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Silence between the two critters stretched as an argument hung loosely in the air. The only noises to keep the two from starting up again was the staticky music emanating from the radio and the sounds of cars passing by.
The pink critters fingers drummed along the wheel as he drove, gently syncing to the song that was barely audible.
Charlie ignored this entirely, opting to stare out the window, replaying the fight they had about half an hour prior to the drive. It was a dumb dispute really, Charlie had just forgotten something. It wasn’t his fault either, it was something easy to forget.
“Seven years.” He broke the silence, “We have been friends for seven years and you forgot my birthday.”
“Oh my GOD, PIM. I said I was sorry!” Charlie shouted, turning to look at the smaller critter, his hands defensively pushed out. “I just forgot to add it to my calendar, man!”
“Charlie, I remember your birthday. I get you presents every single year, even when we barely knew each other!” Pim’s voice felt tight as he spoke, “You waited until the whole office was birthday themed and you STILL asked whose birthday it was!”
“Well, there could only be so many birthdays-“
“MY FACE WAS ON THE CAKE CHARLIE.”
The larger critter went silent again, a habit he fell into when he didn’t have any good rebuttal. He crossed his arms and slumped in his seat like a moody teen.
Pim heaved a sigh, tired and worn down. He loved his friend but he wished that the friendship wasn’t always so one sided.
The traffic was bad today, as it usually was in the city, but today felt extra crowded on the road. Pim had offered to drive as he knew that when Charlie drove he got overwhelmed easy and would tend to road rage as if he was playing a video game.
However, with the emotions he was feeling, Pim wasn’t sure he was in the best mindset to drive either. But regardless, they had a job to do.
“We can still go out for a drink or something, my treat.” Charlie huffed, he was offering but it felt more like a demand.
“That’s just it Charlie, I don’t want to go for a drink. You do. You think you can just- just get me drunk and we’ll have a laugh and it’ll be a swell birthday for Pim, but I don’t like getting drunk all the time.”
“Then what do you want, man?” Charlie groaned, like he was tired of trying to appease his friend.
“I want you to know me well enough to know what I’d like for my birthday!” Pim cried out, “Is that so much to ask?!”
“I- I know you!” Charlie stammered, “You… like birds?”
Pim stared at the critter in disbelief and anger. “Birds. Thats all you know about me in seven years?”
“No!”
“Then tell me, Charlie!”
“Fine! You like whining all the time! You cry and bitch and moan about being positive and whatever, but when someone forgets something once, it becomes a whole fuckin’ thing!”
“Oh, so you think I’m a baby then, huh?”
“WELL, THE SHOE SURE FITS! IVE BEEN SHOE SHOPPING WITH YOU BEFORE.”
“I TOLD YOU THAT IN CONFIDENCE!”
The two were yelling at each other now, Pim found it hard to keep his eyes on the road when Charlie was waving his arms wildly. His knuckles whitened as he tightened his grip on the wheel, gritting his teeth.
“WELL, MAYBE WE SHOULDN’T BE FRIENDS THEN, HUH?” He found himself yelling. As soon as the words slipped out of his mouth, he regretted them, his lip quivering as if trying to suck them back in.
Charlie looked at him, his eyes wide and face pale, his mouth agape.
“You-“ He swallowed hard, then his face quickly morphed to fury, “Fine. Sure, whatever.”
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and pulled his gaze towards the passenger window.
“I-I didn’t-“ Pim started, before hearing a honk coming from behind him. He focused back at the road, the light had gone green, he almost forgot he was driving. He let out a shakey breath and began to cross the road.
Charlie only had a moment to react as he took a sneaky glance towards Pim, his eyes widening before he screamed in terror, grabbing the sides of his seat.
Pim hadn’t seen it coming yet so his first reaction was to look at Charlie.
The next few seconds were in slow motion.
The impact, the sounds of glass shattering, the company car flipping and folding onto its side. Charlie had braced for impact, he felt ready for what had happened even if it was a close call. He lay there, on his shoulder face mere inches away from the glass that scattered the pavement next to him.
Everything in the car was spilling out of where it had been stored, the little knick knacks the employees had adorned the car with over the years, smashed in an instant.
Charlie groaned, he felt unable to move, like his body was numb. He used his strength to turn to Pim.
His body hung motionlessly in his seat, only being held up by the seatbelt. it felt like all of Charlie’s breath was stolen from him.
“P-“ He tried to say before stabbing tore its way through his throat. “Pim?”
There was nothing, not even a twitch of his finger, Charlie panicked, his body screamed as fire shot through his veins, adrenaline rushing stronger.
“PIM” He screamed, doing anything he could to get to his friend, “PIM WAKE UP, PLEASE!”
He unbuckled himself, cursing under his breath as the seatbelt hitched and evaded his grasp, he tried to stand up despite the aching.
“PIM?!” He shook his friend, the lump in his throat growing and whimpers finding their way out of his usually hardened demeanor.
He looked around before deciding to kick the front window, he could crawl out of it with Pim. He laid back down and began kicking at the window, watching as it shattered instantly, a sigh of relief leaving it like a thank you for freedom.
Charlie unbuckled Pim letting the small critter fall into his arms before shimmying his way out being sure to tank any shards that may try to stick to the two.
A few drivers who had witnessed the accident came rushing to their side, one had their phone up, presumably with the police or emergency services.
Charlie couldn’t care less, his friend wasn’t responding.
“PIM?!” He screamed again, getting close to the others mouth, listening for breathing.
After what felt like eternity, a soft breath found its way to Charlie’s cheek.
The yellow critter openly sobbed at this revelation, his friend wasn’t dead.
“Pim, m’ sorry, I’m so sorry. I- you aren’t a baby, I should have just- you like the zoo. You love Dave Land, we can go there. Please, I’m sorry.”
Charlie rambled on, shaking the small critters body gently as he sobbed. He paid no mind to the other people trying to ask him questions, he only got out of the way when paramedics arrived and finally wheeled Pim away from him.
And once he was out of sight, Charlie felt as if a thousand pound weight had dropped onto him. The adrenaline wore off and he stumbled to the ground.
The next few hours were a blur, Charlie could only remember so much after he passed out, lights, poking on his arm, a really loud noise and cold air.
He finally awoke in a hospital room. He wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, he was sure that he was at least conscious when he got to the hospital. But only one thing was really on his mind.
“Pim.” He whispered, “Where is he?” he asked breathlessly.
A doctor monitoring him smiled, “He’s doing fine, Mr. Dompler, We just had the curtains drawn for privacy.”
She makes her way to the other side of the room and pulled back a curtain revealing the smaller critters body lying in a hospital bed much too big for his size.
“He was awake for a few hours before you, he fell back asleep due to the pain medication we administered.”
“He’s okay though, right?” Charlie felt the lump returning to his throat.
“Well, a few weeks of rest as the broken bones return to place along with some physical therapy, he should be back to normal in a couple months.” She said with a patient smile.
Charlie gave a small nod, unable to take his eyes off Pim. If he had just remembered it was his birthday, none of this would have happened.
“You however, were quite lucky.” The doctor said as she moved towards the critter, “You only sustained wounds on your arms and chest from the glass along with a minor fracture on your shoulder. We got a sling on you and you should be feeling better in no time.”
Charlie barely registered it as he gazed at his friend, “Yeah… sorry, huh?”
“You should be fine to leave in the next day or two.” She replied, this wasn’t uncommon in her line of work. “Now, about your insurance,”
Charlie answered her questions dryly, only focusing on Pim. Soon she leaves the room and it’s just the two of them.
Charlie turned his head back to stare at the ceiling, feeling guilty for even looking at him.
“Pim, I’m so sorry.” He started, unsure if he could even be heard, “I- When I get out of here, I’m gonna get you a gift so good, it’ll make everything I’ve ever given you in the past seem like trash in comparison.”
He looked at Pim again, wincing as he saw his small body cocooned in bandages and casts.
“When we get out, I’m gonna take you to the zoo. And when you can walk again, we can go to Dave Land. And- I-I’ll take you on a walk through your favorite park, and we can bird watch for hours.”
Charlie smiled softly, though it didn’t reach his eyes, tired, dark circles under them.
“We can have a picnic and then star gaze the rest of the night, no alien parties this time, I-I’ll kick those fuckers asses if they abduct us again.”
Pim laid, the only signs of life were the slow rhythmic breathing and the beeping of the heart monitor next to him.
Pim was alive. He laid back, letting his head rest on the uncomfortable plasticky pillow before looking around the room to try to find something to entertain himself.
He found a TV remote so he decided to put on one of Pim’s favorite cheesy dating shows. Charlie never liked them until Pim introduced some especially juicy ones to him, though he would never admit it, he found himself watching them on his own.
He sighed and put one on, keeping the volume low to let Pim sleep.
When he woke up, they could talk more, but for now… he just had to wait.
Pim awoke to a loud groaning noise, he slowly moved his head to the side seeing Charlie with his head in his hands.
“Cha-lie?” he mumbled.
“WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU PICK HIM?! HE’S A FUCKIN’ CHEATER!!” He screamed at the TV.
Pim cleared his throat, making a small scratching sound, “Charlie?” he said a bit louder startling the yellow critter.
“PIM? HOLY SHIT, Y-YOU-“ A smile spread on his face, a bittersweet feeling seeping into his voice, “I’m so, so sorry Pim.” He started, “I forgot your birthday, I- the car, it hit us and I thought- I thought I lost you.”
Pim stared at his friend, tears welling up in his eyes, “Charlie… I- we’re still friends right?” his voice quivering.
Charlie was taken aback by this, “We… I hope we are. I want to be at least.”
“Me too. M’ sorry I said we shouldn’t-“
“No, no dude, it’s fine, really. I should’ve just apologized right the first time, I should have just remembered.”
Pim wished he could get up to give Charlie a big hug, but his whole body felt rather constricted, so he just gave a longing look at the other, tears rolling down his cheeks and a big, dopey smile on his face.
“I love you, Charlie.”
“I love you too man. I promise, the second we’re both outta here, we’re gonna do something to make up for this shitty birthday, okay?”
Pim nodded softly then turned his attention to the TV, “S-so, what show are you watching?”
“Oh, shit man, this is the new season of the one I started- uh… Well, hang on, lemme just go back to the beginning, we can watch it together.”
The two relaxed in each other’s company, like no time had passed. The argument of the morning faded away as a bad memory as the two talked about the reality TV show and giggled about the contestants being dumb.
Charlie, even though he had been through hell, the uncertainty of knowing if Pim was alive or not was the worst thing he had been through in a long time, but as he looked at Pim’s smiling face, hearing the soft voice excitedly talking about a dumb TV show, he knew that they were okay. And he was sure to add Pim’s birthday to his phone’s calendar once he got it back, that’s for damn sure.