posted on 29-Nov-2002 4:57:57 AM by gorillaz
Title: 3 AM
Author: Gorillaz
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of it
Summary: A short fic that I just had to write. Please read it. thanx




***

Rain poured heavily down as glass shattered onto the ground; an unrecognizable figure fell helplessly onto the pavement. Through the chaos, a familiar voice could be heard crying desperately, “help…. Help… help me…”; an arm covered in blood frantically reached for hope.
Sirens blared loudly…
RED
BLUE
RED
BLUE
Glowing lights flash violently.
Suddenly pitch BLACK appears and nothing remains: there are no sirens, no chaos, no people… only PITCH BLACK.
“AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” Alarming sunlight blinds me as I pry my eyes open; it feels as if I hadn’t opened them for days. I blink again and again, carefully analyzing my new environment. Where’s the shattered glass? Where’s the body? What happened to the sirens? Mysteriously they all vanished and instead, I found myself alone in an unfamiliar, pale yellow room with a sky blue border, wearing a thin, white nightgown on an uncomfortable bed.
“Meebeep. Meebeep. Meebeep” went this strange, little machine beside me. The machine reminded me of the annoying Road Runner character that I had seen on television several times.
Yet, confusing thoughts still lingered in my mind as I questioned myself for I did not know where I was. To reassure that I wasn’t dreaming again, I closed my eyes and suddenly, vivid images flashed…. A body lay on the cold cement but I could not distinguish the face; blood filled the ground and strangely, in the background a carousel turned endlessly; however, all these images did not make any sense to me.
Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes and zoomed back into the pale yellow room realizing that I was not dreaming; this had to be reality. Suddenly, the door of the room began to open and fear came upon me as I hid under the bed covers for safety.
“CCCccccreeeaaaaakkkkkk…..”
“Rat tap tap tap….” I could easily distinguish faint, small footsteps coming closer and closer to me by the second. As I felt a hand touch the top of my covers, my breath quickly became heavy with nervousness building.
Carefully, the hand lifted them off my head and I screamed at the top of my lungs, “AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
“Ahhhh!!! You scared me there missy but I’m glad to see that you’re awake.” I scanned the room for the voice; there stood an unfamiliar, stout woman with curly chestnut hair and friendly green eyes, wearing a bright blue uniform. The strange lady smiled at me but I did not trust her at all.
“Who are YOU? AND where am I?”
“Why I’m Ms. Deluca and I have been your nurse for the past couple days that you’ve been here at the Washington Memorial Hospital. We met yesterday… Liz Parker right?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you remember??”
“What! I don’t even know what you’re talking about and who’s this Liz… Liz… Parker girl anyway?” In my mind I was sure that Ms… Ms… Lady in the blue uniform had the wrong person. I ultimately had no idea who Liz Parker could be.
“Ummmm… you’re Liz Parker”
“Me? No, No, No… Ms….”
“Deluca?”
“Yes… Ms. Deluca, I swear that you have the wrong person!”
I looked at her puzzled expression but she bravely stated, “NO… I’m pretty sure I have the right person…. You know what? Check your hospital bracelet and I’ll double check your files.”
I followed her instructions and looked at my arms; there were purple-yellow bruises and disproportional cuts all over them and the strange this was that I had did not know where they came from. I sat there wondering as a glistening silver bracelet on my arm caught my eye, which had an engraved word: Liz; above it there was a laminated hospital bracelet that said:Liz Parker. Birth date: September 8, 1986. #123121365. I figured that I must be Liz Parker; somehow, someway I was.
Meanwhile, I noticed that the lady in the blue uniform carefully examined the files in her hands. She suddenly exclaimed, “Ohhhh!! You’re the girl that…”; however, she discontinued her sentence.
“Yes… ms… ms..”
“Deluca.”
“Yeah. Sorry, but anyway, Ms. Deluca what were you going to say?… I’m the girl that?”
“Oh nothing, it’s unimportant. Really it is. But I-uh.. I – uh… I must go and talk to the doctor now.”
Before I could ask anymore questions, she quickly left the room and the door shut behind her. That was one strange lady and I got the feeling that she was trying to hide something from me.
Instantaneously, my eyes became tired again and I closed them… falling into a deep, deep sleep.

* * * * * * *
“Hey Liz!” said a familiar voice and face. The teenage boy that spoke was tall,
had, dark hair, honey eyes and a great, big, welcoming smile. He wore a blue number 8 jersey, a Nike sports bag and carried a Spalding basketball under his right arm.
I smiled and responded, “Hey… it’s…..” Abruptly, the imaged blurred and it became PITCH BLACK, yet, again. I opened my eyes and awoke in the middle of the night with cold sweat trickling down my face. I know that boy… I know I have seen him many times before but I can’t remember his name for some odd reason.
Closing my eyes, the vision reappeared; it was the same, familiar teenage boy. This time, he approached my locker and said, “Hey! Wassup Liz? “
“Hey! I’m doing good!”
“So you’re gonna to be at ma game tomorrow night right?
“Of course! Is that even a question M-m-m-m-m- ….” Before I was able to finish that short sentence, darkness appeared again.
Frustrated, I sighed and screamed, “UH! WHY can’t I remember your NAME!!?!?” Now I know it should start with a “M”. Errghhh…I am getting absolutely no where with this and I don’t even know why this guy is supposed to be so important but I feel as if I’ve known him for a while. There’s this connection that always lingers and these ideas are constantly within my mind… Maybe this isn’t real and I’ve just gone insane.

* * * * * *
The smell of freshly brewed coffee and squeezed orange juice awoke my senses. It must be breakfast; time to wake up I thought. Slowly, I stretched on the bumpy bed; it still felt as if everything that happened yesterday was just a hallucination.
“Good morning Ms.Parker. I’ve brought you breakfast. I hope you still remember me because you had some trouble with my name yesterday,” a familiar lady said, who was wearing a bright blue uniform once again.
Hmmmm who is this lady? Ms… Ms… something… “You’re Ms… Ms….” Suddenly a name flashed into my mind: DELUCA. “Deluca – You’re Ms. Deluca”. I felt proud that I had achieved a name… FINALLY.
“Right… at least your memory is becoming a bit better and faster.”
Ms. Deluca kindly handed me my breakfast of eggs and ham, which I hungrily ate… “By the way… gulp… how long have I…gulp gulp… been here?”
“Well actually about four.. no… five days now. Yes, today’s the 18th of September…. Five days. I’m sure of it.”
“It’s still 2002 right?”
“Of course silly!”
“Just checking. And this is still earth?”
“Ms. Deluca. Uhhhhhh…. Ms. Deluca uhhhh… Ms. Deluca to the front desk please,” called a congested sounding lady voice on the speakers.
“Oh that’s me. I’ll be right back.” Again, Ms. Deluca quickly left as the door shut behind her.
Several minutes later, there was a knock on the door again and a voice called out, “May we come in Liz?”
“Sure… I guess.” Surprisingly, an unfamiliar lady and man walked in; the man had short, dark brown hair, chestnut eyes, was nicely dressed in a white lab coat, black slacks and had a nice set of pens in his left pocket. The lady wore coke bottle glasses, had funny blonde hair, blue eyes, wearing bright purple eye makeup, big gold earrings and clothing that did not match at all; she looked like a clown gone wrong if you asked me.
“Why hello, I’m your doctor Liz. Doctor Whitman,” said the nicely dressed man as he shook my hand.
“Liz. Liz. Liz. Are you okay my baby?” asked the clown lady.
“Ummm…. Who are you?” I had wondered why she had called me her baby… maybe they thought I was only 10 or something and sent me a clown to cheer me up, so I expected her to reply with “I’m BoBo the clown….dadadadadaddaa” but instead she said….
“I’m you’re MOTHER Liz!!!”
Uh oh.. BoBo the clown was my mom… I mean my Mom was my mom… not Bobo the clown… I played along with the game, “Ummm.. sorry I can’t remember things as well nowadays. Feeling old…-er…” Inside I felt really guilty because I could not believe I mistook my own mother for a clown… well at least she doesn’t know that so I guess it’s okay, I contemplated within myself.
“It’s okay honey. You’re going to get better and that’s all that matters.”
“Well Liz, why don’t we start our session today,” Dr. Whitman suggested.
“Sessions? WHY DO I NEED SESSIONS? Am I crazy or something?”
“No no no.. you’ve got it all wrong! You see Liz. We’re trying to trigger your memory so we can figure out what happened to you that night before you got your condition,” Dr. Whitman replied.
“What night? What condition?”
“See what I mean?”
“No…”
“Well just listen to my voice and your mom will just sit there listening okay?”
“Sure… I guess…”
“I will be asking you questions okay… just sit and relax… take deep breaths. Have you had any visions coming back to you?”
I wondered whether I should tell him all the visions I had been seeing lately but I realized that I did not entirely trust Dr.Whitman. Also, I had the fear that he’d call me psycho and put me in an asylum.
“No.. I don’t know….” was my reply to every question.
At the end of the session Dr. Whitman said, “Well maybe we’ll have better luck in a couple days.”
My mother thought she was whispering but I could hear her clearly, “Liz has a hard time trusting men… especially after her father walked out when she was only about 10 years of age. She’s been traumatized ever since and I would have to say that it takes years to gain her trust…the only guy she could ever trust was Max… her best friend since she was five.”
-Click-MAX. That name… that name sounded so familiar… “Mom can you show me a picture of Max?”
Startled she said, “You remember MAX?”
“Yes… but I’d like to see a picture.” My mom dug into her purse and found a picture of Max. Carefully I analyzed it….he had the exact same gorgeous smile, bright eyes, and dark hair as the guy in my visions. Max… he was definitely the one that continually appeared in my mind and I was sure of it… I was sure of it….

* * * * *
I was slowly walking through familiar hallways, with blue lockers and white walls with paintings of the school symbol of an Eagle………….
“Hey Liz! Wait up girl!” a voice calls from behind.
Without looking I knew who it was “Yeah Max…what’s up?”
“You’re watching my game tonight right?”
“Max! You’ve asked me everyday this week doofus. Obviously… what are best friends for?” At times, I really wondered what Max was thinking. I mean, being best friends since the age of 5, one would think they knew the other really really well….
“Good question….Ummm to give excellent advice about GIRLS!”
“Is that ALL you think about?” I laughed within my head… haha that goes to show the minimal mind of Max!
“I’m just playing Liz… you know that!” he said with sly, yet, ever so innocent smile.
“BrrRrrrrrrIIiinnnnnNGgggggg”
“See you later Max!”
“I need you there Liz…You know I need you there….”
Suddenly, darkness occurs again and the figures vanish…all I can hear is a desperate, crying voice, “Helllpppp me… helpppp me……”; that voice by the shattered piece of glass that sounded familiar, yet, I still had absolutely no idea who it was.

* * * * *
“Dribble… Dribble … SWISH!!!!!” The crowd goes wild with me as I scream jumping up and down forMax, who had just scored the latest basket. It is the forth quarter of a high, intense game in the State Championship finals: West Roswell High Eagles vs. the rival Easton Braves. I looked at the scoreboard with anticipation; only 1 minute left and it’s an even game at 80-80 a piece.
Again, Max dribbles the ball down the court and zip-zap-zoom by three defenders and SWISH! 82-80 Eagles. Max is absolutely spectacular on the court; he is able to soar extremely high and run amazingly fast! I always admired him as he was the one who taught me how to play ball at the age of 6 and look at us now, both captains of the senior Varsity teams.
BAM! 10 seconds left… the opposing team takes it down the court. SWISH! Tie game at 82. A timeout is called by Coach Jackson from the Eagles to make a final play of the season; however, the pressure is on as this is the play that may put all their hard work into the garbage bin.
“Phhhhhhweeeeeet” the whistle blows and everything seems to go into slow motion within the last 10 seconds of the game. I watch with butterflies building inside my stomach and Max takes the ball waiting for the clock to go down: 5, 4, 3, 2… he releases the ball…
“Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppp… SWISHHHhhhhH!!!!” The basket counts… the basket counts! There he is smiling right at me with his bright honey eyes glowing with happiness.
“We would like to announce the MVP of the game… #8 from the Eagles…MAX EVANS!” calls the announcer.
After receiving his award, Max instantly runs towards me “We did it Liz… We did it… I can’t believe it!” I could not stop smiling as I knew that Max had accomplished one of his lifelong dreams; it had finally come true…
My conversation with Max is abruptly interrupted. “HEYYyyyYYyyyYY Liz andMax! It’s party time! You guys going to join us tonight?” asked Kyle Valenti, another member of Max’s basketball team. He was one rich kid with a nice, cherry red Mustang but he had a bad reputation.
“We’ll pass” answers Max sharply.
“Pass? Pass what? Like totally!!!!” I could tell by the sound of her perky voice that it was Tess Harding, the captain of the “cheerleading” squad.
“Come on my parents are out of town for the weekend”, pressures Sean Marx, another tag along varsity player.
“Duddddddeee and dudette! It’ll be like totally awesome… like you know, like totally spectacularatocious!” exclaims Courtney Jeffries, who was a good friend of Tess Harding from the “cheerleading” squad.
“I don’t think that is even a word,” I impatiently argue. This is stupid; these kids are stupid for doing drugs I thought. I’ve got my future to think about.
“We said we’d pass and that’s final!”
“No need to get all defensive man...whatever you snooze, no booze! Your choice… ha and have fun doing what? HOMEWORK!” they all tease as they leave the gym.
After the jerks had left, Max looked me straight in the eyes saying “Liz… don’t listen to them at all. They aren’t true friends. You’re the smartest girl I know and besides you’re best friends with the best looking guy ever… ya know?”
“Ha FUNnnnnYYyyyy…ya dork!”
“Hey by the way thanks for coming… I couldn’t have played without you here.”
“Max… Don’t worry we’re here for each other right?”
“Right. Oh hey, I have something for you.” Max carefully took out a gray box with a baby blue ribbon tied delicately around it and gives it to me. “Okay… well open it.”
I open the gray box and there I find a precious silver bracelet with my name engraved on it.
“Before you put it on read the back….”
“Liz…. You will always be my angel and I will always be the one... that glowing star hovering in your sky. Best friends for life. Love, Max.” Excitedly, I give him a hug while he put the bracelet on my left wrist. “Thank you Max…. MUAH!” I plant a kiss right on his cheek and he just gives me his sly, yet, innocent smile.
“Come on let’s get out of here….” he says.
I vividly remember the rain pouring outside and having to run for Max’s blue Jeep; we were already soaked by the time we got to his car but were completely laughing our heads off. The radio came on and a song that we both loved was being played. Norah Jones "Come away with me."

"I love this song," I comment.

"Me too," he smirks back at me. We just stay there staring into each others eyes. He brushes back a piece of my hair that has fallen out of place. He leans in and I close my eyes. I feel our lips come into contact and I melt into him. He pulls back and his hand hovers over top mine. Our fingers intertwine and that's when I notice there is a folded piece of paper between our hands. I reach to open it but he stops me. "read it later...please." he whispers. I nod my head in agreement. Max reaches for his keys and starts the engine.


Max carefully drove on the slippery, wet roads; he always drove safely and was the best driver I knew.
Crrraccccckkkk!!!! Shattered glass pieces suddenly flew aimlessly onto the ground; my body hit the sides, juggling. I remember soaring through the air and BAM! I hit my head on the cold cement… there was nothing but PITCH BLACK……..

* * * * *
I awoke in a frenzied atmosphere but I could hear a familiar voice desperately crying, “help… help me…” It was Kyles voice… the others simply had minor cuts.
I looked around and saw my surroundings. Blood was completely everywhere on the pavement and as I slowly sat up I realized that I was bleeding as well. My head began to throb with pain and it felt as if it were going to explode; that was when I realized that I had a tremendous gash on my forehead. Meanwhile, my back also ached with whiplash as the rain continued to heavily fall.
I saw two vehicles completely totaled: a new, cherry red mustang and a blue Jeep.
Immediately, sirens began to blare.
RED
BLUE
RED
BLUE
Glowing lights began to violently flash. A man wearing a Paramedic’s uniform came towards me. “Are you okay? Hmm…. Just follow me.”
I was feeling quite limp so they placed me on a stretcher. As I was being rolled towards the ambulance I saw an unrecognizable figure that lay helplessly on the cold, wet, pavement….

* * * * *
I tossed and turned in my sleep as hands shook me awake. “Are you okay honey?”
I opened my eyes and saw the pale, yellow room again. I sat up in utter shock breathing inconsistently….“It [gasp] all makes sense now mom… it all [gasp] makes sense. Everything [gasp] makes sense.”
“What are you talking about sweetie? Oh you’ll be okay you’ll be okay.” My mom put her arms around me and cradled me.
“No. I remember everything. I remember everything… I-I-I-I-I-I-I hit my head on the cement mom… and I could hear Kyles’ voice…. And… and…there was blood everywhere; on my hands, my head and the ground…Sirens… sirens: red, blue, red, blue flashes…. There was rain… heavy rain… and-and-and…” I could not finish my sentence.
Painful emotions filled up within my soul and tears rolled down my cheeks, while I shivered. It seemed as if the accident was only yesterday because the images remained fresh in my mind. The images of hearing Kyle mumble in pain and seeing the 3 other teenagers that were in the car with him; however, the sad thing was that they got away free having only a few bumps and bruises. They received their lives for their stupid mistake, while my best friend Max lay lifeless on the pavement. They didn’t even have the guts to apologize for their actions; they didn’t care at all, and all I have left of Max are the sweet memories and his great big smile that I will cherish forever in my heart.
As I cry with sorrow, I look out my hospital window where I see a star glowing far within the deep dark skies. I sigh with pain, as I know that I have truly discovered reality; the reality that my innocent best friend has been taken away from me but I know this is not goodbye…I'll see him again. I look
to the corner of my bed and that's when I see a folded pair of my pants. I grab them and reach into the pockets. As I find what I'm looking for a tear rolls down my cheek. On my hand I stare at tattered folded piece of paper. I'm almost afraid to open it, as it is my last memory of him. In a way, our last exchange. But I open it anyway..........


Hey Liz,

Okay.... I've been thinking and I just couldn't sleep. I just had to write my thoughts down on paper. Well it’s 3 AM but you of all people know how much I love to write. It started out as random thoughts but has turned into a poem. So let me just say that this is a poem that I wrote for you.


there’s nothing you can say
nothing you can do
there’s nothing in between
you know the truth
nothing left to face
there’s nothing left to lose
nothing takes your place
when they say
you’re not that strong
you’re not that weak
it’s not your fault
and when you climb
up to your hill
up to your place
I hope you will………

Live your dreams……..


Don’t let anyone tell you how to live.

If I gave this to you it means I’ve lived my dream and we’re state champs………whoooooooooooohooooooooooo,

friends forever, Love Max.




END








[ edited 2 time(s), last at 6-Dec-2002 5:34:41 AM ]
posted on 1-Dec-2002 2:10:00 AM by gorillaz
thanx *happy*

[ edited 1 time(s), last at 1-Dec-2002 11:48:29 AM ]
posted on 1-Dec-2002 11:48:53 AM by gorillaz
feedback plz
posted on 2-Dec-2002 4:21:45 AM by gorillaz
thanx for reading my story.......
posted on 2-Dec-2002 3:52:13 PM by gorillaz
I'm glad that you liked my story....it really helps to keep writing.......thanx
posted on 3-Dec-2002 3:45:29 AM by gorillaz
thank u for all the feedback *happy*
posted on 4-Dec-2002 12:50:12 PM by gorillaz
thanks so much for the feedback.....hehehe...it makes me so happy that you liked the stroy...........as for continuing the story....I don't know.....we'll see.

thanx