“Tay, wake up,” someone was shaking me. I moaned reluctantly. “Get up, you slut!”
I opened by eyes. D.C. was standing above me. “What are you doing here?” I mumbled.
“Wake up. And put some clothes on!”
“Mine are covered in alcohol,” I turned over to go back to sleep.
“Wake up!” she laughed. She threw some clothes at me.
“Whose are these?” I asked, waking slightly.
“Mine. Wake up!” she shook me more.
I groaned, but got out of bed and dressed rather uncomfortably in front of D.C. The shorts she brought for me were shorter than any I had ever worn. The tank top she brought was too big in the chest area, and so I was basically naked. My top kept falling off and my ass was hanging out.
“Don’t worry about it. We have to go see Dave.”
I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t seen him, “Where is he?!”
“At the hospital.”
“What?!”
“Stop screaming, it’s all right.”
I grabbed her arm and dragged her outside. Heidi was waiting in the car for us. “We got specific instructions,” D.C. laughed, “He called me at like three in the morning and told me that if he didn’t call me by seven AM that we should come pick you up.”
“Dude, what the fu*k happened?”
“He wouldn’t say, but he says he’s all right.”
My palms were all sweaty. I wondered if something g horrible had happened to his mother or maybe like, she’d gotten hurt somehow. I wondered why he didn’t wake me.
Upon arrival at the hospital, I ran in, leaving Heidi and D.C. with the car to park it. I ran up to the woman at the desk. She said to wait a moment and then brought me back to one of the emergency rooms. Dave sat on the gurney thing in there with a bandage on his head.
“What happened?” I practically lunged at him, kissing his cheek.
“Careful,” he said, shielding his head with his hands.
“Are you okay? What about your mother?”
“We’re both fine.”
“What happened?”
“Well, I went out to see if she was okay, and she was in the hallway, crying on the floor. She’d cut herself on some of the broken bottle. I called 911. My mom started wigging out and hit me with the left over piece of bottle,” he looked ashamed.
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“I didn’t want you to worry.”
“Dave!” I hit his arm lightly. “Are you forgetting who you’re talking to? What was that you called me? ‘The only person that cares about you’?”
“I know,” he leaned his head against my chest. I wanted to hug him, but I was afraid I’d hurt his head.
“Where is your mother?”
“She was acting all crazy, and so they got a psychiatrist to talk to her. She signed into another alcoholism clinic.”
“Good,” I sat next to him on the crunchy paper of the hospital bed.
“The doctor said he’s gotta check me one more time before he lets me out. You can go with D.C. and Heidi back to your house.”
“I’ll wait with you,” I smiled.
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to, Dave. What don’t you get about that?”
“You know what I heard?” D.C. said, reclining on the couch.
“What?” the rest of us- Dave, Heidi, and I- said in unison.
“You know Deidre Bellinsky in my Ethics class?”
“I guess,” Heidi and Dave shrugged.
“I heard she’s pregnant with Professor Inez’s baby.”
“No way!” Heidi exclaimed, “Dirty, obese, smelly Professor Inez?”
D.C. nodded emphatically. “I don’t know what I would do if a professor got me pregnant.”
“I would cry,” I laughed, leaning back onto Dave.
“What is she going to do?” Heidi asked, “Have an abortion?”
“I hope not,” D.C. looked appalled.
“Why?” I asked.
I could feel Dave stiffen and become anxious behind me as D.C. said, “I would never have an abortion. I am so totally against it.”
