Unfortunately Just Friends✔️

Chapter 8: He Promised...

Thalia

I keep walking in and out of the hospital room, just waiting for Milo to wake up. I can't wait for him to open his eyes, so that I can smack that idiot in the face for scaring me. If he thinks he can just leave a club without even saying goodbye to me and run into the middle of the street, then he must be crazy. I left the room to go check on everyone else for a while and when I came back, Milo's sisters were all fast asleep in the bed. Zoey was under Milo's right arm and Isabel was under his left, it seems like they put his hands there. Juliana was curled up at the foot of his bed, holding onto his legs as if he were going to leave her. Lilly somehow maneuvered her way near the top of the bed near Milo's pillows, she curled herself so that she was kind of near his shoulder but not enough to be touching him, probably out of fear to touch any of the machines hooked up to him. They always end up in these positions. Whenever any of them would feel lonely or scared they would all gather up around Milo, feeling like his presence would protect them from anything.

After their father passed away, I stayed at their house for a whole month trying to help them adjust to life and try to feel better. And every night, all of the girls would gather in Milo's room and sleep in the positions they are in now. Milo would put his arms around Isabel and Zoey and pat their head until they slept and Lilly would play with his hair because it calmed her down. Poor Juliana is the only one that was closest in age to Milo, and that meant she had as many memories as he did about his parents and had as much pain as him. She would always sit at the foot of the bed and insist that she would sleep in her own room because there wasn't enough room for her on the bed, and every night she would sleep at the foot of the bed close enough to grab Milo if she was having any nightmares.

"He's going to be fine." Lilly says to me as she runs her hands through Milo's hair. "He may look damaged now, but he's a tough guy. He promised me to go and buy my prom dress soon. Juliana insisted on taking me, but I don't know... I kind of just want Milo to come. Zoey said Juliana can help pick hers out so she doesn't feel bad." Lilly doesn't make any eye contact with me the entire time. "I think I feel so connected to him because he looks like Mom." Lilly and Zoey were so young when their mother died and they were still pretty young when their dad died too. They didn't get to have the memories with them like every child should have. They don't realize how much they look like their mother too. "He'll be up and spending all of his paycheck on you really soon Lills. He was just too much of an idiot to not look both ways before crossing the street." She finally looks up and gives me a warm smile wiping the tears that were about to spill from her eyes.

Dash walks into the room with a big grin on his face. He's wearing his scrubs and looks completely fine, even though he had to go back to work during the week that he had off. He said it wasn't any problem because he knew I wasn't going to go home without Milo being awake. Juliana wakes up and turns towards Dash. "How are the sisters today?" He asks in a cheery voice. "We're holding up fine, any news on how he's doing." Juliana asks looking back at Milo, biting her cheek to contain a frown. "Yes, he should be up in no time. He experienced a few injuries with his back, but he was just heavily sedated so he wouldn't be in pain. The meds should wear off in a couple of hours and he should be acting like his normal self." Relief comes across the faces of Lilly and Juliana with every word that Dash says. He continues the paperwork and the check-up that he needed to do and leaves the room. Lilly falls back asleep while running her hands through Milo's hair for the millionth time.

"I hate hospitals, never did like them." Juliana says this while she tries to cover the rest of the girls. "Milo knows that I hate hospitals, and promised me that I never had to see one or be in one until someone had a baby." She turns around and looks at me just as her tears begin to roll down her cheeks. "He promised me I didn't have to have this feeling again. He told me that I would never have to get that stupid call that someone I loved was in pain. He promised me that I would never have to load the girls in the car and speed to a hospital in fear ever again. So why didn't he keep his promise?" She runs into my arms and I hug her, trying to contain her crying and I remember having to console Milo the same way.

It was the day that their dad passed away. It was pouring rain outside and all I heard was a knock at the door. It was Milo, he was soaking wet and he just stood there. He was breathing heavily like he just ran a marathon and I realized that his car was nowhere in sight. "Milo, did you just run here?" He just stood there taking deep breaths in silence. "Thalia... he promised I wouldn't get a call from a nurse. He promised me that the only call from a hospital would be from him. He promised me that he would call to tell me to pick him up so he could get out of that hell hole. He promised that he would get better, for me... for Juliana and Zoey and Lilly and Isabel." The words were so cold, lingering in the air. "Now I'm never going to even hear his voice again." The tears and the rain mixing together as we stood there on my porch. He let out these deep sobs that I have never heard come from him before. They came from the pit of his stomach, and shook his whole body. He just kept telling me that he felt awful for Lilly and Zoey because they were too young to be without another parent. He felt bad for Isabel for being at the age where there was nothing she could do. He felt bad for Juliana because now she would try her best to be a parental figure to them. But I felt bad for him, because he deserved so much better. In the horrible time he was in, all he could think about was his family. He's such a strong person. He doesn't realize how much of an impact he has had on these girls.

Holding his sister in my arms, I tried my best not to cry along with her. Truth was, I was scared too but I know that if I had any siblings that Milo would be here helping them get through this too. I looked over at Milo and got this weird feeling in my stomach. Not like it hurt, but more like butterfly feelings, but I shook my head and got the thought out. Such weird timing for such a thing.