Chapter 71 - I'm Gonna Be Fine

Back during the first day of middle school, a younger Ronnie Everst is walking towards his class, he glances down at his schedule to see his first class is a science one, yet none of the classes around him are-

Just as Ronnie has that thought, he ends up running into someone causing the both of them to fall to the ground. Ronnie rubs his head a bit when.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry." The student with slightly messy brown hair begins to apologize as he gets up.

Ronnie looks over at them for a moment before remarking, "Hey don't worry about it, I should've paid attention to where I was walking."

Ronnie dusts himself off before standing up and adding, "I'm Ronnie by the way. You got any idea where the science classes are? I'm supposed to have a class there but this whole school is a maze."

"Oh uh-, I'm M-Marcus," Marcus stammers out before calming down and replying, "I think the science classes are closer to the cafeteria."

"Sweet well thanks, Marcus, you're a lifesaver!" Ronnie begins to say as he starts to run away.

Though, as Ronnie runs through the hall he can't help but feel something peculiar toward Marcus. Maybe it was the way he acted, maybe it was the fact Marcus had the same backpack Ronnie had the year prior, or maybe it was for some other random factor entirely.

Whatever it was that caught Ronnie's eye that day, it was the justification he needed to turn around and yell back to Marcus, "And hey just so you know, we're friends now so don't forget it!"

"O-okay!" Marcus replies confused.

As Ronnie continues to walk to his class, he thinks of how for some reason, despite only knowing each other for just a little bit of time, Ronnie wishes that the two could actually be friends.

__________________

In the present, Ronnie opens his eyes as he lies on the asphalt street. The stars in the night sky look a bit blurry, and standing over him, shaking him profusely, is Marcus Veridan.

Ronnie wonders why Marcus is being so silly, he's fine. And why is he crying so much?

The ringing in his ears causes him to not be able to hear what anyone is saying, he notices Elizabeth is also on the phone with someone with a distraught look on her face. She looks over to Ronnie and she tries to stop from crying but she can't help it.

Ronnie is confused by her actions because why would she cry when seeing him? He's fine.

That's when he notices that Alex has dragged that Cal Hound fellow out of a crashed car and is beating him senselessly. Ronnie finds him foolish, Alex always had a bad temper but to attack someone even when his hand is broken is a new low for Alex. Besides, he's overreacting.

They're all overreacting.

"I'm….I'm gonna be fine," Ronnie manages to croak out as blood gushes out from his forehead, "I'm gonna be…"

However, Ronnie never did get to finish that sentence as he drifted into unconsciousness.

"Ronnie?" Marcus shouts, "RONNIE!"

Marcus tries to shake him, tries to stop the bleeding, to do anything to wake Ronnie back up.

But it doesn't work.

Nothing works.

Finally, an ambulance arrives as well as some police cars, as the EMTS have Marcus step aside, he notices Alex shouting.

"Hey let go of me!" Alex roars.

Several of the police officers begin to drag both him and Cal Hound into the police car, both in handcuffs.

"I did it…" Cal Hound murmurs as a smile grows on his face, "I got my revenge."

He's shoved into the cop car alongside Alex and as the police car and ambulance leave, some more cops stay behind to ask Marcus & Elizabeth about what happened and to make sure they are okay.

And sure, physically speaking they were fine. But the words the paramedics tried to tell them didn't get through to them. Because they were still stuck in that moment.

___________________

Marcus & Elizabeth are at the emergency room waiting room, despite it being so late, it's still packed with people. Some people are feeling sick while others are like them and waiting to be able to see someone. As they sit there, they hear the doors to the hospital open.

Marcus' eyes are wide as Sally Everst rushes in and walks over to the front desk.

"Where's my son?" Sally asks, distraught.

The nurse there tries to talk to her, but as Marcus watches Sally, he sees the person who's always helped him, the person who helped him move on from his past, the person he always thought would stand strong despite it all; standing there, tears streaming down her face as she can't do anything but pray.

"Not you too," Sally cries as she slumps to the ground, "I can't lose you too."

Marcus begins to get up to try and talk to her. Try to say something to lift her spirits up, to tell her everything is going to be okay.

But he can't, he doesn't even know if those words are true. He isn't the one who inspires others, who lifts people up in their darkest moments, that was always Ronnie. Sure he's tried to follow his example, to encourage others, but compared to someone he always saw as a living miracle, he couldn't compare.

He was nobody special.

He was just Marcus.

__________________________________

"Well I've got some good news and some bad news," The doctor explains as he talks to Sally, Marcus, & Elizabeth.

"The good news is, your son is likely to make a full recovery," The doctor admits, "Though he is in a coma, it should only take a few days- maybe a few weeks for him to fully awake."

The group is silent as the doctor explains.

"Honestly, it's a miracle he didn't get even more hurt," The doctor suggests.

Hearing that, Sally, Elizabeth, & Marcus all have a look of pure exhaustion and frustration from hearing that word.

"Uh, my apologies, I'll let you know if anything else happens," The doctor explains as he walks away.

As the three are now left by themself, Sally sighs, "Are you kids alright? Do you need a ride home?"

"No, my parents are heading over now," Elizabeth states.

"I'm fine, I can walk back," Marcus insists.

"You sure? I can drive you ba-" Sally suggests.

"I said I'm fine," Marcus affirms.

As he sits there, he thinks back to what happened. If he wasn't on that road, Ronnie wouldn't be in a coma. The only reason he's here, the only reason all of this happened, was because it was his fault.

As Marcus thinks that, he believes that he shouldn't make Sally even more concerned than she already is. So he decides to stand up.

"I'm going to get going," Marcus admits.

"Okay, stay safe out there," Elizabeth adds.

_________________________

Marcus begins to walk down the night street, and as he does so, he notices that it's started to rain. He reaches a bus stop when his phone begins to ring. He checks it and it's a call from Alex. He quickly picks up.

"Alex? How are you doing?!" Marcus asks concerned.

"Sorry, but this is his dad, Mateo," Alex's father says over the phone, "We're almost done here at the station, he's just getting questioned right now. How's that kid doing; Ronnie?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Mister Smith," Marcus remarks as he gets onto a bus, "As for Ronnie, the doctors said he'll make a full recovery, though he's in a coma for now."

"That's good to hear," Mateo sighs.

"How are things at the police station?" Marcus questions as the bus begins to move.

"It's a bit of a headache," Mateo groans, "My boy's getting fined 500 for attacking that damned driver. If you asked me, he should've hit him harder. But from what the officers told me, they're planning on charging that driver with attempted murder."

"I see," Marcus remarks as the bus reaches his stop.

"Oh looks like Alex is all done, I'll talk to you later, stay safe out there," Mateo remarks.

"You too," Marcus states before hanging up.

As he gets off the bus, he continues to walk through the light rain as he thinks back to everything that's happened. He can't help but think back to the time when Ronnie followed him home. At that time he closed himself off from Ronnie, but now he wishes he hadn't. That way he could have spent just a little bit more time with him.

Marcus finally reaches the front door to his family's house and as he grabs the door handle, he realizes it's unlocked.

Marcus slowly opens the door and his eyes widen as he sees someone standing inside his house.

"About time you finally showed up," The man remarks.

"Dad?!" Marcus asks, stunned.

See You Next Chapter!~