[.Pulse.]
Drew sat slumped in the uncomfortable chair that had been
so graciously provided by the hospital's intensive care ward. He was
tired, having been there for almost eighteen hours straight. He'd
slumped so low in the chair, in fact, that his neck was level with it's
back making it almost difficult to breathe, but he wasn't bothered.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
The monitoring equipment that he was sat between hummed quietly
to itself, emitting an unsettlingly slow, slightly irregular beep in time
to his friend Jamie's heart beat.
Silence.
Drew was suddenly very wide awake, but just as had happened
twenty or so times previously:
BEEPBEEP BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
He exhaled strongly and rubbed his eyes. Damn he was tired, but
he just had to stay.
"You look like s**t, man," he said to his unconscious friend. A
second or so later, he smiled weakly at an anticipated retort that
under better circumstances would've inevitably been returned.
Instead, all he received was a reciprocating hiss from the ventilator.
The truck that had hit the car just moments after Jamie had
dropped Drew off at the side of the road was going way too fast.
Unfortunately for Jamie, the truck that his car was pushed in front
of was speeding also, sending the vehicle a good ten feet into the
air, over a hedge and head-first into a ditch.
For Drew, those few seconds felt like hours. He could remember
running down the pavement, waving his hands like a madman
trying to attract Jamie's attention as the truck barrelled past him,
wheels locked. He could still smell the stench of rubber as it was
torn from the rig's tires.
He could remember vividly the sickening crunch that followed sent
Jamie's car flying out from the junction into the path of the traffic
on the main road.
The astonishingly loud bang as the other truck hit him side on.
Then silence.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
Drew had known Jamie since forever. Their respective mothers had
adjacent beds in the very hospital they were in now and, setting the
precedent that was to shape their friendship, Jamie introduced
himself to the world thirty-seven and a half hours ahead of Drew.
They lived across the street from one another.
They played together.
They went to the same nursery and elementary school.
They became best friends.
They liked soccer, ice cream sodas, small furry animals, and
anything that was expressly forbidden by their parents.
Where Jamie went, Drew would inevitably follow. What Jamie liked,
Drew liked. Not necessarily because he wanted to emulate his
friend, more that if he shared things with Jamie, the happier it
made him.
Time passed. They grew.
As they entered their teens, they continued to share. Feelings.
Private thoughts. Sex. They taught each other, through
experimentation, what felt good to the other.
And then Jamie discovered girls. And then, more importantly, Jamie
discovered a girl. Drew was devastated. The time they spent
together began to drop, and of that time Drew felt it was somehow
less enjoyable. He felt he was losing touch with his friend.
But then Jamie was dumped. And suddenly everything was back to
normal. They hung out. They laughed and joked again.
Time passed. They grew.
Jamie's extroverted character stood him in good stead. Twinned
with his mild freckles and dashing, cheeky smile, he found that he
could usually get his own way with peers, adults and the opposite
sex.
Drew, on the other hand, had spent so much time looking up to
Jamie he'd almost forgotten himself, becoming introverted and
quiet. As this went on, Drew felt himself being pushed into a
defensive posture. He felt overshadowed by his best friend and
began to brood over his feelings. He knew he was subordinate to
Jamie, but he actually quite liked that he was needed and he had
a place. But the more that Jamie made new friends, went out with
girls and generally enjoyed life, the more diluted Drew's felt.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Bullshit!"
"Huh?"
"You're getting more weird by the day, man, I swear!" grinned
Jamie. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."
Drew didn't reply.
"Come on, man you can tell me anything!"
"It's... um... personal."
"What's her name?"
"Who?"
"Your girlfriend! Only a girl could do this to you!"
"Oh, yeah"
"So...? You gonna tell me or not?"
"I don't have a girlfriend."
"Whatever, man. Just remember you've been there enough for me.
'Bout time I returned the favour, eh?"
"Well, it's kinda diffic..."
"s**t, we're here jump out, mate I'll go park the car back in a
couple of minutes."
Crunch. Bang.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
Drew stormed out of the ward in frustration. He then turned round,
stormed back in again and hurled himself back into the chair and
cried.
The one person he cared about most in the world, the one person
with whom he would have most dearly loved to share his deepest
secret, was teetering on the brink.
He should have told him earlier. But what if he'd turned out to be a
homophobe? But then again he couldn't go on lying. But he couldn't
bare to lose Jamie as a friend.
He couldn't bare to lose Jamie at all...
BEEP-BEEP BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
s**t! Even when he was unconscious that kid could still scare the
living daylights out of him.
The doctors had told him that talking to Jamie was probably the
best way of stimulating his brain and a known voice - that of a close
friend or relative. Drew was never a big talker, preferring to listen
and supply concise, accurate responses when required. Now it
seemed he would have to break the trend of a lifetime.
And so he talked. And talked. He found himself talking about a lot of
things he would never have talked about with Jamie before. He told
him how infuriating he found his depreciation whenever there was a
girl on the scene. How grateful he was when she'd gone.
He talked about his parents. His dog. Even how the mole he had on
the inside of his left thigh annoyed him for no apparent reason.
And he told Jamie that he didn't want to lose him. How horrified he
was when he saw the truck come tearing past him. How helpless he
felt trying to attract Jamie's attention so he could get out of the
truck's path.
How, if he died, Drew would never get the chance to somehow tell
him that he loved him. Not just platonically, but really loved him.
How handsome he was, and how the way his smile made Drew feel
like the happiest guy in the world.
BEEP... BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
The hand he was holding squeezed back.
"...I love you too."
FIN
Tory Rocher Community Member 
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Community Member
That is so amazingly cute. gonk