Disasterology

We arrived at the hospital and dashed toward the room that Oliver was in. Andy was outside the room sitting on the floor against the door, crying his eyes out. I sat next to him and pulled him into a tight hug.

“T-they…won’t let me s-see him…!” He tried to wipe some of his tears away, but only more fell.
“I knew I should have walked home with him…! He wouldn’t be here right now…!”

“It’s not your fault, Andy. Oliver will pull through this. He’ll be okay.” Vic knelt down next to us and rubbed calming circles on Andy’s back.

We waited at least a good two hours for any update on Oliver’s condition.
Nothing changed for the better or the worse.

Why is it that whenever things seem perfect, something has to come along and ruin it…?!

Andy fell asleep on Vic from crying. I don’t blame him…

I rested my head against Vic’s shoulder and closed my eyes.

Two more hours and Andy and I woke up quickly when Vic said that we could see Oliver.

Andy was the first one to rush to Oliver’s side.
“Baby…please wake up…please tell me that you’re gonna be okay…” Andy started to cry again.

“Andy…?”
Oliver tried to sit up before Andy tackle-hugged him.

“What’s going on, Andy? Why are you crying?”

It took Oliver a moment to register where he was. “Great…I’m in the hospital…and to think I thought that I’d won.”

“What happened, Oliver? The doctors said that you were beaten up pretty badly. You even had a couple of stab wounds.”

Oliver sighed and shook his head.

“He said that I ‘betrayed him’, ‘stabbed him in the back’. Things like that. I guess he was still pissed off and he wanted revenge. Next thing I know, I’m on the ground trying to fight him off, and he stabs me a couple of times, then everything blacked out after that.”

“Oliver…who did this to you…?” Andy asked through clenched teeth. He was officially pissed off now.

“You’re not gonna like it if I tell you…” We all gave him looks for him to continue.

“It was Ronnie.”

The name echoed inside my head painfully. My head started to throb as I remembered more things from the past.

Then it hit me.

The day when I lost my memory…the guy who raped me and almost killed me…

It was Ronnie…

I stumbled back a little. I felt dizzy and nauseous.

“Kellin…? Are you okay?” Vic placed a hand on my arm to keep me steady.
I shook my head and ran into the bathroom, throwing up whatever I had in my stomach into the toilet.

I felt someone pull my hair back and rub calming circles on my back.

“Kellin, what’s wrong, baby?”
I shook my head as I allowed the tears to fall. I let out a shaky breath as I sat up, then I collapsed into Vic’s arms. He wiped my tears away and rocked me in his arms.

“V-Vic…the day I lost my memory…I…it…Ronnie was the one who did it…”
I felt him tense up against me.

“Vic...I…” I couldn’t finish my sentence…my voice was choked back by my tears.
“Don’t say anything, Kellin…it was all my fault anyway…”

I looked up at him. He was crying too.
I wiped his tears away and hugged him tightly. He pulled away and walked out of the bathroom.

I heard another door shut, meaning that he left the room.

I broke down into tears again.

Why can’t everything just work out for once…? Why must the past always come back to haunt us?!

It’s just not fair…!

“Kellin?”
Andy stood in the doorway, a concerned look on his face.

“What happened? Why did Vic just leave?”
I bit down on my lip and wiped my tears away.

“He just needs some time to think…” “About what?”
“I’ll tell you later. I just want to go home and sleep.” “I can take you home if you want.”
I shook my head.

“I’ll walk.”
Before he could protest, I left the room and headed towards the exit.

It was dark and snowing outside. The atmosphere was slightly ominous, but calming.

I started my walk home since it would take me about an hour. I looked at saw a figure leaning against the bars of the bridge. I recognized the figure in an instant.

It was Vic.

I walked over to him, being careful not to slip on the ice that was forming on the ground. He was staring off into space, his arms resting against the edge of the bars. I only stood next to him.
I didn’t say anything.

He took a deep breath, then let it out, a visible cloud of air escaping from his lips.

“Are we going to be okay, Kellin? Are we REALLY going to be okay…?” He didn’t look at me. He just continued to stare at the frozen river in front of us.

“I don’t know, Vic…I just don’t know anymore…”
I propped my elbows on the edge of the bars and rested my head in my hands.

My hands were starting to get numb from the cold, but I just didn’t care anymore.

“Where are your gloves?” “I left them at home.” I didn’t look at him this time.

He sighed and grabbed my hands. He took one of his gloves off and put it on my right hand, then he continued to hold my left hand in his. I sighed and rested my head against his shoulder like I always do.

“You’re always so warm…”

We stood there in silence again, watching the snow fall and disappear into the dark water.

“We’ll be okay, Vic…we’re always okay in the end.”
And with that, he pressed his lips against mine for a short, sweet kiss as we walked back to the hospital, hand in hand.