Pills And Recovery

Before...

It took me a few days to emotionally recover from the worst blind date ever. I stayed indoors reflecting on everything wrong that led up to that moment at the cafe and there's no denying the fact that I was at fault and I needed to make things right at least even though we don't end up being friends. I needed to fix my mistakes.

I pushed aside every other thought to the back of my mind and focused on making things right with Chloe. I got up from my bed, walked out of my room and went straight to Luca's room to see if he was in.

I got to the front of his door and turned the handle but it appeared to be locked (bummer). I knocked for a while but there was no response. It's safe to assume that he wasn't in and without him I wouldn't be able to reach Chloe.

Thank God for technology though, I brought out my phone from my back pocket and shot him a text hoping he would reply me.

Me: Hey luca, where are you. I need your help with something. Its urgent.

I hit send, went back to my room and waited for a response from him. I was starting to feel impatient because I hadn't gotten a reply from him and it's been over ten minutes since I sent him the text. I hope he's okay though.

I didn't even notice that I slept off until I woke up later in the day. The time was 6:10pm and the day was starting to turn into night and I still haven't gotten a response from Luca which was really strange.

I got up from bed and went straight to check if he was back home but still there was no response when I banged on his door. Nothing more I can do now so I went out for a walk.

I took a little stroll, walked by a few coffee shops and made a little stop at a garden (although personally I'd call it a little park but that's an argument for another day).

I felt a little bit weak from my power nap I just woke up from and I didn't really collect myself properly before I jumped up from bed to check on Luca and now I'm starting to feel the effects, so I sat on the concrete bench that was situated under an apple tree next to the koi fish pond.

Seeing how the moon reflected on the surface of the water just made me realise how beautiful nature could look and how much I loved being surrounded by it. I sat down there for another thirty minutes in silence and imagined how I wanted my life to be in a few years from now.

I'd probably be married with to someone I met from college and we'd be insanely in love, living in a sub apartment that we both paid for together with our child running around the house. If I could have that with someone who meant the world to me I'd wouldn't even bother asking for anything else.

As much as I wished I could stay here, I don't need people walking by and think that I don't have a house and I'd resorted to sleeping on the bench.

I got up and I star tee d to walk back to my apartment. On my way back I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad might have happened to Luca and that's why I've not been able to reach him. I reached my apartment at about 8:15pm but I was stopped by someone who called out to me as soon as I reached for my door.

"Hey Olly" the voice from behind said

I turned around to see an exhausted Luca walking towards me.

"Whoa Luca, are you okay?" I asked as soon as we shook hands "I've been trying to reach you for a while now" I added

"Well I've been looking after Chloe at the hospital for a few days now" He said in between yawns

The news of Chloe being in the hospital threw me off balance for a second.

"She's where?" I asked Luca still unsure of the words I just heard him utter.

"She's at the hospital" he repeated himself "I just came over to rest a bit before I head there tomorrow" he added

"What? When? How?" I asked kind of scared and completely confused

"Wait you didn't know about her accident a few days ago?" He asked me as he looked at me dead in the eye as he noticed that I really was clueless as to what happened to Luca.

"Would I be asking you if I knew what happened?" I replied

He kept staring at me for what seemed like an eternity, when he finally took his eyes off me, he took a deep breath and responded.

"She's at St' Queens" He responded "I'm going to see her tomorrow though, do you want to come with?" He asked me as he slide his key into the key hole.

"With the way things are between us I doubt she'd want me there" I replied him as I leaned on the wall behind me

"Well you shouldn't really focus on whether she hates you or not. Just come with me and check on her" He said to me in between yawns.

"Okay, let me know when you're going tomorrow" I said as I lifted myself off the wall and walked back to my room.

I got back to my room and closed the door behind me, took off my clothes and hopped in the shower. I got out and put on a pair of plaid shorts, down on my bed and closed my eyes trying to fall asleep but my mind was all over the place, asking questions I didn't know the answer to.

I wasn't able to sleep a wink all through the night and before I realised it, it was already morning.

It was 7:45am the next day and I was already ready to accompany Luca to the hospital, I just needed him to come knock on my door to tell me he's ready.

While I was busy pacing up and down my room, Luca finally knocked on my door and we were off.

When we got to the hospital, we went straight down to Chloe's room as soon as we check with the nurse to see if it was okay to go in. I saw Chloe lying down on the bed, sleeping peacefully. That sight put me at ease and I was able to relax a bit. Luca walked down to the side of her bed and pulled a chair close to it as he sat down next to her.

"What happened to her?" I asked Luca as I set the flowers and the box of chocolate I got for her on the table by the side of her bed.

"Don't feel bad though but she got in an accident the night of your blind date with her" He said not wanting to take his eyes off her. "She was about to cross the street to the other side so she could get into her apartment building, that's when she got hit by a car. I got called in because my number was listed in her contacts under emergency" he added as he held her hand.

"The driver zoomed off immediately after the incident happened but thanks to people who saw it happen they were able to get his license plate number and he was arrested the next day" He said to me with a little bit of smile on his face before his face turned serious again. "Thankfully it wasn't so serious and she only got a few bruises that would heal up with time" he added

I know it wasn't my fault though but I felt somewhat responsible for what happened to her but I could only imagine how Luca felt because if it wasn't for him she wouldn't have come out to meet me that night.

"It wasn't your fault Luca so you shouldn't beat yourself up about it" I said to him noticing that his shoulders started to get tense

I walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, he turned to look at me and I saw the tears that had started to gather in his eyes.

"She's gonna be okay, I promise" I added as I ran my hands through his hair and messed it up a bit.

"Asshole" he said as he punched me with his free hand causing the both of us to laugh a bit.

Guess we were too loud, we ended up waking Chloe up.

"Hey Chloe" Luca said as he helped her while we was trying to sit up. "You're finally awake" he added

She turned around to access the environment she was in so she didn't say anything immediately. The moment her eyes met mine I could feel chills run up my spine cause I was afraid of what she would say to me.

"How long have I been out?" She asked taking her eyes off me and focusing her attention on Luca.

"Just three days" He responded "At least now you can check being in a coma off your bucket list" He added with a smile on his face

"Ha-ha, very funny" She said sarcastically but still smiled. "You've been here the whole time?" She asked Luca

"Yeah, your mom left yesterday too. She said she'll be back before you get discharged" He replied her as he placed his hand to her forehead to check her temperature.

"Thank you for staying with me" She said to Luca holding his hand

I felt left out of their blossoming friendship and my presence here might irritate her a lot more than it originally would so I turned around heading for the door.

"You could at least stay a while before you left" Chloe said to me as she noticed that I was trying to leave.

I turned around to see her staring at me. She didn't look mad at me (That's a first). She turned to the table by her side to see the flowers and chocolates on the table by her side and her whole face lit up like a lamp.

She reached for the box of chocolates despite the fact that she was in pain, grabbed the box and ripped the ribbon off. Seems she must really like chocolates. (Good to know)

"Who do I have to thank for the chocolates?" She asked looking at the both of us

"Well you have Olly to thank for that" Luca responded as he reached for a chocolate from the box in her hand

She looked at the box of chocolates and then back at me and then back at the box of chocolates as if trying to decide to eat it because it came from me.

"Thank you" She said with a mouth full of chocolates

"How did you get that much chocolates into your mouth so fast?" Luca said trying to hold in his laugh

I laughed a little because deep down I thought she'd toss it into the trash.

We spent the next hour in the room with Chloe just laughing and making random conversations.

"If you'll both excuse me I need to use the little gents room, I'll be back in a bit" Luca said as he exited the room to in search of a bathroom.

And now we were both alone in the room.

"I'm sorry"

I heard those words and I was shocked. For a moment I thought I was the one that said those words without realizing it.

"I went a little overboard at the cafe and I just wanted to say sorry. The thought that I might have died was scary and incase I do, I don't want to go to the great beyond with a grudge in my mind" she said without making eye contact.

"I'm sorry too for what happened before then too" I responded.

"I hope we can move past this and actually be friends" She added, this time with a smile on her face as she stretched her hand to me

"Best friends even" I said as I reached for her hand to shake her

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself there, you still have a lot to make up for" she said as she smacked my hand.

"Just friends okay" I said as I let out a little laugh

"How long have you known Luca?" She asked as she adjusted herself on the bed

"I've known him almost all my life, so he's basically family to me" I said recollecting all the memories I have with Luca

"He speaks highly of you, that's one of the reasons I agreed to meet you that night" She said with a smile

"What about you, how did you know Luca?" I asked her trying to piece the puzzle together

"Luca was the first person to talk to me the day I came in for my one on one interview after I got accepted" She replied me after she threw a piece of chocolate into her mouth

"I remember I was a ball of nerves that day and I couldn't stop shaking. He found me outside of the administration building, walked up to me and the first thing he said to me was "There's nothing scarier that sitting in front of those old geezers and explain why you're qualified to school here" she added

"After he said that he walked across the road to an ice cream stand, got a cup, ran back to me and while he was about to hand it to me he said "Chill out"

We both ended up laughing and Luca laughed as well from behind.

"How long have you been watching us?" I asked Luca as soon as he stepped into the room.

"Long enough to know that you guys can finally stop being on each others bad side" he said "And if I remember correctly you were able to relax a bit after I gave you the ice cream didn't you?" He added

"Sadly" she said

Our conversation was interrupted by a doctor who asked us to leave the room so that they could examine Chloe. After his examination we went back in and talked some more.

Me and Luca spent everyday of the next week coming into the hospital to check up on Chloe. Sometimes I went on my own cause we were both starting to become really good friends.

And while I was there we'd talk about everything and nothing and laugh at individuals memories and experiences shared and that was our routine until she was finally allowed to leave the hospital.

Her mom came by to the hospital the day Chloe was discharged to sign some documents and help us prepare Chloe's apartment for when we'd bring her back home.

We got back to her apartment and we we're welcomed by some of her friends from the department. It was Luca's idea to have a little "I'm glad you didn't die party" (His words not mine). That's where I met Jasmine, Brian, Ariana and Jasmine.

After the party was over, Luca and I took Chloe to her room to let her rest for a while.

"Can you pass me my pills" Chloe asked as I was tucking her in

"Sure thing" Luca said as he got up from the side of the bed and got the pills that were in her bag.

"Thanks" she said as she collected the pills cup that Luca just tossed to me.

She threw the pills into her mouth and drank water from her water bottle that was on the counter on the side of her bed. In a few minutes she was already out like a light, so luca and I had to quietly tip toe out of her room so that we wont wake her up with our noise again.

Her mom had already left before the party. I guess things weren't so smooth between them.

"Any idea why her mom left so early?" I asked Luca while were cleaning up her apartment

"Her family isn't something we've talked about so I have no idea" He said as he tied up the black paper bag in his hand.

Luca left a few minutes back so I had to finish it up on my own. It was already 10:30pm by the time I finished clearing up the place and I was exhausted. Before I left I went to her bedroom to check on her and see if she needs anything else. I got to her bedroom and opened it a bit to check if she was still asleep.

I peeked in through the door and I could see her resting in bed. Seems she saw me cause she called out to me before I could close the door.

"You seem to always be alert with your surroundings even when you're asleep" I said to her as I walked into her room

"Yeah, I don't really sleep so deep" she replied as she lifted herself so she could sit and face me.

"I was about to head out so I came to check if you needed something" I replied as I got close to check her temperature with the back of my hand "You seem to be fine now" I said to her as I lifted my hand from her head and place it in my pockets.

"Thank you for today" She said with a smile on her face "You and Luca have been there for me and I'm really grateful I have guys like you in my life" she added

"Well I can speak for the both of us when I say we'll always be there for you Chloe" I said to her and I meant it

"Can I ask you for a favour though?" She asked me

"Yeah, go ahead" I say

"Can you spend the night here?"

I smiled at her request and nodded my head. I helped her to lay back down on her bed as she closed her eyes to try and fall back to sleep.

"If you need me, I'll be sleeping on the couch in the living room" I said as I walked towards the door.

"Okay" I heard her say as I closed the door behind me.