Back Into Your Arms

“Mel, Mel”

I felt someone shaking me. I felt groggy and thirsty. I forced my eyes open.

It was John. I didn’t understand why he was shaking me, it then hit me, they must have called from the hospital.
I sat up quickly rubbing my eyes.

“Why, what’s wrong?"

“Julie woke up”

“She woke up?”

I felt an overwhelming amount of joy in my heart, the tears started to pour out as I reached for John’s embrace.

“So, she’s going to make it?” I asked him in between sobs.

“She’s talking, she’s okay” he comforted me as he rubbed my back. I was so happy, so, so very happy.

“Let’s go see her”

“It’s almost time for you to pick up Sarah”

I looked over at the clock on the wall, he had a point. I wasn’t sure if they would allow kids in there either.

“Emma!”

“Emma?” he asked confused.

“Yeah, the nanny, let me ask her if she can take care of the kids for an hour or so, let me go look for her number, it’s on the fridge I think”

I hoped out of bed and ran for the fridge, grabbing the note with the number in my hands. I grabbed the house phone and dialed the number.

“Emma?”

“Yup?”

“This is Melody Riley, friend of Julie”

“Ah yes, what’s up?”

“Would you mind picking up the kids and taking care of them for an hour? Julie woke up and I want to see her”

“Yeah, no problem”

“Thank you so much Emma”

“It’s all good”

I laughed at the girl’s laid back attitude. I walked back into the living room tying my hair back.

“Let’s go!” I exclaimed jumping from excitement. John just looked at me funny but stood up and led me out the door.

We hurried over to the hospital, we got our passes and made our way to Julie’s room.
I entered quietly, but as soon as she saw me and I saw her, I couldn’t help but let out my emotions.

“You’re okay, you’re okay, I thought I had lost you” I cried, reaching for her bruised hand.

“Melody you came!”

“Your babies, I couldn’t leave them here, your mother in law is on her way”

“Thank you, thank you for coming”

“How are you feeling?”

“I can’t move, broken ribs, I feel terrible but I’m alive. I’m just so worried about Eric, he was the passenger, he got impacted the most”

“What happened?”

“We had dropped the kids off at school, I was going to drop him off at work when a guy in a bicycle crossed my path, I tried to avoid him but instead went into oncoming traffic, I feel so stupid, SO, SO STUPID” she started to cry.

“C’mon, that was a tough situation, you’re not stupid”

She wiped her tears away and sighed.

“I just hope he will be okay, gosh Mel, we both could have died on impact, it’s crazy how vulnerable life is”

“It really is”

It was then that she looked up, she gasped in shock.
I turned around, she was looking at John.

“My goodness, he’s here”

“Hey Julie”

“He flew over today, he was worried” I explained to her.

“I’m so sorry I troubled you both”

“No trouble at all” he insisted.

“My babies?” she asked, realizing the time.

“Emma went to pick them up”

“What did you tell them?”

“I told them you guys were not feeling well and were in the hospital”

“They reacted okay?”

“Aaron wants to see you, Sarah is just confused”

“I’ll call him later, thank you again Mel, I owe you so much at this point, same goes for you John, thank you and I’m sorry”

She seemed so emotional, and it was then that I realized that this was the first time she had seen us together since 2007.

“Do you mind if I speak to Mel alone for a bit?” she inquired of John. John shook his head.

“Not at all, I’ll be outside”

She smiled and nodded. Her smile felt odd though.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her confused. She reached for my hand and took a deep breath.

“This accident got me thinking a lot”

“About what?”

“About how we could lose our lives at any moment, we shouldn’t take people for granted, we shouldn’t lie to people we love, we shouldn’t keep secrets, we should love others more and treat them the way they deserve to be treated and Mel, I wronged you so much in my life so far, I have wronged you so many times, more times than you know about, I need to tell you the truth, I could have died without letting you know these things, and I feel so terrible about that”

“Tell me what? How have you wrong me?”

“I’ve wronged you, I’ve wronged you, I just hope you can forgive me”

“What are you saying?”

“I liked him too”

I blinked. I didn’t know who she was talking about.

“Who?”

“John”

“John?”

“Yes, oh my, I had such a crush on him”

“Did I know?”

“I don't really know...”

We were both quiet for a second.

“How did you feel when we started dating?”

“Crushed, angry, jealous, I don’t think I spoke to you for a week”

“But then we made up, right?”

“Nope, I would see you down the halls, holding hands, kissing, and my anger only got worse, I did something mean, but it still wasn’t the worse thing I did”

I had no clue what she was talking about.

“What did you do Julie?”

“I told your parents”

My mind was running, running away. I wanted to pretend that I didn’t hear what she had just told me.

“You told them?”

“Yeah, I told them you were seeing John and I told them terrible things about him”

“You WHAT?” I felt lightheaded. I started trembling, “What did you say about him?”

“That all he wanted was sex, and to lead you to do drugs and that he had a reputation at school, I told them he would ruin you”

“Did they…believe you?”

“Yeah, I mean I was your friend, they trusted me”

“Julie…”

“You got into so much trouble for having a boyfriend but you managed to get away with it, I pretended to be okay around you, you were still my best friend but the jealousy was real, it was too real. I tried to get over it and dated someone else, but gosh Mel, you guys looked so perfect, it angered me so much”

“Julie, did I really not know you felt this way?”

“I don’t think so, and if you did I don’t think we would have remained friends…but Mel let me confess something else to you-”

“I don’t think I want to hear it” I cut her off.

“You need to Mel, you need to, hear me out, it’s been eating me alive for 10 years”

I felt nauseous now, my head was beginning to hurt.

“When you woke up from the accident and we realized you had forgotten your memory, we were freaked out, but when your mom thought of the brilliant idea of keeping things from you, I didn’t fight it. Instead I agreed, I told them that it wasn’t a bad idea to keep John away…”

She hesitated to continue, she was crying.

“It was me who suggested New York, they were just supposed to send you, far away, far from us…but then your mom offered to pay my tuition, my parents insisted and I was sent with you, but no matter how much I wronged you Mel, you couldn’t hate me, you loved me, you were my friend, and I just took all your love without ever showing it in return. I was a bad friend, and still am for barely telling you all these things, if you never want to speak to me again I completely understand…just know that I regret it all, I ruined you, I’m SO, SO, SO SORRY Mel, I don’t deserve you!”

I couldn’t believe it. I felt so lied to, I felt betrayed but most of all, I felt broken hearted. My best friend was a lie.

“I need air” I whispered as I rushed out of the room.

John running after me.

“What’s wrong?”

“I CAN’T BREATHE” I gasped for air, but the world was spinning, he had to help me make my way out of the hospital. He called over a taxi, he helped me get in and told the guy where to go.

“Mel, what happened? What did she tell you?”

“John, my life is a lie”

“Don’t say that, that’s not true”

“Will I ever feel happy? Will this sadness ever end? Is it everlasting?”

“What sadness?”

“The sadness in my life? When things are finally going right they go wrong, is this the way life will always be?”

He sat there silent for a second, he then pulled me closer and he looked me right in the eye. His hazel eyes piercing into my soul.

“What if I tell you it is?”

“I want the truth, is the sadness everlasting?”

“I think it is, but don’t misunderstand me, life is like this, it’s unpredictable, sadness will always be around, but it’s all about how you deal with it. I need to know what she told you to be able to understand why you’re like this though”

I felt pain in my chest, I felt weakness in my hands. I took a deep breath.

“She ruined me”