"Friends till the end"

The buzzer was being rung continually. Duke woke up, feeling so confused. He checks the time on his phone, 4:20am. what was happening? He turned to check on Amanda, his new wife, was still in bed. Empty. He sighed and got out of bed, slipping his slippers on to his feet as he walked into the still dark living area. Suddenly he heard Amanda speaking and someone else crying. what was happening? Duke felt for the light switch against the wall and flooded the room with a blinding light. There, sitting on the sofa was Amanda and Sage, his best friend since kindergarten, covered in what looked like blood and glass. Silently he walked into the open planned kitchen, put the kettle on, and made instant coffee for Amanda and himself and Earl Grey tea for Sage. She had started drinking the stuff when she found she was pregnant. Duke placed the mugs on the coffee table and sat on the other side of Sage. Sage turned to him like she only just noticed him.

"He's gone," she whispers quickly, before bursting into tears again. Amanda picked up her mug and nodded towards the balcony. Duke followed. Once out there with the door close, Amanda told him what Sage had told her.

"They were on their way to dinner, that Chinese restaurant Sage loves on the corner of first and Maddison street," Amanda said with tears welling up in her eyes. "they were discussing names and Aaron pulled off at a green light, a drunk teenager jumped the red light of his side and slammed right into Aaron's side."

Duke started piecing the story together. Amanda carried on with the happenings of the night before.

"They had been rushed to Sarah West Public Hospital, Sage and the baby has seemed alright so the paramedics were not too worried about her but set a monitor up on her tummy anyways. Aaron had hit his head badly and once the airbags popped out, he struggled to breathe."

Duke could feel the tears running down his cheek, mirroring Amanda's face. He quickly wiped his cheeks and walked back inside towards the bathroom and started running the water in the tub. Amanda, clearly reading his mind, helped Sage to the bathroom. Once the ladies were in the bathroom Duke walked back out to the living area. He could hear Amanda whispering gently to Sage, then she walked into their main bedroom and could hear her scratching in her cupboards. Amanda then walked back to the bathroom, Duke could hear water splashing and Amanda whispering again, but he couldn't move from his seat. Finally, he felt Amanda sit down next to him.

Sighing, Amanda carried on with the story, "at the hospital, they rushed Aaron into the OR. No one would tell Sage what was happening. They wheeled her into a room to keep monitor of her and the baby. Finally, when they cleared her, she ran to the OR waiting room but she was too late. The doctor had just walked out of the OR to look for family, he told her that Aaron had suffered a major head injury and even if he had made it there was no sure way of saying if he would ever walk or speak again. The nurse told her to call someone to collect her but then left her alone. She must have sat there for hours before she got up and walked here."

"WHAT?" Duke shouted, "walked ten blocks at 4am in the morning seven months pregnant?"

"It seems that way, love," Amanda whispered. "I have put her to bed. Let's let her sleep. Can you call in sick today? I can't, we've got a field trip this morning at school, there's no way I can get out of it. As soon as it's finished I'll be home and we can discuss the way forward."

They sat side by side for hours, all three mugs of hot drink now freezing cold and forgotten. Amanda got up around 7:15am to get dressed and Duke tried to make another cup of coffee, which he knew would go cold again. Amanda left home around 8am and he decided to phone his boss, luckily he was a family friend so he would give him a personal day once he explained what happened. Duke must have paced the entire apartment when at around midday he heard the bedroom door open, Sage stood in the entrance, eyes puffy and red. She closed space between them and fall into his arms whispering "what am I going to do now?"

Duke had no idea what to do or say, this was Amanda's field. He placed her gently on the sofa, turning on a movie channel and went to the kitchen to try to make another cup of coffee and Earl Grey tea. While he was waiting for the kettle to boil, he decided to whip up some scrambled eggs and toast. Walking back into the living area with the mug and plate, he didn't even bother to make himself a cup of coffee.

"Sage, I think you should move in with us," he whispered, not knowing if she heard as she didn't respond.

Sage lay her head on his lap and they stayed that way till Amanda come home in the early afternoon. Duke hadn't even noticed that they had fallen asleep until he felt Amanda tap his shoulder. She nodded her head towards the bedroom, he carefully placed a pillow under Sage's head.

"Has she said anything?" Amanda asked while undressing.

"Nope," Duke sighed "but I told her she can move in with us."

He had expected to see anger on Amanda's face but it wasn't there, it was a look of love and acceptance he saw. Amanda had been very understanding of his and Sage's relationship since the day they meet at college.

"Yes, I think that would be best," she answered, pulling on her track pants and vest. "I'll order a pizza then we can discuss the way forward once we've all have a full stomach."

With that she walked out of the bedroom, on her cellphone, placing the order for pizza.