"Naw man, try like four," I laughed. I was with Trent, Zack & Jason underneath one of the interstate bridges. We were having a couple joints.
"Four ex boyfriends? That's like messed up man," Trent smiled with a dazed look. He leaned over & kissed me.
Trent & I had hooked up the previous week. We'd been going to each others houses right after school & doing nothing but having sex, doping up, watching tv & more sex. Typical shit, you know? He was my boyfriend now.
The group had attended a "Halloween party" on Saturday, which is where we were able to take advantage of what was offered to us by our gracious host. After all, why let a good hit go unsmoked? It was shameful.
Today after school, we met up under the turnpike. We brought what we had & decided to use it up. I had to use it up quick before I went home & got caught smelling like pot by my uncle. That was a beating I didn't need.
I took a long drag of my joint & breathed out, the cloud of smoke poofing towards the rest of the guys.
"Yeah well, that's just how hot I am," I joked.
We all talked about whatever came into our heads for a little while. And there's a lot of interesting things to talk about when you're high.
After a while, it began to rain. We could hear the thunderous pounding of the rain on the highway above us. I decided we should head home. Everyone agreed, probably not even knowing what they had just agreed to. Trent & I shared one last kiss before we all got out from under the road.
I'd been walking for no more than five minutes when it started to rain hard. And I mean hard. I hadn't expected it to rain at all, so all I was in was a t-shirt & jeans. I had only been in this part of the city once before & I had no idea where I was going.
I started jogging, hoping that if I could find a large enough place to stay a bit, I could wait for the rain to die down & then head home, wherever that was.
A good 10 minutes later, when I decided to stop jogging & take a break, I realized just how cold & wet I was. I looked at my fingers; they were practically white. My white shirt was completely see-through, which by itself, I didn't mind. But because I was freezing my fucking ass off, I decided maybe I'd better find some shelter.
I was shivering uncontrollably. My lower back was in excruciating pain because my body was tensing up to try to stay warm. I moaned in pain as my back twisted up, feeling like someone was putting dozens of bricks on it. I couldn't stop shaking & I realized that I suddenly felt very weak. I shrugged it off, figuring it was just in my head.
A while later, I was just jogging around, looking for something other than houses. I took my shirt off & held it up over my head so no new rain would hit me. I looked at my chest. I was nearly white. I felt my stomach. My skin was icy cold from the freezing rain. I thought holding up my shirt would do something. It didn't help much, seeing as water dripped from my shirt onto my head still, but at least it was better than nothing.
After a while, I stumbled over nothing, & a few minutes later, I actually couldn't feel the rest of my body, mostly my fingers & toes. By now, I had been outside in the pouring rain for at least an hour. Even though it was raining, I could feel my hairs trying to stand on end. I had goosebumps, I had trouble breathing & my hands were shaking as if they hand a mind of their own.
I started to realize that I was in bad shape, having been in freezing rain this long. I couldn't think straight & the only shelter I saw was a "No Parking" sign.
I couldn't feel my legs & I felt myself start to slide down against the pole. Soon enough I was sitting, knees up, against the street sign, being poured on by a fucking ocean. I closed my eyes & waited for the rain to just go the fuck away.
Ten more minutes went by. I heard a muffled noise but ignored it. Suddenly I felt something hit my face. It didn't hurt, but I felt it enough to open my eyes. It was a huge wave of water.
"Rory! Are you all right?" he yelled at my face. I glared at him.
Caleb was the last thing I needed now. And I was exhausted, not deaf.
"Caleb, what are you doing here?" I asked.
"I was driving by & I saw you, trying to get some fresh air," he smiled. Seriously Caleb? Really?
I cursed him silently.
"C'mon, let's go," Caleb said, grabbing my arm & lifting me to my feet. Once I was up though, I nearly collapsed, realizing that I had no feeling in my legs.
"I can't, I can't...Caleb, my legs, they're not...working," I mumbled.
"Here," he said, attempting to give me a piggy-back ride. Like hell. I pushed away the invitation to his back & just had him help me walk.
I blinked at him. He held me up & walked me over to his car & had me sit in the passenger's seat. Caleb walked around to the back of his car, got something out & then went back to the driver's side. He handed me about three towels.
"Wrap yourself in those. I'll put the heat on," he said.
I didn't even feel that cold anymore.
"Ok, so I figure that now we can go-"
"Caleb...just take me home ok?"
"We need to get you somewhere to warm up. Plus, you live far away & I've only been driving for a year & a half."
I closed my eyes & tried to feel...feeling. I realized that Caleb had the heat blasting & I couldn't feel it. I sighed in agony.
"I thought you lived near me."
"Well...that's my dad's house. My mom lives right on this street. I think we should have her look at you Rory. I think you need some medical attention or something."
"What I NEED, Caleb, is for you to leave me alone so I can rest."
He left me alone for a little bit until we made it to his mom's house. When he parked the car, he nearly jumped out of it & ran over to my side, where I was just getting out. He suddenly appeared under my arm, trying to keep me up. I gave a snort, but allowed it because to be honest, I needed help moving. I felt nauseous.
He put his coat over my head, exposing himself to this horribleness. He took me into his house where he led me to a nearby couch. I sat down, water pouring off my body onto his furniture.
"Hi mom!" he called. I looked around; I didn't see anybody.
"Hi honey!" came a voice. Didn't take a genius to tell it was his mom.
I felt sleepy & I was still shivering unbearably. My skin was hard & tight, my fingertips almost see-through white. My teeth were chattering & I was having trouble getting warm inside.
"My mom's a nurse," said Caleb.
I nodded, not hearing what he had said.
"Who's this?" I heard a voice behind me say. I closed my eyes & just tried to drift off.
"Mom, this is Rory. He's new this year. I just found him outside in the rain. I don't know how long he was in the rain for."
He didn't find me. I'm not just some lost animal.
"Rory, how long were you outside for?" asked his mom.
I didn't respond. I was drowsy.
"Do you know if it was like five minutes, half an hour, an hour...?"
I slowly shook my head no. I fell back against the couch. I felt as though just saying that had taken the rest of my energy away.
She walked around the couch & stood in front of me. She put two fingers against my neck. Then she put a hand on my chest, followed by examining my fingers & toes after she removed my shoes.
"Caleb, get all the wool blankets in the house & get a bucket of warm, not hot, water. Hurry up," she said. Caleb walked off. I closed my eyes to try to sleep. I was tired.
"Rory, honey, I need you to stay awake, ok? You have mild hypothermia right now. Staying out in the rain this cold for that long is dangerous."
I ignored her & attempted to sleep.
"Rory, you gotta wake up."
I didn't want to. I don't think I could have anyway.
Suddenly I felt her shaking my bare, frozen shoulders.
"Rory, if you fall asleep, it's going to be harder to warm you up."
The hypothermia was taking affect by now. I had gotten hypothermia before when I lived in Nome. That time I had gotten caught & lost in a snowstorm. I ended up falling on the steps of a house in the middle of nowhere. The owners drove me to the nearest hospital where they treated me. That was when I was 10.
I felt a warm rush all of a sudden. Caleb wasn't back yet, but I figured I must be warming up now.
"I'm fine now. I'm warming up," I said hoarsely.
"That's actually just a symptom Rory. Your body is still way too cold, you just THINK it's warming up. You're only going to get warmer once Caleb is back with blankets & water."
Just then her son returned, blankets under one arm & a giant bowl of water.
His mom quickly wrapped my limp body in the thickest blanket & stuck the bowl of water under my feet.
"Rory, you're going to need to take your jeans off."
My eyes snapped open.
"No," I said firmly.
"Your pants are soaked, which is weighing them down more. It's cutting off your circulation to your legs."
I glared at Caleb.
"You can't drag me in here," I looked back to his mom, "and tell me to get my pants off."
"I'm going to call work & ask them to get you a room. Caleb, take care of him," she said warmly & then walked off. Caleb nodded as she walked by.
"C'mon Rory, let's get your jeans off," he said, walking up to me & reaching for my pants. I found what little strength I had left left & used it to kick him hard in the stomach. It must have been enough energy because he went flat on his ass against the wall, 10 feet away.
"You ever touch me again I'll kick your ass through the fucking wall, got it?" I snapped. Caleb was clenching his stomach as he stood up, but came right back.
Before anything else happened, I blacked out from exhaustion.
By the time I came around, I noticed that I was naked except for my boxers. I was laying on the couch with a heavy wool blanket over me & clean sheets on the couch that I was laying on. I sat up & looked around groggily.
Caleb was snoozing in a nearby chair. I turned around to see his mother walking by with a cup of coffee in her hand towards her room. She was on the phone with someone, but I was too tired to hear what she was saying.
I yawned & suddenly realized that I was freezing. I immediately started shivering. I took it as a good sign that my body was going back to normal.
I closed my eyes & drifted off for a little while longer.
I woke up to somebody shaking me gently & suddenly lifting me up onto a stretcher. They brought me outside to an ambulance. I noticed that neither the sirens nor the lights were going off, so I figured this couldn't have been too much of an emergency.
"Rory."
I looked off to the side to see Caleb standing by his mother.
"I called the hospital & they're bringing you there just to have you checked out a bit. Nothing to be worried about," his mom smiled.
I was lifted up into the ambulance. A paramedic climbed into the back with me. As we drove off, the woman placed four small, very warm wet towels on my chest. My body became physically excited by the sudden warmth of the towels. I moaned in pleasure. And for the first time it wasn't actually sexual.
"Feels nice huh?" the woman asked, smiling.
"Yeah," I whispered.
We arrived at the hospital a few minutes later where I was brought into a room where a doctor came in to start checking me.
"Hey Rory, I'm Dr. O'Brian. How are you?" he exclaimed, shaking my hand firmly.
"Cold."
"Cold? Well then let's just see how cold you are. I see you alredy have your shirt off, good. Let me grab my stethoscope here & we'll check that heart of yours..." said the doctor. I felt the cool end of the object against my chest.
"All righty. Your heart rate is slower than it should be, but I'm sure it's just the hypothermia. You should be fine by tomorrow; it's a good thing Ms. Denino works here as a nurse."
"I s'pose."
"How d'you feel right now?"
"Like, physically?"
"Well, both physically & mentally."
I thought for a moment.
"Nauseous, groggy, dizzy...tired, really weak...ya know. All that."
"Hmm. Ok. Well, all we can do really is just to keep you warm. Make sure you get some cold medicines soon ok? After this, you're most likely going to have a cold."
"Like I haven't been cold enough."
"Hahaha," Dr. O'Brian laughed. "Sounds about right to me. So we're just gonna keep you here over night, just to be safe. You'll be fine. I'll have the heat to this room turned on & hopefully you'll warm up back to normal. Sound good?"
I nodded.
"Ok. You rest now. I'll be back in a little while to check up on you," he said, leaving the room.
Just as I turned my body to get cozy & drift to sleep, I heard the one voice that could keep me up all night. The obnoxious, overly happy voice that was simply too annoying for me.
"Hi Rory."
I turned back.
"Caleb...what are you doing here?"
"I'd thought I'd check up, ya know?"
"No, I don't know. I was just at your house."
He shrugged.
Just then, I saw Trent stride into the room, brush past Caleb & walk right up to my side.
"Hi," he said.
"Hey."
"So how ya doin'?"
"I'm a little chilly. But that's it I think. If there's more, than I haven't been told."
"Ok. Well I won't push it then. So what happened? You were just walking & then it rained & you got cold?"
"Yup, pretty much. Everybody's making such a big fucking deal out of it."
"Why?" Trent asked.
"I don't know. I've walked in rain before, not a big issue."
Trent laughed.
"Glad you're ok," he said.
I rubbed his arm with my fingers.
"So, I was think-" he began.
"Um, guys? I don't mean to interrupt, but I gotta get going, so-" Caleb butted in.
"Ok then. See ya," I waved.
Caleb stood there for a quick second, hesitating about something. But he made up his mind then & walked off.
"What was he doing here anyway?" Trent asked quietly.
"Well he drove by, forced me into his car, dragged me to his house, had his mother practically rape me & then stripped me of almost all my clothes."
Trent started laughing.
"What?"
"Oh c'mon, that's funny. I would've just like, risked it & run home."
"Well they DID keep me warm, Trent."
"Yeah but still, it's CALEB DENINO. You might as well stayed the night at Steve Urkel's house."
"That's a little exaggerated, don't you think?" I smiled to the reference.
Trent shrugged.
"Plus, I was out in the rain for at least an hour. I mean sure, I would've chosen a different place, but I didn't know where I was after we were under the bridge."
"Go back under the bridge then," he said flatly.
I rolled my eyes.
"I'm gonna stay here with you ok? If I head back home, my ol' man is gonna cut my throat for swigin' down his Whiskey. I figure he can't hurt me at a hospital."
"Fine," I laughed. "Get that chair & you can sit by me."
Trent stayed a few more hours with me until he was told by the doctor that visiting hours were up & that I'd be out of there by the next day anyway.
The next day, I signed myself out of the hospital, thanked the doctor for "all he had done" & headed home. Back to my uncle.
Who never even came.
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