Within Us

Chapter 6

A 5 days later

I was released from the hospital. I pulled out my phone which had a fork-like diagonal crack on it. I phoned Darryl to pick me up and sat on a concrete sphere that was in a row on the side of the hospital. I looked at my message and I had a few unread messages from Syria on Instagram 

 Syria_Booklover_01

Friday 6:46 AM

Will, please respond to me when you get better

Hope you get well soon

Sat 7:24 AM

Hey, check your phone will you

How are ya feeling?

Are you up yet

Sat 1:22 PM

Will, please answer me

                                                                            Hey, Syria, I'm  alright. I was too                                                                                   tired to use my phone.                            

Thank goodness you're ok,  when will you be able to come back to school?

🙂

Did you see the fundraiser put up by the band for you

                                                                              Huh? 🤔

https://rb.gy/vgt5l

Yeah the Dimeston High School   Band members and Mr Dawn set it up for you.                                                                                                                      

I clicked on the link which took me to a fundraiser webpage for Will Anderson. There was an illustrated picture of me along with a short statement from the band, saying how people should donate to offset my medical bills.

Odd they didn't use an actual picture of me.

I like the illustration, don't get me wrong. It was me thinking with a pencil and looking off. I don't think I ever looked that sharp. I checked the donations and it was around I clicked back on Instagram.

Syria_Booklover_01

                                                                            Well, that's nice of Mr Dawn and                                                                                   the others to make it

Yeah, glad you're ok now

I was about to text back, saying how much I appreciate her for caring at me and feeling worried before hearing a car pull up. I looked up to see Darryl pulling up next to the curve. I got in.

"Hey" I said blankly as I sat in the passenger seat and buckled up.

He gave him a crooked smile and leaned over with one arm to hug me before driving.

"How are you feeling"?

It was really the first time he really asked me how I was doing in a long time. It's not a knock against him. I love him as a brother and he trusts that I can take care of myself.

"Like someone who got hit in the head", I blurted as I watched some other cars whizzing by while he drove. He drove a bit over the speed limit as the Mustang's engines roared as it cruised down the road.

"I'm surprised you weren't in the hospital for longer. "

"Yeah. . ." I mumbled, sounding like an unenthusiastic Keanu Reeves.

My lips didn't want to part. They wanted to stay glued together. If my parents were still around they would have probably suffocated me to death with hugs and soaked my t-shirt with tears. My dad had died from a heart attack when I was just starting middle school and my mom worked as a maintenance worker at a water reservoir. It was reported that she slipped and fell over the railing and into the spillway and drowned. I never connected to them. I was socially awkward even towards my parents. If I were to be honest. . . I felt nothing when they died. I had no real connection to them. But this girl, this stranger, I feel like I have more of a connection to.

Messed up huh?

It's only been. . . how many days, since I talked to her and I'm already feeling this way.

"Hey, I have to make a quick stop at a bar ok? I'm not going to drink but I have to go talk to someone really quick. You can stay in the car, I won't be long"

He said as he pulled his car through an alley, barely lit up by the evening sun. It was about 6:35pm but it felt much later in this alley. He parked at the back of a place called Boris's Booze Bar. The alley wasn't dark per say, it was just unwelcoming in the way it was eerily lit up. The now sideways rays barely penetrated the alley at this hour. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as he got out and walked in.

Who would he be talking to?

I didn't really care. My body felt like it wanted to shut down again and went to sleep. I didn't fight it. I was already feeling tired anyways and leaned my head against the backrest. My mind got sucked into the empty void of nothingness within moments after closing my eyes.