She Heads to the Dresser Drawer to Drive Her Pain Away

"Ash,you got everything?" Rylie asked.

"Yep," Ashland answered and walked to Rylie's blue eclipse, "Why do you walk everywhere when you can drive?"

"Gas prices. Get in, you're gonna be late," Rylie said and loaded Ashland's over-night bag into the trunk and got in the driver's seat. She put the keys in the ignition and began pulling out of the drive way.

On the way there, Ashland noticed the C-D playing was My Chemical Romance.

"You like My Chem?" she asked, interested to find out in Rylie's music obsessions.

"Yep. I've liked them since the Bullets album," Rylie answered as she flipped off an old man who cut her off, "Damn you,old people!"

"Not our first experiance with old people..." Ashland mumbled and giggled slightly.

"Definately not the last, either,"

"Oh my. What if an old man tries to hit on you?" Ashland asked,quickly becoming interested in a game of "What If".

"I'd tell him I'm taken,or a lesbian," Rylie answered and laughed.

"What if...What if you were dying, what would you do?" Ashland said as she turned down the radio.

"I'd tell you, some of my friends from school maybe. My main concern would be you,though."

"What if I died?" Ashland's eyes wandered as she asked this, slowly returning to the passenger window.

"Ash,that's a hard question..."

"Just answer it."

"I'd probably die, too," Rylie stated in the most sincere tone of voice.Rylie knew that the possibility of death came with this surgery. Blood would be put into Ashland to replace the amount she lost, staples, stitches, and because of a heart murmur Ashland had, the anesthetic might kill her. Rylie's eyes quickly became full of worry.

Ashland sighed. "Dont say that Rylie..."

"It's true Ashland,I haven't known you long, but you've become a big part of my life, hell, you've become the only thing I have," Rylie said and resumed her focus to driving, while mentally slapping herself for letting herself become so vulnerable to Ashland.

"Aw Rylie...You're so sweet..." Ashland said and smiled wide.

"It's true Ash," Rylie replied quietly, barely over the music.

"I love you Rylie, like,in a non-lesbian way," Ashland and Rylie weren't homophobic, they never had a problem with homosexuals. But neither of the two friends were homosexual.

The car ride remained silent after Ashland said that, minus the Blink 182 blasting from the speakers. It was playing "I Miss You". Rylie sang quietly along to the lyrics,below the radio so Ashland couldn't hear her. Little did she know, Ashland was singing too.

As Ashland and Rylie pulled into the parking lot of Mount Carmel/Saint Ann's Hospital, Ashland's stomach turned violently. She felt like vomiting, but held it in. Rylie broke the awkward silence between the two friends by saying, " I love you too,Ashland. Like a sister," she too, didn't want things to be awkward. And if anything happened to Ashland during this surgery, she would have at least one less regret knowing that Ashland knew she was loved.

Ashland grimaced as the smell of the hospital got to her. The scent of someone's loved one dying, a sick child begging to become healthy, and the people who could merely sit back and watch themselves deteriorate. They walked up the front desk and checked in with the receptionist, then walked back to the seats in the waiting room. Ashland was an out-patient, so she wouldn't immediately put in a room. Ashland got her iPod out of her overnight bag and shared it with Rylie. Rylie browsed YouTube,trying to figure out the controls on the iPod Touch. Ashland laughed faintly as Rylie cursed the iPod for being so complex. Ashland then explained what all the buttons did,considering there was only one button, the "Home" button. Rylie nodded and felt like an idiot for not knowing this. Ashland's name was called. She would have to go back without Rylie. As Ashland stood up, Rylie did too, and pulled Ashland into a tight embrace before letting go in tears to watch her best friend walk into the hallway of hell,as Rylie liked to call it.