Stand By Me, Chris

Chapter 14

My eyes fluttered open to a bright light. I looked around and didn't recognize where I was. I was laying in a bed with white sheets, the walls were all white, and there was no one else around.

"Hello?" I called out, but there was no answer. I tried to sit up, but for some reason I could barely move.

After a few minutes of trying to get up, someone finally came in. It was a lady with dark skin wearing a nurses outfit, but why would she be wearing that?

"Where am I?" I asked her.

"You're in the hospital, sweetie," she said, grabbing my hand.

"Why?" I asked, confused.

"You were in a terrible car accident," she informed me.

As I remembered what had happened, my heart sank.

"Where's my brother? Where's Chris?" I asked frantically.

"They're going to be okay," she said, rubbing my shoulder.

"Can I make a phone call?"

"Sure," she smiled. I didn't know how she could be so happy at a time like this, I was going crazy.

She handed me the phone and I tried to remember the phone number. I pushed a few numbers and listened for a ringing.

"Hello?" Someone said.

"Hi, this is Lauren Peterson. I'm calling to speak with Daniel."

"Lauren, I remember you. It's the lady from the front desk!" She said. I groaned, she had been so rude when I went to visit Daniel. "Let me get him on the phone for you."

"Thanks," I said, and I waited for a few minutes.

"Hello?" Daniel said.

"Daniel! How are you doing?" I asked, happy to hear a familiar voice.

"Lauren! I'm doing a little better," he said, sounding sad.

"Daniel, I'm in the hospital too, I don't know where, but Will and I were in a car accident. They won't let me see anyone, and I don't know what's happening."

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I think so, but I can barely move right now," I said, attempting to get up again, but failing.

"Does your mom know?"

"I don't think so, I just woke up," I told him.

"Phone time is over!" The nurse said, walking into my room.

"I gotta go, I'll call you when I get a chance," I said to Daniel.

"Get better, love you," he said.

"You get better too. Love you," I said, then gave the phone back to the nurse. Even though we don't have the same mother, I guess Daniel is my brother. I smiled to myself.

"Was that your boyfriend?" The nurse asked.

"Why would you think that?" I laughed.

"You told him you love him, and now you've got a huge grin on your face," she said.

"I just realized he's my brother," I said.

"Maybe you need more medicine," She said, opening a cabinet.

"No! I'm fine. My dad cheated on my mom and had a kid, and I never thought of him as my brother, until now," I explained.

"Okay," she said. "Now we're trying to figure out exactly what happened in the accident, can you tell me what happened?"

"We were driving to California and we heard a loud noise, and now I'm here. Can I please know how everyone else is doing?"

"Honey," she said, grabbing my hand again, "you're the only one who has woken up so far."

"What? This can't be happening! You said they were going to be okay! They have to be okay!" I yelled, finally getting the strength to get up. I climbed out of the bed and started to run down the halls. I wasn't getting anywhere, and the nurse caught up to me right away.

"It's going to be okay," she said.

I collapsed onto the floor sobbing. I was a complete mess, but what if they're gone? My brother, my boyfriend, and three of my best friends.

"Can I make one more phone call?" I asked through sobs.

"Of course," she said, putting her arm around me and helping me up off the ground. She walked my back to my room and I sat in a chair by the window with the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mom?" I asked.

"Lauren! How's the big trip?" Mom asked excitedly. "I want to hear all about it!"

"It's not going so great," I said.

"Are you crying? What's wrong?"

"We got in a car accident. No one else has woken up yet, Mom what if we lost them?" I cried.

"Are you okay? Is Will okay? Wait...who else was in the car?"

"My friends, Mom we lied, we wanted to go on an adventure. It was me and my new friends and Will."

"Why would you lie to me? Look where lying got you! I can't come down until tomorrow night, I can't miss work. Let me talk to a doctor or someone," she said.

I handed the phone to the nurse and sank into the chair. I really messed up this time. The nurse talked on the phone for a while and then hung up.

"Sweetie, I need you to tell me your name and how old you are," the nurse told me.

"I'm Lauren Peterson and I'm thirteen years old," I said. She was taking notes as I talked.

"I'm here to figure out what's going on, we don't know who any of you are, where you're from, we don't know anything," she said. "Who was driving the car?"

"My older brother Will, he's seventeen," I told her, and she continued writing on a clipboard.

"Who else was in the car with you?"

"My friends, Chris Chambers, Gordie Lachance, Teddy Duchamp, and Vern Tessio. They're all the same age as me."

"From what it seems, there was another girl in the car with you," she said, and that's when I remembered Rebecca.

"Rebecca, all I know is her name, she joined us just before we crashed," I told her as much as I knew.

"Okay, I'm going to go talk to the doctors, I'll be back," she said, walking over to the door.

"Wait!" I said, making her turn around. "What's your name?"

"Alice," she smiled, and left.

I climbed back into the bed and started to drift off to sleep, but then I heard yelling coming from the hall. I got up as fast as I could and opened my door, just enough so that I could see what was going on.

Nurses and doctors were rushing in and out of the room across from mine. I walked out of my room to get a better look at what was going on, when I saw who was on the hospital bed. Chris Chambers.

"We've got to hurry, we're going to lose him!" A doctor was yelling.