Chapter Six

Roxas

Blackout

August 31, 2014, 9:37 a.m.

My eyes fluttered open and for a moment I didn't realize where I was. The walls were peach… my room is definitely blue. It took me a minute, but I did eventually remember that I was in Namine's guest room. I went to yawn and nearly screamed in pain as my lips started to crack and split again.

Right. Axel got in a good swing last night.

"Fuck…" I groaned, my head spinning as I sat up in the unfamiliar bed. My spine was stiff from the hardly used mattress, and I definitely had a hangover. How much had I had to drink last night? I remembered a couple of shots of whiskey… but I drove Namine home so I must not have been totally wasted…

And if I was, I must have sobered up when I saw Axel attacking the poor girl.

"Roxas…?" I heard the tiniest little voice cut through the silence. I looked to the doorway and saw Namine in her cute little pajamas, just a pair of cotton shorts and a tanktop, yawning and blinking her eyes. "Oh good… you're up…"

I swung my feet over to stand up, but my body didn't seem to want to, "Barely… how are you doing…?"

It was then that my eyes settled on the huge black and blue bruises on her wrists. "I… I'm fine…" she said, slipping her hands behind her back and shifting awkwardly on her feet. "Uhm… would you like some breakfast? I mean, I can just drive you home now if you want, or you can hang out for awhile…"

Right… my car is still at home. "Breakfast sounds good… but come here first. Can we just talk for a second?"

She sat down gingerly on the side of the bed next to me, "What's up?"

"I'm… worried about you…" I started, sighing heavily. "I've known that Axel gets a bit aggressive when he's drunk for awhile now, but I never thought that he would try something like this."

"But… it's just when he's drunk, right?" she asked, pushing her hair behind her ears. "Like… he wouldn't have done that if he knew better?"

I tried to find the right words to explain it, "Nami… it's not that simple. He might have lacked judgement, but Axel stays pretty coherent when he's drunk. He knew what he was doing."

"I don't think so," she shook her head, "Axel is so sweet and harmless…"

"Namine, what do you think would have happened if I hadn't found you?" Apparently I was gonna have to go with tough love.

She thought for a minute, "Well, I—"

"He was going to rape you," I cut her off. "He's much, much stronger than you and he had no self control."

"You're wrong… he would have stopped… he would have—"

I grabbed her hands (gently) and lifted her wrists up to her line of sight, "Look at yourself… He did this to you, Namine."

She snatched her arms away from me, standing up with tears beginning to flood her eyes. "You're wrong! Axel would never do that to me! I need to give him a chance to explain himself! God, some best friend you are! Give him a fucking chance!"

I lifted myself to my feet, trying not to wobble and ruin my stance, "Best friend or not, I would gladly knock him on his ass again. Don't give me a reason to, please. Just stay away from him."

"I think it's time for you to go home, Roxas. I'm going to get dressed and we're leaving," she said in a flat tone, marching out of the guest room.

God damn it… I had been planning that speech all night in my head. Axel was my best friend… and I never thought that he would do something like this, but if this was who he really was, we were both better off without him.

I cringed when I heard a familiar voice float up the stairs, "Namine? Are you home…?"

I stepped out of the guest room and glared down at Axel, who had the expression on his face of a kicked puppy. "What the fuck? I asked him simply.

"Roxas, you gotta give me a chance to explain!" he exclaimed, sporting a lovely black eye.

"You were drunk, right? You didn't know what you were doing? Is that about the gist?"

He nodded, "Seriously, I don't even know what happened! Someone told me you went looking for me and then they saw you dragging Namine out of the house like ten minutes later! What the hell did I do?!"

"Oh, so you don't remember? How convenient," I said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. "Grow the fuck up and take responsibility for your bullshit."

"Roxas, I don't remember what happened," he said, then noticed my (likely bruised and bleeding) face, his expression changing to surprise, "Did we get into a fight, Rox? Were you the one that knocked me out?"

Namine appeared beside me in a flash of blonde, running down the stairs to Axel. "Axel, I'm so sorry… I know it wasn't your fault… we'd both been drinking so much…"

"Namine, I don't remember what happened," he told her, keeping her at a distance. "Can someone please tell me? I blacked out…"

She looked up at me, as if she thought I should tell him. "Me? Oh sure, I'll spin you a tale." I walked downstairs and stared Axel down, which was not-so-surprisingly difficult from a foot lower. "I went looking for you because you took Namine upstairs to try to get her to settle down, but you didn't come back for like twenty minutes. I wanted to make sure you were both okay, but then I walked in on you about to rape her."

Both of them cringed when I said the word "rape," and rightfully so. "Fuck… Namine, did I really…?"

She nodded, holding out her wrists to show him. "I… I tried to tell you no…"

Axel looked absolutely horrified. Did he really not remember what he did? "Nami… I am so sorry…" he whispered, barely able to get his words out. "I… I would never…"

"I know, Axel…" she said, wrapping him in a hug, "I know… It's okay."

He pushed her away, unable to wipe the look of horror off of his face. "I need to go… I shouldn't be around you." He rushed out the front door, but Namine and I followed him.

"Axel, wait! Can't we just talk?!" she shouted from the porch as he put his helmet on and got on his bike. But he was gone before he even heard her.

She lingered on the porch for a moment, watching him speed away with a look of concern on her face. I stayed behind her, about to turn and go inside when I heard the most sickening sound of metal hitting metal and bodies hitting pavement. Namine shrieked and crumbled to the ground, immediately sobbing and unable to speak.

I ran to the end of the driveway, trying to put together the scene before my eyes. In his distress, Axel had missed the stop sign at the end of her road and a car had plowed into him from the side.

Namine looked like she couldn't even stand up, much less go over there, so I took off at a sprint to the end of her street. The driver was trying to get out of his car, and I could visibly see him trembling. "I… I didn't even see him… I had the right of way…"

Axel was laying in the middle of the intersection, his bike splayed out next to him smoking a little. He wasn't moving… I felt like my heart was about to stop as I approached him and kneeled down. "Axel… Axe, are you okay?"

No response. My breath caught up in my throat as I reached to pull his helmet off, gently setting his head down. I know you aren't supposed to move people when they're hurt, but I needed to try and wake him up. His helmet was cracked all the way up the back where his head hit the pavement. Even just the sight of that crack made my stomach churn. I glanced back at Namine, but she hadn't moved at all.

"Axel… talk to me, buddy…" I rested my hand over her chest to see if he was breathing, or if his heart was even still beating. He was alive… "Axel…"

I could hear the driver of the car on the phone with the police trying to explain what happened. They would be on their way any minute… I needed to remember that.

I tried to assess any further damage without moving him. Blood was pooling under his back from somewhere, and his leather jacket was shredded where he'd slid across the pavement. His left arm looked like it was in bad shape… it might have even been broken or dislocated at the shoulder.

My eyes moved lower to his right leg, which had been on the side of the bike that made impact with the car. It looked absolutely destroyed. It had to have been broken in multiple places.

I looked back at Namine as I heard the sirens getting closer. She was still frozen. It was then that I rememebered her sister. Kairi had died in a car accident not even 4 months ago. I needed to go to her… but I couldn't leave Axel either.

In another minute, the paramedics were there peeling him off the pavement. A police officer approached me, while another one questioned the driver.

"Sir, were you in the car as well?" he asked me, pulling out a little notebook.

"No, no… I was at my friend's house, right there," I said, pointing to Namine. "The biker had just left from her house. He was… upset, and he ran the stop sign."

He scribbled something down, "Can you give me his name and age please?"

"Axel DiRosa… he's 19. His license is in his wallet. It should be in his pocket."

"We'll get it at the hospital, we don't believe he's a flight risk in his current condition."

I swallowed hard, "Is he going to be okay?"

"I don't have that information for you. Now, we can either impound his bike or move it to your friend's driveway. What would you prefer?"

I shook my head, "No, take it to her driveway. They won't mind. Is it completely wrecked?"

"I'm not a mechanic, son. If it rolls, we'll move it. If not, we'll have to send someone out. They're taking him to the hospital now if you'd like to head over. We'll get the rest of our information when he wakes up."

My heart was pounding out of my chest and I gave him a small nod, "Thank you officer… We'll go now."

It took everything I had to get my legs to move towards Namine. Her entire body was shaking and it looked like she had no more tears left to cry. "Nami… we need to go to the hospital now."

She remained speechless, her eyes trained on the floor. I sighed and wrapped her up in my arms, lifting her off of the ground carefully. I took her to her car and set her down in the passenger's seat. "Where are your keys, Namine?"

Again, no answer.

"I'll go find them…" I went back into her house, thankfully finding her keys still sitting on the kitchen table from last night. I locked her house up, getting into the car with her and starting it. "It's going to be okay, Namine… he's alive. He was breathing."

It broke my heart to see her like this, and so soon after the loss of her sister. And Axel… no matter what stupid shit he'd done when he was drunk, I would never wish this on him. I just wanted to see him alive and okay.

He needed to stay alive.

August 31, 2014, 5:48 p.m.

It had been hours since Axel was brought in, and nobody had really given us much of an update. All we knew was that he was in surgery. Namine was on her phone typing away and I could feel my pocket vibrating. I knew she was messaging Sammy… but if I answered her now, she would know who I was.

"Namine… do you want something to eat?" I asked her again. She had finally come back to reality, but she was still pretty unresponsive.

"No… I couldn't stomach anything…" she mumbled, still typing on her phone.

I felt my pocket vibrate a few more times and decided to check it.

paintingwithroses: Sammy I need you…

pwr: I need you so bad…

pwr: My boyfriend wrecked his motorcycle

pwr: He's in surgery

pwr: I feel like my heart is about to stop

pwr: When my sister went into surgery, she never came out…

pwr: I can't do this…

pwr: I'm sitting here with his best friend and… I just wanna hug him but I feel like it'd be weird…

pwr: I need someone that understands…

My heart leapt up into my throat as I read her messages, and I put my phone back in my pocket, standing and moving over to the seat right next to her. Without a word, I pulled her into my arms and just held her. She was tense at first, but she relaxed quickly into the hug and just let it happen.

"Thank you…" she whispered, moving to get more comfortable before settling against me.

"I… I know about your sister," I told her softly, "Uhm… Axel told me. Are you okay…?"

She let out a little sigh, "I'm anything but okay… Kairi… she was in surgery for this long, and… it wasn't good news…"

"He's going to be okay, Namine… Axel is a fighter. And he was still breathing when I found him. That's a good sign," I tried to comfort her, but I was just as worried myself.

"I can't go through this again… It's too hard…" she sniffled a little, wiping tears from her eyes.

I leaned down to rest my head on top of hers, holding her close. "Just close your eyes and relax… try to breathe."

She relaxed for a few moments, but then pulled her phone out again. Of course, every message she sent to Sammy made my pocket vibrate. "Roxas, your phone is ringing. Is someone calling you?"

I tried to stay calm as I pulled my phone back out of my pocket, looking at the screen. "Nah, just a message."

"Oh… okay…" she said, resuming her typing. I had to message her back… I turned my phone on silent and held it above her head so she wouldn't see my replying.

paintingwithroses: I wish you would answer…

pwr: I'm really worried…

luckyXIII: Rosie?

lu: Damn… that really sucks… are you okay?

pwr: Not at all…

pwr: I can hardly breathe.

lu: Is he going to make it?

pwr: I wish I knew. He's still in surgery.

pwr: Sammy I feel like my heart is about to stop.

lu: It'll be okay, Rosie… I was there for you with your sister and I'll be there for you now.

pwr: I need you here for real… I don't know what to do right now.

lu: Rosie…

My heart must have stopped beating or something because Namine looked up at me. "Are you okay, Roxas?"

"Hmm?" I tried to play it off, locking my phone screen.

"You stopped breathing for a minute…" she said in her soft, sweet little voice.

I chuckled a little, "Sorry… I think I nodded off…"

"Oh… okay…" she mumbled, sticking her nose back in her phone.

paintingwithroses: I'm sorry I was so mad at you before…

pwr: It seems so silly now…

pwr: When all of this happened, all I wanted to do was talk to you…

luckyXIII: It's okay… I was being a jerk. I was just… more upset than I let on that you found a boyfriend.

lu: But I never wanted anything like this to happen…

pwr: You still have feelings for me?

lu: Rosie, I've been in love with you for months now…

pwr: I wish things were different… I wish we'd gotten our chance to be together.

lu: You aren't happy with your boyfriend?

pwr: No, I am… but I still wish we'd had a chance in hell at all.

lu: Yeah… me too. So what happened with his accident?

pwr: It's a really, really long story…

pwr: Last night, we both got really drunk, and…

pwr: Well…

pwr: He tried some things that I didn't want to do…

lu: What?

pwr: I hate the word…

lu: Fuck, Rosie… did he really try to…?

pwr: Yeah… but it wasn't his fault! We were so wasted… he didn't even remember. His best friend saved me and drove me home that night.

pwr: But this morning he showed up wondering why he looked like he'd been in a fight, and… when we told him what happened he ran outside and got on his bike. He must have been really upset about it, because he ran a stop sign and got hit by a car.

lu: Wait, so are you breaking up with him?

pwr: No…

pwr: You didn't see his face, Sammy… he honestly had no idea what he'd done.

pwr: He looked absolutely horrified.

lu: You can't stay with him, Rosie… how can you even forgive him after that?

pwr: I've got to give him a second chance… that is, if he survives this.

lu: He'll make it… he has you to wake up to.

As if on cue I saw a doctor approaching us. Namine sat up looking hopeful, and I straightened up in my seat.

"Are you two here for Axel?" she asked us. I nodded, and she smiled. "He's going to be all right. We had some trouble setting his leg, but he should be able to walk again."

The sigh of relief coming from us could have been heard down the hall. "Oh thank God… when can we see him?"

"A lot of his body was covered in burns from sliding on the pavement, so right now his skin is incredibly sensitive and prone to infection. We would like to wait at least until tomorrow to have him see anybody. He's still under sedation, so he'll likely sleep through the night anyways. Are you his family?"

"I'm his girlfriend, and this is his best friend. We called his parents awhile ago, but they're stuck out of town right now," Namine said, seeming entirely relaxed now.

The doctor nodded, "I would advise you to go home and get some rest so you can come see him tomorrow, but I understand if you'd like to see him now."

"Could we?" she asked, looking excited.

"I'll send someone to redress his wounds, and then you can come see him. I need to warn you though… he had some head trauma. We did a cat scan and couldn't find anything wrong, but there's a chance of some minor memory loss when he wakes up. We're going to continue to monitor him to make sure there isn't a brain bleed or anything else going on, but for now all we can do is wait and see."

I stared at her for a moment, "So… there's a chance he could not remember us?"

"It's highly unlikely, but yes… with the type of trauma he's experienced, there's a chance of some memory loss."

"Oh God…" Namine whispered, her eyes welling up with tears again. "Please let us know as soon as we can see him."

"I'll let you know as soon as possible. Like I said, he may sleep through the night because of the sedation," she told us, giving Namine a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "I know all of this is scary and confusing, but try to stay hopeful. Axel will need a strong support system through his recovery."

I grabbed Namine's hand and squeezed it, "He'll have one."

September 1, 2014, 12:08 a.m.

paintingwithroses: I'm in his room now… he's still asleep, but he's going to be okay.

luckyXIII: I'm so glad to hear, Rosie…

pwr: I feel like ten tons of weight was just lifted off my chest. I can finally breathe again.

lu: I'm sure… Have you eaten anything yet?

pwr: No… the hospital cafeteria is closed now.

lu: Oh… Is his friend still there?

pwr: Yeah, he's in the corner on his phone. I don't think either of us are going to sleep much tonight.

lu: Ask him to run and get you guys food?

pwr: Oh I couldn't ask him that… He's done so much for me already.

pwr: I was wrong about him.

lu: Wrong about him? Howso?

pwr: When I first met him I kind of thought he was a jerk. He was always in a bad mood and it made it hard to be around him. But ever since he saved me last night… he's been nothing but sweet and supportive.

lu: Maybe he had something personal going on…

pwr: That's what I think happened. My boyfriend told me that he wasn't usually in such a shitty mood.

lu: Well, maybe things will be different now.

pwr: I think they will. He and I have bonded a lot over the past couple days.

lu: Good. Now go get some food!

pwr: All right… good night, Sammy.

lu: Night, Namine.

Message not sent. User is offline.

September 1, 2014, 12:32 p.m.

My heart nearly stopped in my chest when I realized that I called her Namine in my message. Thank the Gods in heaven that she logged off before she could see it. That was so, so close.

"Uh… Nami, I'm getting kinda hungry. Want me to go pick up some food for us?" I asked her, trying to speak softly incase Axel woke up.

She nodded, "I was just about to ask you the same thing… Is there anywhere open this late?"

"Fast food… want a burger and some fries?"

"Ooh! Yes please!" she chirped, sitting up in her chair. "Do they have milkshakes?"

I chuckled lowly, finding her absolutely adorable. "Sure… lemme guess, chocolate?"

"Yes pleaseeee," she sang, grinning like a cat. "Let me get you some money… Do you still have my keys?"

I shook my head, "I'll buy, don't worry about it."

"Thank you, Roxas… you're a lifesaver. Literally."

At least I had reconciled things with her as Sammy… now I just had to show her that I'm not a complete jerk as Roxas.