good girl • (lrh)

36

A•V•A

Today is an odd day, when I awoke this morning, Luke was no where to be found. Normally when I sleep over at his, he's still in bed with me, but today was different. I searched the house for him, even double checking in a few places to make sure I hadn't over looked him, only to find a note he'd left on the front door once I approached it.

"Dear Ava,

       Had to run some errands and didn't want to wake you, I'll be home soon (hopefully) xoxo

                                                    ~Luke"

I groaned as I read the note, tossing it into the trash bin. I wasn't sure when he'd even left, so I wasn't sure when he'd be back from wherever he'd gone. Something about the note made my mind wander though, where was he going? And how long had he already been gone. The longer I thought about it, the more my anxiety seemed to rise.

I decided it would be best to just send him a text message, and go from there. I sent a simple message, letting him know I woke up and I'd found his note. After sending the text, I decided to make some food for myself, seeing as it was nearly noon and I hadn't eaten since early last night. My stomach grumbled in agreement with my mind.

I rummaged through the fridge, settling on frying myself an egg and making some toast, seeing as the fridge was quite barren. I took note of that, He definitely needed to go grocery shopping more often. This seemed to be a running theme. It wasn't a bother though, I don't eat much anyways.

I fried my egg, toasted a few pieces of bread, and poured myself a glass of juice. I sat at the table and ate my 'breakfast' in silence. Normally this time would be filled with conversations about dreams and things of the sort, but I was alone and didn't feel like talking with myself.  After finishing, I rinsed off my plate and put it into the dishwasher. My eyes drifted towards the analog clock on the microwave, noticing nearly an hour had passed. I checked my phone, Luke hadn't responded to, or even seen my message. This was a bit worrisome, he'd never done this before. My thoughts quickly became clouded with horrid situations that I couldn't seem to shake from my mind. I contemplated calling him, but didn't, my fingers found their way to another conversation and I began typing a message.

To: Ashton

Hey ash! Just wondering if you'd heard from Luke today?

Moments after I sent the message, my phone chimed, Ashton let me know he hadn't seen Luke in the bar today, nor had he heard from him. This caused me to frown. I was really beginning to worry. I tried calling Luke at this point, only to receive his voicemail after a few rings. I decided against leaving a message. I wasn't sure what I'd even say.

I went about the rest of my day as I usually would, except this time I was alone. I decided to take a shower, which arguably I stayed in too long. I let the water roll over my skin until my fingertips began to prune up, enjoying the feeling of the warm water. It was relaxing, but I eventually got out and dressed myself. I decided it would be nice to tidy up a bit, I did laundry, cleaned up the kitchen from my meal, and even folded the blankets on the couch that always seemed to be messed up. After my manic cleaning session, I decided to attempt to read a book, but that didn't last very long as my mind kept drifting to Luke and how odd this day was. I decided to check my phone again, seeing as it was nearly 3pm. I nervously stared at the screen. I was hopefully to see a message or call from Luke, but all I was met with was a call from a number I didn't recognize, followed by a voicemail from the same number.

Seeing this gave me an odd feeling, one that made my heart sink and my stomach ache in an unusual way. I contemplated listening to the voicemail, and after battling with my own anxieties for a few minutes, I clicked the 'play' button. There was silence for a moment before the message began. I held my breath as I waited for someone to speak in the recording. the audio began to play through the speaker of my cell phone and my heart race increased drastically. I could feel myself tremble just as the message began.

"Hello, my name is Amy. I'm calling from Saint Grace Medical Hospital, located on 81st and Oak Avenue. A patient by the name of Lucas Hemmings was brought in this morning, and we couldn't seem to find an emergency contact. We noticed you two were frequently in contact so decided you'd be the best person to call. If you'd like to give us a call back, the number is 555- 71...."

My ears began to ring and I could no longer hear the audio from my cell phone, but I felt it slip from my hand and clatter against the wooden floor. My vision blurred as tears escaped my eyes.

What was happening? And what was I going to do?