Endless || Jonah Marais ✓

♪ FOURTEEN ♪

Carmen's mother appears in the waiting room, exhausted but wearing a small smile as she glances at the seven teens waiting to hear anything. Aurora manages to sit up, quietening her sobs to a sniffle in order to hear what the woman has to say.

"She's awake and allowed to have only a few visitors," Mrs. Elliot announces, causing a wave of relief to sweep through the room as everyone visibly relaxes. "She requested Zach, Aurora, and Jonah."

Aurora is out of her seat in an instant, but not nearly as fast as Zach. He sprints down the hallway - anxious to be by the young girl's side - the brunette close on his heels and towing Jonah along.

When reaching her hospital room, Zach stops at the door, causing the other two to almost fall over him. Peering over his shoulder, Aurora visibly winces at the sight of Carmen. She was staring up at the ceiling, a breathing tube placed in her nose. Her position was very uncomfortable, as Jonah, Aurora, and Zach noticed.

"Zach," Carmen says weakly, a smile spreading across her lips.

Aurora nearly collapses in relief at the sound of her voice, leaning against Jonah's chest for support as he wraps his arms around her waist. She couldn't imagine being able to survive if she had lost her other best friend too.

She moves to sit up - something that only causes her to experience more pain. Carmen cries out as a pain erupts from her ribs and quickly sinks back into the bed. Aurora places a hand over her mouth, and Zach rushes to her side.

"Are you okay?" He asks, surveying her as he takes her hand in his.

"I'm far from okay," she admits, motioning to her broken arm, her collar, ribs, and bandaged head. "But I was lucky."

"I'm sorry about Elle," Zach frowns, taking the seat next to her.

Carmen lays her head back against a lumpy pillow, trying to hold back her tears. But she couldn't, not when her best friend had just died before her very eyes.

"That shouldn't have happened," Carmen murmurs, a single tear rolling down her cheek as she stares up at the ceiling. "It should've been me."

"Don't say that," Zach shakes his head, tears filling his own eyes.

"And where would Zach be?" Aurora speaks up from the front of the room, squeezing Jonah's hand. "No, it should not have been you."

"I watched them die," Carmen whispers, her bottom lip quivering as she cries. "I watched the headlights flash in front of us, and the front of the car get smashed in. They held hands through the whole thing." Zach squeezes her hand as her cries grow heavier, turning into sobs. "I-I should have done something- anything! But I didn't."

"You couldn't have done anything to stop it," Jonah says. "You weren't the driver, Carmen. What could you have done?"

"Jonah's right," Aurora agrees, stepping away from his embrace and closer to the hospital bed. "If anyone is to blame, it's me." Zach glances at her, shaking his head in disagreement as she continues. "I sent the text that distracted Mark. If it weren't for me, we wouldn't be in this situation right now."

Tears spill down her cheeks as guilt continues to eat away at her aching heart. Zach goes to say something but is cut off by Jonah.

"None of you need to be blaming yourselves. Aurora, you didn't cause this. Carmen, you couldn't have done anything to stop it. And Zach, don't even think about placing any of the blame on yourself."

The room falls silent. All that could be heard was the continuous beep of Carmen's heart monitor and the occasional sniffle from both girls. But a nurse broke the silence moments later, tapping lightly on the door.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," he says, offering a sincere smile. "But we need to lower the number of visitors to one."

He was gone as quick as he had shown up. Aurora wanted to argue, not ready to leave her best friend's side, but she doesn't get a chance. Jonah nods before turning back to Zach and Carmen.

"Aurora and I will visit as soon as we're allowed," he promises.

"Bye, Caramel," Aurora mutters, waving weakly as Jonah tugs her back into the waiting room.

- - - -

Callie rose to her feet at the sight of the couple, immediately bombarding them with countless questions. Aurora couldn't bring herself to process any of them, let alone answer them, as a new thought plagues her. Dropping Jonah's hand, she slips around the nearest corner as he keeps the others distracted.

Sliding down to the floor, she pulls out her phone and realizes just how late it is. With her heart plummeting yet again, she dials a number, halfway hoping nobody would answer.

"Hello?" A familiar voice answers through a yawn.

"Hey, Jellybean," Aurora croaks out, finding it hard to talk through the lump in her throat. "Can you put Dad on the phone?"

It goes silent on the other end of the line for only a few seconds; plenty of time for her to regret her decision to call so soon. She knew she would most likely break down during the call, even though there's no way her dehydrated body had any more tears left to shed.

"Hello?" A deeper voice asks, sounding as though he had just been woken up.

"H-hey, Dad." Aurora pauses, bracing herself.

"Aurora, is something wrong? What happened? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay," she admits, her voice cracking. "There was a crash."

"Are you hurt?" Her dad's voice is instantly filled with worry for his kids' safety. "What about Mark?"

"No, I wasn't in the crash. But, Mark-" A sob escapes her small frame for the hundredth time that night. She couldn't bring herself to say the dreadful word. Because saying it made it real and she wasn't ready to accept it. "Mark is dead."

There's a crash on the other end of the line as the phone hits the floor. Aurora quickly hangs up, not wanting to hear their anguished cries.

Wrapping her arms around her legs, she places her chin on her knees and continues to cry. Doctors and nurses bustle around her, having seen scenes similar to her's too many times.

Jonah rounds the corner, not hesitating to drop down to sit next to her and pull her into his side.

"Things will get better, I promise."