As I walked into my house, after going grocery shopping with my parents, I walked upstairs and headed for the computer. I began instant messaging and surfing the internet, when my cell phone started to vibrate. The sound startled me, but I picked it up without hesitation. It was AJ, Anthony's best friend.
"Hello," I answered.
"Julie, Anthony is hurt, really bad! Hurry over to Brooke's, Now! he's bleeding and he's all cut up please hurry!" AJ squeaked.
"Oh come on, You're joking, I know it. I'm not falling for another prank call again," I replied, obviously not believing him.
"I'm serious Julie, please," he pleaded.
My heart started to beat a little faster, realizing he wasn't lying. Then I heard the faint cries of Anthony in the background. I jumped to my feet, rushed downstairs and stayed on the line with AJ.
"Mom! Anthony's hurt, I don't know how bad, but we have to go to Brooke's, now!" I said, speaking fast, as I started to shake.
"What? Talk to your father," My mom replied, apparently not listening and too busy cleaning to actually comprehend what I had just said.
"Dad! Anthony is hurt, lets go!" I screamed.
"AJ, we'll be right there," I spoke into the receiver.
"Okay, hurry!" AJ said before hanging up.
As my dad and I rushed out the door, we piled into the car. Almost peeling out of the driveway, my mom came running out.
"Wait!" she yelped, as she whipped open the door to our light blue Grand Caravan.
We all fastened our seat-belts and my dad began to floor it. I started to squeeze my phone, as hard as I could. Thousands of things seemed to swirl throughout my mind. Is he okay? What happened? Why was he crying? Did someone hurt him? I tried to calm down as I took in deep breaths. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears.
"I've never heard him cry like that," I said aloud, not even realizing it.
"I'm sure he's alright don't worry," My dad replied, eyes straight on the road.
When we pulled into Brooke's gravel driveway, my heart stopped. There was Anthony. Just...lying there. Screaming, and bleeding. There were cuts all over his body. His knees, his arms, and his face... all red and dripping with thick blood. I was at least a hundred feet away in the car, and could still see everything.
I couldn't handle it. I began to bawl. I kicked and screamed, clenching my fists and squeezing my eyes shut as soon as I saw him. My warm, salty tears trickled down my cheeks. I couldn't get out of the car, not after seeing him look like that. My dad hopped out, and so did my mom. As they ran over to Anthony, he just laid there, sprawled out on the gravel. I opened my eyes. All I could hear was his screams. I could feel his pain. I could feel it right in my chest. My heart pounded harder than it ever had pounded before. I cried even harder, with no intention of stopping.
You see, being a twin... it's hard to explain what they feel. What I can tell you, is that a twin bond is indescribable. Just like most twins, we feel each others pain,(or at least I can feel his) and we can even read each others minds sometimes. Anthony and I were and have always been close. He's the only person in the world I would never be able to live without. If he died, I would go with him in an instant. He's my best friend.
"Julie, everything is going to be okay," Brooke's voice echoed, taking me back to reality. She leaned in through the car window and gave me a big hug. I smiled just a little, and held on to her tight. I could still hear Anthony. He sounded so desperate for help, so alone.
"What even happened?" I choked out, as I kept on crying.
AJ was now at the car window with Brooke and her friend Alex. AJ and Alex were both sobbing.
"He said he was going to jump off the golf cart that we were all riding on. I stopped it and said for him not to, and that it wouldn't be funny. On our way back to the house, he just got up and jumped." Alex stuttered, as her whole body trembled.
"Yeah, he told me he thought it would be funny and I thought he was kidding around, because you know Anthony, he jokes around like that all the time..." AJ began.
"He just jumped off, and then we immediately stopped the cart and got off and he started crying. We shook him and he was just mumbling and we couldn't make out a single word he was saying. We didn't really know what to do. Alex held his head up while I called 911, and they said they'd be here soon. I just got off the phone with them."
I couldn't even feel my stomach anymore. My heart felt empty.
Years seemed to go by until the paramedics came and the put that stupid uncomfortable neck-brace on him. They taped his long golden-brown hair out of his face, and put him on a stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance. My mom stayed with Anthony while my dad and I followed the truck to the Hospital. I kept on crying.
"Daddy, is he going be okay?" I asked while sobbing uncontrollably.
"I don't know, Julie. I don't know," My dad replied, with a blank, cold stare on his face.
I had never seen that look in my life. He looked like he had just aged twenty years in a matter of a half hour.
"Call Rachel. Tell her Anthony is hurt," He spoke sternly.
Without even saying anything back, I dialed my sister's number. Of course, I get her voice-mail. She hardly ever answers her phone. I decided to leave a message letting her know where we were.
"Rachel, It's Julie. Anthony's really hurt. We are at the hospital. Meet us there. Bye." I hung up, and tried to keep myself together.
I looked in the mirror and saw someone I had never seen. It was me, but I didn't look like myself at all. My face was all red and blotchy, my hair was now matted with sweat, and my makeup was halfway down my cheeks by now.
Anthony was now in his own room. I couldn't bear seeing him in pain. I stood outside the hospital, and finally my sister showed up.
"Rachel!" I cried, as I ran toward her and hugged her.
She wasn't ever the type to hug, so this was a really big deal. We both exchanged worried looks and I told her everything AJ had told me. We both walked through the Emergency Room doors holding hands, and continued down the hallway. It seemed like I was walking to my death. My heart seemed to be beating slower and slower. Each room we passed had a different patient, with a different accident. We looked into Anthony's room and saw him all bruised. He had definitely taken a good fall.
"Get me out," he moaned.
"Oh come on," he continued, saying random jumbled up sentences.
All these responses to the nurse's questions automatically spoke for themselves. He had a head injury. I just knew it.
"Anthony, how many sisters do you have?" The nurse asked him.
"One," he groaned, while trying to get the neck brace off.
"What is her name?"
"Julie,"
Rachel started to bawl. I could see the thoughts going through her head. How could he forget his own older sister? How could he remember me and not her?
Five hours later, my mom and my dad told my sister and I that Anthony was now going to Boston Children's Hospital. I couldn't feel my eyes. They were swollen and heavy from crying for five consecutive hours.
"He has two skull fractures and a broken nose," My mom told me, while holding my hands.
"He is going to be okay," she reassured.
I held onto her and continued to cry, not knowing what else I could do. There really wasn't anything I could do.
Standing outside the hospital, I called one of my best friends, Austin. He picked up immediately and I told him everything that was going on. He is always the person I go to if I need to talk about something serious. He always knows what to say.
“Julie, it'll be alright,” He spoke softly, his words calm and convincing.
After we hung up and I was calmed down, I decided to call Kelly. It was the day of her birthday party and I was already late. I didn't feel like going anywhere, but my mom said it would be good if I got away for a while and spent some time with my friends. I agreed, despite the fact that I knew all I'd think about was Anthony.
About an hour later, I arrived at Kelly's, and was greeted with many open arms. I was actually somewhat glad I was there at that point, because all I really needed was hugs, and something to get my mind off everything. Ever since I was little, Kelly's house was always what I'd call my second home. Her mother was practically my second mom. She treated me just like her own daughter. I was basically apart of the family.
Right when I walked into their living room, I felt sick, from not eating and from crying for so long. I automatically passed out on their couch and woke up to having a cold compress on my forehead, and freshly made grilled cheese in front of me. I nibbled on it and went outside to be with my friends. They were all out in a tent in Kelly's backyard.
“Hey guys,” I mumbled, while unzipping the tent door and hopping in with my blankets.
Everyone smiled and we talked for a couple hours, just letting time pass. Then, out of nowhere, my friend Chelsey had a look of complete terror on her face.
“Chelsey, whats wrong?” I questioned, while looking at her eyes.
“Anthony is calling me,” She stuttered, obviously scared.
“But he can't be calling you he's in the hospital,” I said, starting to freak out.
Why would he be calling in the middle of the night? Why did he call her and not me?
Chelsey tried answering, but she told us that he had hung up. I called back, and it turns out that my mom had accidentally dialed Chelsey's number without realizing it. I had never been so freaked out in my life.
After that, the rest of the night went alright, and I left early in the morning to go see Anthony in Boston.
When I walked into his hospital room, he was fast asleep, with morphine flowing through his IV's and into his arm. I knelt next to the hospital bed and hugged him and waited for about two hours hoping he would wake up. To pass the time, I ended up watching Superbad on Rachel's laptop.
After about three hours, he finally woke up, and smiled at me. I couldn't have been happier to see his face. I was ecstatic. I was so afraid that I was going to lose him, but he pulled through.
I walked over to him and hugged him lightly, and we talked about everything that happened. Luckily, he didn't remember much of it, he didn't remember anything after he blacked out in Brooke's driveway. I was really glad that he didn't. I wouldn't have wanted him to remember how much pain he was in.
After that, the doctor's ended up having Anthony stay another night, and the weekend was finally over for me. I had school in the morning and didn't feel like going, but went anyway. I had something planned for him for when he would come back to school.
When I got off the bus the next day, I was home alone waiting for my parents to get back from Boston with Anthony. I knew he would be home at about four o'clock, so I picked up my phone and dialed AJ's number and told him to come over and surprise him for when he came back.
AJ rode his bike in five minutes, all the way to my house. We sang songs together as we waited for about two hours for my parents to come home with him.
As soon as I heard the van pull into my driveway, I had AJ hide and I watched my Dad carry him up the porch steps and bring him into the kitchen. I had AJ walk out and Anthony's face lit up so fast. I was so happy that he was finally home, even though he was only in the hospital a few days. It was good to have him back.
The next day at school, my friend Kayla Laroche and I had planned a huge thing for him. We got a ginormous poster-board sized card. She let everyone that knew Anthony on her 6th grade team sign it, and I had everyone on my 7th grade team sign it too. We glued a small picture of him on the inside, and left plenty of space for everyone to write things to him. The front had huge bubble letters that said, “Get Well Soon, we love you!”
That day after school, I handed the card to Anthony, and watched his face change from gloomy to curious. As he opened the card, a smile was suddenly plastered to his face as he read everyone's comments. I hope it's one of the things he remembers forever, because I know I'll never forget it.
From everything I went through last year, I've learned that anything can happen to anyone at any given time. Everyone has their share of bad luck, and I learned that someone was definitely watching out for Anthony that day of his accident. If I lost him I don't know what I'd do, because no matter what happens, he'll always be my best friend.
