Get Back Up And Get Used To It (English)

It was around 6:30 in the morning and there was a knock. Almost without me noticing it, a smile formed on my face. "Mhm," I gave them a sign that they could come in. After all, I knew who was going to visit me so early in the morning. And then they came in. First Lauren, then Rosenthal, Holden, Meredith, Jaime, Joe, Dylan and finally Nick. Every single one who walked in made my smile grow. I had only been awake for a few hours, but I had already seen enough of this hospital and I was so happy to see my friends in such numbers.

"Hello," I said very quietly. At a distance, in my opinion, far too far from me, the eight of them had lined up in a semicircle around my bed.

"Hello," they replied just as quietly.

"You can speak louder," I said, still in a low voice.

"How are you?" Lauren asked a little louder than before.

I shrugged. "Better than expected, I think. How long have I been here?"

"About a day and a half"

"Oh, that's even alright. And did you experience something exciting?"

"Joey!" Jaime called. "How could we have? You were here"

I shrugged again. "So what?"

"So what?! You don't seriously think we'll do something exciting without you, do you?"

To be honest, no, I wasn't really expecting that. But what else have you been doing all this time? I hope not just sitting around and being sad. I better not ask because if that is the answer, then I would get upset and I shouldn't.

"By the way, I think it's so nice of you that you all stop by here so early in the morning. I appreciate it. Thank you"

"Glad to see you again, too," Meredith said.

"Come on, it was only two days. There have been times when we haven't seen each other for a longer time"

"Yes I know. But this was different, you know"

"Hey, Joey?" Lauren asked suddenly. I looked at her inquiringly. "I don't know if this is the right moment, but it doesn't leave me alone. Why did you stop on the sidewalk?"

For a moment I didn't know what she meant, but then it occurred to me. When the car came I was standing on the sidewalk. But did I want to tell Lauren why? I didn't know why I shouldn't.

"I got a text message. I had seen who it was from, so I could read what it said"

Everyone looked at me intently. "What?" I asked, laughing lightly.

"I don't want to be curious, but who was it from?"

Now I laughed a little louder. "Jaime, that's exactly what is curious! But if you want to know, it was from Jessica" That stopped my laughter.

The others looked at me aghast. "Exactly the same Jessica you broke up with the day before yesterday?" Holden asked in disbelief.

"The Jessica who insulted Brian, Mere, Lo and you?" Rosenthal asked even more in disbelief.

"The Jessica who hit you?" Lauren asked, also in disbelief.

"Who the hell is Jessica?" Dylan asked, confused.

I sighed. "Yeah, exactly the Jessica" and then I turned to Dylan, Joe and Nick, all three of whom seemed pretty confused. "Jessica was my girlfriend until the day before yesterday. But not anymore" They nodded and asked no further questions.

"May I ask ... may I ask what she wanted?" Lauren asked carefully.

"You can ask and I can tell you too, but I don't think you want to hear it"

"Why? What did she do?" Joe asked; he, Nick, and Dylan still didn't really know anything.

"She actually offended all of us, including Joey," Rosenthal replied.

"But that was just the beginning," I interjected. Now I wanted them to see it. I didn't want to keep it to myself any longer. "Here, read for yourself" I had taken my phone from the nightstand and opened the message from Jessica and now I gave it to Meredith, who was closest to me. She read it and gasped.

"What? What is it?" The others asked almost simultaneously.

Meredith read out loud what Jessica had written. "Hi! Shame you don't like me. But it doesn't matter. I deserve someone better anyway. If you'd rather hang out with the losers you call friends, do that. Seriously, Harry Potter musicals? How old are you? 12? Nobody our age likes Harry Potter anymore. That's for kids. Find a decent job. Without these people. Goodbye to you too!" She put the phone aside. "You can't believe it! She can't be serious!"

I felt sorry for them all. None of them deserved that. Actually, nobody deserved that at all. "I'm sorry," I said simply. "You know I love you all. You are my true friends. I would hug you all now, but that's not going well"

"And that's why you stopped at that very spot ... Bad luck rarely comes alone," Holden said.

"Well, I think we have to go again. We have probably stayed longer than we were actually allowed to stay. We will be back. Your parents are probably here tonight"

"Wait what? My parents?" My parents were coming? I didn't mind but it was a bit of a surprise.

"Yeah, I called them. I thought it would be better if they knew. They wanted to come over here right away," Lauren replied.

"Thanks. Thanks for everything. It was nice that you were here. I look forward to your next visit. Let's see how long I have to stay here"

They said goodbye and left in the same order in which they came, this time the other way around. Nick, Dylan, Joe, Jaime, Meredith, Holden, Rosenthal and finally Lauren. Before Lauren went out, however, she turned again and gave me a warm smile. A smile that made my heart warm. Then I was alone. And I fell asleep.