I sat at the counter with my face in my hands. My shoulders were shaking from all the crying I had just done. Ace had no right to just walk back into my life after ruining it.
While my face was still in my hands, the bell jingled again. My first thought was it was Ace, he was back to apologize. But it wasn't Ace. It was Jason.
"Why was Ace here?"He demanded, walking right up to my counter.
"He had to buy a book," I muttered.
"Buy a book? Ace would never buy a book. He was here to see you, wasn't he?" Jason yelled.
"Why were following him? Why are you following me?" I snapped back.
"If I can't have you, Ace can't have you," he explained firmly.
"If I see you anywhere near me again, I'm filing for a restraining order," I threatened.
Jason just laughed. "Like I'm going to follow a restraining order."
"Jason, I'm usually a very patient person, but you're pushing it. Quit being childish and just leave. Please," I added.
"I can't just leave you alone. Somebody needs to watch you," Jason said.
"Why? I can handle myself. I always have. Just stop bothering me, leave Ace out of this, just go," I begged.
"I think I've always thought of my women as property, something that only I'm allowed to use," Jason thought.
"So women are like doormats to you? That's disgusting. Get out of my store and get out of my life," I hissed.
Jason sighed. "This isn't over."
"Yeah, it kind of is. This game you're playing is pointless," I yelled, while he was walking out.
I didn't care about what Jason said. I cared about what I said to Ace. In a way, it felt good to get it off my chest, but at the same time guilt was gnawing away at the edge of my heart. I think it was a good decision on my part to get Ace out of my life if he never wanted to be anything more than friends.
Making decisions was hard.
******
I drove home with music down low. The night sky was hard to see with all the fog. I had my brights on and was driving 5 miles under the speed limit.
I was thoroughly creeped out by my current situation. At one of the first intersections that I go through to get home, I didn't see the mini van coming through and had to stomp on the breaks.
The second intersection looked deserted. I slowly pressed down on the gas and looked both ways one more time. I was too late to step on the breaks before the truck rammed into the passenger side of my car.
At first it was all noise. Constant crashing and breaking and bending of metal pierced my ears. I wasn't sure where i ended up. Then it was color. My eyes were staring into the head lights of the truck. Then it became quiet and dark.
*******
I woke to the sound of ambulance sirens. My vision was blurry. The passenger side of my car was against the pavement. I was dangling by my seatlbelt. They were right in my ear. I tried to grab my seat belt but my shoulder protested in pain. It was probably dislocated.
A car door slammed and I saw feet running my way. They stopped by my head and the body crouched down.
"Ma'am, are you okay?" The man asked.
"Yeah, I think so. My shoulders dislocated, I think. And my leg is stuck under something," I replied.
"It's stuck under your car. The truck pushed you up against a tree and you probably rolled a couple times. The metal is pushing down on your leg," he explained.
"I'm really tired," I said.
"Okay, hang on. Stay with me," he said. He flashed a light into my eyes. "My name is Brantley. Tell me your name."
"Phoenix," I sighed.
"That's an interesting name. I'm going to stay right beside you until we can pull you out okay?" Brantley asked.
"Whatever floats your boat," I chuckled.
"Tell me Phoenix, what grade are you in?"
"I'm a junior," I sighed. Brantley proceeded to put a stethoscope near my heart. He even managed to get my blood pressure.
"You look much older than a junior," he observed.
"I had to mature early," I explained.
"Don't we all? So tell me something about yourself," he suggested. A few more footsteps came our way. The pressure on my leg was being alleviated.
"I'm currently in a tricky situation," I laughed. My eyelids were getting heavy.
"Hold on Phoenix, a few more minutes. Were you being literal as in right now?" Brantley pushed.
"Kinda. There's this guy and I like him and he saved my life, twice. But he doesn't like me back even though he spent the night with me and took me bowling," I sighed.
"Trust me when I say he likes you. A guy just doesn't spend the night with you then take you bowling. But he probably had a good reason to turn you down. Guys don't have it as easy as some people think," Brantley smiled.
"If you're going to call my mom, don't try. She's in jail. And my father's dead. I'll pay for the hospital bills," I said, changing the subject.
"There has to be somebody I can call. How about I play matchmaker and call up this boy?" Brantley suggested.
"He's not going to show up. I was mean to him," I whispered. The pain was now completely gone from my leg.
"Now you can sleep," Brantley said.
And sleep was what I did.
******
I woke up in a hospital bed with a doctor putting a cast on my leg. My shoulder was throbbing but other than that it didn't hurt.
"Phoenix is it?" The man asked.
"Yeah."
"What color would you like your cast?" He asked. He wasn't looking at me.
"Black, like my soul," I muttered.
The man chuckled at this. "That's the first time I've heard that one."
He left the room.
"Phoenix?" A voice frantically yelled from a very far distance. I would know that voice anywhere.
I quickly hopped down from the bed as carefully as I could. I grabbed the pair of crutches from the corner and hopped out of the room.
"Phoenix?!" The voice yelled, getting louder.
I turned the corner and stared down the hall. In my wildest dreams I never would have guessed Ace would come running through a hospital to see me.
Ace and I made eye contact and that's when he lost it. He came barreling in at me, tears in his eyes. I dropped my crutches and made a full effort to hop on one foot to him.
Once he made it to me, he pulled me into his embrace. He held me gently but firmly. I shoved my face into the crook of his neck, breathing him in. I needed to be sure he was real. He wrapped one hand around my neck and the other around my waist, pulling me tighter to him. Both of my arms were around his neck.
"Wake up," he whispered in my ear, his voice strangely girly.
My eyes shot open as I realized it was just a dream. I was still in my car on the side of the road. My dream was right about the position I was in, I was dangling in my seat.
"No, no, no," I whispered. I turned left and was greeted by a tree branch to the face. I turned my head to the right and the truck that hit me wasn't there anymore. I was in a hit and run.
I frantically searched for my phone that I usually kept in my lap while driving. I looked for it in the small moving area I had. It probably landed somewhere outside my car.
I was beginning to hyperventilate. I tipped my head back against the headrest and took deep breaths; which hurt my lungs. There was blood dripping down the side of my face and my leg was stuck between the car and the seat.
I was fighting sleep, not wanting to miss anybody coming my way. There was a headache coming on from behind my eyes.
Car tires rolled up next to my car. The car door opened then slammed shut.
"Phoenix?" Ace shouted, frantically.
"Ace?" I yelled.
Ace leaned down through the passenger side window. His hair was messy and dangling in his face. His blue eyes pierced mine with relief.
"Phoenix, don't move. I'm calling 911, stay awake," Ace said.
"Don't leave me again," I begged.
Ace stared at my with sympathy. "I won't."
He stood up but stayed in place as he called 911. The conversation was short and easy. Ace kept his cool.
"They are on their way," Ace said, sitting back down.
"How did you know it was me?" I asked, tilting my head towards him. I still owed him an apology.
"I went back to Charlotte's to apologize to you but you weren't there. I figured you were at home but you weren't when I checked. I called Jade and you weren't at her house, so I started driving around. I found the car and the color looked familiar. I thought you- with the amount of damage to the car- I thought you were dead," Ace choked.
"I owe you an apology," I started. "I didn't have the right to yell at you. You just- you drive me crazy, and then with Jason. I yelled at him too and now he says 'it isn't over' but I just want it all to end. And I started with you and I'm sorry."
"You yelled at Jason?" Ace snickered.
"Yeah, he basically ruined my life and he kept doing it. He sucked all the happiness out of me and I was sick of it," I explained.
"I'm guessing he didn't take it to well," Ace smiled.
"He was taken off guard," I agreed, smiling.
Sirens started going off in the distance. I closed my eyes in relief. The breeze started blowing through the car.
"I'm sorry I did all this to you," Ace whispered.
"Please don't," I begged.
"I owe you an apology too," Ace argued.
"Not right now though, okay? I've had a rough day," I replied.
Ace didn't get to reply. The ambulance pulled right up behind me and all the doors opened and slammed shut. Multiple voices were going off at once, too fast for me to understand.
They asked Ace to back up and let them do their job. The guys got me out of the car without a whole lot of problems. They placed a neck brace on me and carefully lifted me onto the stretcher. My muscles tightened in protest but relaxed when I was situated.
I didn't see Ace at all during that whole process. I was afraid he had left me again. But while I was laying there on the stretcher, staring up at the stars, Ace's face came into view.
"Stay strong, sweetcheeks. I'll see you at the hospital," he said. Then he gave my forehead a kiss and vanished from my line of vision.
Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long. I had a lot of ideas for this chapter and I was constantly changing it. Hope you liked it! Let me know what you think!!:)