the end table and sat down on the couch with me.
“You look awful, hun,” she said sympathetically.
“Thanks...” I responded sarcastically.
“You know that’s not what I mean...but really, we wanted to make sure you were okay. Well...Derek and I.” I looked up. “Derek’s concerned?” I asked. I partially wanted to know, and I partially wanted to just go hide in a hole.
“You want to know the whole story?” she asked. I nodded. She slipped off her sandals and brought her feet up onto the couch, sitting cross-legged. I followed suit.
“Well, I guess it was a good thing that you didn’t go to Pizza Hut.”
“Oh geez,” I said, anxious yet scared to hear what happened.
“Okay,” she started again, “so Derek and I were acting like we usually do...couple-like, you know? And Clover was fine with it, but Kae looked different. He looked depressed-or-something. I can’t say I know what that emotion was. But anyway, we wanted to know what was wrong. And of course, he just responded with ‘oh I’m fine’. But we all knew that wasn’t true, so we started egging him on, trying to get him to tell us what the matter was. Well, he finally broke. He told us how he wanted to move back with Clover, and he didn’t know how he felt about you anymore. He said he felt ‘overwhelmed’.”
I looked at her sarcastically again. “Overwhelmed, my ass. What? Is it too hard to sleep with your girlfriend every night? Well, pardon me for the inconvenience. I’ll just go-” Zoe cut me off.
“Skye,” she said softly, placing her hands on my shoulders, “just-stay calm for a minute. Anyway, Derek and I both got really pissed off. I mean, I know how your relationship with Drake went, and I know how much of a miracle Kae was to you. And we knew that you had been hurt enough already. Well, Clover didn’t seem to get that through his thick skull, and neither did Kae. Derek started to defend you, saying how Kae didn’t know how good he had it, and Clover was just as dumb as Kae was, because he was sticking up for him. All three of them stood up, probably planning to take it out of Pizza Hut, but they never got that far. Derek finally lost his temper and he shoved Clover to the ground. Then he turned around and punched Kae right in the jaw! I had seen enough, and I didn’t want it to get out of hand, so I stepped in before Kae or Derek could do any more damage. I was just as pissed off as Derek. I started-basically-screaming at Kae, and told him that if he didn’t tell you what he was doing right away, I was going to. Well, that got him freaked out, so he really had no choice but to do it. He went outside and called you, and Derek and I stood and watched to make sure he did what he said he was going to. Clover ran home, and now Kae’s staying with him.”
My jaw basically dropped hearing all of the information. As soon as I got back to school, I was going to worship Derek for sticking up for me like that. And I was really proud of Zoe, too. I guess I knew who I could really count on.
I hugged Zoe goodbye; she had to get back to class. I promised her I would go to school the next day. I spent the rest of the day just wandering around, zoning out. I watched a bunch of old movies and cartoons that I had used to watch as a kid. I got tired, so I went to bed. No trying to stay up to finish homework.
That night, I had the same dream about the boy in my room.
This time I’m lying in bed, hugging my stuffed frog and crying into him. I hear the door click, and I look up, straining to make out the boy’s face this time. He takes a step farther in than last time. “Don’t worry, baby girl. I’m here. Don’t hurt anymore.” I bite my lip and squint to see the face. He’s saying something else, I can tell because his lips are moving; no words are coming out. I move to stand up, but as I do he backs away a bit, so I can’t see his face. If I could only see his face. If I could only I could-
That time I woke up in a cold sweat, screaming and begging for air.