One Drop of Golden Sun

Ch. 14 Cost of Friendship

*Lokela

"Hey, can you hear me? What is your name?"

A light bore into his eyes. He blinked. "Lokela."

"Great. What day is it?"

"The day I fucked up big-time."

"That's one way to answer," the nurse said. He squinted into Lokela's face. "But try again, do you know what day it is?"

"Wednesday. Two days before the big date. Which would be Friday. I fucked this up royally," Lokela said. The white ceiling above stared back at him blank and cold. There was a green curtain around the bed, and the room had an odor of clean, chemical sharpness. The nurse flashed the light in his other eye while waiting for Lokela to answer. He knew he had messed up. It was his fault—even if the details in his head were a mash-up of scattered scenes and sickening fear. Over the rush of cars, the screech of tires and Ray's scared face, though, was the sight of his friend, crumpled and bleeding on the pavement. "What about Zach?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have information on any other people. Was someone else in the accident with you?"

There was a rap of knuckles at the door. Through the green curtain around Lokela's bed, appeared Miller's face. He was tense, jaw clenched until he noticed Lokela was awake. He deflated, almost bending in half with relief.

"Hey, man," Miller said. "You're up."

"This is for family only," the nurse said. "So unless you're related—"

"This is my brother," both Miller and Lokela said at the same time.

The nurse nodded. "All right. We've got some more tests to run and I assume the doctor will want to keep you in observation for a bit, to be on the safe side."

Lokela nodded. He just wanted information on Zach. "Yeah, I'm fine, but do what you need to do."

Miller must have read his mind. "Stay in the fucking bed and let them do the tests. Zach is stable. I managed to get one of the lady nurses to give me the run-down. Looks like a broken leg—the tibia, plus fracture in the fibula. Not too much blood loss, but he also smacked his head pretty bad. He's out for now."

"It was my fault."

"Accidents happen," the nurse said. "Unless you pushed him in front of the car, it's no one's fault."

"I stopped in the middle of the road. I stopped when Ray—" His voice broke off. He was such a fuck up, he couldn't believe it. He replayed in his head the moment when Zach shoved him out of the way. Ray was shouting. Why had he turned? What did it matter if she was shouting. Why the hell was she shouting, anyway? It hit him harder than Zach had: Lokela, look out!

She had shouted to warn him. But it was Zach who reacted and saved his life.

He owed him. It should be him with multiple breaks and unconscious in the other bed.

"Zach's here on a scholarship," Lokela whispered. "This could ruin his future, all his plans."

"Man, you can't beat yourself up like this. I don't know what happened, but you didn't hit him with that car," Miller said. "Look, mom and pop are coming around. Should be here any minute now. I have to run and get back to the shop now that it looks like you're going to live. Right?"

"Right. I'll live." Lokela bumped his fist in goodbye. The nurse finished noting Lokela's information on his chart and promised the doctor would be around soon.

Soon took another three hours, though. His parents came to sit, and muttered about how careless he had acted and how he had nearly killed not only his best friend, but also his mother. She held his hand until she needed a coffee and his father took her to the café.