Now that the trial has been put to rest, Rueben believes that life is on an upward trend. It's not long before he understands he is sadly mistaken.
Around every corner lies a new demon lurking with the desire to rip the rug out from under him. He m...
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𝗥ueben curled his fingers tighter in his loose hair as he continued to pace back and forth. He couldn't sit still anymore, no – he needed to move around. He felt half – bad for pushing Emmet out of the way when he stood up, but not as bad as he felt for being in this hospital right now.
He clenched and unclenched his free hand, unsure of what to do with himself. He kept his eyes on his Converse – the white tip of them were now stained red like the rest of his clothes. Rueben closed his eyes tightly together, blindly walking in circles now. All he could focus on was the scene he'd found her in and the possibilities as to why it happened in the first place. Even doing that was easier than crying, which was ironic.
All he could do earlier was cry.
What changed?
Do I know this won't end well?
"Rueben," a voice to the side called out.
He opened his eyes and looked up, making contact with Isaac's face. He looked worried and exhausted. Again, he only felt half – bad for everyone who was here. Selfishly, all he really cared about was if Rayne would pull through this.
"Try to stay positive," he spoke, "She's going to be okay."
Rueben twitched his eyes and looked at the ground again. What bullshit. Be positive in the spot he's in right now? Is he kidding? How would he feel if the roles were reversed and Taryn was in surgery? – would he want him to tell him to be positive??
"—she's a fighter," he continued, "She—"
"Isaac, just shut up!" he yelled, stepping up to him, "Take your positivity bullshit to someone who actually gives a fuck!"
He put his hands up in the air as Mason ran over to the commotion.
"Okay, I'm sorry; I'm just trying to help."
"Well you're not!" he snapped.
Rueben caught a glimpse of Mason's sad expression as he placed his hand on Isaac's shoulder and pulled him back. They exchanged glances, but all he could do himself was turn on his heel and continue pacing back and forth.
Did my friends deserve that? No. They didn't, but neither of them could possibly understand what he was going through right now. Anything spoken out of comfort did the opposite of what they intended it to do.
Just as he turned around again, the operating room doors to the trauma center swung open and out came a doctor. Rueben looked up as he pulled down his face mask and retrieved the clipboard he had tucked under his arm. His scrubs were clean, which could mean that things went well.
"Family for Rayne Miller?" he called out.
He practically ran over to the doctor; he did his best to remain steady on his feet.
