Chapter 3
1700 Words
Clarissa started breathing loudly as she regained consciousness.
"Clarissa! Clarissa! Someone call the doctor!"
"Jake? This sounds like Jake's voice."
"Clarissa! Clarissa, can you hear me?"
She felt someone was holding her hand. Based on the sweat, this person had been holding it for a long time.
"Can you hear me?" He asked again.
"What's going on?"
"Where is the doctor?" His voice started sounding impatient.
"My head, it hurts."
She slowly opened her eyes.
"Oh Clarissa, it's okay, don't worry. You will get out of here soon."It was Jake. She guessed it right.
"Jake..." She was too weak and confused to say something else.
"Shh. Don't force yourself. You must be tired. Here, take a sip of water." He smiled, handing her a glass.
She nodded and tried to lift her body up on the bed.
"Where?" It's all she could say.
"You are at the hospital. You had a car accident, but I will explain it later. You need to relax now, the doctor will be here soon."
His eyes. Clarissa could tell he had been crying. He was probably crying before she woke up.
She tried to look around, but the light were too bright, her eyes were hurting.
"So she woke up?"
She couldn't recognise that voice.
"Yes, she woke up a few minutes ago. I asked the nurse to call you." Jake was talking with this man who was wearing a white lab coat.
The stranger looked at her and smiled, probably trying to make Clarissa comfortable. He failed.
"Hello there sleeping beauty. How are you feeling?" He asked, pointing what looked like a small flash light directly in her eyes.
She did not reply.
"Good news, looks like there is no head trauma." He said to Jake. He then turned back to Clarissa. "Can you hear me? Can you answer me?"
"Yes." She said weakly.
"You just need to rest for a little bit. You should be able to communicate normal by tomorrow."
He stood up and led Jake to the door. Clarissa could see them talking, but she could not hear them.
Jake was nodding, silent.
After what felt like hours, he came back and sat down by her bed.
"Oh gosh. We were all so worried. But you are fine." He said, but it looked like he was trying to convince himself more than Clarissa.
"What happened? Where, where is Asia?"
"Asia is fine, I suppose. You had a car accident driving down the hill coming back from Sam's house. When Tom did not receive any text message from you, he started worrying and he found you driving back home." He let out a big sigh. "Needless to say, to called an ambulance immediately. Both you and Asia were unconscious."
Toc toc.
Someone knocked on the door. They both turned to see who it was.
"Tom!"
"Hey there, how are you?" He asked entering the room.
"She is fine, she just struggles to talk, but the doctor said she will be able to communicate with no problems by tomorrow. How is it going with Asia?"
"Asia..." She said. "Is Asia here as well?"
"Yes, she woke up a few hours ago, but she is acting strange." Tom replied.
"Asia." It was all she could say.
"Hey, don't worry. As soon as you will feel better, I am sure you will be able to go and see her." Jake tried to calm her. "You should probably rest a bit. I will tell my mum you are fine. She was so worried."
"Don't you think she slept enough?" Tom joked.
"Come on, out of here." Jake grabbed him and walked him outside.
"Chill, I was just trying to lighten the mood."
The door slammed behind them.
She was alone.
"I can't remember anything. The only thing I remember is a raccoon."
She tried to recall what happened, but every effort would just end up in a bad headache.
She closed her eyes, and before she could even think of it, she fell back to sleep.
"I am so relieved she is fine. Did the doctor say anything?"
"She will be fine, don't worry."
"After her mother's death, I don't know if I could have handled her death as well. She is like a daughter to me."
"I know, but as I said, there is no need to worry anymore. She will be fine."
Clarissa woke up, and looked at them.
"Grace." She smiled when she saw Mrs Belford.
"Oh my Lord, honey! I am so happy you are okay!" She started sobbing. "I was so afraid that you could-" She stopped herself. "Nevermind, you are fine. This is all that matters."
She came closer, and hugged her tightly. Clarissa could hear her trying to stop herself from sobbing.
"Mum, you are squeezing her. Let her go, she can't breathe."
"Oh right, I made you some soup. You need to eat something hot." Mrs Belford said, standing up and walking towards her bag. She then pulled out a plastic bag and a plastic bowl.
"How is Asia?"
Tom sat down. She stayed silent, as if looking for the right words to answer.
"Is she fine?" Clarissa was worried.
"She is. Well, kind of." He paused. "She is alive, and she is physically fine." He finally added.
"What type of answer is that?" She thought.
"You will understand when you will see her."
Clarissa couldn't breathe. What did that mean? Was her friend fine? She sat frozen on her bed.
"Body find the strength, or I will."
She started moving slowly, trying to stand up.
"Clari! The doctor said you need to rest, you shouldn't force yourself like this!"
"I would never be able to rest properly until I make sure with my own eyes my best friend is fine."
Jake was speechless. He knew how stubborn his friend could be.
"At least, let me walk you there."
She nodded.
The floor was cold when she laid her feet on it. Jake gave her some white slippers to wear.
She somehow managed to stand up, and with Jake's help, they started walking.
The hospital felt so chaotic. The lights were definitely too bright, she thought.
She could not move fast, but luckily the other room was not too far.
"What are you two doing?" A voice shouted behind them.
They turned around to find the doctor walking angrily towards them.
"Miss, you should be resting, not wandering outside your room."
"I am sorry, she insisted so I thought she could see her friend before going back to bed." Jake apologised.
"No way. You need to take her back to her room immediately. We are still running some tests, it is not safe for her to walk around until we get all the results." The doctor said imperative.
"Did you hear what he said? Let's go back now."
Clarissa tried to say something, but she knew it would have been useless.
They slowly got back to her room.
"You should not worry about her, she will be fine. You should focus on your health now."
The day seemed endless, but the night eventually came.
"We need to go home now. Promise me you won't do nothing stupid." Jake begged her.
She nodded.
"We will come back tomorrow morning, you should get a good night sleep." Mrs Belford said before leaving.
"I will come in a moment." Jake said to his mum. "Clari, I still can't believe what happened." He was breathing loud. "I was so afraid. So afraid I could lose you." A tear streamed down his cheek. "Oh my, you were so close. You could have died." He was staring at her. "I don't know what I would do if something like that happened." He leaned and kissed her forehead. "Please, please don't ever do anything like this again. Please, I need you here."
Clarissa suddenly realised. "How long have I been unconscious?"
"It's been four days."
"Didn't you leave?"
"I did, I texted you when I came to your bakery. I was surprised it was closed, but I thought you just had a late night and needed some extra sleep, so I didn't look into it too much. When I found out what truly happened, I rushed here and I haven't left since then."
"What about your job in the city?"
"Who cares about it?" He snorted. "I told my boss one of my family member was in the hospital. I think he understood, but I couldn't care less. You come before anything else."
"Thank you."
He looked at her and leaned a bit closer.
"You are one of the most important people in my life. If I have to lose my job, then it was not worth it to begin with." He whispered softly. "Stay safe. Promise you will get better soon. This is all I need to hear right now."
"I will."
He kissed her on the forehead again, and then left.
Clarissa stared at the white wall in front of her for a while.
She was still trying to process what happened.
It seemed impossible. If it wasn't for the tremendous headache and the hospital room, she wouldn't even believe it.
"I should probably rest now, I am so tired."
She kept tossing and turning, but she couldn't fall asleep. All she could do was thinking about Asia.
"F*ck it, I need to know what happened."
She got up, and slowly walked to the door.
She opened it, trying to be as silent as possible. She looked around, there was nobody.
Jake told her Asia was in Room no. 478. Only a few doors from hers.
She advanced to the room silently, hoping nobody would see her. When she finally arrived, she knocked on the door.
"Come in."
She opened the door. When she got in, she saw Asia sitting on her bed.
She seemed fine, there were no scars on her face.
She smiled at Clarissa, and she let a sigh of relief.
"I am so happy to see you are fine." Clarissa said. "They were all talking about you acting weird, I got so worried."
Asia kept smiled. "I am very sorry but," she said, "who are you?"
- Writer
