"There was a car crash, that's how Max died. But, there was someone else in the car too. They were as I know as your other friend, Parker." My dad says.
Tears stream down my face as I realize what my dad said.
"W-wait, Ruby. He isn't dead. He's in the hospital. They haven't gotten any news on him yet though." My dad finishes and I sigh in relief.
"C-can you take me to the hospital?" I ask weakly and he nods and grabs my hand. He leads me to the car and opens the door before I get in. But the only thing I can think about is that I can't lose another friend, after Eli and... him.
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Flashback when Ruby and Eli were in 7th grade:
My dad is taking Eli and I to the local carnival that everyone from school goes to and I couldn't be more excited.
"We're gonna eat funnel cake, right? And I'm paying," I say and shoot Eli a look. "And we're gonna play carnival games, which I'm also paying for!" I finish excitedly and squeal a little too much. I'm basically bouncing in my seat. Weston (our other best friend) is going to be there too so we can be the trio for a night. It's so great!
My mother let us go out just so I can "gain popularity". As if I care about popularity. I just want to spend time with my best friends.
"Ruby, Ruby." Eli says sternly and puts his hand on my shoulder to try and get me to calm down. "Chill out, it's just a carnival."
I scoff. "As if. This is my first carnival and I'm determined to make it awesome."
Little do I know what's awaiting just a mile and a half ahead.
A second later, we start hearing sirens in the distance. All three of us scanned the road as the sirens got closer. We all want to know what's happening.
Soon enough we see a car flipped on its hood and cop cars blocking the road. Just as my dad's about to turn over to another road for a detour, I gasp and shout at my dad, "Stop!" and my father slams on the brakes. I quickly unbuckle my seatbelt and get out the car. "Eli, come on!" I say hurriedly and start sprinting towards the scene.
My heart drops as soon as I see who's being rolled to an ambulance in a stretcher. "Weston!" I scream. "Weston!" I scream louder as I try to push by police officers, but one catches me. "Let me go!" I scream so loud that bystanders start staring. But all I can see is Weston being loaded into an ambulance. "That's my best friend! Let me go!" I cry.
I struggle in the officer's arms as Eli reaches me with the same sad look. All of a sudden he glares at the officer and breaks me out of their arms as we both sprint to the ambulance. "Weston!" We both call and no one else tries stopping us.
Just as the paramedics are about to shut the doors I yell. "Wait!" One stops shutting the door and looks at us. "Can we come with? That's our best friend." I ask quickly and the paramedics nods. I look back to see my dad give me a nod as he watches from afar.
I start crying as Eli and I both jump into the ambulance.
And that's how we witness the death of our only other friend.
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We arrive at the hospital and after asking where he was, I'm told that he was on the third floor, and I go to get into the elevator with my dad as I try my hardest to calm my rapidly beating heart.
The elevator decides to take it's time as my knee bounces in its place while I lean on my other leg. My dad stares at the doors as they open and we step out. I head to the waiting room and look around for whoever might be Parker's parents but my eyes land on Victoria and Novalie sitting in chairs next to each other while two ginger adults sit next to them.
I rush over to my friends and watch as they stand to greet me quickly. I hug each of them individually. "Is he okay? Do we know anything yet?" I ask hurriedly.
Victoria looks down and shakes her head. "We haven't heard anything. I just hope he's okay."
"Yeah, me too," I sigh sadly, "Are they his parents?" I ask as I motion to the two ginger adults holding each other tightly on two chairs behind the two girls.
"Yeah. They're devastated. They don't know how this happened and they're just really scared. Do you want to talk to them?" Novalie answers sadly but kindly.
I nod. "Sure, I hope I can help them calm down." I say and both girls move to the side as I take short strides to the mourning couple.
They look up at me as I approach them. "Hello, can we help you?" Parker's mom asks me.
"Uh, hi. Yeah. I'm a friend of Parker's. I just came over to see if you both were okay." I say with a sympathetic smile. I need them to understand that he'll be with them all the time, even if he dies. That's the only way to comfort fear. I need to bring them to peace with all possibilities.
"Uh, yeah. We're fine," she says, looking down. "We're totally fine."
"You do know that he's always with you, right? He'll always be here, even if he's just watching from his own little world." I say, a double meaning behind my words.
"Y-yeah. He's always watching." Parker's father speaks up. He looks from his lap up at me and smiles slightly. He walks over to me and I'm baffled when he hugs me and I slowly end up hugging him back.
"My name is Ruby. I met Parker a little while ago along with Victoria and Novalie. I've only had a couple other friends in my lifetime other than them, and those three are the best friends I could ever ask for. I don't know what I would do without them. Thank you for being there for Parker. I'm sure he appreciates it too." I say, the words coming from my heart. I love my friends with all of me, and I couldn't be more grateful.
Just as I finish my small speech, a doctor walks over to us with a clipboard in his left hand and a pen in his right. Victoria and Novalie make their way over quickly as Parker's parents stand to hear the news.
"Well," he says after we gather around him in a semi-circle. "He's fine," he starts and we all sigh in relief. "But, it's important you all know the extent of his injuries. He has a broken collar bone, his right elbow joint is fractured, and he sprained his ankle. He didn't have any internal damage so he's going to make a full recovery." The doctor finishes, his face remaining blank like all doctors seem to look like.
Parker's mom starts crying into her husband's shoulder with happiness. Myself, Victoria, and Novalie hug each other tightly at the news.
Parker's going to be okay.
But Max is dead.