Saving Hannah.

"How do you do that?"
I turned to look at Mike, confusion surely written on my face.
"How do I do what?" I asked.
"Calculus. It's so hard. I feel dumb next to you, I'm taking a college prep math course and you're in AP Calc." He said, pouting at me.
"Yeah well I felt pretty stupid when you played those drums and I looked like a deer in headlights." I retorted, sticking my tongue out at him.
He seemed satisfied with that as we both packed up our computers, waiting to be dismissed for the day.
"So do you take a bus or something? I can walk with you, I have to stay here till 3:30 anyways. That's when Vic leaves." Mike asked, turning to face me.
"I actually drive here, but you have to wait here for an extra hour after school gets out? Why?" I asked.
"Vic is my ride home. I'm about twenty-five minutes away so I don't get a bus so I have to wait on him. He has a student staying after today too so I'm gonna have to wait in the library since it's pouring out."

I looked outside the classroom window, and sure enough, it was pouring.
"I can give you a ride. My mom works afternoons and overnight so I can take you. I actually live about twenty-five minutes away too so it's no problem. Maybe we can hang out at your place, if that's okay?" I asked, giving him a small smile.
His face lit up like a Christmas tree and he gave me a wide smile. "Yeah! That'd be so great. I'll just tell Vic, you can come with me. It'll be super fun, promise!" He said, taking my hand and dragging me through the crowds of people surrounding the door.

The bell rang and we rushed out of the classroom. I trailed Mike to his brother's office, not really wanting to face him after what happened earlier.
I was so busy thinking about excuses to avoid him, I hadn't noticed when Mike had pulled me into an office and he sat down.
"Hey Vic," he smiled.
"Hey Mike. Hey Hannah. How was your first day?" Mr. Fuentes asked, looking in between the both of us.
"It was great! Hannah actually has all her classes with me. It feels great to finally have a friend. Speaking of which, Hannah is actually gonna drive me home and then we're gonna hang out at the house for a little bit." Mike said, smiling widely at me.
"Oh okay, that's fine. We live pretty far though, Hannah." Mr. Fuentes said, looking up at me.
"Oh um, so do I. It's cool." I mumbled, placing my hair in a bun on top of my head.

It was silent for a few seconds before Mike suddenly spoke up, sensing the tension.
"Which reminds me Vic, what's our address again?" Mike asked, pulling out his phone.
"It's 1809 Choctaw Road."
I immediately looked at Mike, disbelief in my eyes. "You live in the big blue house on Choctaw?" I asked, still in disbelief.
"Yeah, why?" He asked, staring at me with confusion.
"Well Mikey, we're neighbors. You're literally next door to me. I have the huge chain-link fence, the one with the pool. I haven't been home for a few days so I guess that explains why I didn't see you moving in..." I trailed off, not wanting to explain that I'd been in the hospital, on suicide watch.

I had been dealing with too much lately, and my mom had come home from work early one night and seen the blades laid out, blood surrounding them. It hadn't been pretty.

"Wow! That's so great, we can hang out like all the time!" Mike said, nearly squealing with joy.
I nodded my head and gave him a small smile. "Yeah. I'm gonna go warm up the truck, it's kind of cold out so it needs an extra kick."
"Oh I'll come with. Vic's got work so we can head on out." Mike said, jumping up and taking his backpack.
"Want me to carry yours? It's gotta hurt your arm to carry it all day." He asked, holding his arms out for my bag.
"Oh it's fine. I'm actually gonna take my cast off tonight. It's been since weeks so the doctor said I could as long as I wore a brace. It's not a bad break." I mumbled, slinging my bag over my shoulder and heading out.

Mike followed closely behind and gave me a sad look.
"I'm real sorry about what happened. Nobody deserves that." Mike whispered as we climbed into my truck.
"Thanks. I'm just still in shock that it happened. I have to testify at trial soon too."
"Why?" He asked. "I mean you don't have to tell me."
"No, it's fine. I need to talk about it with somebody. Um, he hit the driver's side of the car, head on. Jaileen was driving, she always drove. The impact still shocked me, and I hit my head pretty hard. I came to a few seconds later and Jaileen wasn't awake. People were shouting, I heard sirens in the distance. I heard her choking, and that's when I knew. My mom's an emergency room doctor and I knew she was choking on her blood. My mom had taught me about this stuff. I knew too talk to her, keep her from moving, etc. I also knew she was bleeding somewhere, bad. When the medics came I told them she was choking on her own blood and they tried to save her, but they couldn't. They said I kept her alive longer by applying pressure on the chest wound she had, she would've bled out otherwise. I still didn't save her though."
I wiped the tears from my eyes and put the truck into gear, backing out of the school parking lot.

The drive was rather silent until I pulled into my driveway and we both climbed out, walking next door to Mike's house.
"Don't you need to check in with your mom?" Mike asked.
"Uh, no. She's an ER doctor so she works from 3:00 in the afternoon to 3:00 in the morning and she sleeps at a condo we own close to the hospital. I spend a lot of time alone." I said, sighing heavily.
"Oh.. Well hey, you can come over anytime you like!" Mike said, smiling at me.
He placed his key in the door and turned the lock, swinging the front door open. "My brother will be home soon, he just texted me saying that student never came and he left about fifteen minutes ago. You can stay here for dinner if you want."
"Um, actually I was gonna invite you over for spaghetti? Your brother can come too if he likes?"
"If you don't mind us coming, then we'd love to accompany you. I'll text him and let him know."

I nodded. "We can go to my house now, if you like."
Mike shook his head and placed his backpack in his room before we went to my house. I unlocked the door and walked in, placing my bag on the couch and showed Mike around. "I'm gonna start the spaghetti then take off my cast, mind helping?"
"Nope. I'll get my first medical lesson from Dr. Hannah!" Mike said, giggling.
I smiled and started the spaghetti, running upstairs to grab the specialized blade my orthopedic doctor had given us. He knew my mom personally, and so he allowed my mom to remove my cast when it came time, but I knew how.

I came back downstairs and stopped short when I saw Mr. Fuentes and Mike sitting at the table.
"Hi Hannah, thanks for having us over. It's very sweet." Mr. Fuentes said, smiling. "And you can call me Vic, by the way. Mr. Fuentes is a tad bit strange."
I smiled at him and placed the blade down on the table, watching Mike's eyes grow wide.
"What are you gonna do with that?" He asked, eyes still widened.
"It's what I use to cut off the cast. Then I put this brace on." I said, holding up the brace. I placed my arm on the table and picked up the blade, holding it over the top of the cast.
"What if you cut yourself?" Mike asked, still looking unsure.

I cringed at those words. You cut yourself.

"Well, I do know how to give stitches so I think I'm okay." I said, dragging the blade down the cast as it tore in half.
I wondered if they knew I'd rather be doing this to my skin.
I picked up the brace and pulled it on my arm, tightening the strap. "And voila, all done." I giggled and picked up the trash can, pushing the cast and the dust leftover into it.
"I think the spaghetti is done, let me go check." I hurried into the kitchen and turned off the burner, bringing the food out to the table.
I wasn't hungry, I never was. Not since Jaileen's death.

'Aren't you gonna eat? You didn't have anything at lunch.." Mike asked, and I saw Vic's eyes light up with concern.
"I had a huge breakfast. My mom was home this morning so we ate a lot together before we left," I mumbled, hoping that was a convincing lie.
"Oh yeah, I hate such huge meals. Vic and I did it all the time last year!" Mike said, giving his brother a look and silently telling him to leave it alone.
I just smiled and talked with them as they ate, wanting nothing more than to be left alone.

Alone with my thoughts.

Notes