I woke up to find a note "You have 24 hours". I found it a bit strange, knowing that they didn't want to tell me anything about my health state for the past few days.
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I hid a note under my pillow, where I had found it. The hospital room seemed so dark. I looked at all the beds and the people sleeping. I remember telling the old lady the story of my life two days ago. I remember telling her about all the failures and the pain. She was so shocked. Now, everything was so quiet. It felt like an unusual dream. But it wasn't. I was sick and it was my last day. I lay down on my bed and started thinking about everyone that I had let down. My parents, colleagues, but most of all - my friends.. They had no idea what I was going through, so it was my fault that I had let them down.
I got up and headed towards the door. I went out of the hospital so quickly that I could hardly remember doing this, like I just teleported outside. I could slowly see the sun. I had less and less time.
The first stop was my best friends' house. They all had been living together since we graduated high school. I was the only one to move out after a year. I felt like they hated me for that.
I knocked on the door with my trembling hand. Charlie opened. I looked at his familiar face, connected with many memories. But what I really focused on was the scar on the right side of his face.
'Huh?' he made a sound, standing stunned.
'Let me in. Please.' I said with my voice shaking. I was freezing, but it all came from the stress. I couldn't look him in the eyes.
Of course he let me in. Charlie had always liked me and was willing to do anything I had told him to. Although, he was the first to stop talking to me after I had moved out.
The apartment felt the same, as if it hadn't been four years since I left it. Everyone was getting ready to go to work. Tessa was doing her hair in the bathroom with the door open, as she always did. Her boyfriend Adam was finishing making breakfast in the kitchen and her brother Theo was packing his lunch. They looked like a family. My family. A family that I had abandoned.
'Who is it?' said Tessa, turning off her hair straightener.
They all looked at me and in that moment, everything went quiet. I felt their stare in my every limb, in my interiors, even in my blood, if that's possible. It was the longest moment of silent in my life.
'I came to apologize. To all of you.'
'Come in, don't stand in the corridor.' said Tessa, as if unmoved. But I know that she wasn't.
We enetered the spacious living room and sat on the big leather sofa. I was so frozen that Adam made me a cup of tea. He didn't even ask me if I wanted tea, just made me my favourite one. It all felt like they had been waiting for me. We were still in silence.
'First of all, I know I have no right to come here and tell you this. I made bad decisions and I didn't take responsibility for them. That night was tragic for all of us.' I couldn't look them in the eyes, but I had to tell it, as it was eating me alive. 'That night, we all made bad decisions.'
I thought about the last night I saw them. We were just a group of stupid teenagers that wanted to have fun. Who knew that it was going to end up with a lot of tears, blood, and screaming? I can vividly remember it. Charlie told me not to drive after drinking alcohol, but the way home was so short. I still think about me laughing at him before it all happened. I still think about the night I saw my friends in pain and covered in blood. And what did I do? I ran away. I freaked out completely.
'I... I... I didn't want to leave you there. I wanted to help, but it was all my fault...'
I started to cry. Charlie brought me a box of tissues, but it wasn't enough. I ran to the bathroom and turned on the cold water that covered my hands and my face. I wanted to be free of it. I wanted to be forgiven, even if it was on the last day of my life.
'I never wanted to hurt you, or anything, but I panicked. That's why I run away.'
'You should have done something, Lisa.' said Theo. 'We could have died there, you know?'
'Don't be so hard on her, she came to apologize and after all, it was not as bad as you picture it.' Tessa stepped up.
'Wasn't bad?' Theo was shocked.
'Yes, think about it. We were a group of stupid teenagers. The driver could be any one of us. By the way, you were the one to pick Lisa.'
'Lisa, why did it took you so long to do this? We tried to reach you multiple times through all these years, and now you show up in the very morning and talk to us. What is going on?' Charlie finally said something.
'This thing has been haunting me for years. I am a terrible person. After that night, I was homeless for a few weeks. I didn't have anything. I wanted to die. I couldn't forgive myself. I had lots of jobs and tried to make end meet. I failed many times and ended up on the street. After three years, I reached out to my parents. They thought I was dead. It was horrible. I stayed with them and started therapy. I still can't forgive myself. Now, they diagnosed me with a deadly disease and...'
I looked at their faces. They were all crying. Charlie, my ex boyfriend, hugged me. After that, they all went for a hug. We were sitting in silence.
I came back to the hospital. The nurses saw me and one of them ran towards me.
'Miss, where have you been? We already called the police a few times!'
'Oh, I'm so sorry. I had something urgent to do, I went out very early in the morning. But now I'm here, don't worry.'
'This is such an irrational behavior. Go to your room and wait for the doctors.'
I sat on my hospital bed and stared at the ceiling. I have been forgiven. I had never felt like this since the accident. Now I can die in peace. I want to live, but if it is my last day, I've spent it well.
A male doctor with two nurses came in.
'Our runaway, how have you been? Don't be so impatient, you will be ready to get out of the hospital very soon.'
'Huh?'
'Your examinations went pretty well. We still need to do one, but you'll have it tomorrow. After that, you can go back home.'
'What? I don't understand!' said I sitting there in shock and seeing them leave.
The old lady on the bed next to me smiled.
'You're welcome, dear.' she said.
Heyy! So, this is my entry to an Ecency contest! It was so spontaneous, but I had so much fun doing this!!! I hope you read it, cause it is a bit long, and liked it:) I don't know if I will ever do anything like this again, but I hope so. What do you think happened next? What did Lisa do?
Hola gracias a dios los examenes esta bien, saludos, interesante tu participacion.
What a story....It made me cry! Thank you for sharing it with us!
Thanks for reading it! Glad that you liked it:)
Muy bueno, grato final, Uno piensa que le quedan 24 horas de vida cuando en realidad el aviso er que le faltaban 24 hors para ser dada de alta. No se por què pensè que era varòn y apenas comencè a verla como dama al momento en que se menciona su nombre, Lisa. Me gustò su relato, muy bien escrito.
Imagino que Lisa se comunicarà telefonicamente con sus amigos para darles la noticia de que todo fue un mal entendido. Interesante saber si la amistad continùa o se corta. Podrìas escribirle una segunda parte... Buen relato. Te deseo èxito en el concurso.
Interesting that you started seeing her as a boy, but I didn't specify the gender at tge beginning, so that's normal. Thank you for reading my story, good idea for the second part:)
A nice story thanks for sharing with us.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
You are welcome