Still Believe

Chapter 15: The Road Ahead

A couple of weeks later, Alana had to leave. I was determined to fix things. I hadn't passed out in a while, so maybe that is fixed. But I wanted to fix my grades, my attitude, I wanted to work harder. When Alana came back, I was gonna be a completely different person.

But Alana loved me for who I was, so would she like the new, braver me?

I helped Alana put some stuff in her car. We hugged and I remember what Wesley had told me.

"I love you, Alana. I know it sounds strange, but I do."

"I love you too. You're like my little sister I've never had." she said. "It's gonna be okay."

Alana left, and I knew that there was something planned for me in the road ahead.

"Leslie," her dad said. "We've got something to tell you."

"What?" I asked.

"Alana, she.....she gave up hope. But being able to see how you're improving has helped her....and, she really does love you. She cares a lot about you. And you know, having you around? I've never seen her have so much faith in anything or anyone. Alana was never the type to make friends. She never tried, never had faith in anything. That is, until she saw how much you needed help. And it changed her, Leslie. She wanted to make a better life for you if she couldn't make a better one for herself."

--

I had a nightmare that night. I woke up and cried, and I was so scared that Alana wasn't okay. I called her but she didn't answer. I left a message. "Hey Alana, it's me. I just had a nightmare and was really scared you weren't okay, so I was just checking on you." I said. I hung up and got up to go pee, but I felt really disey. The last thing I remember is everything going black, then waking up in a hospital room. Again.

I woke up to a nurse taking my blood pressure.

"Um, where am I?" I asked, even though I knew.

"You're in the hospital, sweetie. And you're in pretty bad shape."

"What happened?"

"Your parents found you in your room passed out, and they don't know how long you were here."

I was about to tell this woman that they weren't my parents, and she had the wrong room. But then there was a knock on the door.

Jason poked his head in. "Knock knock." he said.

"Jason? What are you doing here?"

He walked in and sat by the bed. "I feel terrible for not being there for you.....how have you been?"

"Okay I guess.....how'd you find out?"

"Alana called me."

Of course. "Of course." I said.

There was another knock on the door. Alana came in, and sat next to Jason. "Hey, how are you holding up?" she asked.

"I.." I didn't know what to say. "How'd all this happen?"

"Do you remember anything from last night?" Alana asked.

"I remember calling you, then everything went black when I got up to pee."

"My parents said they found you around seven this morning. You called me at twelve. I'm guessing you were passed out for seven hours."

I sighed. "I passed out at Cedar Point."

"Is she okay?" Alana asked the nurse.

The nurse shrugged. "They did some tests but the results aren't back yet."