PICS and IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

28. The Chest

Biggest mistake of our lives - Jeremy, Tony, Raylan and I are in the metro during the peak hour.

We're on our way to the Celest Children's Hospital. Mueller Avenue residents are a long time patrons of the hospital. We do charity and volunteer work for them.

Most of the time it's our parents who take care of this but sometimes they get irresponsibly lazy and send their kids to volunteer.

Not that the volunteer work is hard. I've done this once before. Although the hospital is not understaffed there are always some small errands they could use some volunteers for.

However, I did not expect the day to start off like this. Our parents asked us to go on their behalf only yesterday.

And as our bad fortune would have it none of us have our cars. Jeremy technically doesn't have a car to begin with since he's not old enough yet.

Tony left his car at a friend's place and took a ride home with Raylan yesterday. Today morning, Raylan's visiting brother, Victor, took Raylan's car to see his friends.

The boys were counting on my car for today's transportation. And my car would indeed have saved the day if it didn't broke down, yet again, yesterday. My dad dropped it off at the shop last night.

So here we are, four car-less teenagers cramped inside the metro with a million other people.

I'm surprised there's still oxygen left inside for us to breathe and space for our chests to expand as we inhale.

We arrive at another stop. The doors open and a flood of new passengers miraculously squeeze themselves into the already packed space while the already present passengers groan in pain as the pressure exerted against our bodies have just doubled.

I'm standing with my back against the glass pane near the door. Raylan is in front of me, facing my way. Tony and Jeremy are at our sides.

The only thing that's keeping Raylan from getting flushed against me is his arm that's pushed against the glass behind me.

Thanks to him I don't have to bear the weight of the crowd on me. But even so I can feel the stuffiness.

"How many more stops left?" Jeremy says.

"Don't worry. Only a couple more. We'll soon be free," Tony says.

And as if he jinxed it, the train comes to a sudden stop.

Because of inertia and the entire force of the crowd behind him falling on his back, Raylan's arm gives in and bends, and Raylan is pushed against me.

I feel my chest get crushed. And I'm not the only one who's getting hurt. We hear Jeremy groan as his elbow hit the pole during the sudden jerk of the train.

There are waves of pain and disappointment among the passengers when the overhead speakers apologize for the inconvenience and delay.

I try to push Raylan away from my chest but people behind him have still not straightened up and are relaxing over his back.

But Raylan soon steadies his arm and pushes himself against the glass and moves away from me, only for the train to start and stop abruptly jerking its passengers again.

Raylan is thrown against my chest once more. Even though it's not his fault I'm beginning to get angry at him. In pain I grab his arms and try to push him off from me again when my neck touches his face.

I feel his lips on my skin. I quickly lean my head towards the other side. "Sorry," Raylan says before pushing himself against the glass and putting some distance between us.

I breathe out in relief, but realize my breasts are beginning to hurt from having been crushed. Great, they'll probably be tender for a few days now.

"You okay?" Raylan says. I nod.

"Let's just get off at the next stop and take a cab," Tony says and we all agree. Even if there's only one more stop left, my ribcage won't hold up against another attack.

I prefer to visit the hospital as a volunteer rather than a patient.

Soon the train resumes. And just as we'd agreed we get off at the next stop.

We stand at the platform and take deep breaths, hungrily taking in the oxygen.

Outside the station we catch a cab and head to the hospital.

I resist the urge to touch my chest as it hurts.

After we reach the hospital we're given some data entry work. It should take only a few hours.

About halfway in through the entries, I can't take the pain anymore. I wince and rub my chest.

Raylan sees me. He comes over and sits next to me. "Does it hurt?" He says.

I don't know why but I feel a little embarrassed to hear him ask about it. I nod.

He leaves and comes back a minute later with a tube of ointment and gives it to me.

Screw the embarrassment, I need this. I take the ointment from him and head to the girls' restroom, and apply it across my chest. The ointment heats up my skin and I begin to feel relief from the pain.

After I'm done I come out and head back to my seat.

I see Raylan sitting at his desk and typing away.

I laugh a little.

It was like the time at our trip to Africa when he'd accidentally walked into my room while I was about to change.

It's somehow embarrassing yet comical at the same time.

And I'm glad he didn't try to roast me over either of these incidents. I suppose the dragon is aware when he needs to act like a gentleman with a girl and keep his mouth shut.

I reach my seat and resume my work.

At 3, we are done and exit the hospital. "Let's head out somewhere," Jeremy says.

"Let's watch The Pink Butterfly," I excitedly say. I've been meaning to watch the animation film for a while now since its release.

The boys unanimously disagree. They want to go to the beach. Tony goes ahead to catch a cab for us.

I take out my phone. "I'll ask if Frank is free for the movie then."

Raylan snatches my phone. "You're coming to the beach with us," he says.

Tony calls us from next to the cab he'd just waved down for us.

Fine. I'll just go be bored at the beach instead of spending time with my brilliant boyfriend for the sake of neighborhood ties.

End of chapter

A/N - Sorry couldn't update yesterday. Would you prefer I let you know through the notifications if I couldn't update on a day or just continue the next day as usual? Let me know :) Oh, and tomorrow I'll try to update Don't Pray To Me 👍 See you then!