Chasing Miss Conner •NEW VERSION•

XVI

Sixteen

✨Chapter inspired by Pink's Beautiful Trauma✨

I'm about 98% sure I'm going crazy. It's been about a week since I saw Miss Conner, she was busy with classes and whatnot, but my condition hasn't improved. My old scar was tight and hot to the touch, the concluding factor being the infection that has eroded into the left ventricle of my heart. The bruises and cuts on my chest were healing steadily, but it still hurt something awful when I tried to move.

Meaning I had two options:

Number 1: I could decline surgery and die.

Or:

Number 2: I could have surgery and die.

Naturally, neither of those options sounded particularly inviting. But Doctor Robbins has had nothing but confidence in Seattle's cardiovascular surgeon.

I was hesitant. All my life I'd had surgeries, and this is the most serious my condition has ever been. Essentially, my heart was failing. If this surgery did go wrong, it could result in me in a coma with no heart at all as a machine kept blood pumping throughout my body. I could last a few weeks in that condition yes, but not long enough to have a good chance at scoring a donor heart.

It was foolish of me, but I wished Miss Conner was here to help me decide this decision. I knew she'd tell me to have the surgery, but her opinion was the one I valued the most. I was scared and my overreacting mother and the constant security guards at my door weren't enough to console me anymore. I needed her calm and collected presence. She always knows what to say to make me feel better, and she didn't even have to try.

"Miss? These came for you." I jerked in surprise, not seeing the nurse that had approached my bedside. She held a large bouquet of roses, each one carefully arranged, in a vase in her hands. A card stuck out of the dirt.

I frowned, no one knew I was in the hospital except for Miss Conner, Genny, and my mom. Genny wasn't the flower-sending type, and it would be a bit bold for Miss Conner to send them. Also, my mom loathed roses.

"Can you hand me the card?" I asked as she set them down on the bedside table.

She did, smiling kindly at me. I flipped it over, my blood immediately running cold as I read the neat script.

"Say hi to Juliette for me, just know you're not the only one I'm following home at night. Feel better kitten."

I didn't expect a signature, but I had hoped he'd be that stupid. Attached was a small photo of Miss Conner leaving my hospital room, my smiling face could clearly be seen behind her back. Fear clawed up my throat, ripping through my vocal chords.

"Miss? Is everything okay?" I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. I quickly shoved the photo back into the card, plastering a fake smile on my face.

"Yeah thank you." She eyed me for a moment before conceding and leaving me alone with my thoughts.

My mind couldn't figure out what his angle was. If he wanted to hurt me, why not just outright attack me like he did that other girl? And why bring Miss Conner into it? I didn't understand why he was so infatuated with us. It made no sense.