Three days passed in a haze.
Roman barely left his dorm as his body still ached, and moving too much sent sharp pains lancing up his side.
Every time he shifted, the makeshift bandages tugged at his skin,
Serving as a constant reminder of how stupidly unprepared he'd been.
Charlotte never called.
Neither did Damien.
They were dead, certainly.
And he didn't try to reach out either.
He tricked himself into believing it was fine.
They were probably alive and needed time to come around,
But deep down in his heart, he knew that this was not the case,
He needed time to accept the fact that they were gone.
But the unwrapped pain sat like a weight in his chest, heavier than any bruise.
Ethan wasn't around much either.
The first time he had stayed in the room all day,
Roman had heard him come in late at night, rustling around in the dark.
The second day, he was barely in the dorm at all.
And by the third, Roman realized Ethan was actively avoiding him.
Maybe he thought Roman was sick.
Or maybe he just didn't want to deal with him.
Something was wrong and Roman couldn't figure out what it was or why he was acting that way,
In fact, his head hurt from just thinking about his roomie's behavior,
Either way, Roman was alone.
He lay on the bed from the break of dawn till when the evening light cast long shadows across the ceiling,
He just stayed there,
His mind blank as he stared at nothing in particular,
Suddenly, the ringing of his phone jolted him from his peace.
"Lisa is calling" , The automated voice stated monotonously,
For a second, he looked away from the phone as he considered ignoring it.
Then, before he could talk himself out of it or even think twice about it,
He grabbed the phone and pressed it to his ear.
"Hey." He whispered, hoping she would ignore the way his voice came out rough.
He cleared his throat over the brief silence on the line.
"Roman?" Lisa's voice came in softly, yet one could hear the hesitation in her tone,
"Yeah, it's me, Hey" He smiled gently,
"Hey, I—uh, I haven't seen you in school the past few days. I just wanted to know if you were okay, I guess?" She mumbled,
"Yeah. Just… feeling a bit under the weather." He said as his hands tightened around the phone,
There was a short pause on the line before he heard her continue,
"Like, sick sick? Or…"
"Not contagious, if that's what you're asking," he chuckled, forcing a light tone.
"Okay, good. But seriously, are you alright? You don't usually miss class." Lisa smiled as she sipped her drink before placing it on a table,
Roman exhaled as he ran a hand through his hair.
"I'll be fine. Just needed some rest." He assured her,
"Are you coming over today?" She suddenly asked, after the awkward silence that followed his assurance,
"Huh?" Roman whispered as he blinked in confusion.
"To tutor me?" she clarified. "I mean, you did promise."
Right.
That.
He sighed as he stared at the wall, lips pursed in contemplation,
The last thing he wanted to do was drag himself out of bed, let alone hold a study session.
But Lisa sounded hopeful, and for some reason, that made it harder for him to refuse her.
"…Yeah," he said, even though his body immediately protested. "Yeah, I'll be there."
"Great!" Lisa sounded relieved as she sat upright and smiled, clutching on to her phone excitedly.
"I'll see you soon, then?"
"Yeah," he muttered, immediately regretting his decision.
"See you." She giggled happily,
And as the call ended, Roman sighed and let the phone drop on to his chest,
He tilted his head to the side and glanced at his folded laundry on the desk,
Slowly, he lifted himself from the bed while groaning in pain,
What the hell was he doing?
He should be on permanent bed rest, but here he was, risking his health for a girl,
Roman smiled as he sat up in the bed, Charlie wouldn't have let him hear the end of it if she was still alive and well.
He reached out and grabbed his clothes, shrugging it on as he winced and cursed at the pain he felt,
After dressing up, he opened his phone and scrolled through the Lyft app,
Swiping past the available cars that lifted off the holographic screen as he tried to figure out what to choose,
The signal went flat and the app crashed immediately,
"Come on" He groaned as he tried to reboot it to no avail,
He gave up with a sigh and made his way to the door, slamming it shut behind him,
His breaths were slow, uneven, and his side ached worse with every step that he took.
The city hummed around him, its artificial glow reflecting off the damp pavement.
It had been three days since he last saw Charlotte or Damien,
Three days since everything had fallen apart.
Three days, and neither of them had even bothered to check if he was alive.
Ethan had been around less and less, barely even stopping by their dorm except to grab some things before disappearing again.
For the first time in a long time,
Roman felt truly alone.
It was probably better that way.
But the cool evening air did little to ease the stiffness in his limbs so he ignored it.
He had to keep moving.
Lisa was expecting him.
He had promised, even though he didn't know why he had agreed to go,
As his body still felt like ine big bruise, and his wounds weren't healing as well as they should.
Maybe it was the lack of proper first aid, or the stress, or the fact that he'd barely eaten anything in the past two days.
Or, maybe it was because he couldn't stop thinking about how easily his friends could have killed him.
But it didn't matter.
Lisa had called.
Lisa.
And despite everything,
Despite the exhaustion weighing him down, the guilt gnawing at his chest, and the resentment he was trying desperately to push down,
He still wanted to see her,
As much as she wanted to see him,
Even if it hurt.
His phone buzzed in his pocket as he limped toward a convenience store,
The glow of its fluorescent lights spilled out and onto the sidewalk as he walked through the doors and put his phone to his ear,
"Hey," he said, trying to sound normal, as though his body didn't feel like it was on fire,
Lisa's voice was light, but there was concern laced in it.
"Hey, where are you? You said you were coming, right? You don't normally take this long" She whispered.
Roman exhaled, shifting his weight onto his good side as he picked up some food items off the rack,
"Yeah. I'm on my way. Just walking." He answered,
"Walking? But you're sick! Why didn't you take a Lyft?" She gasped,
He grabbed a small box of bandages and an antiseptic bottle,
Grupping them a little too tightly as he made his way to the counter.
"App wasn't working," he muttered.
Lisa didn't respond right away.
But when she did, her voice sounded softer,
"You sound… off. Are you okay?" She inquired,
Roman hesitated as his body tensed while his mind went into overdrive , thinking about what to reply with,
Say you're fine. Say you're just tired. Say something.
Instead, he swallowed and admitted,
"I'm just really tired, that's ab-" he said as he walked out of the shop and proceeded to cross the street.
His eyes widened and he gasped at what he saw,
There was no time to move away or dodge,
Blinding lights,
The sound of a sharp horn,
And tires screeching,
It was too late,
Something slammed into him, hard and fast, seizing the breath from his lungs as air rushed past him.
The phone slipped from his grip and his next words were stolen from his lips,
The next thing he felt was too familiar,
Pain.
Sharp, all-consuming pain.
Then his body hit something,
The ground?
No.
He was still moving, rolling, tumbling.
In his drowsy state, he could still feel as his skin scraped against pavement,
He gasped for air as his consciousness slipped through his grasp,
"—About it" he added to his interrupted conversation as his eyes fluttered shut,
And,
Darkness consumed him.