Unlikely Friends

There was one other person in the elevator when I had stepped in. I was on the top floor of my seventy-eight floor work office. I was heading down to go back home. The elevator stopped quite abruptly. It was unusual but it was not a problem. We suddenly began to go again. This time it was faster and I could feel it. We locked eyes before we came to a sudden stop once again. We both fell to the ground. A screeching noise haunted me before we started to descend again. Much quicker this time; and what felt like in slow motion we were crushed by the force.

I woke up days later in the hospital. My rib cage was shattered and it hurt to breathe. Both of my legs were broken in several places and I had an extremely severe concussion. I asked about the other woman that was in the accident and the nurses said that she was in a coma. She also said that she had a broken arm and foot. A few weeks later I was cleared to go home. I was glad to be home but had an odd guilt that I was home and that she was still there. 

About two months later I was able to walk again. My concussion was gone and most of the pain in my ribs had subsided. I went about my normal life; still going to see her in the hospital every once in a while. Two years later I was going to see her and her hands started to move. I called for the nurse as she slowly awoke from her deep, long slumber. About a week later she was cleared to go home.

 I was so glad that she could finally go home. We talked all the time. I found out that her name was Caroline. We spent every minute of every day together. One night we were up talking until dawn but it had only felt like twenty minutes. We had learned so much about each other from talking so often that we could quiz each other and get every question right. Caroline and I took that into deep consideration and made each other quizzes. They each had twenty very elaborate questions about each other. We took the quiz in separate rooms. Then we checked each question and we both got all of them right. 

Caroline and I considered ourselves best friends. Mostly because we knew so much about each other. I wondered why people had best friends before I met her. I wondered why not just friends? Why does it have to be best? Well now I understood. Best friends was when you had such a strong bond that it is unbreakable. We talked about the accident very often.

We had been wondering about what had caused the accident. We both decided to go up to the office to go ask about what had happened to the elevator. We asked everyone in the office and no one had any answers about what had happened to the elevator. One person recommended that we go to the maintenance office. We drove over to the maintenance office. It was closed so I drove her back to her apartment and I went back home. In the morning we went back to the maintenance office. They were open this time and we asked about the elevator on the date of the accident. 

The maintenance team told us that the bolts on the pulleys were loose but that no one on the team had loosened them. They said that someone must have loosened them on purpose. I was shocked. Why would someone do that to us? We went back to my apartment and talked about it over coffee. It came down to our enemies. She had one enemy and I had two enemies. Her enemy was her old best friend. They had stopped being friends because they fought a lot. They have been angry at each other for a very long time now. 

My first enemy was also my old best friend. My second enemy was my ex boyfriend. I had broken up with him and he has been mad at me ever since. So now we just needed to figure out who did it. We both messaged our enemies and asked them where they were on the date of the accident. Her old best friend said that they were home all day that day because they were sick. My old best friend said that she was at the beach with her family. Finally, my ex said that he was here in New York City on a business trip. So that meant that my ex had done it. If he was the only one in New York City on that day.

We weren’t sure that it was that easy so we kept investigating. For months and months we kept getting deeper and deeper into it. We found out that they were all in New York City that day. They had all conspired together to sabotage us. We reported them to the police and they were soon arrested. I was glad but I also felt a little bit guilty about it. But I mean I guess they deserve it for nearly killing us both. 

One morning we were having coffee and talking and she suddenly collapsed. I called the ambulance and the whole way there I was crying. We had made such good friends. Could it really be over? When we got to the hospital we soon found out that her heart had failed. I visited her every day for an entire year. Just sitting there, staring at her, hoping she would wake up. One late night at one o’clock in the morning she awoke. I was so glad she was healthy. A week later she was cleared by the doctors to go home. 

As we got older we still remained best friends and helped each other through rough times. We understood each other. We had nearly died together. We had survived together and we had lived together. I will always remember the times that we have shared together. I will never forget my best friend and who she is to me.