one year [H.S & T.C]

two

Elle Stanford

I slowly opened my eyes. The light was excruciatingly bright. Loud noises surrounded me. I felt around- this was not my bed. I panicked and opened my eyes. I was in a hospital and there was a nurse by my bedside. I groaned.

"Do you know where you are?"

I looked around. I definitely knew where I was. 

"A hospital" I replied. 

"You passed out while running yesterday night.  A young man found you and dialed 991. Why were you out so late?"

Because no one is outside when it's late. It's quiet and the world is silent. I wanted to say. But I didn't.

"I'm not sure." I mumbled, "Wanted to clear my head I guess?"

The nurse just sighed. "We did some test and noticed your iron levels were low"

Shit. I probably forgot to take my pills. I was diagnosed with anemia when I was little but it's gotten pretty bad lately. 

"I'm sorry. I guess I just forgot yesterday" I apologized 

"Mm okay Ms. Stanford. We're going to try to send you home later today."

I just nodded my head. She left the room and I grabbed my phone laying on the nightstand. I opened Instagram to check if I had any new messages. I had gone to my friend's house yesterday and we sang karaoke. I had a small group of friends- we weren't very close, but they were there for me when I needed them. I opened my camera roll to look back at the footage. Next to the karaoke video, I saw a small black square- I don't remember taking that. I clicked on the video and it started to play.  

"Hey Elle it's Harry..." wait Harry- Harry Styles. I didn't know much about him, only that he was in One Direction. One Direction defined my middle school days- not because I was a huge fan, but that my middle school friend group was. I was always surrounded by their talks of bad management, weird relationships, and matching tattoos.  I never caught on with them, but I somehow always knew what was happening in the band. Was he the one who had called the police? Once the video finished playing, I quickly scribbled his number on a piece of paper and inputted it into my text messages. 

text messages to Harry:

E: Hey Harry, this is Elle. Thank you for calling the police. I'm all good now- I can't thank you enough <3

Later that day, I was released from the hospital. I considered calling my friends but I knew they were all at work and I didn't want to bother them. I opened the Uber app and looked for a nearby car. $20. Fuck that's so expensive. On top of that, I was going to have a pay an overnight hospital bill. After 10 minutes of waiting, the Uber pulled up to the curb. I confirmed with him the address and I quickly jumped in the car. I stared out the window, being alone in my thoughts. A year ago, I dropped out of college to become a youtuber. My parents hated my decision and to be honest, youtube wasn't paying me much. You would think Youtube paid a lot- but that was only the case when you had a lot of subscribers. Influencers in LA romanticized it way too much. I had less than a million subscribers and I was thankful for every single one of them. I did make a decent amount of money, but living in LA was expensive. Not to mention that youtube took half of my earnings and with an apartment to pay for, a car to pay off, food and gas, I barely had any leftover money to spend. 

I felt a small buzz on my lap. I looked down at my phone to see a text message from Harry.

H: Of course. If you don't mind me asking why we're you out running so late?

E: I could say the same to you😅

H: But I asked you first!

E: I like the darkness. it helps me clear my mind. Plus there's no one around. Now your turn.

I waited for his response. He didn't respond immediately. I turned off my phone and leaned back against the chair. Buzz. I glanced down at my phone to see a text message from Harry. 

H: Me too. There's something comforting about it. 

Hey, at least we had that in common. The Uber started to slow down and I could see the streets become familiar. I looked through the window and saw that he had pulled up to my apartment. I quickly thanked the driver and scrambled out of the car. Home Sweet Home. My apartment was tiny but it was adequate. It was taking up so much of my paycheck that sometimes I wish I lived in my car- the amount of money I could save. I pushed the thought from my head and opened the door to my apartment. The smell of saltwater and beach hit me and it felt beyond comforting. The smell wasn't because I lived near the beach, but because I had many candles through the tiny space. I walked over to the kitchen and opened the fridge to check for anything to eat. I was starving. The fridge light hit my face and I winced. Did it have to be so bright? I grabbed some leftover Chinese food from a couple of nights ago and heated it up in the microwave. With the bowl of food in my hands, I moved over to the couch to turn on the TV. Suddenly, my eyelids felt heavy and I dozed off.