Chapter 27: Carter

Mercedes told us every store she stopped at and every person she could talk to she couldn't find him. She said it's been a couple of days since Lorenzo spoke to her. I sighed trying to figure out where he could be or where he could've gone. It didn't make sense though for him to leave without saying anything to anyone.

" Let's check the hospital, someone could've found him and sent him there." I told Mercedes.

Mercedes sat on the couch getting in contact with anyone who has seen Lorenzo last. We drove to the hospital in silence and I tried not to think about the what if's or what could've happened. I thought about him being okay and coming with us drinking root beer and laughing.

We walked into the hospital and I walked to the front desk. The lady at the front was on the phone and she looked at me smiling. She hung up the phone and looked at me, smiling again. " What can I help you with?" She asked.

" Has someone come in by the name of Lorenzo Mendes?" I asked.

She typed something in the computer and she quickly gave us directions to where Lorenzo's room was. We walked to his room quietly and I rubbed the sweat off of my hands and sighed as we showed up to his room. My heart was racing and I couldn't put anything together because all I seen was Lorenzo laying in the bed.

We watched and waited for someone to tell us what was going on. Mercedes walked into the room and sat beside him.

A doctor finally came into the room, Ahliyah and I walked in the room listening to what the doctor was saying. " When Lorenzo was brought here, we ran some test and there was a high level of different drugs in his system. He's in a coma but he's lucky to be alive. We will be keeping him for observation, he'll be okay." The doctor smiled.

Mercedes slumped her shoulders and when she looked at me she was crying. " This is all my fault. I broke up with him because I was tired of everything, but I didn't think he was going to do something reckless like this." She said.

She leaned her head on the bed holding Lorenzo's hands. Ahliyah and I left to give her some time alone with him because she needed the time.

" Come on, let's go home." I said.

" Go home? Mercedes needs someone with her, she needs a friend."

" I'm hungry Ahliyah, let's go," I told her.

" No, why don't you want to stay here with her. There is nothing wrong with staying and she needs us to be with her. Lorenzo is your friend and he needs you." Ahliyah glared at me and started walking off.

I gritted my teeth and sighed. " I promised. I promised him I wouldn't get in between there relationship or whatever he thought he was doing. I love him like my brother but seeing him laying there like he's dead is doing more damage for me."

" I'm sorry. I know you and him have a bond stronger than me and you, you don't have to go in there now. You will have to go in and talk to him eventually." She said.

She was right. I was going to have to talk to him when he woke up, but for right now talking to him was a little hard. Being friends came with it's own territory but he was there and he let me stay in his room while I tried to figure out where I was going to living.

We went home and ate dinner, Ahliyah went in our room to grab something. I was beating myself up about happened to Lorenzo because it was partially my fault. I could've talked him out of doing it. I could've done so much more for him.

" Burn them," Ahliyah stood in front of me with the journals. " I don't think you should have to keep something you don't want to remember. I also think that burning them would give us and you something to look forward to." She said.

We went outside to burn the journals. I lit one of the journals on fire throwing the rest of them in there with it. I watched them burn, every single memory and moment. As they burned, I thought about the letters I wrote for Ahlliyah.

" What about your letters?" I asked.

" I ripped them out and I tucked them in my bags." She said.

The fire slowly went out all that was left in the trash were charred pages of the journals. We went back inside and Ahliyah out her hand on my neck and kissed my cheek.

" Tomorrow we're going to the hospital to be with our friends." She said walking off. That night I went to bed early thinking about what I was going to say to Lorenzo.

I grabbed breakfast from a local diner and I drove to the hospital. Ahliyah and Mercedes had plans to look for stuffed animals for Lorenzo. I walked in the room placing the breakfast on the table and sighed. What was I supposed to say to him?

I stopped thinking about what I should say and I said everything I wanted to. " I didn't know you where having such a hard time. I didn't even know you were still having a problem with the drugs. I'm sorry. You spent all that time making sure I was okay and I didn't make sure you were alright," I held him hand and smiled sadly. " When you wake up, I need you to be okay. I also need you to take care of yourself." I told him.

I ate the breakfast I bought over and I tried watching cartoons, but enjoying some of the things I liked before didn't feel the same. Lorenzo wasn't going to wake up for couple of days and I was stuck trying to figure out what I was going to do.

Ahliyah and Mercedes came back with bags of stuffed animals and flowers for Lorenzo. " Lorenzo is going to be so upset when he sees all the things we got for him, especially the flowers." Mercedes laughed.

They laughed and set the gifts near the bed and smiled. It was good to see Ahliyah and Mercedes laughing and going out to buy things for Lorenzo while we waited for him to wake up.

But, we always seemed to find joy in our sad moments. I knew no matter what Lorenzo was going to be back on his feet again. Ahliyah put her hands on my shoulders and she whispered in my ear. " I know things don't seem like there okay right now, but it's going to get better. Lorenzo is going to be fine and everything for us is going to be great." She smiled.

I nodded my head, sighing. I reassured myself that things were going to okay. Things were never going to be perfect, but it was going to be okay. Mercedes decided she wanted to spend time with Lorenzo until he woke up.

I hesitated to leave wondering if I should stay with him to. Mercedes smiled at me and hugged me. " He'll understand. He's always wanted the best for you and he wouldn't want you sitting in the hospital worrying about when he was going to wake up. Go on and spend time with your Ahliyah, I'll call if he wakes up."

We left promising Mercedes we would be back to see how things were going. When we got home, Ahliyah and I laid in the bed together talking and watching movies. I closed my eyes thinking of us sitting on the porch sipping on lemonade and living life.