Fears

Chapter 16 |Ruby|

| Chapter 16 |

| Ruby |

"Riley!" I shrieked. Oh no, not again, not again. He didn't come up from the water. I swam to him quickly, my heart racing, causing me to have to come up for air often. When I reached him, I could see his brown head bobbing up and down in the water. "Riley," I said as I pulled his arm up. His mouth was open, and his head lolled.

"Guys!" I yelled as the others were already coming over. "I think--I hope--he's unconscious."

"He needs to go to a hospital," Darren suggested and he took him from my arms, swimming him to shore. My heart sunk, and I remembered the stark smell of the hospital and constant, loud beeping of the heart monitors. I could feel my blood run cold, even under the almost frigid water. I stopped. Everyone else went past, but I stayed for a few moments, my eyes widening.

Finally, I moved, but my muscles were tight. I swam to the shore, where the others were already running to the truck. I pursed my lips and jogged behind them.

"Guys," I said. "Are you sure it's a good idea to go to the hospital?" Darren looked back at me with wide eyes.

"Anything for my brother," he answered. I saw... something... in his eyes and shut up. I bit my bottom lip.

I got into the back of the cherry red truck, next to Kathleen. An unconscious Riley lying across the three of us.

~*~

Darren had rushed us to the hospital, and now we were trying to bring Riley inside.

My heart beat rapidly. We raced through the glass doors and up to a desk lady in the front.

"Hello," she addressed without looking up, then saw Riley in Levi's arms and gasped. We were all still in our swimwear, and Riley's back was scratched and bleeding, as were his arms and legs. He was barely breathing.

"Please," Kathleen said to her. "Our friend needs help."

"O-okay," she stuttered. "A-are any of you blood relatives of..." she trailed off.

"Riley," Darren said. "And that would be me. I'm his twin brother." Her eyebrows raised and she nodded.

She paged what must have been one of the doctors. "We need this boy to urgent care, immediately." Then she addressed Darren. "What's your name?"

"Darren Thorne," he answered. I pursed my lips.

"How old are you and Riley, Darren?"

"Fifteen." I wondered if he should be giving out his real information like that, what with the cops after us.

"And how did this happen?"

"W-we...." he didn't seem to be able to answer. I could see his breath quicken, and I piped up.

I decided to tell the truth. "We were cliff diving, a ways down the road, and Riley went to jump, but I think his foot caught on something, and he slid down the cliff. He was hurt badly, and then he didn't come up." I tried not to stutter, and I think I did well.

"He's still breathing though, right?" She asked, and I looked to Levi. He nodded. "Okay. I'm going to need the rest of your names as we take Riley to urgent care."

Just then, a few doctors entered the room, wheeling a gurney. Levi reluctantly set him down onto it and they brought him out, saying stuff that sounded like gibberish to me. I saw Darren tense up. "Okay, now I need your names," she said.

The desk lady pointed to each of us and we listed off our names as she wrote them down onto a sheet.

"Okay," she said. "Now, you kids can go wait in the waiting room."