Place Your Bets

Chapter Eleven

He started coughing, all the water that had entered his lungs now spilled out onto the floor of the hospital. Spluttering and crying, Taylor quickly threw up anything and everything he had left in his stomach.  Staring at the wall, he finally noticed the boy sitting next to him, taking deep breathes, he managed to look over, a small smile hitting his lips. 

But the smile was not returned, Jeff looked at his with glassy eyes as he played with his thumbs, "You're finally awake." Moving slightly back, Jeff put his feet on the bed, "Want to explain why you jumped?" 

Taylor really didn't want to talk about it, but he guessed he owed someone an explanation for his actions, it was a rash decision, but he thought it would be the final time he would be hurt. Looking down at his hands, Taylor sighed, "It was a bet, there was never any feelings between me and Colton, it was all a ploy to hurt me, David set it up. I just decided I no longer wanted to be hurt, it just seemed like all everyone was doing to me lately." 

Jeff sighed, getting up and walking to the window, a look of disappointment strained on his face. "So, you just decided the best course of action would be to kill yourself. Do I really mean that little to you? You are my best friend and honestly, I don't know what I would do without you. Did you even think about that for one second? 

Taylor moved uncomfortably in his bed, looking at Jeff with sad eyes, "I'm sorry Jeff, I didn't think it would get this far. As I was drowning, I realized what I was doing and I tried to find my way to the surface. I'm sorry, I didn't think I would ever be like this. I don't want to die, I just didn't know what else to do, I was so hurt." 

Moving back to the bed, Jeff sat next to Taylor, grabbing his hand and putting it between them, "I wouldn't be able to live without you, so next time you have a problem, how about you come over to my place and we can work it out." His eyes danced with the emotions of caring, even if his body language said something else completely. 

"Okay, I can do that." 

Pulling Jeff into a hug, Taylor felt the heat of his body radiating off Jeff, giving him a sense of security he needed so badly. As they embraced for what Taylor thought was a little too long, he felt someone else's presence in the room. Turning his head slightly, he caught a glimpse of Colton standing in the door way, a confused and hurt look on his face. Taylor didn't care, he didn't want to speak to the ass who made him jump off a god darn bridge a few days earlier. 

But Jeff broke their embrace, kissing Taylor's forehead lightly, "You need to talk to him, he has been calling me constantly trying to get a few words with you. Will you please talk to him?" 

Taylor sighed, but not wanting to upset Jeff more, he nodded and crossed his arms. Jeff got up and walked out of the room, moving past Colton, who shut the door behind him. Sitting on the chair, Taylor just glared. He was trying to be as angry looking as possible, maybe Colton would get the drift and would leave sooner than later. 

"Taylor … I know you're super mad at me, but you have this all wrong. It started off as a bet, but that's why I had the black eyes, that's why I didn't want to talk about David … my mood changed slightly and I didn't want to hurt you anymore." His eyes started to swell with tears, but Taylor was having none of this. He was not impressed with the situation. 

"I don't care what you do in your spare time, but keep me out of it, do you hear?" His anger was slowly started to hit the boiling point, so he quickly started to breathe deeper, trying to calm himself down. It started to slightly work, but looking at Colton just made him want to punch something, "I need you to leave. You're making me frustrated and angry just looking at you. Please find the door and use it." 

Colton looked hurt, but that's exactly the way Taylor wanted it, he wanted him to feel the same way he had when David explained the situation to him, he wanted him to feel regret or something. He didn't want to see him anymore and the thought of switching schools started to invade his mind, he wanted so badly to just get away from the whole situation. 

Jeff knocked on the door, walking inside, "Is everything okay?" 

Colton got up and walked out the door, not saying a word to either of them. Jeff sat back down and looked at Taylor, sadness still in his eyes. "Was it really that bad?" 

Taylor was about to respond when he hurt some shouting outside his room, someone was fighting. He struggled to get up, but he was far too weak. He wanted to know what was happening, but as soon as names started flying around he knew something was seriously wrong. 

"You're the asshole, David. You made me use him like he was some kind of puppet and I'm done. I don't want to speak to you ever again and I'm pretty sure either does Taylor. You can just leave and take your pathetic flowers with you.' 

"Fuck you. You  don't know anything and you're worthless, how about you get out of my way before this gets serious." 

There was a little bit of silence and then Taylor and Jeff heard a blood curling scream, Jeff quickly got up and ran out of the hospital room to see Colton on the ground and David holding a bloody knife.