CHAPTER FIVE #3
Amanda answered immediately.
"...Hello?"
For a moment... No one spoke. Then... A voice she hadn't heard in weeks.
"...Amanda?"
Amanda straightened.
"...Mrs. West?"
A smile almost appeared. Then she heard the woman's voice. Shaking. Broken. Her own heart immediately sank.
"...Is everything okay?"
Silence. Long enough to make Amanda's stomach knot. Finally... Melissa's mother whispered,
"...Melissa's father passed away tonight."
The world seemed to stop. Amanda couldn't breathe. "...What?"
Her voice barely escaped. Mrs. West struggled to continue.
"She's at Chicago General."
A quiet sob interrupted her words.
"...She could really use..."
Another pause.
"...her best friend."
Amanda's eyes immediately filled with tears. She didn't hesitate. Not for one second.
"I'm coming."
She ended the call before she could lose her nerve. Theresa looked at her. She already knew.
"...Amanda?"
Amanda's lips trembled. "...Her dad."
She swallowed hard.
"...He died."
Theresa's hand flew over her mouth.
"Oh my God..."
Amanda grabbed her purse so quickly it nearly slipped from her shoulder. She took one step toward the parking lot. Then stopped. The memory hit her all at once.
"Stay out of my life." "I don't need you anymore."
Her feet wouldn't move.
"...She told me..."
Her voice cracked.
"...to stay away."
For the first time that evening... Theresa reached out and gently took Amanda's arm. She waited until Amanda looked at her. Then smiled through her own tears.
"...Maybe."
She squeezed Amanda's arm reassuringly.
"But tonight..."
Her voice softened.
"...she doesn't need pride."
Amanda stared at her. "...She needs someone..."
Theresa smiled sadly.
"...who loves her."
Amanda closed her eyes. Every argument. Every cruel word. Every unanswered text. Suddenly felt so small. Compared to this. She nodded once. Then turned. And ran. Not toward prom. Not toward the music. Not toward the life she'd imagined only hours earlier.
She ran toward the hospital. Toward her best friend. Because no matter what had happened between them... Some promises were bigger than pride. And Amanda had made one years ago. She would always be there when Melissa needed her most. Tonight... She intended to keep it.
The waiting room was painfully quiet. Muted television screens flickered overhead, their news broadcasts ignored by everyone beneath them.
A coffee machine hummed softly in the corner.
Somewhere down the hall... A baby cried.
Life continued inside Chicago General Hospital.
Even when it felt impossible that it should.
Melissa sat curled into one corner of the waiting room sofa.
Her knees were pulled tightly against her chest.
John sat beside her. He hadn't spoken in several minutes. His hand moved slowly across her back in small, comforting circles. The gesture was gentle. Patient. He knew there were no words big enough for what she'd lost tonight. So he simply stayed.
Across the hallway... The elevator doors slid open.
Amanda stepped out. She stopped almost immediately.
Her eyes found Melissa. For one heartbreaking second...
She barely recognized her. The bright, energetic girl she'd known since kindergarten was gone.
In her place sat someone who looked completely shattered. Amanda felt her own heart break.
"...Mel."
The name escaped in little more than a whisper. Melissa didn't move. She kept staring blankly at the floor. Amanda approached slowly, as though any sudden movement might frighten her away. When she reached the couch, she carefully lowered herself beside her.
Neither of them spoke. Amanda hesitated. Then, with the gentlest touch she could manage... She rested a hand lightly against Melissa's back. Melissa jerked away immediately.
"...Don't."
Amanda pulled her hand back as though she'd been burned.
"I'm sorry." Her voice trembled.
"I just..."
Melissa wiped roughly at her eyes.
"...Why are you here?"
Amanda swallowed.
"Your mom called me."
Melissa let out a bitter laugh that held no humor at all.
"Of course she did."
Amanda looked at her. There were a thousand things she wanted to say. None of them felt right. She took a small breath.
"Melissa..."
"I know you don't want to see me..."
"...but—"
Melissa suddenly stood.
"So I said don't."
The words echoed louder than she'd intended. The waiting room fell silent. Several people looked up from their seats. Amanda stood too. She didn't care who was watching.
"I'm not leaving you alone tonight."
Melissa pointed toward the exit.
"Leave." Amanda slowly shook her head.
"...No."
" Amanda—"
"I don't care what happened between us."
Amanda's eyes overflowed.
"You're hurting."
She took one careful step forward.
"I'm staying."
Melissa's breathing grew heavier.
"You don't get to decide that anymore."
Amanda closed the distance between them by one more step.
"...Melissa."
Her voice cracked.
"We've been best friends..."
She struggled to finish the sentence. "...since we were little girls."
Tears streamed freely down her face now.
"Please..."
She shook her head.
"...don't shut me out now." Melissa squeezed her eyes shut. For just a second... She remembered sleepovers. Birthday parties. Halloween costumes. Bike rides through the neighborhood. Amanda cheering louder than anyone else at her middleschool talent show.
A lifetime of memories flashed through her mind. When she opened her eyes again... They were filled with unbearable pain.
"You..."
Her voice barely held together.
"...stopped being my best friend..."
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"...a long time ago."
Amanda looked as though the air had been knocked from her lungs.
"...Don't."
Her voice was almost childlike.
"...Please don't say that."
Melissa slowly shook her head.
"You aren't my friend anymore."
Silence filled the waiting room. Then came the words Amanda would carry with her forever.
"...You're my enemy."
Everything inside Amanda seemed to stop. She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. She simply stared at the girl she'd loved like a sister. John slowly rose from the couch. He looked at Amanda with genuine sympathy.
"...Amanda."
His voice was quiet.
"I'll take her home."
Amanda never answered. Her eyes never left Melissa. Melissa turned. She walked toward the exit without looking back. Not once. Amanda remained standing exactly where she'd left her. Watching the automatic doors close behind them.
Only after they disappeared... Did her knees finally weaken. She sat back down in the waiting room chair. Covering her face as silent tears slipped through her fingers.
Rain had begun falling by the time John pulled out of the hospital parking lot. The windshield wipers swept steadily across the glass. Back and forth. Back and forth. The only rhythm inside the truck.
Melissa sat staring out the passenger window. Streetlights blurred together through the rain. Neither of them had spoken since leaving the hospital. John glanced toward her.
"...Melissa."
No response. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"Please..."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"...say something."
The silence stretched. Finally... Melissa spoke. Without looking at him.
"...Everything's gone."
John's heart tightened. He reached across the center console, hoping she'd let him hold her hand. Melissa quietly pulled away. The rejection wasn't angry. It was empty. John lowered his hand.
"I'm still here."
Melissa suddenly turned toward him. Her composure shattered.
"Everyone keeps leaving!"
The words exploded from somewhere deep inside her. John flinched.
"I'm not going anywhere."
Melissa laughed through tears.
"My dad is dead."
She shook her head violently.
"Amanda hates me."
Fresh tears spilled over.
"I yelled at my mom."
Her voice broke completely.
"I yelled at you."
She buried her face in her hands.
"Everything keeps falling apart."
John felt tears gathering in his own eyes. "We'll get through this."
He looked at her with complete sincerity.
"Together."
Melissa slammed a hand against the dashboard in frustration. "Stop saying that!"
She sobbed.
"You can't fix this!"
John instinctively reached toward her again.
"Melissa—"
She pushed his arm away. Not hard. Just enough. John looked at her. Only for a second. One second too long. Bright headlights suddenly flooded the windshield. Too close. Much too close. Melissa's eyes widened.
"JOHN!"
John snapped his attention back to the road. His hands jerked the steering wheel. The tires lost their grip against the rain-soaked pavement.
The truck spun sideways. Rubber screamed against asphalt.
A deafening horn filled the night. Metal collided with metal.
Glass burst outward like crystal rain. The world became nothing but noise.
Then... Nothing. Darkness. No music. No voices.
Only silence. For what felt like forever.
Then... One sound. Steady. Rhythmic. Beep. A pause. Beep. Beep. A heart monitor.