Cimorelli Saved Me (Book 1)

Chapter 23

"Can I go see her?" is all I have to say. She nods with a sad look. I walk into Meg's ICU room and look at her. She's so pale and not moving, it scares me a little.

I move to sit down next to her and I hold her hand.

"Meg, you're my best friend and I love you so much. I will always be here for you just as I know no matter what happens you will always be here for me. I- I want you to stay here with me but if you can't..." I pause, choking down my tears, "I understand. I just want you to know I'm here."

Just then the heart monitor machine starts beeping frantically and I see there's a 0 on it.

"HELP I NEED A DOCTOR!!!" I yell as loud as I can. Dr. Torres rushes in and I stand against the back wall of Meg's room, no one notices me. They do CPR, give her meds and shock her with the paddles. But nothing helps. After half an hour they call her time of death.

I stand there thinking to myself that this can't be happening. Meg can't be dead. I didn't just watch her die. She's fine and any minute I'll wake up from this nightmare.

Only, I don't wake up from it. It's not a nightmare, this is stone cold reality. 

Dr. Torres then acknowledges I'm there and says, "I am so sorry Bella for your loss."

"Can I stay for a while...?" I ask. She nods.

All the tubes are now unhooked from Meg and I lay down next to her. I don't care that some of Meg's blood from her leg is getting on my skirt or that this feels so surreal. I lay there and I squeeze her limp hand and I become numb. I don't feel a single emotion.

I then see Christina and Lisa standing at the doorway. They look at me and tears run down their faces.

Christina's POV

As soon as the doctor came and told us Meg had died with Bella in the room, Lisa and I jumped up and had to go see Bella.

But seeing her curled up next to her best friend is all but too much to bear. This is one of the worst things I've seen and it breaks my heart. I walk over to her, Lisa behind me. I'm not sure what to do or say. Bella's not crying or showing any form of emotion. Her usually bright blue eyes are cold and dark.

I smooth her hair and whisper, "Babygirl I am so sorry."

That does it for her. She snaps.

"She's gone, Meg's dead Chrissy," she painfully cries, "She's gone and there's nothing I can do about it."

Tears stream down my face and I don't even try to stop them.

"I know," I say softly.

"I WATCHED HER DIE," Bella screams in a voice I've never heard from her before. It's of extreme pain and suffering. Lisa runs out of the room and I want to go find her and make sure she's okay but I refuse to leave Bella.

"Come here," I say opening my arms and Bella reaches for me, now crying loudly into my shoulder. Her cries slowly subside and then the doctor returns.

"I'm sorry but we um need to move her now," she says. I expect Bella to cry more or say something but she doesn't. She turns over and kisses Meg on the cheek.

"I love you Meg, best friends whether near or far," she says softly and then gets up. Bella grabs my hand and walks out of the room. We find Lisa trying to compose herself outside in a chair and Bella grabs her hand too.

We walk out of the hospital hand in hand and simply take a taxi back to our hotel room.

I see Bella grab her phone and text someone. I wonder who it is...

Bella's POV

My heart is completely broken and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now. My best friend is gone forever. I hate the pain, though. I need a distraction. So as soon as we get back to the hotel I grab my phone and text Jake.

Me: Hey Adams, you guys playing football again today?

Jake: Yeah, wanna come? We meet in about an hour at the usual spot.

Me: I'll def be there. Can I bring Christina and Lisa? Idk if they'll want to play or not tho.

Jake: Sure, of course. I'll see ya then Carter.

I look up at Christina and Lisa.

"Get changed we're going somewhere," I say.

I see the looks on their faces become bewildered and figure they probably think I'm insane.

"I need a distraction so I'm gonna go play football with Jake and some other people. If you guys wanna come then get changed."

They exchange a glance and then I see Lisa shrug. I throw on leggings and a pullover hoodie as do the others.

We get to the park and most of the others aren't here yet but he is. Jake waves at me, I run over to him. Christina and Lisa slowly walk behind.

"Hey," he says, "You don't look so good, are you okay?"

"Meg died this morning while I was in the room," I say matter-of-factly.

He gasps and his mouth drops open, "Oh Bella, I am truly sorry!" He then pulls me into a hug and it helps a little.

"I just need a distraction before I cry again," I tell him.

"Got it."

The rest of the guys show up and cheer when they see I'm there.

"Yo Carter, good to see ya again!"

"Carter!"

"Now I'll finally get a good player on my team."

All of them are smiling and I smile back.

"Hey everyone, I'm glad to be back on the field even if it's just for today. I'd like you all to meet Christina and Lisa," I say and all the guys say hi or nod at them.

We then choose teams and start to play. I laugh at Christina and Lisa as they struggle to keep up with the rest of us. It feels so good, so free to be here with the only focus being to play and score.

It's 19-17 and my team is losing. All we need is a few more points and we could win but there's only about 20 seconds left. Jake throws me the ball and I catch it. I realize there's no one in front of me and I run faster than I ever have before. No one can stop me now. I can feel the breeze in my ponytail.

I slam my body and the ball to the ground just after the line. I hear tons of cheering. Only then do I realize I just scored the winning touchdown. Next thing I know, the guys have lifted me up and are carrying me around. I grin and laugh.

I look down and see my sisters. They smile at me and I smile back. There's a proud look on their faces and it's nice to see.

The guys finally put me down and Jake comes to me.

"Wanna go grab some food and talk?" he asks. I look over at Christina and Lisa. They nod.

"It's fine, just be back at the hotel by 6," Christina tells me. I thank her and hug them both. After they leave, Jake and I are finally alone. We walk to the nearest food place and I prepare myself for who knows what might happen next.

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Hey everyone!

So I've been writing long chapters and I'm hoping you guys like that. I'm slowly running out of ideas but here's to hoping I still have enough haha.

This was such an emotional chapter to write so I kinda love and don't love it at the same time. But I'm really liking the whole Bella/Jake thing! What do you all think about it?

~Courtney