It is two o'clock in the afternoon.
I sit in the hospital waiting room,
Anxiety fills up the room like water, slowly drowning me.
The clock resting sorrowfully behind me ticks,
The slow ticking was in sync with my heartbeat.
Every second that went by felt like an eternity,
My heart pounded against the inside of my chest.
My best friend is in the middle of a surgery just one hundred yards away,
Yet it feels like we are being separated by miles.
Both of our lives changed in one instant of terror.
Her life is in danger.
Our friendship is in danger.
It will never be the same.

It is one o’clock in the afternoon.
I sit in the passenger seat of my mother’s car.
We are on our way to the hospital.
I asked the paramedic if I could join my best friend in the ambulance,
But he denied my request.
Her condition was poor,
Barely had a pulse.
“She may not make it,” one of the doctors said
Those words are sinking down into the core of my body.
The sound of those words gave me a strong feeling,
A strong feeling of sorrow and regret.
I refuse to let go of her.
Not now, not ever.

It is twelve o’clock in the afternoon.
I sit there in shock.
I cannot move,
I cannot think,
But I have to react now.
If I wait any longer than I already have,
She will be gone.
Forever.
I scrambled around the side of the road for my cell phone,
And I dialed 9-1-1.
They are on their way.
They can save her.
They have to save her.
There are no cars in sight,
Nobody is here to help us.
All I have is me.
All that she has is me.
She is dependent on me for her own survival,
So I will not leave her side.
I will be with her through it all.

It is eleven o'clock in the morning.
I sit in the passenger seat of my best friend’s car.
She is the driver,
And I trust her.
We are driving quickly down a dirt road.
I’m not paying close enough attention to realize how fast we are going.
I look ahead of us outside the windshield,
And I see something in the middle of the road.
Without knowledge of what it is, I begin yelling at her.
Out of instinct, the jolts the car to the right.
Both of us are holding on for our lives,
But neither of us knows what the future holds.
The car came to an abrupt stop.
I still sit there with my eyes closed,
Afraid to witness what had just happened.
It was a large crash,
I’m sure of it.
The sound of glass shattering brought me to a variety of conclusions,
But I am okay.
I open my eyes,
But nothing is there.
Nothing but an airbag against my cheek,
A shattered windshield,
And a tree smashed against the hood of the car.
It took me a moment to realize that something is missing.
My best friend.
I feel my heart slowly dropping into my stomach.
She is out of the car,
Thrown out through the windshield,
She is laying on the ground in front of the car,
She is not moving.

It is ten o’clock in the morning.
My best friend picks me up at my house.
As I say goodbye to my mother,
She says, “Be careful.”
But I ignore her,
Because I am always careful.
The car engine starts up again,
And the music is blasting.
My ear drums vibrate like an earthquake,
But we leave it anyway.
I put on my seatbelt as we begin pulling out of the driveway.
We were pulling down the road, and she still has not put on her seatbelt.
The car started to make a noise,
Signaling her to put the seatbelt on.
She turned off the sound,
Being ignorant of her safety.
My mother’s words rattled the back of my brain,
Yet I still do not say a word to her.
It’s her life,
It’s her safety.
Besides, what could go wrong?

It is nine o’clock in the morning
My best friend just texted me.
She wants me to drive down the beach with her.
I am going to say yes of course,
I love the beach.
I love the feeling of the water as it flows around my ankles,
And the brittle texture of the sand.
I love the smell of the ocean,
Consuming the air and leaving everyone with a happy feeling.
It is a feeling that cannot be described,
Only experienced at first hand.
I cannot wait to be on the beach with my best friend.
Today is going to be a great day.