You Made Me Fall, But That's Okay

Chapter Thirty-Three - A Little Bit Of Truth

‘Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!’ I growled again and again as the nurse stitched up the large cut on my forehead. I tried to push her away on numerous occasions, but she stayed put, obviously used to people trying to resist against her. There was no word to describe how painful it was, and of course, Mr Riddle was the cause of the pain. ‘Seriously, it’ll probably just heal itself. Leave it alone!’

The nurse sighed, but continued sowing my skin back together. Then she moved to one of the many gashes on my arm and began the stitching process all over again. To be honest, I was sort of lucky. The x-rays clarified that I hadn’t broken any bones, and the doctors were happy to say that I wasn’t going to suffer with any concussion, nor any other stuff like that … Once my stitches were finished I was free to go home, which was all I could think about.

I squeezed Ryan’s hand tightly as the nurse tortured me, and he didn’t seem to even notice. In fact, he had barely spoken since I was lifted into the back of the ambulance. He looked like he was in a trance, or he was stoned. I guessed that was just because of the shock, which would also explain for the few tears that escaped his eyes earlier. Instead of the other way around, I was the one assuring him that everything was going to be okay, but every time I did, his face scrunched up in pain.

My legs were a bit wobbly when the nurse was finally helped me off the lumpy, comfortless bed. Ryan stood up, wrapped a careful arm around my slightly bruised waist and led me out of the hospital. He rang Scott then, who was in the forest at that moment, and told him to drive Ryan’s car back over to us, since Ryan left it there to get into the back of the ambulance with me. Ryan had gotten every single member of the gang to search the woods for Travis, and the fact that he was spotted was already been broadcasted on the news.

‘... and hope has now risen in the small town of Roseville as Travis Phillips, a young man who has been lost for roughly a month now, has just been spotted,’ I heard a lady on the TV say in a room with its window open. ‘Aaron Moss, our reporter in the area, will fill you in on the details.’

‘Yes, I am now here with Rebecca Carney, the young lady who has just announced the sight of Travis Phillips,’ Aaron Moss began. ‘Apparently she was walking home when she saw him near the Roseville soccer pitch. Police are now searching the area and questioning anyone who were around at the time. If there is anyone out there right now who has more information, please do not refrain from contacting the police. Now that Travis has been seen, though, why isn’t he coming home? Mr and Mrs Phillips are here now to say a few words …’

‘How on earth did Rebecca spot him if you saw him in the forest?’ I asked him, frowning up at Ryan. He only saw Trav a while ago … how did Rebecca see him, too?

Ryan shook his head. ‘You know Rebecca longer than me, Laura, she’s probably only saying this to get the chance to be on TV.’

‘What if she really did see him?’

‘I doubt it,’ Ryan muttered, looking over his shoulder to check if anyone was listening. ‘The soccer pitch is right on the other side of town from the woods. There’s no way he would’ve been able to go from the woods to there in so little time because there was a load of traffic tonight with the musical in that theatre. More people would’ve spotted him, anyway, if he was running across the town to the pitch. Trust me, Laura, Rebecca’s only making this up.’

I listened for a moment as Travis’ parents begged him to come home. I felt so sorry for them, even though their son was a bastard. ‘But is Rebecca really that heartless? I mean, she doesn’t know that Travis is really back, so she’s just getting his parents’ hopes up … and Sinead’s, too.’

Ryan’s eyebrows knitted together. ‘That’s true … but I’m sure she doesn’t know he’s really back. She couldn’t. Well at least she’s doing us a favour, anyway, because if she had have said that he was in the woods, all of the cops would be there now so we wouldn’t be able to try and find him ourselves.’