On A Night Like This

Chapter Ten

“So…how was practice?” Dyana asked with curious cheerfulness as she caught up with Ambrose.

He grinned, a small crescent appearing on his right cheek when he saw her. “Good. And how did you deal with the hangover?”

Dyana sighed wearily. “I can see why they say overindulgence is a sin.” She answered rubbing her forehead dramatically.

He grin exploded into laughter which suddenly drained from his face when she asked. “What about Kai?”

His face turned guarded. “I dunno. I wasn’t exactly paying attention to him. I didn’t see him.”

She scoffed. “Kai never misses practice. So unless he’s probably caught syphilis from all the girls he’s been messing around with lately – and we both know why…” her voice died as her attention snapped to Nathan talking to a girl in front of the building a stone throw away from the library. The four of them exchanged looks as she and Ambrose walked past. Nathan said something to the girl whilst holding Dyana’s gaze and she giggled.

Ambrose glanced at the emotions playing on Dyana’s face before she wiped it clean and completed her sentence with a bright smile. “or you’re blind.” Her moss green, black rimmed eyes narrowed playfully at him. “Are you suffering in that department, Ambrose?”

He smiled slightly at that. “I wouldn’t be walking, would I?”

Dyana punched his arm playfully with a thoughtful smile. “Good point.”

The weather was cool and serene even though it was flocked with students attending evening classes and leaving campus grounds for parties, or visiting the library to complete assignments and research. The copper-bronze and yellow autumn leaves lingering on the trees matched the dark twilight of the yellow-green and cloudless blue sky sprinkled with a handful of stars. The air scented with the promise of winter and indifference.

They sat on the stone steps of the library and chattered animatedly. But Ambrose sensed Dyana was lost in thought and wondered what really was bothering her.

He gently nudged her side. “I like what you did with Nathan. Though I’ll admit I secretly hoped you'd crack his skull open.”

A ghost of a smile flittered Dyana’s lips. “If I did that I’ll gain nothing except prove to everyone that I’m this belligerent, ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Except this time I did.” She muttered, staring into the distance before breaking her gaze to watch him. “I have irrational rage, Ambrose. I wasn’t like this, I promise you. It’s just a ghastly scar – a reminder – of a relationship I had with someone many years back.”

Ambrose watched her. “Want to talk about it?” he asked softly.

She shook her head slowly with a bleary smile. “No. Perhaps some other time.”

He nodded with understanding, knowing exactly what she was going through. “Alright.”

“Now, Kai on the other hand – no, don’t you dare make that face and animal noise – has been very sullen. We’ve barely hung out for a week, even though I had lifted the hiatus on our friendship.” She cried incredulously.

Ambrose frowned. “You and Kai are back now? When was that?”

“We made up last Friday afternoon.” She answered with a dismissive wave of her hand.

He plucked a strand of weed sandwiched between the cobblestones of the stairs in front of him and murmured with a deep frown, “His mood has nothing to do with me. I screwed up and tried making amends but he won’t let go. He made that pretty clear that time we had sex.”

Dyana turned fully to stare at him with a blank almost condescending look. “You hurt him, Ambrose.”

“That’s exactly why I tried apologizing.” He cried frustratedly. “Kai completely shut me out…and I’ve learned to live with it.”

Dyana chuckled. “Stop apologizing, then and move on. Kai’s not a total asshole. He’ll come around.”

“Yeah, maybe it would be too late by then.” He sighed with heart-wrenching regret and loneliness. “Let’s forget it, Dyana. Come on.”

“You’re different from others, Ambrose. Kai knows this and still tires beyond reasonable doubt to push you further away from him. Telling from that rare stunt he pulled with you that night, I’d say he wanted to fuck you of his system…only it’s not as easy as it seems.” She muttered absentmindedly, her gaze moving to the faded marks on his exposed neck. “You have enough hickies to make the cardinal blush.” She grinned at the deep flush of pink coupled with an equally flustered expression plastered on his face like a damned notice board. “I want him to work for this. That’s why I befriended you.”

He arched a sardonic brow at her words, “Because of our similar nightly rendezvous?”

“Don’t be stupid. It’s because I know you’re a sweet child, Ambrose. A sweet boy not without flaws such as a meaningless fling. I saw what you wrote to Meredith that time I body-shamed her.” She said softly, playing with his fingers lightly.

Ambrose stared at her head. “That was harsh.”

“In my defense, I did that to get Sage closer to her. The boy’s being drooling and dancing around her like randy cock and she seemed, or seems oblivious of the weight of his love. All I did was give a little nudge.”

“Yes. In the meanest way possible.” Ambrose deadpanned.

She gave him a speaking glance, narrowing her eyes steely at him. “You said I was harsh.”

“What I meant to say was –” he was cut short as Meredith approached the library at the moment.

“Well, speak of the devil.” Dyana muttered with mild amusement and waved at Meredith with friendly enthusiasm. “Hi, Meredith. Nice to see you. Your dress is…nice.”

Meredith completely ignored her, like an ant screaming at an elephant, and beamed Ambrose a sweet smile instead. “Hey, Ambrose. Why are you sitting out here at this time?”

“Dyana said I were just talking that’s all.” He replied with a smile.

She nodded. “Okay. Well, I’m gonna head in. I have an extra paper to turn in tomorrow and want to finalize it.”

“Well, don’t let me keep you.”
Meredith giggled, waving goodbye as she ascended the steps.

“It was nice seeing you.” Dyana called after Meredith who raised her middle finger none too discreetly in response without looking back. Dyana glanced back to Ambrose, grinning wolfishly. “Anyways, I love being caught in dramas especially one such as yours. Consider this research on my part. Come on, it’s late and I’m in desperate need of a hot shower.”

They collected their belongings and left the building, walking and chatting, laughing at idle things.
“I’m serious. There’s nothing as good as releasing a long-held pee. It's simply orgasmic! You should try it.” Dyana quipped wryly.

Ambrose chuckled. “No, thanks.” He gazed ahead and the laughter bleed from his face as incoming car with a callous driver veered their way. Instinct made him shove Dyana out of the way with a force that left her dazed.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t save himself in time. The car slammed into him; the sheer force of it flung Ambrose roughly and the air in his lungs extinguished as he collided with a tree, leaving him disorientated. He was vaguely aware of Dyana shrieking his name over the loud buzzing sound in his ears. Metallic copper flooded his mouth, his body ached terribly and felt horribly dismembered with ghastly, agonizing pains that pierced every fiber of his being.

Hands grabbed his wrist, searching frantically for a pulse. He cracked his eyes open to see a pale-faced Dyana with tears streaming down her cheeks above him clutching his head and pressed what he presumed to be a handkerchief to the bleeding gash on his head. His vision swam then dimmed as her voice and the distant sounds of an ambulance faded into dissonance.

“Rosie? Ambrose, stay with me.” She whispered a in tear-choked voice, clutching his head in her arms, rocking his body gently as tears bathed her cheeks. “Please, Ambrose, open your eyes. Don’t die on me, please.”

The paramedics stepped out of the ambulance with a gurney and raced towards where Dyana sat holding him. She let go of Ambrose with shaky breaths as they lifted him to the gurney into the van. A pale haired, middle aged nurse asked Dyana with a calm, concerned tone, “Miss? Could you please tell me your name and your relationship with the victim?” He extended a hand to help Dyana up.

She took it gratefully and rose wobblily to her feet. “Thank you. Dyana Duncannon…that’s my name. I’m his friend.” She pulled her coat close about her; cold and uncertainty assaulted her. “May I accompany you?”

“Of course. Right this way.” He offered with a small comforting smile. They entered the van. Dyana took one look at the unconscious Ambrose, bruised and battered, and broke down again. She glanced to the nurse next to her. “H-how bad is he?”

“We can’t tell for sure until we reach the hospital. All we can do it offer what help we can.”

Dyana took a seat on the metal bench and reached for his hands, gripping it fiercely. “Don’t leave me, Rosie. I’ve got you.”

⁂

Dyana sat on one of the long rows of chairs in the hospital lobby shrouded in desolate silence and miserable sorrow. It has been two hours since Ambrose had gone into surgery. Guilt and  this crippling fear kept adrenaline pumping rapidly into her body as morbid thoughts flooded her mind. She couldn’t make her body keep still no matter how much she tried.

Frantic patter of footsteps reached her ears and her head snapped up to see Meredith, Dmitri, Sage, Mortimer, Vincent and Anton. All with worried expressions on their collective faces.

“How is he?” Meredith asked anxiously.

“He’s in surgery. I’ve been waiting for the doctor ever since.” Dyana answered, fresh tears threatened to fill her eyes and spill free. “What do I do, Meredith? He’s only in this shit because of me. It should have been me.”

Mortimer moved and embraced her in a warm, protective hug. Dyana cried harder, drenching his shirt with the dam of her tears. She was inconsolable. Still he held her, rubbing her back in soothing circles.

Miserable green eyes glanced at him, “Have you seen Kai? He isn’t picking my calls. Why isn’t he here? He must have heard of this.”

“I haven’t seen him since today. None of us has.” He answered with a small shrug. “Don’t worry. Ambrose will pull through.”

She sniffed loudly before breaking down with a sob. “I know. Precisely why this is unfair. It should be me, not him.”

“The doctor’s here.” Dmitri informed.

They glanced to the direction of the lady in blue scrubs and a gentle aura. “Are you friends of the patient?”

“Yes. We are.” Dyana wiped her face with her sleeve. “How is he, doctor?”

“He’s stable now. The surgery was successful; just a couple of stitches. Nothing major and no internal bleeding. Although he fractured his left arm while trying to shield his head from impact.”

“Will he be alright?” Dimitri asked nervously.

“Yes. He just needs time to recover that’s all. We’ll monitor him for two weeks before he’ll be discharged. The fractured arm will be regularly checked on. Does he have any relations?”

“No.” Anton answered softly. They looked at him with bemused expressions, and he shrugged saying nothing more.

“May we see him?”

“He’s sedated and resting in room 20.” She replied softly.

Dyana raced first and stopped in front of the large window of the room at the sight of Ambrose’s recumbent frame on the bed dressed in thin hospital clothes with a thick white gauze plastered over his right brow. Tiny red and purple cuts and bruises marred his face. She froze.

Meredith tugged softly at her sleeve forcing Dyana to stare at her pale blue eyes. “Come on. Don’t keep him waiting.” She whispered softly, taking Dyana’s hand into hers with a gentleness Dyana found appalling.

She moved to the edge side of his bed and guilt assailed her all over again. Her shaky hand snaked and linked with his to feel the slow but steady throb of his pulse. “Oh, thank God…you’re okay. You’re alive.” She muttered in a watery voice as tears spilled freely from her eyes.

Dyana let go his hand and turned to give Meredith a hug. “Thank you so much.” She withdrew, wiping her face with a sniff. “I’m sorry for being a cunt to you, a-and for body-shaming you when you’ve done nothing to deserve it.”

Meredith watched her with a curious glint in her eyes. One that told Dyana she had been forgiven even though she didn’t voice it out loud.

She moved to Mortimer and stared at him before embracing him. “My rock…” she murmured in a small voice muffled his thick chest. Her eyes met his with an earnest smile on her lips. “Thank you, Mortimer. Thank you all…for being here for Ambrose. Even those who aren’t members of his band. It means a lot. I’ll be here to tell him that when he wakes.”

“Won’t you go back to campus?” Meredith asked softly.

“How can I in this state?” Dyana asked detachedly. “No. I’ll spend the night here. Thank you though, for asking.”

Meredith gave her a small smile, then nodded softly, taking Sage’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go. She’ll handle it from here.”

Dyana sank into a chair after the others left, and reached for the flaccid hand with a weary sigh. “No one has ever done what you did for me, Rosie.” Her head dropped on the bed next to his hand and whispered as languid tears flowed freely from her heartbroken, melancholic soul. “I will be sure to cherish you and repay the favor. In whatever way I can.” The pad of her thumb caressed the smooth surface of his nails, and she sniffed quietly, “Thank you, Ambrose. For saving me.”