by Caila Olsen
Chapter 6
RILEY
“What did the nurse say?” Sam asks as soon as I walked back into the room.
“Well, it was good and bad news about Aden,” I start, “The good news is that Aden is conscious!” I say, trying to sound as positive as I can.
“That’s great news!” Sam exclaims clapping her hands.
“What is the bad news?” Ethan asks, looking a little concerned as he fidgets with the corner of the hospital blanket.
“The problem is, Aden can’t talk. He understands everything completely fine, but his brain doesn’t know how to compute and be able to communicate to put his thoughts into words,” I say, not able to contain the worry in my voice.
“Did they say whether or not he can regain his speech?” Ethan asks. I think he is just as worried about Aden as I am. Aden is almost like a brother to him.
“They are not sure yet. They will have to run through a few tests to see where the problem is,” I say, not looking up.
“How is he going to communicate right now until they have a solution?” Sam asks.
“I’m not sure. The doctor never gave me much detail. I will be able to see Aden tomorrow. I guess I will find out then,” I say. I am trying so hard to look at this as a glass half full. Aden is awake now. It’s just his speech. I am sure that they will figure something out and if they can’t, I know we can figure out how to deal with it, I keep reminding myself, but it’s not enough and I can’t help but cry. All the images and details of that night come crashing into my thoughts like a tsunami wave that cannot be stopped.
It was the day after our final exams for the year. We made it through our first year of university! It felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. No more exams or studying until fall. We can just sit back and relax, not stressing about an assignment due or pulling all nighters to memorize chapters of textbooks. Best of all, its summer! My favorite season.
Clink, I look to my left at Sam and Ethan who are both laughing so much that they are just about in tears. I look to my right at Aden, who has a smirk on his face.
“To making it through our first year of university!” I exclaim as we all raise our glasses in a toast.
“And to all still being best friends!” Sam remarks as she gulps back half of her wine.
“That’s right! After some of the things we’ve been through and the fights we have gotten into, it’s a surprise we are all sitting here together,” Ethan says. We all laugh at that. It’s true. Especially during finals, everyone was tired and cranky with everyone. Sam and I couldn’t be in the same room at times. Other times, I had to leave our house just to get away and be alone.
“Sorry to break up the conversation like this,” Aden apologizes, “But Riley, I have something for you.” He pulls out from under the table a square black box with a silver ribbon around it.
“What’s this for?” I say surprised. I slowly take the ribbon off and lift up the corner of the lid. I pull out a striking little black dress. It is fitted at the top with silver jewels along the neckline. From the waist down, the skirt of the dress flairs to about knee length. “I love it! It’s gorgeous!”
“Sam helped me pick it out.” Aden gestures over to Sam who does a small nod of her head. “I wanted to get you something for making it through this first year of university together.”
“Thank you,” I say, “It was very thoughtful of you, and Sam, thank you for steering him in the right direction.” I give her a smile of appreciation.
“Now, I need you to hurry and put that dress on,” Aden says to me, “Otherwise we are going to be late.”
“Late for what?” I ask suspiciously.
“A surprise,” he says playfully.
“You are always full of surprises,” I say smiling.
“Less chit chat and more getting ready!” he scolds me then laughs.
I turn to Sam and give her a look as if to say, what’s going on? She tilts her head back and lets out a burst of laughter. “Go!” she shoo’s me away with her hand.
What is this boy up to? I think to myself as I walk over to my room to get ready.
I decide to put my hair up into a French twist since it matched the sophisticated, formal style of the dress. Just before I go out to meet Aden, I grab my Chanel clutch and put on some red lipstick.
“Looking hot!” Sam whistles to me as I walk over to the table.
I look down at the ground with a smile and blush. I notice Aden is not at the table anymore. “Where did Aden go?” I ask.
“Right here,” says a voice from behind me. Aden comes up from behind and grabs my waist to turn me around. Aden has his hair slicked back and is wearing a perfectly fitted tux.
“I don’t think I have ever seen you clean up this good,” I say, “You look very dashing darling,” I say in my best British accent.
“Thank you darling, you look very dapper yourself,” he says back in a British accent.
“So, what’s the occasion?” I ask.
“I thought we need to kick off the start of this summer with something special,” he says.
“Fair enough,” I say.
Aden links his arm with mine and leads me out the front door. “See you guys later.” Aden waves back at Ethan and Sam. “Don’t get in any trouble.”
“Us trouble?” Ethan asks, “We would never get in trouble.” He looks over at Sam, who already has a devious look.
“Have fun you two,” She hollers back.
Aden leads me out to his car and opens the passenger door for me to get in. “Sorry my beat up car doesn’t match our look tonight, but it will still get us to where we need to go. Renting a limo was a little out of my budget right now.”
“Your car kind of looks like a limo,” I say.
Aden looked confused by that, “How so?”
“If you close this eye,” I hold my hand over his right eye. “And this eye,” I put my other hand over his left eye, “Do you see it now?”
“Haha, I think I see it now!” he says sarcastically, then he removes my hands from his face and kisses me. “You always have to be optimistic don’t you?”
“Can you give me a hint at least of where we are going?” I ask him.
“Let me think,” he says, “Well, we are going to a place that serves food.”
“That narrows it down to about a billion places,” I say.
“Trust me on this,” Aden says as he shuts the door for me and goes around to the driver’s side.
As we drive, I admire all the lights of the city, making the street glow beneath them. I love driving at night because that is when the city comes alive. The atmosphere completely changes from the hustle and bustle of everyday life to fun and energetic at night.
As we drive through one of the major intersections, I notice something strange. I see a pair of bright lights that appear to be getting closer to us. I know they aren’t streetlights or the lights on the shops. Then I realize they are a pair of headlights coming straight at us. “Aden!” I scream. My head whips forward and I hit my head on the dashboard, I feel the impact of the other vehicle hit us. The glass of the windshield shatters across the car as if it was a thin piece of ice. I feel a piece gash into the side of my head and all I remember after that is feeling scared and dizzy, then everything went black.