“You’re where?!” Mike exclaimed on the phone.


“I’m at the hospital, but I’m okay,” I said quickly. I knew I wasn’t making much sense; he probably thought I was the one hurt. “It’s not me,” I managed to gasp out. I had exerted way too much energy, and I was physically exhausted and mentally drained.


“Then who the fuck is it?” He asked, still alarmed.


“Well, I don't really know. I’ll explain later. I have to be re-stitched up,” I said, hanging up the phone. I knew he needed more of an explanation, but I just couldn’t give it to him. My head was throbbing and the doctor was now calling me in to get my stitches repaired—the physical exertion of trying to wake her up with CPR and carrying the unconscious girl from the street where an ambulance picked us up was too much pressure on my head, causing my wound to reopen. I felt bad for leaving Mike in the dark, but that was the least of my worries. It wasn’t everyday where you find a half-dead girl on the beach.


I shivered, thinking about what must have happened. The image of Spencer’s dead body flickered and molded with the image of this girl. I was overwhelmed with emotions and thoughts and memories. Something about this girl reminded me of Spencer (probably the fact that she was helpless and unconscious), and I made it my personal duty to save her. I decided to stay at the hospital with her after my stitches were repaired. I couldn’t just leave her here with nobody!


I knew I wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t know why, but something was keeping me here. I felt this unprecedented necessity to protect her. Maybe I had developed a mental complex: I couldn’t protect Spencer, so naturally I’d try to make up for it with this stranger. My head was a mess. An absolute mess.


“What the…” My thoughts quickly dissolved when I heard the girl mumble, waking up. “Holy shit, do I have amnesia? I don’t know you! Oh my, God, I have amnesia! Fuck!” she exclaimed in horror.


I shook my head vigorously. “No, no, no, you don’t know me!” I said quickly. She raised an eyebrow at me, and I felt awkward all of a sudden. “Do you remember your name?” I asked, checking to see if she actually didn’t have amnesia.


“Er, yes. Charlie. Yes, that’s my name. Okay, good. Charlie Daniels. Twenty-eight years old. Yep, I remember myself. I’m good,” she rambled quickly. “Now who the fuck are you?” she asked.


“Uh…” I stammered for a second. Did I really want this girl to know who I was? The depressed, broken, and tragedy attracting lead singer of a rather famous band? “I was walking on the beach I tripped over you, and I decided to stay here in case you needed me to call anyone for you?” I said, but it came out as a question.


“Well, I appreciate that, mystery-man. Now, what is your name?” she asked.


“Uh, Vic,” I said shyly.


“Well, thank you a lot, Uh Vic! I wasn’t interested in dying today!” she said. Even in a hospital, this girl was very hyper.


“You’re welcome,” I said in an almost whisper. She squinted her eyes at me.


“What happened to you?” she asked, tapping her fingers lightly on her own head. I reciprocated the action subconsciously, feeling my head bandages.


“Uh… I hit my head earlier,” I lied. I wasn’t about to tell someone I hardly knew that I tried to commit suicide and unfortunately failed.


“Hm,” she said, sighing. “Um, do you know what happened to me?” she asked, her voice unconfident and tiny for the first time since she woke up.


I shook my head sadly. “I found you, and you were tangled in seaweed and covered in sand and soaking wet. It looked like you had washed up on shore. Do you remember being on a boat at all?”


She shook her head. And then she nodded. “Oh…” she said softly, and then she started to cry. “Oh…” she repeated, sobbing now.


“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” I said, my voice full of concern. I didn’t know why, but I felt the need to comfort her. I gently rubbed her arm. “You’re okay now,” I said.


“T-Thank you,” she stuttered, closing her eyes and sighing.


“So, do you have anyone I can call for you?” I asked.


She shook her head. “It’s just me,” she said, shrugging her shoulder lightly. I nodded. Before I could say anything else, the doctor came in.


“Hello, Miss…?”


“Daniels. Charlie Daniels,” she filled in.


“Hello, Miss Daniels. My name is Dr. Bedal. I just wanted to tell you that you are free to be released tomorrow morning. You suffered a great deal of physical damage, which we will go over individually…” her voice trailed off as she noticed me in the room. I awkwardly waved. “Er, yes, so I will go over your medical ailments later. But you can go home tomorrow morning, which is good,” she finished.


“Oh, wait. What day is it?” Charlie asked. Charlie. Normally that would be a boy’s name, but it fit her. I liked it. Charlie.


“It’s the same day as when you were brought in, sweetheart. It’s about eleven at night,” Dr. Bedal informed. Charlie nodded.


“I'll check on you before you leave and we can discuss matters then,” she said, and then she left.


“Discuss matters?” Charlie furrowed her eyebrows. I shrugged my shoulders.


“You were in pretty bad shape,” I said lowly. She nodded.


“I feel like shit,” she offered with a sigh, groaning as she did so. “Well I think I have some rib damage,” she groaned again. “Fabulous.”


I weakly smiled at her. “You should sleep,” I suggested.


“Yeah, I should. Well, thanks a lot, Vic. It means a lot,” she said shyly.


“You’re welcome, Charlie. Any time. Do you, uh, want me to stick around?” I asked, not exactly sure where to go from here.


“I, uh, will probably just be sleeping. Boring. But it’s up to you, I guess. Whatever,” she said shyly, shrugging her shoulders again and slightly hiding her face as a light blush formed on her cheeks. “Oh, wait. Where am I?” She asked.


“San Diego,” I said.


“Shit.”


“What is it?”


“I don’t live in San Diego,” she said with a sigh. “I live in Santa Cruz. How the fuck did I end up all of the way down here?” she muttered.


“Damn,” I breathed. She furrowed her eyebrows again and bit her lip in concentration. Then, her face relaxed with apparent realization, and I could see tears well up in her eyes again.


“Are you okay?”


She shook her head. “Nothing, it’s fine,” she said, smiling. I could read right through her fake-smile, though. I knew she knew what happened to her, and it wasn’t pleasant. I knew it was none of my business, but I wanted to know what happened. A part of me also wanted to beat the living shit out of whoever was responsible.


Before I could respond, my phone started to ring. “Sorry,” I mouthed, getting up and picking up the phone. I prepared myself to be screamed at.


“Hey, Mike,” I said lowly as I stepped out into the hallway.


“Where the fuck are you?” he whisper-yelled. I laughed; I could hear him from down the hall.


“I’m down the hall from you,” I said, walking towards the steaming Mike.


When I got to him, I was greeted by a stinging sensation in my left cheek. “What the fuck!” I exclaimed.


“That’s for scaring the living shit out of me,” he growled, and then he wrapped me into a tight hug. “Now, please explain,” he said softly, and I obeyed, telling him exactly how I tripped over Charlie and did CPR until helped arrived and how my wound split open because of the physical exertion.


Mike batted his eyelashes at me and held his hands to his heart, saying in a high-pitched voice: “My hero!” I punched his arm.


“This is serious, dude,” I glared.


“I know, sorry,” he said. “Did you call her family?”


I shook my head. “Apparently she has none,” I said, biting my lip. “And she lives all of the way in Santa Cruz,” I added.


“Damn,” Mike said.


“We can’t just leave her here alone!” I said, furrowing my eyebrows.


“And why is that?” Mike tilted his head to the side. “I’m sure she’s a big girl, she can find her way home herself,” he said seriously. I widened my eyes at his remark, about to slap him. “Dude, I’m kidding. Of course you can’t just leave her.”


I nodded. I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess we can figure…this…out later. I feel like she needs company, though…” I said, my voice trailing off at the end. I knew it was weird because I didn’t know her, but I felt like I should be there for her…


“Go on,” Mike pushed me ahead, a twinkle in his eyes. I gritted my teeth, really wanting to wipe the smirk off of his face. “I’ll tell the guys you’re okay, too,” he added.


“You called them?” I exclaimed angrily.


“Sorry! I was worried and didn’t know where you disappeared off to. And then you called me from the hospital and I assumed the worst…” he said. I pulled him into another hug.


“Shit, I’m sorry, Mike. I didn’t mean to worry you. I didn’t even think about you guys; I was selfish, again,” I said, shaking my head.


“No, Vic, you were the complete opposite,” he said, lightly patting the top of my head. “You didn’t even think about yourself whatsoever when you were helping this girl,” he said, gesturing to my rather painful head injury. I smiled weakly at him. “And, Vic, guess what?”


“What?”


“There’s a reason why you didn’t die when you tried. The world needs you,” he said, the twinkle in his eyes returned, but I didn’t want to wipe it off anymore. I was surprised at his words; Mike had never been the “inspirational” type. I hugged him one more time.


“Thanks, Mike,” I mumbled.


“Now get the fuck out of my presence,” he scoffed, pushing my playfully away. I shook my head, laughing.


“Alright, alright,” I chuckled, flipping him off as I returned to Charlie’s room.


I walked in carefully, sitting down quietly by her side. She was already peacefully asleep.


Mike’s words stuck in my head. The world needs you.


No, the world didn’t need me.


The world didn't need me, but the world kept me for a reason. And I think that reason was the peaceful, mystery girl, sleeping quietly two feet away from me.

Notes

Yuck. I'm out of town so this update kindasorta sucks in my opinion sowwwyy :( not my fav but whatever, hopefully i can write more soon! i have more ideas yay

oh and sorry it's so short