Of Love and Other Tragedies

4 | chrysanthemums

The car was rolling, that much I knew. I wasn't sure for how long or if it's already stopped, just that my head was killing me.

The weather outside was warm, with clear skies and a slight gust. I'd planned on surprising my brother, Jaime, at work for a late lunch, but then this happened and... well, things changed.

For too long, it seemed, the world kept spinning. Everything was jostling and crashing together, though my ears were ringing so I couldn't hear the commotion. Eventually, my body halted but everything was still turning and getting blurrier by the minute. A loud siren cut through the eerie silence, my eyes snapping open. I hadn't realized they'd closed. It was bright, a line of smoke was coming from someplace. Voices arose around me, shuffling and clangs and various other noises along with them.

"Help..." my whispered words were probably too quiet to hear, but it was all I could muster up. I felt so weak and tired... yeah, sleep sounded nice to me.

"Okay... got the car opened up..." More banging and babbling and my body was being lifted.

"Noelle?" I wanted to respond, or at least see who called me, but it was too late. I was out before I could question anything.

The bright lights of my hospital room roused me from a deep sleep, pain coming from certain areas of my body. There was a cast on my right arm, an ugly yellow that clashed against my brown skin. It ran up to my elbow, and bandages were around my torso, left leg, and forehead. It hurt, all of my injuries, but not enough to call for a nurse. I think I was in a car accident, but can't be sure. It was a little fuzzy, the details, most probably the result of what had happened.

It was quiet, save for the passing steps outside the open door. There were two chairs beside my bed, most probably for Jaime and his girlfriend, Sofia, although a familiar jacket was draped over one of them. "Hm." I turned my head to glance over the rest of the room, finally noticing the vase filled with red chrysanthemums sitting on the other side of my bed.

Heavy footsteps entered my room, two built men practically brightening at seeing me up. "Noelle, you're awake!" Jaime ran up and embraced me tightly, sighing contentedly. "You've been out for a few days, you know, has us all worried."

"I was in a car accident, right?" Was the first thing out my mouth, both men moving to sit in the chairs. "I need to make sure I still have my wits."

"Yes, you were in a three-car collision," Jaime took my hand as if making sure I was still here. "Some idiot in a Tesla was racing with another car and turned too fast. They crashed into you and another vehicle, but you were the one with most injuries. The other car just turned over and slid but you rolled several times and sustained severe injuries to your head, arm, leg and torso. A part of the car punctured your stomach and you got wedged between the seat and steering wheel. That's where Rhys came in." He slapped the man beside him on the back. "He arrived with the firefighters on scene."

"Yeah?"

"Mmh," Rhys nodded, eyes meeting mine for the first time. He looked the same as our college days, just a little bit older. His dark skin glowed beautifully, brown curly hair messy but cute. He was wearing gray sweatpants and a white shirt, the outfit simple but showed off his muscular build. Rhys Meyers was a friend of mine and Jaime's that we'd met in college. They were a year older than me, but we got along well, being inseparable from the start. After my graduation two and half years ago, I didn't see him much and found myself wondering about him, but then here he was, looking at me in a particular way. "My company got the call, but I didn't know it was you until we arrived at the scene. We got you out, having to cut up the car and all the pieces trapping you in. A-And you lost quite a lot of blood, so that's why you were in and out for a few days, the painkillers and blood transfusions kept you under."