The Only One For Me

14 My Best Friend’s Ex-Boyfriend

I can’t believe this is happening. It’s a rainy Monday morning, actually, scrap that, this is more than just a rainy Monday, it’s raining cats and dogs! Here I am on the side of a road, no one really uses because it’s in the middle of the forest, but I like driving through the forest even if it adds 15 minutes to the travel time because the road is straight and flat. No literal uphill battles.The downside? There’s no cellphone reception and the chance of anyone else using this particular road is 1 to a 100. The reasons why I love to drive on this road is actually the reason why I’m stuck here.

I checked the dashboard for the time. It’s 8:00 AM, I’ve been here for the past hour, no one has passed by and it hasn’t stopped raining. Why am I stuck, you ask? Well, because I have a flat tire and my spare tire is in my garage and not in my trunk like it’s supposed to be, why? Because I’m dumb, that’s why.

Should I cry? In cartoons, whenever a princess cries, someone literally comes out of nowhere to help her. I’m freaking crazy. I can’t cry on demand. Let’s see, *deep breath in, deep breath out*, no tears. I could start wailing and nothing would happen because this is real life!

2 hours have passed, the rain has slowed down to just a steady, soft drizzle, I can make a run for it, if I run straight into the woods, I could literally die but if I run towards the end of the road and make a right turn into the Doctors’ Compound, I can ask someone, anyone for help. Of course I’m wearing just a knitted sweater, skinny jeans and sneakers, good thing I’m wearing sneakers! Of course there’s no umbrella in the car, why would you need an umbrella if you had a car anyway? Who would ever think to be prepared for something like this? Seriously. I’m still going to be soaked no matter how fast I run, but here goes nothing.

I wrapped my useless, reception-less phone in a used sandwich bag, locked the car doors, pocketed my car keys and started to jog.

Wow, this is a long road, I never realized that before. Not even halfway through and the rain starts to pour like the sky was so angry, I tried to run faster but of course, I tripped and I fell down hard, my left knee hit the ground first, I caught myself with my hand to prevent my face from hitting the ground but my right hand hit a rock that was angled the wrong way and pierced my skin! Ouch, here come the tears. Ugh, that hurts so bad, and great, I’m bleeding. I get up, my right hand bleeding from what looks like a deep cut, my left knee bleeding and throbbing like crazy. Now, I’m crying. It hurts so bad, the rain and my tears blurring my vision, I limp towards the end of the road while the rain angrily pours on me, I am drenched! Drenched to the bone, if that was even possible. I’m nearing the end of the road, just a couple of blocks more and I’m nearing the Doctors’ Compound. The guardhouse was empty so I lift the guard pole and slip through and I can see the first house to the left, no lights on inside and the lights outside are on, which means, no one is home. I look to the right and the first house and it was the same. 2nd house to the right and to the left looks the same. Of course no one is home everyone is where they’re supposed to be, kids in school and doctors in the hospital or clinic, definitely not in their homes and certainly not waiting around to save me. I’m physically hurt and I feel so cold. 3rd house, 4th house, 5th house, the same on both sides of the street. I’m about to give up and just die when I finally saw smoke coming from someone’s chimney. I limp towards the house as fast as my busted left knee could bear, it was the 11th house on the left of the street and someone was actually home. There were cars on the driveway. Oh thank God, someone is home!

I rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. A couple of minutes later and the door opened, it was Drew, he was wearing pajamas and a thick, warm coat but even then, he looked darn cute. He looked so shocked to see me, like he saw a ghost, it took him a couple of minutes to recognize it was me. I was

shocked to see him, too but also very relieved that I knocked on the door of someone I know.

OH MY GOD, ANNIE! Are you okay, you’re soaking and YOU’RE BLEEDING! LIZ GET OUT HERE I NEED YOUR HELP! Come in, come in! I was shivering because I was drenched in rain water. He grabbed a towel from a closet near the door and started toweling me dry, his hand grazed my boob, I ignored it because my left knee and right hand was throbbing, both still bleeding from my fall. LIZ! COME HERE! I NEED YOUR HELP! LIZ! He calls out again, a few minutes later, a girl in her mid-20s, wearing flannel pajamas and furry bunny slippers came out, she was holding a book and a mug, her expression changed from annoyance to that of genuine concern and shock when she laid her eyes on me. Drew was toweling me like crazy, trying to strip me while I try and hold my sweater down, he realized what he was doing and he apologized. I’m sorry to be so invasive, Annie, but you have to get out of your wet clothes and we have to dress your wounds. He said, I was still shivering but I nodded that I understood. Liz disappeared for a moment and came back with what looked like a first aid kit, she ordered Drew to get a chair, he came back out with a chair, and she ordered him to get a robe, while he was out of sight, she asked me to remove my clothes, she turned around to make me feel comfortable, remove everything, even your underwear, I understood, I stripped, she held the towel closer to me and I grabbed the towel as soon as I was able to remove my jeans which was a challenge because skinny jeans that are wet and have ripped on my knee was not easy to take off painlessly. I wrapped the towel around my naked body, just on time because Drew came back with a grey, furry bath robe, he held it open for me and I slipped into the robe, closed the front, eased the towel off my body and wrapped my hair in it, Drew tied the robe and gently pushed me towards the chair, I sat down. Hi, I’m so so-so-rry to-to show up so suddenly, I tried to say in between shivers, Drew rubs my back and gently shushes me, it’s totally fine, don’t worry about it, how’s it looking, Liz? He asks this girl, Liz. She was cleaning the wound on my hand, it’s not as bad as it looks, it’s deep but she won’t need any stitches, I’m just going to patch it up to stop the bleeding, this may sting a bit, she says and she presses a cotton pad on it soaked with what smells like antiseptic, *gasp*, I couldn’t help but not gasp, it stung, she blew on it gently and that helped with the stinging while Drew was squeezing my left hand and rubbing my back gently. I couldn’t help but squeeze his hand back and rest my forehead on his belly, he was standing so close to me, he smelled like gingerbread and cinnamon, it gave me so much comfort. Liz patched up my hand real good, she looked up at me and smiled and said, I’m Liz by the way, Drew’s older sister, I’m a resident at Midtown Meadows Hospital, MMH for short, you’re Annie, right? Her smile was so warm, comforting, I managed to say, Yes, so nice to meet you, thank you so much for this. I looked at Drew as I said thank you to let him know I’m thanking him too. Don’t worry about it, you’re so welcome, I literally do this for a living, I love it err not that I love people getting hurt, I just love what I do, you know? She said, I get it, sometimes I get so flustered with people I meet for the first time too. She chuckled so I did too. It’s amazing how weirdly alike we are, awkward but cool, check! She got flashlight to get a better look at my left knee, hmm, she ponders for a moment before saying, Okay, this one will not just sting, it will hurt because you need 3 stitches on your knee. My eyes grew wide with worry, Drew squeezed my hand, sat on the arm of the chair and drew my head into his belly in an attempt to comfort me, Here, don’t look, it will be over soon. Liz is preparing the needle and I could see it from my peripheral vision, so I squeezed my eyes shut, buried my face onto Drew’s side and braced myself. Okay, ready? Here I go. Liz warns, before you know it, I felt the needle go through my skin, I felt the thread slide uncomfortably through the hole the needle created and I could feel the warm, tugging sensation, it felt like it lasted forever even though in truth, it was only 10mins, 15mins, tops. Liz finished the stitch and covered it up with a waterproof gauze. So, the thread I used will be absorbed in your body so we don’t need to remove any thread or stitches or anything like that, I covered it with this waterproof gauze that will not come off, even in the bath, for 2 weeks, so in 2 weeks, come see me at the hospital and we can replace it with a new one if you need it, your hand will heal fast, because it’s not super deep, you’re very brave, Annie, I’m impressed other chicks your age would’ve passed out or at least cursed me, Liz said. I would never curse at someone who helped me! Thank you so so much! I said with so much gratitude. Oh please, it’s fine, Liz said again. Anyway, I’ll leave you guys for now, I’m going to get your clothes in the washer and dryer, in the meantime, Drew, get her something warm to drink and let her sit by the fireplace. Drew nodded, he helped me up, and escorted me to the living room with a fireplace, he pushed the couch a little bit closer to the fireplace and sat me down, he knelt in front of me, he rubbed my shoulders to help me be warm. At this point, I noticed him looking at my chest, so I looked down and I noticed that I’m showing a little bit of cleavage. He’s still rubbing my arms and my shoulders to keep me warm. I was just looking at him, he was looking at me. I licked my lips because I felt I needed to and before I knew it, his lips were on my lips. He pulled me closer to him, we were chest to chest, his lips pressed against mine, my hands holding the back of his neck, his hands caressing my back, pulling me closer, drawing me into him, kissing me gently, intently, passionately. He pushed his tongue gently on my tongue, massaging it, as he sucked and licked my lips. I kissed him back with the same passion he was kissing me with.

Realization hit me and I drew myself back away from him. He opened his eyes, what’s wrong? He asked. Umm, you and Carly. I managed to say, trying to avoid his gaze. You didn’t hear? She broke up with me, she’s with Peter now. Whaaaatttt???!

Whaaattt?! When did this happen?! I asked him, about a week and a half ago now, he answered. I’m so sorry. I managed to say after a while, Don’t be, it was bound to happen sooner or later, it felt like I lost her months ago anyway. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to take advantage of you at this time, or anytime, it was just the moment and you look so beautiful. He said. I blushed but said, Beautiful? I look like a drowned cat that lost one of its lives, bleeding and drenched. I chuckled. Then, you’re the most beautiful drowned cat I’ve ever seen. He says, to which I replied, are you sure I didn’t hit my head or better yet, did you hit your head? Do you have a concussion? Is that why you’re not in school? I chuckle. You didn’t hit your head and I didn’t hit my head, I’m not in school because I only have a few credits left to complete before I’m officially done with high school, also, I don’t want to be out in that weather. Referring to the still pouring rain. Yeah, I guess that makes sense, I said to him. Do you need to call someone to let them know you’re okay, just tell them I’m going to take you home, but if you’re okay with it, I’d like to pick up where we left off, he says with a mischievous smile. Hello? I’m still naked in your living room, with your sister in the house. I said. Liz? She’s already lost in her own world, also, I like the thought of you naked underneath that robe, I’d like to see how long it would take for me to see your naked body underneath that robe. He says with a glint of mischief and lust in his eyes. What the hell is happening? Am I in hell? Did I die on that road?