The Genius Freak and The Bad Boy

Chapter 9

The room was deadly silent except for the continuous ticking of the clock as time passed. I sat there and stared at the wall opposite of me with my hands pressed so hard against my mouth that it started to hurt. My elbows rested on my knees as I inched forward on the edge of the chair.

Ryder was sitting beside me and I feel him hesitating to comfort me and I appreciated the space he was trying to give me but my mind was too preoccupied at the moment to acknowledge the gesture.

My brother was in the hospital. There might not have been blood covering his body but there was no implication that there might not be internal bleeding or that he was in no immediate danger. My knees were turning weak by the second at the mere thought of it. Until anything was confirmed, nothing could ease my mind and reassure me that Drake was going to be okay.

Though the peripheral of my vision, I caught sight of a nurse walking our way and I rushed to stand on my feet, only to lose my balance and almost falling on my butt. Luckily, Ryder was there and like any other times, he caught me just right on time before I could injure myself. My knee joints screamed in pain as I tried to straighten up.

"How is he?" I asked in a rush as soon as she was within ear shot. She looked at me with a pitiful expression and I could feel cold dread wash over my entire being.

"He's gonna live. He's gonna live. He's gotta live!" I chanted in my head as I waited impatiently for the nurse to start talking, trepidation thick in the air.

"He's got a concussion and he's bleeding internally. He has a broken rib on his left side. It's gotten worse since the time he's been beaten up, some of his internal organs are swollen due to what we suspect might be blunt impact and we had to put him into a coma to let his body heal itself. We have no idea when he'll be able to wake up but personally, I'm sorry, darling." She shook her head sadly.

I could feel the tears prick my eyes as her apology sunk in. "The chances of him making it out of this mess is really slim. I'm sorry. You can see him now but as I said, he's in a coma." The tears blurred my vision and I choked on a sob as I felt a hand land on my shoulder and pulled me into an embrace. I turned my head and let the tears fall, soaking his shirt.

"Shh, he's going to be okay, Luce. He's strong and he's stubborn. He's going to make it." Ryder's voice whispered but I paid it no attention as I continued to sob and whimper into his shirt. The prospect of my brother not making it out of this alive was scary. He's my guardian angel. What would I do without him?

I finally got myself together enough to stand up without Ryder's help and asked the nurse for directions to get to Drake's room.

We walked through the halls in silence and I could feel Ryder's presence walking a few feet behind me and I tried to take comfort in that, knowing that I wasn't walking these halls alone. I tried to keep the tears in and tried to not remember today's events as I walked down the hall, took a right turn and stood in front of the first door to my left.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before opening my eyes and letting the air out through my mouth slowly. I could feel a hand grab mine and give it a small squeeze. I looked down at the hand holding mine, letting my vision trail upwards to his face and smiled weakly to express my gratitude.

I looked back at the door for a while and reached out to turn the knob before pushing the door open. It opened with a slight creak and I opened it wider for both of us to walk through and we both stepped past the doorframe , into the room. My hand stayed linked with Ryder's as I squeezed his hand, searching for some ultimate comfort that I was in dire need of.

I walked slowly towards the lone bed and almost broke down when I saw the form of a body under the blanket.

His face was pale, he had a bandage wrapped around his forehead and his shirt was folded on the bedside table while his torso was wrapped with white cloth. His eyes was closed shut and his chest fell and rose, the only indication that he was still alive and well aside from the constant beeping of the heart monitor machine by his bedside. The clear mask covering his lips and nose that connected to the ventilator helping him breathe made the lack of color in his face evident and I could feel my heart plunge even deeper to my stomach. My knees turned weak and threatened to give out under me and I felt like I was about to fall.

My hand rose to my mouth and covered it, trying to silence the sobs that was threatening to echo throughout the eerily silent room. It was useless because the sobs still passed the hand that was trying to stifle it but I couldn't peel it away. Just like how I couldn't peel my eyes off of Drake's pale face. He looked so.. different, so unlike him. It was like I was seeing Drake but it wasn't him at the same time.

He has always looked so alive and happy. So cheerful. So warm with that faint pink tinge on his cheeks that you would only be able to notice if you looked closer. His face was a sickly pale color now, and it scared me how lifeless he looked at the moment.

I was snapped out of the trance when Ryder finally spoke up. "Who would do such a thing?" He said in disbelief. I knew it wasn't good to assume thing and I knew that there wasn't much I could do without any proper evidence but deep down I knew this had something to do with Drake's group of friends that he told me about.

I turned to Ryder and thought of the note I found on the kitchen counter.

It scared me. It really did, but I couldn't show that to Ryder. This was Drake's problem and I'm his sister but Ryder's not even family. He was a friend I just recently made for crying out loud. There was no way I was going to drag him into this too.

I pivoted by my heel and let my feet guide me to the white bed and sat on the stool, taking Drake's hand in mine. There were tubes attached to the back of his hand, inserted and taped onto it. His hand was cold and limp – another thing that felt foreign to me. Drake could go out in winter without any shirt on and still be warm. I used to run to him for extra warmth when I was a kid since I couldn't stand the cold as much as he can.

I felt sadness engulf me and my heart felt heavier than ever whilst thinking of what I was about to say to Ryder. I was torn between asking him for help and keeping my distance to keep him away from my family's mess. Just as I was about to open my mouth and speak, I found my conscience yelling at me in my head, urging me to reconsider my decisions, causing me to close my mouth and rethink again.

Don't say it! Tell him what you found instead. Don't do it, Lucy! He can help!

I wasn't exactly sure about that though. How could he help?

If they could do this to Drake, I'm pretty sure they could do it to Ryder too. I didn't fancy the idea of losing the two guys I really care about to the same group of people. I can't do that. Not to him nor to myself.

With that, I made my decision and took a deep breath before releasing it.

"Ryder, you should go. This isn't your problem." I didn't hear any sound from him after I finished my sentence as I fought to keep my mouth shut to refrain myself to take my words back. After a few seconds, I finally heard call out my name sadly, as if he knew what I was thinking. "Lucy.."

I shut my eyes. Don't use that tone with me, Ryder. That's not fair. I kept telling myself to stand my ground, that I was doing the right thing.

"Come on, you've gone with this train of thought just 5 seconds ago, stick with your decision." I told myself in an attempt to steel myself.

I fought to keep my voice from wavering and kept my tone firm. "Go, Ryder. You're merely a distraction from the loneliness I felt. But I no longer need that distraction, so do yourself a favor and know when you've been used." I told him harshly over my shoulder, unable to bring myself to look at his face as I delivered every word.

I shut my eyes tight and prayed that he bought it but deep inside, I was screaming for him to not leave me alone and to protect me and comfort me. But I knew it wasn't the time for me to be childishly selfish like that. I kept the words that were written on the note I found in mind and knew that I would never forgive myself if he got hurt because of me.

Keeping my distance is the smartest thing and the best thing I can do for him then.

Ryder didn't say anything after that. He stayed silent and I didn't hear him make single move to walk away or walk towards me for a few minutes until I finally heard his footsteps. The next minute, I heard the door open and close.

The second that I heard the door click close, I hung my head in despair and let the overwhelming fear I was trying to lock away inside me take over. The tears started pouring and I had no clue how to stop them.

I just pushed away the last person who might have been able to protect me and I didn't know whether it was a mistake or not.

I knew something for certain, though. Pushing him away hurt. It really did. Despite repeatedly telling myself that it was for the best, it didn't sound convincing enough. Not to me.