I Love To Hate You

Chapter 46: "I still hate him. I just love doing it."

I honestly cannot remember how we got to the hospital. It was all in a drunken, terrified daze. 

Neither of us spoke to each other in the taxi, the only contacted we held with one another was our interlaced fingers draped on the seat between us. Our knuckles white from gripping onto one and other so strongly.

It was like I was too afraid to let go of him, he was my life line and I was his. In that moment, in that short taxi ride, we were all each other had.

And that scared me more than it should have.

When we arrived at the hospital Noah and Lily were waiting outside for us, both looking how I felt.

“What’s going on?” Jaden immediately asked the minute the taxi was gone; Lily was already pulling me into a tearful hug. I grabbed her back as tightly as I could.

“He...He...Man he’s not good. His Mum and brothers are with him right now, Nick is inside talking to the doctors. He thinks if he shouts at them long enough they might tell him something.” Noah’s voice was thick and woollen sounding. He could hardly keep his hands from shaking as he ran them through his russet curls.

Jaden nodded his breathing coming short as he looked through the glass doors that led to the emergency room.

“Was it my Dad?” I whispered into Lily’s shoulder, too scared to look at any of them in the face. My fears were bubbling under my skin; finally they had begun to leak through.

“No honey, it was Marcus, Luke’s drug boss. The police have him in custody.” Lily murmured back soothingly. I nodded. It was all I could do to stop myself from breaking down.

“Let’s go inside, it’s too cold for you to be out here dressed in that.” Noah said taking my shoulder and pulling me from Lily’s embrace. I forgot that I was still only dressed in my dress, my jacket left forgotten at the reception. He made to pull my into his side, to comfort me, but Jaden stepped in and pulled off his blazer; draping it over my shoulder before linking his hands back with mine.

“Yeah, let’s go inside Elly.” His voice was hoarse. He struggled to even say that one sentence without his emotions showing. He looked so sad it hurt to even glance at him.

“Okay.” I mumbled allowing him to pull me inside.

Noah and Lily followed closely behind, neither saying anything about the small act of intimacy.

We had bigger things to worry about.

~*~

“Still nothing?” Noah murmured to Nick when he arrived back from the reception desk for the fifth time. We had been here for over two hours now. Lily was lying out on the bench, her head in Noah’s lap as he stroked her hair soothingly. Jaden had his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands; he hadn’t spoken in a long time.

“He’s out of theatre. Still hasn’t woken up yet but they think things are looking a little better now.” Nicholas said flopping into the spare seat beside mine.

“That’s good,” I whispered my lips dry from being pressed thin for so long.

“Yeah, he just has to wake up now.” Nicholas said trying to smile for me. I gave him a watery one back and pressed my hand onto his arm fleetingly.

“He will.” I tried to sound confident, I tried to sound brave. I really did.

But, Luke was hurt. Bad. A punctured lung, three broken ribs, internal bleeding and blood in the brain. He was more than bad. He was...

Dying.

Suddenly, a woman rushed into the waiting room her hair a mess and her hands flying about urgently as she talked to the nurses. Her voice was clipped and harsh as she pointed at the nurses in the waiting room.