" Come on Sora! The water feels great!" my friend Kairi shouted from the water. Her and my other friend, Riku, were chasing and splashing each other in the gentle waves rushing across the golden sand of our island. Yes, our island. No one else rowed out here but us, even after the island became a beach paradise and popular tourist spot several years ago.
" Yeah, Sora, why are you just sitting there?" Riku laughed as he got water dead in Kairi's face.
I grinned at them and shot to my feet. " Nice shot Riku!" I shouted as I raced into the surf towards my friends. I crashed headfirst into a wave and drenched them both successfully.
" You'll pay for that!" Kairi yelled at me as she tackled me back into the water. We came up slightly choking on water and Riku laughing loudly at us. I grinned at her, then dunked her under the next oncoming wave.
That's how we spent our afternoon—just three friends enjoying our time together, happy and carefree. When we finally rowed back to shore, we were utterly exhausted. We walked slowly home through the (now kind of crowded) streets of Destiny Island. We were tired but happy; talking, joking, and laughing together like we always had. It was almost enough to make me forget what had happened.
This trip to our island was plotted by my two friends to help cheer me up, I'm sure. It had definitely worked, but I know that it won't last long once we've parted. It has difficult to hold onto happiness after I'd just lost one of my best friends. He's dead or anything, but we're not friends anymore. I'm not even sure why it all ended so suddenly. It definitely hasn't been very easy for me to deal with. We'd been friends since kindergarten and I'm a Junior in high school now. It probably won't get easier for a while, I suppose. But it will eventually with friends like mine. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.
Unbidden, the last thing I said to him flashed though my mind, making me flinch and my heart clench painfully. "I hate you! Go get yourself killed for all I care!" It had been such a stupid argument, why had I said that…? It took a lot of effort, but I managed not to let my slip show as Riku and Kairi turned to me to say goodbye before we parted ways. It used to be that Kairi, Riku, and I were all on the same street, but since the tourists started coming the village became a town and now more like a mini city. " Bye guys!" I shouted cheerfully, although it was a bit more forced after my previous thoughts. I hope they didn't notice that bit.
" Bye Sora!" They shouted back together, waving at me as they walked away together.
I watched them walk away for a few moments, allowing myself a moment to think about what I'd lost. I wasn't supposed to, it was unhealthy for me, but I did anyway. Finally, I turned away and started walking home with a sigh. I continued my slow pace and on the street before mine I decided to detour and take a little walk even though I was tired. I couldn't stand the thought of going home right now. Home was full of memories and I don't want memories right now.
I don't know how long I walked around the many streets of the island with my head down or what time it was when I finally walked up to my house, but I knew it started raining a few minutes ago and I was soaking wet again. I was in a bathing suit still so it didn't really matter and it wasn't a cold rain anyway. Nothing was ever cold on our tropical island.
That was, it didn't feel cold until I walked up the pathway to my house. When I was almost at the door, it felt like shards of ice pelting my skin. The clear water draining down the concrete path isn't clear anymore. It's running red and pink. My head snapped up and I sped up my pace for a second before I stopped in shock.
" Roxas…?" It took a moment for the shock to pass before I bolted to the stairs of my house. He's dressed in a black cloak of some kind, but it's torn up with gashes in the cloth and blood running through the gaps of fabric and soaking the already saturated material. I collapsed onto the steps next to him and yelled to him, trying to get him to respond. " Roxas! Are you ok? Roxas!"
His head moved slightly and he opened his eyes. They seemed so foggy and dull. " S..Sor..a…?" His eyes seemed to clear for a moment as he looked at me in relief. Then they slid shut and he went limp again.
" Roxas!" I screamed at him, " Please wake up! Roxas!" Tears mixed with the rain streaming down my face as I started to panic. I had to forcefully tear myself away from him to get help. I burst into my house and ran up the stairs to my mom's bedroom. " Mom! Mom, get up!"
" What, Sora what's wrong?" She asked groggily.
" It's Roxas, he's outside and he's unconscious and bleeding and we've gatta do something!" I don't know if it was from fear or cold but I was shaking uncontrollably. And my fear and panic must have been clearly seen on my face because at the first look she got of my dripping wet, shaking self she hurried out of bed and down the stairs.
I followed her hastily, almost tripping as I took the stairs two by two. " Get him inside out of the rain and wrap him up in a blanket. I'll call 911."
I raced outside and tried to carefully pick him up. It was unexpectedly easy because he was much lighter than I'd thought he would be. After gently, carefully laying him down on the couch, I ran to my room to grab my giant, plushy comforter as fast as I could. I had to be breaking some running records here because I was getting to and from places faster than I'd thought I could go.
" Please be ok, Roxas." I whispered as I draped the huge blanket over his surprisingly small form. He's gotten thinner since I last saw him and that was concerning considering it's only been a little over a week now. He's always been skinny but this seemed unhealthy skinny. What has he been doing lately? And then there's always the fact that he's unconscious and bleeding from multiple wounds all over the place that look really painful…
My mom gasped when she finally made it into the room. I glanced at her to see her staring at Roxas, which I don't see why if all that could be seen of him is his head above the plush of the comforter. Although his face does have a nice cut along his left cheek and the right side of his forehead making his blonde hair mat with blood. Well I didn't understand why, that is, until I looked away from her and his face to the rest of him.
He was losing blood fast enough to soak through my like six inch thick blanket in some places. " What in the world happened to him?" She whispered in shock.
" I wish I knew." I murmured quietly. I really wish I did. It's not every day your bes- um ex best friend, shows up unconscious and possibly dying on your doorstep.
She seemed to snap out of her shock and got down to business. " They said it would take awhile for them to get an ambulance here and the nearest hospital is an hour away. We need to do something about that bleeding." Her nurse skills must be kicking in now even though I don't think she's seen anything like this working in the clinic at the local elementary school.
" What can I do?" I stood up.
" Go into the kitchen and get a bowl of warm water and a wash cloth. We need to clean him up."
" Right." I said as we both hurried off. When I came back with the bowl of water, she was already back with several things of bandages, gauze bandage pads, medical tape, bandage wraps, sterile pads, and peroxide. I was half tempted to ask how she got all that in here that quickly, but it's not really appropriate to say right now. I'm just looking for anything to break the tension and make this fear and panic go away.
My mom unzipped the black cloak and took Roxas' arms out of the sleeves. " I need you to pick him up and lie him down on the floor." I did so as gently as I could. " Now hold him up for a second so I can take off his shirt." Which she had to do carefully because it was super glued to his skin with dried blood. " Ok now lie him down."
When I laid him down we finally got to see the full extent of his injuries, which were in no way pretty. He had what seemed like a bullet wound in his left shoulder and gashes and bruises all over his chest, sides, stomach, and back. " What have you gotten yourself into Roxas?" My mom said to herself. Once again, I really wish I knew.
It took some time, but we managed to clean out and bandage each wound. Honestly, he looked like a mummy when we were done with all the gauze wrapped around him to stop the bleeding. " Do you think they're almost here yet?" I asked timidly. What if they couldn't get here in time and he bled to death? We bandaged him up but some of those wounds I know have to need stitches in order to heal them right and stop them from bleeding so much.
" I don't know, honey." She hugged me tightly and I almost started crying again. But I stopped myself because crying was for little kids and I'm not a little kid anymore. I will not cry anymore.
It wasn't long after that that we heard the sirens and saw the flashing lights through the darkness. " Finally." I breathed. Took them long enough! My mom rushed to the door and waited for them on the porch. It didn't take more than a minute for the paramedics to come rushing in with a stretcher to take Roxas away.
That's when it hit me. They were taking him away to a hospital an hour away. We wouldn't know anything for hours and that's if they let us know. We're not blood family so they probably wouldn't even call us. They'd call Roxas' brother, Cloud. I can't just stay here and wait for a call that may not come! He's my best friend damn it!
" Mom! We have to go with him." I begged her.
She gazed at me for a moment as she thought about it. Would she say no? It's only one hour away, not like two hundred miles, right? " If you hurry they may let you in the back of the ambulance with him." She said quickly.
I smiled. " Thanks, mom!" I gave her a quick hug and ran off after the paramedics, who so kindly said I could ride with them if I make sure not to get in the way.
Luckily with the ambulance, the hour drive turned out to be a half hour drive and for that whole thirty minutes they were rushing about the small space checking Roxas' vitals and giving him fluids and a million other things and talking so quickly and with medical language that I could barely understand them.
When we got to the hospital it wasn't much better. Roxas was rushed off into the emergency room with a doctor and I was left in the waiting room to fill out as much information as I could about him. Which, luckily, was a lot since we've known each other basically our whole lives.
It only took a few minutes to fill out the form, but it took four hours to hear from the doctor, a pale man with long grayish, blonde hair and cutting green eyes. I immediately didn't like him because at first he refused to talk to me because I wasn't his 'family.' " Look, I'm as close as someone can be to someone else without being blood related. And his hasn't got any other family here right now. And I'm the one that got him here." I argued angrily.
The doctor sighed. " How long have you known him?" he asked quizzically.
" Twelve years."
He seemed satisfied with that. " Roxas has suffered from some pretty severe injuries and lost a lot of his blood. I'm positive that what you and your mother did saved his life. But the trauma induced to his body from the wounds has sent him into a coma."
" B-but that can't be possible. He-he talked to me!" I said in disbelief. A coma? There was no way. Not Roxas. He couldn't be in a coma!
" He talked to you? When? What did he say?"
" Right after I found him, he..he said my name…"
" That's good. I was worried he might have had a brain injury because we found blunt force trauma on the back of his head. But if he had the mind enough to recognize and speak to you, then that shouldn't be an issue."
" Then why is he in a coma!?" I shouted in frustration.
" It could be that the body just needs time to heal. He should wake up in a few days. In the mean time, you can go in and see him if you'd like." I nodded wordlessly and he turned to lead me down the white hallway. This was actually only my second time in a hospital.
The first was also for Roxas, but it wasn't anything this serious. We'd been climbing in some of the trees in the neighborhood and I'd slipped out the tree from one of the higher branches. I screamed as loud as I could because I was scared of how much the fall would hurt, but it hadn't hurt me all that much. Roxas had ran over and broken my fall. I ended up breaking his arm. I'd been so panicked and upset that Roxas' parents brought me to the hospital with them when they took him. I was more upset than he was.
I was too little then to really pay attention to what the hospital was like, but I know that I didn't like it there. That feeling hadn't changed. The ward we were in smelled like disinfectant and sickness. I could feel sadness and pain and death all around me like it was a physical thing pressing down on me. There was the steady beeping of heart monitors at every opened door we passed and some people were moaning and groaning in pain. It made me shudder.
" Here we are. Room 437. The nurse on duty currently is Ariel" He inclined his head towards a pretty red haired woman behind the nurse's station counter. She smiled warmly at us and waved. "Remember how to get up here if you come back because there won't be an escort next time." He told me bluntly. Not like a mean blunt but just blunt.
" Ok, thank you Doctor." He nodded at me as he pulled his clipboard from under his arm and flips through some papers.
" Visiting hours are from noon to ten, but as for you, since you're here already, you can stay the night here. If you speak with the nurses and they approve it, you may be able to stay nights and help look after your friend until his family can be properly notified. Then it will be his guardian's decision who stays and goes."
" Ok." I said quietly as the Doctor walked away. Hm, now that I think about it, I don't know his name. Oh well, it doesn't really matter I guess.
I walked slowly and hesitantly into the room. I actually am scared of what I'll find. His wounds were pretty bad… What if they had to amputate his arm because of the bullet wound or something!?
Ok, I really need to calm down and just go in there before I get another horrible visual in my head. I built my courage and walked into the room. Slow, steady beeping penetrated the stale air. The room was a dull white, from the floor tiles to the painted walls. There was only a few florescent lights, otherwise the large window lit the room with soft moon light.
Roxas laid unconscious on a white bed. His spiky, blonde hair was messed up by the bandages wrapped around his forehead and covering half of his face and one eye. His right hand was bandaged and his left hand had small band-aids here and there. His right arm above the elbow was wrapped thickly with bandages, but his left arm had no damage on it at all. He didn't have of a shirt, but all the gauzy, white bandages criss-crossing over his chest covered almost every piece of skin. Everything else was covered by a faded blue blanket.
" What happened Roxas?" I whispered. He didn't move at all, he didn't show any sign that he could hear me or that he was even alive. The only comfort to me was the steady beeping of the heart monitor across from me. I sat down heavily in the chair beside his hospital bed and grabbed onto his left hand. " Please be ok... I'm sorry for everything I said… I didn't mean it…" I started crying again.
I hate crying. It comes so easily to me but I hate it. It makes me feel so weak and little kidish. It's one of the worst feelings for a teenager. I couldn't stop the flow of tears though. Not with the pain in my chest from worry and from the memories popping in my mind.
I could see us playing in the fort we built on the beach one summer and us playing video games in our rooms, smiling and laughing and making jokes like best friends do. But over everything else, came the memory of us screaming at each other. Screaming such hurtful things and over something so stupid. Minus tonight, that was the last time I saw him.
Incoherent mumbling snapped me out of my zoning. My head shot up to look at Roxas. Was he awake? Could he actually be awake? I could only hope so.
But he wasn't. He was still asleep. In a coma, I'd been told. When will you wake up…?
" You know, they say that even when someone is in a coma, they can still hear you." A melodic voice said suddenly to my right. I jumped and spun around to look for the owner of the voice. The nurse Ariel giggled quietly. "You should try it." She smiled softly as she came in to check on him.
"Is there anything I can do for him?"
"Just be here." I looked at her questioningly. "Most coma patients just need someone to hang on to, to help them find their way back."
I looked back at the injured blonde. "I think you're right, Ariel, thank you." I smiled at her.
"You're very welcome. If you need anything, just ask. I have a shift every night. During the day a nurse named Snow will be taking over. But don't worry, she's really nice." She smiled again before leaving, closing the door behind her.
I sat in silence for a few minutes, watching Roxas breathe slowly. "Are you in there, Roxas? If so, you need to come back. You can't die. You hear me? You cannot die." In the silence that followed, I fell back into my memories. Somewhere in my memories I fell asleep without even realizing.
It was morning now, the sun was peeking through the window at the other end of the room. Roxas didn't look like he was any different than yesterday. I wasn't sure what to do now. Should I do what Ariel had said to do and just talk to him? I might as well, I guess.
"Morning, Roxas. Sorry for falling asleep, hadn't meant too. I spent all day yesterday with Riku and Kairi at the beach. It was a blast, I wish you could've been there! I kept thinking about you actually. I think the others worried a little bit, but not too much. They never could tell if something was truly wrong or not…not the way you could…"
"I hate you! Go get yourself killed for all I care!"
The words echoed through my mind again, making my heart ache. Why did I say such a cruel thing? 'because you never thought you'd actually have to face him potentially dying.'
I sat there in silence a moment. "I've really missed you, Rox. Even after that huge fight, you've still been my best friend. I felt horrible for everything I said to you….I wish I could take it back…all of it… I was just too mad and upset, anything that came to mind I said, no matter how wrong it was. I'm so sorry…" I looked down at my feet.
"After I calmed down, I kept trying to call you, but you never answered. I guess you didn't want to talk to me anymore... But then why was I the one you went to when you were hurt like that? Why did you come to me…? You're so confusing, Roxas." I sighed, looking back up at him again. "I guess I'll just have to wait here until you wake up. Hear me? I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers out of you!" he continued to sleep on undisturbed.
The door opened quietly behind me. It's probably just Ariel or Snow coming to check on him so I just ignore it.
" What are you doing here, Sora?" a cold, tired voice asked from behind me.
I turn around sharply to find Roxas' older brother Cloud standing just inside the door way. " I'm the one that got him here."
" What happened?"
" No one knows. I was walking home last night, and he was lying unconscious on my porch steps in the rain. My mom and I tried to patch him up the best we could while we waited on the ambulance. The doctor says he probably slipped into the coma before the ambulance arrived, and I guess they could be right, but when I found him he wasn't gone yet. I just wish he could've told me something that would've been a clue to what happened."
I hadn't actually meant to say all of that, but it just kind of came tumbling out of my mouth. Cloud walked closer to Roxas and rested his eyes on his brother, worry peaking through despite his efforts. He sighed and sat down roughly in the second chair on the opposite side of Roxas' hospital bed. " Missing for a week and finally comes up like this. What have you done now, Roxas?"
MISSING?
" Um, he went missing?" I asked timidly.
Cloud regarded me coldly for a moment before answering. " Yeah. Last Wednesday. He went to school like usual, but he didn't come home. Hasn't since."
I looked away from him and to Roxas. What did he do? What happened? No matter what trouble he's ever gotten himself into, he always went home. Cloud and him were as close as two brothers can be—without it being creepy, that is. Cloud is his brother and one of his best friends. Roxas would come home, bruised and bleeding, from a fight without shame. What would keep him away? All I could think of was that it had to be something really bad.
" Do you know anything about that?" Cloud asked.
" No, I just thought he'd been skipping the last two days of school. He'd been doing that a lot since he became friends with Axel."
" Axel? They're still friends?" Why did this sound like it surprised him? Roxas told his brother everything, well unless he was asked not to.
" Yeah. Why?"
Cloud gave me a calculating look before closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. " Have you heard of an Organization that has recently been active around here?"
" Organization XIII? Yeah, everyone's talking about it. They've been trying to recruit teens from my school lately. Wait, you don't think Roxas…" Could he really have been that stupid?
" I think it is a possibility. Axel is a known member and Roxas told me he'd stop hanging around him."
I cast a worried glance at Roxas. " What could they have possibly told him to get him to join a group like that?" I whispered.
" I don't know. What I do know is that several bodies have been found recently. Many of which are known members and the rest of which are suspected to be. Someone seems to be hunting the members, which could be what happened to Roxas. If that's so, I need you to keep a lookout here. Call me immediately if anyone you don't know or that just looks shady comes here. Do you understand?"
" Yes, sir." I nodded.
When I heard the door slide shut behind me, I sat quietly, gazing at Roxas' sleeping face. I had so many questions and sofew answers. I'm not sure what to expect; was he attacked by whoever it was going after the other members? Are we wrong and he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time? What have you been doing Roxas?
More importantly, when will you wake up?