I woke up blearily in the big, empty bed, trying to identify the source of the annoying noise that had brought me out of this sweet, sweet dream of me and Levi. Whoever had begun spamming my phone at... Jesus, who is texting me at 4 a.m.? It had better be important. I roll over in bed to check the phone before the ringtone really makes sense. It's Levi's ring tone, the song that irritates the hell out of him. I can't remember the name of it, considering he's texting me at 4, which means he still isn't home. Which means something is wrong. I open my lockscreen and check the messages. They're all pretty much the same thing.
Eren, this is an emergency, answer your phone!
I rub the sleep out of my eyes and draft the most understandable reply I can give before swiping the send button and resigning myself to sit up for a few minutes.
Levi...? Why are you spamming me.. It's so early...
I don't even have to wait a full minute before I get the next reply. The words in that message sent my blood running cold, and my heart stuttering a cold rhythm in my chest. I start throwing my clothes on haphazardly, grabbing my wallet and my keys before I'm out of the bedroom and running down the stairs to get to our front door.
No honey this is Hanji. Levi's critically injured. A drunk driver hit his car and it rolled into a ditch. He's unconscious now and in the hospital..I'm so sorry Eren but you have to come now. He isn't stable. The doctor's say he'll be gone before the next hour.
I'm already in the car and starting the ignition while I write the next reply. I don't even think about my seatbelt before throwing the car in drive and then reverse, ready to fly to the hospital where Levi was. This couldn't be happening. No. I am not ready to lose him. He can't leave me like this. I have to at least say goodbye. I have to get to him first. Wait for me, Levi, please. Just wait, I'm coming. Please. "I'm coming." I whisper out loud.
Oh god... which hospital Hanji? I'm coming right now.
The reply is almost instantaneous. Trost Memorial Hospital. Please drive safe.
I wasn't driving safe, but she didn't need to know that. She really didn't need to know I was already weaving through traffic like an asshole as almost twice the speed limit on my way to the hospital on wet roads. But still, I reply with
I will. Please tell me if anything happens.. I can't believe this...What will I do without him?
I really shouldn't be driving like this. I should have gotten Mike, our neighbor, to drive me, but I didn't think. I still wasn't if I was honest with myself. All I could hear in my head was just get to Levi don't let him go without you drive faster GET OUT OF MY WAY YOU GERIATRIC BITCH MY BOYFRIEND IS FUCKING DYING. It was more than a little crazy, but I had to get to Levi. He can't go without me there. He just can't. He can't. Tears are streaming down my face, and I'm flying faster than any sane person would drive on wet roads. It must have rained before any of this. Did that drunk bastard try to blame the rain before the cops smelled alcohol? Was that what he was using to get out of killing the man I love?
My phone clinged again and I feared for the worst, but Hanji was just responding again. Hey, don't be sad Eren. Levi wouldn't want that, right?
A harsh chuckle broke out of my lips. 'Dont' be sad?' Was that supposed to be fucking funny? Levi is more of a realist than that. He would know better than to expect me to be less than a blubbering mess right now. I could see if our roles were reversed Levi playing the strong, silent type, not even a single manly tear until he was alone with all my stuff to remind him of me. He could go much longer than I could without breaking down. How could I even do that?
How could he expect me to be happy about this.
There was no reply to that. I drove like a madman, watching the clock and damning each minute slipping past. The clock seemed to fly while the pavement didn't seem to move fast enough under the tires. The text had come at 4:30. It was almost 5 now, and I had to get to that fucking hospital. Snivelling, I put the pedal to the metal, watching the cars and lights start to fly past me as I sped three times faster than was safe down the interstate for Trost Memorial. Tears nearly blinded me, and when the clock hit 5:12, my phone rang again. I lifted the phone from the center console to tell Hanji I was almost there when I saw the notification for the new message. I could get read the three words with my side glance at the phone, and unlocked it so Hanji would at least know I got the message. The little symbol appeared that told the other person the message had been recieved, and I dropped the phone to the floorboards.
He's gone Eren
He's gone.
I adjust my grip on the steering wheel and use my blinker to tell people I'm moving over into the far left lane by the median. It's a grass median, steep enough it could be called a ditch really, and a hard jerk to the left on the wheel sends the car veering into it. The tires catch something, and the car comes off the back axel, going end over end and rotating at the same time.
I really was going much too fast, and the roads were wet. I hadn't bothered with a seatbelt.
The car slammed down onto the passenger side, and I go slamming into the door before the vehicle continues to flip, rolling and getting slammed into by the oncoming cars on the other side of the road. I can't really keep track of what happens after that, but I know that I end up laying pinned under the roof, somehow having been ejected from the car and managing to find my way halfway under the roof.
Just before I close my eyes, I hear my phone cling one more time, and I can see the notification. My phone is right in front of me, cracked all to hell, but the screen manages to maintain it's readability.
Eren?
...
Hanji is at the hospital when she sees the news. She's in Levi's room, beside his broken, battered body, finally at rest after fighting for six long hours before losing. It's not even a moment later that another doctor comes in, one of the surgeons, and he calls Hanji's attention from the TV. She turns to see him with freshly bloody scrubs on and looks up at him, confused.
"Please come with me, Ms. Hanji. No one will touch him until you get back. We just need you to confirm something." He says, sounding very tired and very sad. It's been a long day for him.
Hanji stands, looking over at Levi one more time before closing the door behind her to follow him out of the room and down the hall to the ambulance bay. The doors are open on one of them, and the doctor climbs up into it. The EMTs are still in the vehicle, some coated in blood, one clutching a shattered phone. There's a sheet over the person on the stretcher, and Hanji gets an awful feeling in her gut. Tears well in her eyes, and she covers her mouth, shaking her head.
The doctor very gently pulls the sheet back, and Hanji sobs, dropping to her knees to scream.
There, on that stretcher, lays Eren, eyes half open, as dead as his lover inside the hospital.