Friends with Consequences Ch. 15-20

"I'm leaving everyone! I'll see you all on Monday!" she cheerfully said to her coworkers, just as she was about to reach the door.

"See you later, Linda!" one girl cheerfully said. "I hope you have a good weekend! Any big plans?"

Almost laughing at her own expense, Linda admitted, "I'm just excited to spend the next two days at home, drinking hot chocolate and watching TV!"

Her coworkers laughed as they said their goodbyes once again. Then, putting on a brave face, Linda pushed her way through the door and battled the cold weather.

Carefully stepping through the snow in her black boots, she jumped into her van and immediately blasted the heat as high as it could go. She grabbed the steering wheel and began shivering before taking her hands off and rubbing them together for warmth. I really need to get one of those steering wheel warmers,she joked herself. My poor little hands just can't handle the cold.

After a very slow drive, she finally got to her apartment, where she opened the door and was cheerfully greeted by her dog. With a big smile, she began petting him before quickly changing into sweats.

With her boots and jacket still lying on the floor, she made her way to the kitchen. Sorry, Michelle! No cleaning routine for me today. I'm just going to relax!

Once her dog was fed, she fixed herself a big bowl of ramen and a warm cup of tea. "Finally!" she exclaimed, hopping into her favorite chair as she set up her warm meal. "Two days of this is just what I wanted. Happy Birthday to me!"

Just as she was getting comfortable, she noticed her dog staring up at from his normal spot. She looked down at him and immediately noticed a sad face. "I guess I should take you out to pee," she said, pulling the blanket off before moving the tray table out of her way. "Let's go, Duke."

Bundled up once again, even though she expected it to be a short trip outside, she and the dog carefully made their way down the stairs before going into the grassy area where he liked doing his business. With all the grass covered in snow, Linda didn't realize she had reached a spot of concrete. After accidentally stepping on it, her foot slipped, causing her to fall right on her butt. "Ouch!" she yelled, as she looked around, hoping nobody had seen her clumsy mistake.

Linda took her time getting up, but her dog suddenly ran up and licked her face. "Duke!" she yelled, while laughing at his playfulness. "What are you doing?!"

Carefully, she got up to her feet, but her dog was still excited. As he ran in circles around her, she started giggling. "Is this what you really wanted? You just wanted to come out here so we could play?"

The young woman chased her dog around in the snow for several minutes, pretending as if she could ever catch him. Like a good boy, he never went too far from her, just allowing Linda to get close enough to make things interesting.

When they finally went back inside, both the cute brunette and her young dog were left breathing heavier than they expected. After sitting back down and getting herself comfortable again, she was just about to turn the TV back on when her phone started to buzz. Seeing the name on her screen, she quickly picked it up and exclaimed, "Patricia!"

"How are you doing, Linda!?" her former roommate asked. "Doing anything fun on your special day?"

"Nothing special. I just had my therapy session this morning, and now that I'm done with work, I'm going to sit back and watch TV. I might even make myself a cup of hot chocolate later."

"That sounds great! I'm glad you're having such a relaxing evening!"

"So, what's up, Girl?" Linda cheerfully asked. "What's going on with you?"

"My mom and I have been pretty busy with the coffee shop we opened up," Patricia explained, sounding a little more serious. "A couple of our workers recently quit, so we're really short staffed."

"Oh, no... That's not good..."

"It's been kind of stressful, but we're making it, so far. I was just thinking... if you wanted to make some extra cash, you can pick up some hours at our coffee shop whenever you'd like."

"I don't really want to pick up more hours," Linda joked. "But I like the idea of helping you and your mom out. And the extra cash wouldn't hurt either, of course."

"You're the best, Linda!" her roommate quickly exclaimed, relieved to find some potential help. "I'll text you the details and the available shifts, okay?"

"Sounds great! Thanks, Patricia!"

Linda ended the call with a big smile before grabbing the remote. Okay, last interruption of the day before I finally relax. Unfortunately, as she grabbed her cup of hot tea, she noticed her phone buzzing again. Maybe not...

Much to her confusion, she didn't recognize the number. Unaware of who it might be, she answered, "Hello?"

With a serious tone, a voice she didn't recognize greeted, "Hello, am I speaking with Linda?"

"Yes... This is her... Who is this?"

"This is Officer Baker from the Clark County Police Department," the voice responded, causing Linda's heart to stop. "Do you happen to know a Maximilian?"

Everything went silent around the young woman, and all she could hear was her heart beating. "Yeah... we were neighbors, growing up."

"We've been trying to get in contact with his parents but we've been unsuccessful."

"I believe they went out of the country for vacation," Linda responded with a nervous look on her face. "Is... Max okay?"

"Ma'am... he was involved in a pretty bad accident."

*******************

After a thirty-minute drive that felt like several hours, Linda finally made it to the Clark County Hospital. She still didn't know what was going on, but after clutching onto the steering wheel and straining the entire drive, her body was already exhausted.

Slowly, she entered a room and found Max lying on the bed. As she cautiously approached, she started to notice the bandages on his head, the scrapes all over his body, and a cast on his arm.

"Oh Max..." she mumbled as she slowly approached her former neighbor, shaking. "What happened to you?"

Linda noticed his heart monitor operating normally, giving her the relief that he was okay for the moment. However, it wasn't enough to erase the overwhelming cloud hovering over her heart.

She didn't know whether it was okay or not, but she couldn't help herself from gently grabbing his hand. Still in shock, Linda stared at his face for several minutes, thinking about how different it looked, bruised and battered, than it did when they were growing up together.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked at her, sending a jolt throughout her entire body. "Linda..." he whispered with his faint voice.

Holding back tears, Linda sniffled and responded, "Max... What happened to you?"

"Linda... I don't know... They said I was in an accident but... I don't remember."

"Do you even remember driving?"

"I don't... remember... anything, really..."

Before the frightened woman could ask another question, a nurse knocked on the door before walking in. "Hello... Are you Linda?"

"Oh, yes Ma'am," the Linda answered, letting go of Max's hand before approaching the nurse. "Do you know what happened?"

"We don't have all the details of the accident," the nurse responded, shuffling through some paperwork. "There's a report number that was left for you, along with the information on where his stuff is. But from my understanding, another car collided with his in an intersection."

"Oh, God..." Linda gasped, placing a hand over her mouth. "I tried to ask him what happened, but he doesn't seem to remember anything..."

"I believe his head slammed into the window pretty hard. He suffered a severe concussion so he might have lost his short-term memory."

After a painful grimace, the young woman asked, "Is he going to be okay?"

"He's going to be fine," the nurse answered, allowing Linda to have a sigh of relief. "He was pretty bad when he got here, but luckily, he has progressed really well throughout the day. Unfortunately, he has a broken arm and a small fracture in his hip, so he might not be able to do much for a while, but it could have been so much worse."

"What about his memory? Is that a normal thing for someone who's been in an accident?"

"Short-term memory loss is common for head injuries. Typically, the patient will eventually retain all of their memory, except for the accident. He may never remember exactly what happened when he was driving."

"Oh... okay," Linda said, taking a deep breath. "How long is he going to be in here?"

"We can actually release him to you if you're willing to take care of him. We would just need you to sign off on a few things."

"Oh...I don't know about that but... I can ask him if he's okay with that."

Linda went over and gently tapped on Max's hand, causing him to open his eyes and look at her. "Hey... the hospital staff wants to know if I'm taking you home... Do you want that?"

Gingerly, Max started to sit up as he focused on his former neighbor. "Oh... uh... You don't need to do that... if you don't want to."

With the soft voice, the brunette responded, "Max... this is about what you want... Would you rather spend the night here or would you rather I take you home so you can sleep in your own bed."

After looking around uncomfortably, Max stared into the eyes of his childhood friend. "I'd rather sleep in my own bed... Can you take me?"

"Yeah," Linda responded, still looking just as worried as she did when she first walked in. "I can take you."

*******************

Max remembered his address and even knew how to get home without using his GPS. However, there wasn't much else he remembered besides that.

Throughout the drive, Linda could tell how uncomfortable he was, from the pain and the inability to remember what happened. Trying to make conversation, she asked him several questions, hoping she could help him, but almost everything she asked was met with, "I don't know," or, "I don't remember."

As they got into Max's neighborhood, Linda was finally able to gain some ground. "You're wearing nice clothes. Maybe you were going somewhere, like work?"

"Probably..." the injured man said as he looked down at his outfit. Until then, it hadn't even occurred to him to think about what he was wearing.

"Where do you work?"

"Not long after you left college, I got my real estate license and became an agent... I was probably going to the office... or showing some houses... before I crashed."

Not wanting Max to think about the car accident, she continued to ask about his job. "I didn't know you became a real estate agent. I never even knew you were interested in that kind of thing."

"My roommate had a friend who was recruiting real estate agents for a company," Max explained, looking as if he was using a lot of effort to remember. "After I got my license... I started doing really well... and I realized I couldn't do that and school at the same time... so I left college."

Linda almost had to do a double-take after hearing Max had quit school. Even though she knew his circumstances were different from her own situation, to hear Max didn't finish his academics was completely unexpected.

"You quit school? I never would have guessed..."

"My parents weren't too happy about it but... I was doing so well... I figured I could do even better if I didn't have to work around my school schedule."

The young man then shook his head in frustration. "Where are my parents, anyway? The nurse kept asking me... but I didn't know the answer."

"They went to Europe for vacation, but they should be back next week. Does any of this sound familiar to you?"

Looking down, Max began shaking his head in frustration. "It sounds kind of familiar... but I don't remember them leaving..."

"Well... I'll let them know you're okay through social media," Linda said as she parked her van. Then, looking over at the noticeably exhausted man, she asked, "I don't know how they found my number, but is there anyone I should contact for you... like Allie?"

Max looked at Linda before shaking his head. After all they had been through, he appreciated the way she took his relationship into consideration. "Allie and I aren't together anymore... I haven't spoken to her... in a long time."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that..." Linda responded, putting her head down awkwardly. "Even though there was a point in her life when she desperately wanted Max to leave his girlfriend, she didn't take pleasure in hearing they had broken up. Ultimately, she knew he didn't want to be with her, so ending his relationship with his ex-girlfriend would only mean problems for Max.

"I need to tell my work... but I don't know... anything..."

"Let's not worry about that now," Linda said in a gentle voice. "You should just rest tonight, like the nurse instructed."

As they went inside, Linda tried not to get distracted by Max's cozy little home. Instead, she focused on getting him to bed and preparing his medicine.

When Linda returned to his room, she noticed a completely frustrated look on his face. He was sitting in bed, staring down into his lap as he grimaced painfully. "What's wrong?" she quickly asked.

"I just.... I don't remember anything!" Max said, with tears swelling up in his eyes. "I don't know if I have work tomorrow... I don't know who to contact... I don't know what I was doing... I don't know anything about the accident... I don't know... anything at all..."

Linda carefully put the glass of water and medication on the nightstand before sitting down on the bed. Much to her surprise, Max immediately moved towards her and put his head on her shoulder. Without thinking about it, she wrapped her arms around him and combed her fingers through his hair, hoping to comfort him in any way possible.

"Tomorrow morning, I'll go find your car and look for your stuff," she said, holding his head carefully against her shoulder. "And the nurse told me your memory should be fine. You just need to get some rest and it'll eventually come back to you. I'm sure getting your work stuff will help you remember what you were doing."

"Can you stay here with me a bit longer?" Max asked, pulling himself away for a moment.

Linda suddenly went frozen as she stared into his teary eyes. "I don't know... if that's a good idea... I don't know if you remember... but we weren't really on the best of terms..."

"I know... but I feel much better with you here," the frustrated young man explained, looking down. "I'm having such a hard time remembering anything... It's just really nice being with someone I'm so familiar with..."

Nodding her head, Linda answered, "Okay, Max." She then embraced him again, holding his head against her shoulder as she massaged his scalp. "I'll stay a little longer."

"Thank you Linda..."

"Of course, Max."

*******************

The next morning, Linda went to the junkyard where Max's car was stored, hoping the salvage some of his items. With the police report in hand, she was granted permission to search for his car.

Some of these cars are really beat up, she thought herself as she walked through the area, bundled up for the cold. I wonder how bad his car is.

As she turned the corner, she could make out a pile of junk that happened to be the same color as Max's car. However, as she got closer, she slowly realized that it was indeed his car, completely destroyed.

"Oh Max..." she whispered herself with a sad voice. With every step she took, a different memory of their relationship throughout the years started to replay through her mind. Although they were good memories, she was shaking as the images clashed with the sight of the vehicle.

Her heart raced as she got closer and closer. She knew the accident was bad after seeing the state Max was in when she got to the hospital, but seeing the driver's side caved in made her realize how lucky he was not to be killed.

Still shaking, she cautiously opened the passenger door and found his bag, and several papers scattered everywhere. After moving the bag out of the car, she sat in the passenger seat; the same passenger seat she had sat in so many times in the past and reflected on their relationship. Then, staring at the driver's side window, she focused on all the cracks that had webbed out from the middle. Looking even closer, she noticed all the droplets of blood that were still stuck on the window.

"Oh Max..." she whispered once again, as she reached over and gently placed her hand on the window, touching his dried blood with her fingertips.

Her happy memories of their relationship suddenly faded as a dark thought took over her mind. Max... What if I really did take those pills that night... I wouldn't have been there for you in your time of need... How could I be so selfish?!

The tears started to flow as she curled up in the passenger seat. Burying her head in her own lap, she broke down, knowing she was lucky they were both alive.

"Max... I'm so sorry..."