Save Me

Five

“Oh my gosh, Esh, why isn’t he waking up yet?!”

“Chill, Cam, the doctor said that they put a sedative on him which makes him sleep longer than planned but he’s okay.”

“What if he’s not! What if he actually hit his head really hard and got a concussion?”

“Camille, the doctor said he’s fine.”

“But Edwin, we can’t just rely on what doctors say!”

I groaned at the voices. They were unfamiliar. I slowly opened my eyes and all I saw was white. Was I dead? But then again, I started hearing the beep of a machine and as my eyes scanned the room, I saw a guy and girl standing at the edge of where I was laying down.

“Where am I?” I asked, my voice hoarse and tired and pained.

“You’re at the hospital,” the guy answered.

“It’s my fault,” the girl said, “I’m sorry.”

I looked at the girl. She was pretty. She had long black wavy hair and the brightest blue eyes. And for some reason, she was so familiar, “What happened?”

“I hit you,” she mumbled, “I didn’t mean too. I was driving so fast and when I saw you, I hit the brake late so yea.”

“Who are you guys?”

“I’m Edwin Rivers,” the guy said and then he pointed to the girl, “And this is my sister, Danielle Rivers.”

Rivers. They must be related to Patrick. Huh. How many Rivers do I meet in one day? I looked at both of them and Danielle looked really sorry, “It’s okay, Danielle. You still brought me here.”

She didn’t say anything and Edwin spoke, “Cam, I’ll go get the nurses and you go call Pop and inform him of what happened.”

Danielle’s eyes widened, “Esh! Daddy’s gonna kill me if he finds out I hit someone!”

But Edwin just rolled his eyes and headed out. Danielle started pacing in front of me. She was panicking. And I had no idea why I found it cute. She kept running her hand through her curls and kept on flicking it back and forth and she was chewing on her bottom lip so much. It made me want to yank her towards me and kiss her.

“Just call your Dad, Danielle.”

She turned and look at me, panic and worry clouding her beautiful eyes, “You think that’s easy? You should go meet my Dad.”

I chuckled. You should go meet my Dad. I wonder if how she’d react if she’d meet the great John Andrews. She paced again and then stopped and sunk on the sofa behind my bed, burying her face in her hands and continually sighing.

“He’s gonna kill me once he found out I hit someone,” she murmured.

“Danielle,” I called and she looked up at me, “Just tell him it was an accident. And that I’m fine. He’ll understand.”

She groaned but then called her father, I listened to their conversation, well, one-sidedly, “Daddy? No, no, I’m fine. Esh is with me. Umm…I ran over someone. What?! Daddy, he’s alive and okay. We brought him to the hospital. No! Dad he’s fine we can handle this. But Daddy-.Fine.”

I looked at her expectantly, “Well?”

“He’s coming over.”

I offered her a reassuring smile, “If he sees me he’ll be cool with it.”

“Why? Are you exactly a calming presence?” she asked, raising a brow.

I chuckled, “No. Because I can charm him.”

I flashed her my killer smile and I expected her to swoon but she just laughed at me loudly, “Charm? You have less charm than a snail.”

“No way,” I scoffed, “I have you know that a lot of girls have fallen for my charm.”

She smirked, “Never asked for information.”

Okay, burn. She laughed loudly when I didn’t have anything to retort. Edwin came back in the room with the nurses and doctors and I got my vitals check. So far, I was good. Just a bad leg injury but I’ll be fine.

I looked at Danielle and Edwin as they talked and realized that they badly resembled each other in a freaky way, in more than just a sibling way, “Are you guys twins?”

Edwin looked at me and laughed, “Took you long enough to figure it out.”

I stared at both of them and grinned, “It’s my first time to see one. Cool.”

Danielle rolled her eyes, “So childish much?”

I stuck my tongue out her, “Mean.”

Edwin laughed as Danielle stuck her tongue back out at me, “I’m gonna go get us dinner. And Falen? Can we call any of your family.”

“Just the Jacoby’s,” I replied, “I know them.”

Edwin left me and Danielle alone. I watched some TV but found myself more intrigued with Danielle rather than what was showing on the screen. She was actually a sight to behold. Her black hair was wavy, almost in curls and rested just a shy above her waist. Her blue eyes were transfixed on the TV and she was biting her lip as she concentrated on whatever she was watching. Suddenly, she spoke.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

“No worries, I got the image saved to memory.”

She turned to look at me with a ‘what-the-heck’ expression, “Crazy.”

“Only for you,” I replied smoothly.

She made a face and then laughed, “Charming.”

I smiled at her bashfully, “And handsome too.”

She just rolled her eyes but laughed. I swear her laughter was too good of a sound to my ears. She chewed on her bottom lip again and sat down on the bed, texting so furiously on her phone that I had to wonder why it hadn’t broken down yet.

“Didn’t your mother tell you it’s rude to stare, Mr. Rose?” she said suddenly and I swear to God that it was so creepy, the way she could tell that I was staring at her.

“Yes but then again, it’s so hard to look away from you.”

She raised her brows, “And why is that?”

“You’re just too beautiful to look away from,” I replied, adding a matching charming smile hoping that it would make her swoon.

But it didn’t even nudge her, not even the slightest. She just stared at me weirdly, and then she started laughing. Like really. She was hauling with laughter on the sofa and she even had to wipe away the tears that gathered on her eyes as she tried her best to laugh again.

“That’s a good joke, Rose,” she said and giggled. She was trying to make a straight face but visibly failing, it was cute, “But I’ve heard that so many times.”

“Really?” I said, surprised. Wait, why am I surprised? Of course she’s heard that line before, or for so many times. I mean look at her, she’s basically a fallen angel, she’s too beautiful to be true, “From whom?”

“Players,” she replied smoothly, nonchalantly, as if it was something she answered every day, “Turned all of them down. Want me to add you to the list?”

“But I’m not like them, D,” I said, and we were both surprised of the name I called her. We’ve know each other for an hour, she had ran me over and now I have a nickname for her. Eh?

“D,” she said, testing my nickname for her then she just rolled her eyes and shrugged. I grinned, she liked it. Okay she didn’t exactly tell me she liked me but then again, she didn’t tell me not to call her that, “Oh and I’ve heard that before too. Not the nickname, but what you said.”

I stared at her, “But I’m not a player, D!”

I wondered why I wanted so badly to make her believe my words. Heck, I just met her. It was so weird, I’ve never felt this way to a girl before, not even to my only girlfriend who I really took seriously, Monique. Danielle just stared at me, and for a moment, she looked distant, as if remembering an old memory. And when she came back, I saw all the pain and hurt and anger she felt in her eyes but it all went away in a snap, when she put her guard back up.

“That’s what you all say!” she snapped, glaring at me, “Don’t make me reconsider paying your bill, Rose.”

She turned away from me and focused all her attention on the TV as I just stared at her confused. Did I do something wrong? Well, of course I did. I mean, I lied when I said I wasn’t a player because I really was, well, Seth was anyway. I just stared at her and then decided to turn my attention to the TV although all my thoughts seemed to just focus on her.

Did I say something wrong? I mean, we were just kidding around right? Why did she turn so cold all of a sudden? I just sighed and Edwin came back with dinner, unaware with whatever tension was between me and Danielle. He sat on the seat beside my bed and ate his dinner while Danielle was eating on the sofa and I was eating on my bed.

After eating, Danielle got up and headed out and my eyes followed her until she completely disappeared out of my sight. Edwin patted my shoulder, “Smitten with my twin?”

“You’re twins?” I asked surprised.

He rolled his eyes, “Fraternal. But she’s older by a minute.”

I nodded and when Danielle came back, it seemed like her mood was up and she was bubbly again, or playful. She bantered playfully with Edwin who was just in a playful manner as her. Then they both turned their attention to me and for the first time, I finally noticed the similarity between them.

“Dude, you’re stare is so creepy,” Edwin said.

Danielle snorted, “Maybe his Mom never told him that it was rude.”

Edwin looked at me and laughed, “Well, it’s rude to dude, so stop staring at me. I know I’m cute but I don’t date guys.”

Danielle and I burst out laughing and I had to clutch my stomach because there was some pain in it. They noticed me wince but I just shrugged and said, “Edwin, I’m not gay.”

“Yep, he’s a player,” Danielle said, her tone mocking or playful, I couldn’t decide which.

“Do you have anything against players?” I asked her finally.

She just laughed and turned to her twin, “See, now he finally admitted it.”

Edwin chuckled at me and Danielle looked at me with a triumphant smile plastered on her gorgeous face. I know I didn’t directly admit it, but then again, with my question, it was almost the same thing. Danielle smiled at me wickedly and I just stared at her amused. This girl was something.