Al(lie)son

Chapter 32

My friends came a few hours after Wes did. I was showered with tears by my girls, although some of those tears were my own, and Cody gave me one of the tightest hugs he'd ever given before presenting me with a bouquet of chicken nuggets.

"You're the best." I told him sincerely.

"Not my idea." He sat at the foot of my bed., folding one leg up under him. "I just went and got all the nuggets."

"Thanks for that, by the way." Hannah blew a kiss at him.

"How are you feeling?" Reagan asked softly.

She looked okay, but if you looked closer you could see the redness in her eyes and a weariness that hadn't been there before. And though her makeup was still impeccable, I knew that beneath the concealer, there were probably heavy bags.

It also didn't go past my attention that Tristan wasn't there.

"High on pain medication, and I have the best nurse."

Wes was leaning against the window, to give Hannah and Reagan prime real estate on my bed, and his lips quirked up. "You're an easy patient."

"Thanks." I turned my attention back to my friend. "Ray, where is he?"

"He got you shot. We're over." She finally said, after a few moments. "It hurts but I'm doing good. Just glad you're still here."

I placed my hand over hers. "He thought his mother was in danger, Ray. He felt as though he had no choice."

My other friends barely contained their rage. Hannah's blue eyes turned to frost, although she maintained the same expression and both of Cody's hands tightened to fists while his facial expression turned to resentment.

Meanwhile at the window, the muscle in Wes' jaw began to tic, and his shoulders stiffened.

"He could've told me." Reagan said, a fire beginning to build in her, I could see it in her face. "He could've told me and we could've helped him. But he chose to do what he did. I can't, I just can't even look at him right now."

"Hannah." I said quietly, slightly taken aback that my usually bubbly friend was stoic and silent. I turned to look at Cody too. "Don't be mad at him, you guys."

"He almost got you killed." Cody growled out. "He's been feeding information about you, about us, to the person that was harassing and threatening you for more than half a year. He put us there into the crosshairs too. Do you really expect us to just forgive him for all that?"

"He betrayed all of us. Especially Ray." Hannah finally spoke, her voice eerily calm, but with the hint of anger simmering beneath. "He's not a part of our lives anymore."

"He's going to need friends, you guys." I clasped the hands of the girls that stood by me through my heartbreak, the girls who dragged me out in heels and makeup because they knew I needed to get out. The girls that made me the person I was. "Cole is the puppeteer. Tris was just a puppet."

"That does not make it any better." Wes growled.

I gave him a wry look. "He was the one who helped save my life too, you know."

"The least he could do after putting your life at stake, if you ask me." The rage wasn't hidden. He didn't even try. 

The tension in the room had risen considerably.  I looked at the faces of people
I loved, people that loved me back, and said, "I've forgiven him. He's going to testify at Cole's trial. You know that. He's going through a tough time too. How do you think he feels? Guilt, shame, anger? Probably a lot of self-loathing. Before you guys really decide to ice him out, please consider what I'm asking. At least be cordial to him. I know it's a lot to ask, but you don't have to be besties. Just a friend. He could use one now."