A North Carolina Autumn

Chapter 12

3.19.2022

A buzzing sound pulls me from a deep sleep, but it stops, and I feel myself drifting off again. A moment later, it starts again and I quickly realize that it's my phone. It takes me a moment to find it in the pile of blankets on my bed, but I quickly answer it once it's in my hands.

"Hello?" My voice is sleepy, and I clear my voice.

"Aspen? It's Kristen. You need to come to the hospital."

"What's going on?" My heart rate quickly picks up speed.

"Just get here. Please." The line disconnects before I can say anything else.

"Shit..." I stumble out of the bed and throw open my closet, searching for shoes and sweats. I'm out the door and in my car within minutes, and I try not to speed on the way to the hospital.

Please be okay. Please.

When I get there, I park quickly in the nearly empty parking lot before hurrying inside. Sam, Jeremy, Spencer and Brad stand anxiously in the waiting room, each with messy hair like they'd just woken up.

"What's going on?" I gasp breathlessly. As Brad turns to me, I instantly see the tears in his eyes. "What happened/" I ask again, needing an answer. "Where's Kristen?" Still, Brad says nothing. "Sam, please." I beg. "What's going on?" Sam says nothing as his eyes fill with tears, but he pulls me into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Aspen." He finally says. His voice sounds weird, like it's far away, and I wonder if it's because he's crying.

"Why are you sorry? Why will no one tell me what's happening?" I cry, my own tears spilling from my eyes. But deep down, I already knew. "She's gone?"

"Sam's eyes meet mine, and they're darker than normal. "I'm so sorry." He says again. I shove away from him and run towards Rylie's room, needing to see for myself.

She can't be gone. She was getting better!

The moment I get to her door, I feel it. I take a shaky breath before slowly opening the door. Rylie lies on the bed, unmoving, with a sheet covering her legs and stomach.

The first thing I notice is the silence. The normally noisy machines are silent, not a single beep comes from them. The ventilator that usually covers Rylie's mouth and nose is gone, and her face is pale, completely void of color.

"No..."

My feet carry me towards the bed, and I sink onto the chair by her bedside as my legs threaten to give out. "No..." My voice is broken, and I can barely see through the tears as they stream from my eyes.

When I take Rylie's limp hand, it's cold and stiff. I touch the backs of my fingers to her cheek, feeling the same cold there, too.

She's really gone?

The moment I have the thought, my heart seems to completely shatter. The pain I feel is too much, and the sobs suddenly tear through me.

But the moment the first sob leaves my mouth, I'm suddenly sitting upright, gasping for breath, on my makeshift couch bed.

"Oh my God." I gasp, clutching a hand against my mouth as a fresh wave of tears stream from my eyes. "It was a dream. Fuck," I breathe, clutching my head in my hands.

I suddenly feel sick, and rip the blankets from my body, hurrying to the bathroom. I empty the contents of my stomach into the bowl and flush what's left of my dinner before sitting back against the tub with my knees pulled to my chest as shivers travel through my body. I rest my forehead on my knees, breathing hard. My shirt was wet and sticky with sweat, and it clung to my clammy skin. I carefully pull my hair into a bun, letting the cool air in the bathroom cool me off.