First responder, second love

Chapter 13 (Buck)

The whole time I was in the hospital Sammy didn't come by once, even though I asked her coworkers if they could ask Sam to come by. Why did she stay away? Was she that busy she couldn't walk by for one moment? Or am I just not that important to her, because I actually thought I was. I stayed at the hospital for about a week until they discharged me. They send me home with crutches, but they told me I shouldn't walk too much. And when I finally walked into my apartment with Ali by my side, I immediately realized I wouldn't be sleeping in my bed for a while. With a bed upstairs I don't have much of a choice, and I will have to camp out on my couch. Ali took a few weeks of work to take care of me, which I kind of started to hate. I know it's sounds incredibly ungrateful, but I can't help it. I learnt to take care of myself the moment when Maddie left and my parents weren't going to notice me anymore. Why would they suddenly change their ways? Why would they suddenly act like the parents I wished they were.
My mum couldn't look at me most of the time, and I never understood why. And my dad just bribed me when I was a kid. Every time my mom got angry with me, my dad was there offering me ice-cream, a new bike or something else I wanted. He bought everything I asked for, as long as I didn't ask what was going on with mum.
So, when Ali told me they were asking her to go back to work, I was glad. Don't get me wrong, it was very sweet that she wanted to take care of me, but I'm better on my own. Well at least I think I am.
I tried to call Sammy for the last couple of days, but she doesn't pick up. When I text her how she is, I get 'fine' back, but when I ask her to come over, she tells me she's busy. I am trying to figure out what I've done wrong. Did something happen between us, something I don't remember? I thought we were good again.

    "Can I ask you something?" Eddie looks up. He came to visit me and brought Thai food with him. He takes to forks out of the kitchen drawer and walks with the food to the couch were I'm sitting.
    "What's up?" he asks when he takes a seat next to me.
    "Have you talked to Sammy recently?" Eddie nods his head and hands me my food. "Do you know what's going on with her?" Eddie takes a bite of his food and tries to avoid eye contact. "You are friends, right? Has she said anything to you?" And Eddie nods his head without saying a word. "Bro, what's going on?" I ask slightly irritated. I put my food on the coffee table and look at Eddie, who is taking another bite of his food. "Sammy doesn't answer my phone calls, and she doesn't really text either," I say frustrated, and that's exactly what I am, frustrated. I'm frustrated that the person who I thought cared about me isn't talking to me. I am frustrated that I don't know what's going on with her and that I feel like I'm losing her for some unknown reason.
    "I can't Buck, I'm not the one who can answer that question," Eddie finally answers.
    "Why?"
    "Sammy is my friend, and yes we talk."
    "But?"
    "I can't just share does things with you Buck. Sammy is my friend, and she trust me to keep her secrets."
    "I knew it, there are secrets."
    "Of course, there are things you don't know about her, things she wants to share, but she doesn't get a chance."
    "What are you talking about Eddie? She knows that she can tell me anything, that I'm there for her."
    "You sure about that Buck?" I look at Eddie and I have no idea what he's talking about. I made it very clear to Sam that I will be there for her, whenever she needs me. She can tell me anything, and she knows that, at least I hope she does. "Don't you think you are quite fast with dating Ali?"
    "Fast? You guys all told me to go for her, you kind of insisted on it," I react surprised by Eddie's question. Eddie puts his half-eaten food down and looks at me. "What? She turned me down. I kissed her and she turned me down. She is the one who told me she just wanted to be friends. So, we are just that. And yes, I called Ali if she still wanted to get coffee." Eddie just looks at me without saying a word. Do I need to guess what he's thinking? Because I have no idea what is going on right now. They all wanted me to call Ali, to go on a date with her. And suddenly I'm going too fast. Ali is a great woman, she is funny, kind and she is very pretty. And she makes me feel a little bit better during my recovery. Without her I would have gone crazy. To be fair, if she would have continued taking care of me, I would have gone mad too.
    "I'm just saying that you should have taken a minute to think about what you wanted, and maybe you should have given her some more time," Eddie speaks after a few minutes of silence.
    "What the hell does that mean Diaz?" I ask him extremely frustrated.
    "All she needed was some more time Buck," he says, but before I can ask more his phone goes off.