California Dreaming
Chapter 07
The shrill scream of sirens pierced the night sky on Kettleburn Road, frenzied red and blue lights flashing off the canyon walls, painting everything in macabre colors. A sobbing couple was on the side of the road; the woman on her knees while a tall man comforted her. A black body bag was being loaded into the back of an ambulance. The entire scene played out in front of Alyssa, who was watching everything unfold from the back of a police car. It was her worst nightmare, but this was no dream.
This was reality.
Tonight was supposed to have been a fun night; a celebration for a friend of hers who'd just been proposed to. Alyssa had gone to a club downtown with some of her friends and one thing had led to the next and before she'd known it, the twenty-three year old college dropout was drunker than she'd ever been and they'd had no way home. She'd had the least to drink out of all of them and, not known for making particularly smart decisions, Alyssa had offered to drive. That had been a little over an hour ago.
Now, two people were dead, her parents had been notified, and she was possibly under arrest. No charges had been made yet, and her father had told her not to say a word until he and their lawyer got to the precinct, but it was so hard to keep her mouth shut when all she wanted to do was scream and cry. This wasn't supposed to have happened. That child and its mother weren't supposed to be dead, and the couple grieving over the loss of their loved ones shouldn't be in so much pain.
She had caused this.
Alyssa's stomach dropped and she couldn't stop herself from getting sick on the seat next to her, tears still streaming out of her eyes. The officer in front groaned, and then made a call over his radio for another bus so that she could be transported to the local hospital as well. Alyssa wanted to argue, but as her vision blurred and she started dropping in and out of consciousness, she knew that she couldn't. With any luck, she'd had enough to drink to kill her, and she wouldn't have to wake up to the mess that she'd caused.
Alyssa awoke with a start, her breathing rapid and her chest heaving up and down under duress as she sat bolt upright in her bed. She looked around her surroundings, expecting to see white, hospital bright lights and sterile walls. Instead, she was greeted by a darkened room, windows draped with soft white curtains, and a snoring roommate in the bed next to hers. Confusion hit her hard, but she soon remembered that it all must have been a terrible flashback dream.
Trying to go back to sleep was useless, she already knew that. She'd been having the same nightmare regularly ever since the accident. She was haunted by it; it had become part of her very soul. Before that accident, her life had been one of carefree days spent lazily sleeping her afternoons away and partying through the early hours of the morning. Now, she couldn't keep food down and her mind never let her rest. God himself couldn't have come up with a worse punishment for her, and Hell was probably a sauna compared to the torture she lived through every day.
She heard movement in the hallway outside of her room and waited until she was certain it wasn't one of the nurses monitoring the rooms before she slipped on a pair of shoes and pulled a sweatshirt over her head. If she was right, George wasn't sleeping tonight either and was sneaking outside for a midnight cigarette.
When she made her way to the patio doors and saw him standing in his spot, the orange cherry of his smoke burning bright in the darkness, she knew that she'd been right. Part of her contemplated going back to her room - she wasn't good company after her nightmares and she didn't want to reveal that part of her life to him just yet. But she was craving a cigarette, and he had gotten the kind she liked from a friend of his the other day, so she decided to make her way over to him.
George didn't look surprised to see Alyssa awake, and even smiled as she sat down on the grass underneath the tree. It was dewy and kind of wet, but she didn't care.
"We've got to stop meeting like this, people will get suspicious," he teased her, not bothering to ask as he handed her first a smoke, and then his lighter. She lit up and inhaled, closing her eyes as the smoke built up in the back her lungs before she exhaled.
"Let 'em." She shrugged.
A hearty laugh left his throat, and she couldn't help but feel warmed by it. He'd been doing much better this last week, and she anticipated that he'd only be feeling even better in the coming days as they would both be leaving this place and heading home within the next two weeks. Her parents had already assured her that they'd come to pick her up, and George had been talking a lot about how his band was going to be getting ready to head out on the road soon for an upcoming tour. With an end coming to their days at rehab, she wondered if she'd ever see him again. What would come of the friendship that had helped them through so much shit?
"So, you're still on for dinner once we break this cage, right?" He asked her as he exhaled his own smoke. "Because I've already made reservations at a place downtown."
"A burger joint on Sunset Strip would have worked too, you know." She murmured to him, looking up. He sat next to her on the grass and shook his head.
"No, it wouldn't have. Not for a first date. I'm not that cheap." He laughed.
A light blush formed on Alyssa's cheeks, and she was grateful for the cover of darkness to hide it. She'd never hear the end of it if he could see it. She was looking away when a shiver traveled down her spine as his fingers loosely covered her own on the grass.
Neither of them spoke for what seemed like an hour. The sky was starting to lighten a bit, and birds were beginning to chirp. It would be dawn soon, and with dawn meant a start to the day's activities. She wondered if he'd sit next to her in group like he'd been doing frequently as of late, and pondered the questions she was sure Jeff would ask her once again. Before she could let her mind travel too far in that direction, George's voice broke the silence.
"We're both really fucked up people, Lys."
It was a statement, not a question. Anyone else might be offended by his words, but Alyssa knew it to be the truth. He was a drug addicted alcoholic who couldn't find his daughter and whose bandmates didn't trust him when he wasn't going through a program, and she was a killer who'd taken two lives prematurely. Neither of them was pure, and innocence was something neither of them had known for a very long time. And yet, Alyssa wondered if maybe that was why the two of them were so connected already.
"Fucked up, but not bad." He continued. "I think you're a really good person, Lys. A guarded person, maybe. Someone who gets on my last nerves at times, and God knows you know how to push my buttons.
And for all my faults, I know I'm not all that bad, either. Or maybe that's just the ego."
Alyssa laughed, and shook her head as she looked up at him for the first time since he'd sat next to her. "You're not a bad person, George. You wouldn't be here if you were."
"Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong. I'm not one to say anything on that matter, really. And I don't really know where I'm going with this except that I know I'll want to keep seeing you and spending time with you after we get out of here."
Alyssa's heart did a little flip in her chest, and she bit down on her bottom lip. Spending time with George sounded great, and she'd been hoping for it all along. But she couldn't deny, she wanted to see what other potential there was between them. She hoped he did, too, and obviously he saw something there if he wanted to take her on a fancy date.
"I think that can be worked out." She teased him.
The silence settled between them again, and for the first time in a long while, the blonde found herself feeling at peace. She had already made a promise to herself that when she went home after rehab was finished, and made amends with her family for the humiliation she'd put them through, she would work harder at making herself a better person. She had thought of going back to school, maybe, or finding something else to do with her time besides partying and sleeping. And now, with the thought of having George right there by her through all of that - even if it was just as a friend, if the date didn't work out - she was only that much more excited about her future.
This was reality.
Tonight was supposed to have been a fun night; a celebration for a friend of hers who'd just been proposed to. Alyssa had gone to a club downtown with some of her friends and one thing had led to the next and before she'd known it, the twenty-three year old college dropout was drunker than she'd ever been and they'd had no way home. She'd had the least to drink out of all of them and, not known for making particularly smart decisions, Alyssa had offered to drive. That had been a little over an hour ago.
Now, two people were dead, her parents had been notified, and she was possibly under arrest. No charges had been made yet, and her father had told her not to say a word until he and their lawyer got to the precinct, but it was so hard to keep her mouth shut when all she wanted to do was scream and cry. This wasn't supposed to have happened. That child and its mother weren't supposed to be dead, and the couple grieving over the loss of their loved ones shouldn't be in so much pain.
She had caused this.
Alyssa's stomach dropped and she couldn't stop herself from getting sick on the seat next to her, tears still streaming out of her eyes. The officer in front groaned, and then made a call over his radio for another bus so that she could be transported to the local hospital as well. Alyssa wanted to argue, but as her vision blurred and she started dropping in and out of consciousness, she knew that she couldn't. With any luck, she'd had enough to drink to kill her, and she wouldn't have to wake up to the mess that she'd caused.
Alyssa awoke with a start, her breathing rapid and her chest heaving up and down under duress as she sat bolt upright in her bed. She looked around her surroundings, expecting to see white, hospital bright lights and sterile walls. Instead, she was greeted by a darkened room, windows draped with soft white curtains, and a snoring roommate in the bed next to hers. Confusion hit her hard, but she soon remembered that it all must have been a terrible flashback dream.
Trying to go back to sleep was useless, she already knew that. She'd been having the same nightmare regularly ever since the accident. She was haunted by it; it had become part of her very soul. Before that accident, her life had been one of carefree days spent lazily sleeping her afternoons away and partying through the early hours of the morning. Now, she couldn't keep food down and her mind never let her rest. God himself couldn't have come up with a worse punishment for her, and Hell was probably a sauna compared to the torture she lived through every day.
She heard movement in the hallway outside of her room and waited until she was certain it wasn't one of the nurses monitoring the rooms before she slipped on a pair of shoes and pulled a sweatshirt over her head. If she was right, George wasn't sleeping tonight either and was sneaking outside for a midnight cigarette.
When she made her way to the patio doors and saw him standing in his spot, the orange cherry of his smoke burning bright in the darkness, she knew that she'd been right. Part of her contemplated going back to her room - she wasn't good company after her nightmares and she didn't want to reveal that part of her life to him just yet. But she was craving a cigarette, and he had gotten the kind she liked from a friend of his the other day, so she decided to make her way over to him.
George didn't look surprised to see Alyssa awake, and even smiled as she sat down on the grass underneath the tree. It was dewy and kind of wet, but she didn't care.
"We've got to stop meeting like this, people will get suspicious," he teased her, not bothering to ask as he handed her first a smoke, and then his lighter. She lit up and inhaled, closing her eyes as the smoke built up in the back her lungs before she exhaled.
"Let 'em." She shrugged.
A hearty laugh left his throat, and she couldn't help but feel warmed by it. He'd been doing much better this last week, and she anticipated that he'd only be feeling even better in the coming days as they would both be leaving this place and heading home within the next two weeks. Her parents had already assured her that they'd come to pick her up, and George had been talking a lot about how his band was going to be getting ready to head out on the road soon for an upcoming tour. With an end coming to their days at rehab, she wondered if she'd ever see him again. What would come of the friendship that had helped them through so much shit?
"So, you're still on for dinner once we break this cage, right?" He asked her as he exhaled his own smoke. "Because I've already made reservations at a place downtown."
"A burger joint on Sunset Strip would have worked too, you know." She murmured to him, looking up. He sat next to her on the grass and shook his head.
"No, it wouldn't have. Not for a first date. I'm not that cheap." He laughed.
A light blush formed on Alyssa's cheeks, and she was grateful for the cover of darkness to hide it. She'd never hear the end of it if he could see it. She was looking away when a shiver traveled down her spine as his fingers loosely covered her own on the grass.
Neither of them spoke for what seemed like an hour. The sky was starting to lighten a bit, and birds were beginning to chirp. It would be dawn soon, and with dawn meant a start to the day's activities. She wondered if he'd sit next to her in group like he'd been doing frequently as of late, and pondered the questions she was sure Jeff would ask her once again. Before she could let her mind travel too far in that direction, George's voice broke the silence.
"We're both really fucked up people, Lys."
It was a statement, not a question. Anyone else might be offended by his words, but Alyssa knew it to be the truth. He was a drug addicted alcoholic who couldn't find his daughter and whose bandmates didn't trust him when he wasn't going through a program, and she was a killer who'd taken two lives prematurely. Neither of them was pure, and innocence was something neither of them had known for a very long time. And yet, Alyssa wondered if maybe that was why the two of them were so connected already.
"Fucked up, but not bad." He continued. "I think you're a really good person, Lys. A guarded person, maybe. Someone who gets on my last nerves at times, and God knows you know how to push my buttons.
And for all my faults, I know I'm not all that bad, either. Or maybe that's just the ego."
Alyssa laughed, and shook her head as she looked up at him for the first time since he'd sat next to her. "You're not a bad person, George. You wouldn't be here if you were."
"Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong. I'm not one to say anything on that matter, really. And I don't really know where I'm going with this except that I know I'll want to keep seeing you and spending time with you after we get out of here."
Alyssa's heart did a little flip in her chest, and she bit down on her bottom lip. Spending time with George sounded great, and she'd been hoping for it all along. But she couldn't deny, she wanted to see what other potential there was between them. She hoped he did, too, and obviously he saw something there if he wanted to take her on a fancy date.
"I think that can be worked out." She teased him.
The silence settled between them again, and for the first time in a long while, the blonde found herself feeling at peace. She had already made a promise to herself that when she went home after rehab was finished, and made amends with her family for the humiliation she'd put them through, she would work harder at making herself a better person. She had thought of going back to school, maybe, or finding something else to do with her time besides partying and sleeping. And now, with the thought of having George right there by her through all of that - even if it was just as a friend, if the date didn't work out - she was only that much more excited about her future.