Gated Heart

Chapter 32

Mia ran down the hospital hallway frantically with Aren trailing calmly behind her. When she got too far ahead of him, she stopped and turned around. Shooting him an annoyed look, she ran back to him, grabbed his arm and pulled him along with her.

"You know, for someone with really long legs, you're awfully slow." She huffed.

Aren sighed and sped up his pace.

Mia stopped in front of the emergency room's front desk. "I'm here to visit my friend. Jack Wilkes, can you tell me which room he's in?"

The receptionist typed something into her computer and looked back at Mia. "Room 112." She replied with a smile.

"Thanks!" Mia said quickly before grabbing Aren's arm again and booking it down the hall, scanning the room numbers as she went.

Aren stopped, causing Mia to stumble back for a second. He caught her and pointed to a room to the left. Room 112.

Mia straightened up again and went in. She pulled back the certain to find Jack sitting up in the hospital bed with a bandage on his head. He looked a bit roughed up, but other than that, he appeared to be okay. She let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh- hey, Mia." Jack said casually.

"HEY?" Mia exclaimed.

Jack groaned. "Ugh, you just got here and you're already yelling at me!"

Mia crossed her arms stubbornly, but she stopped herself from scolding him. "Fine, fine. I won't yell at you." She said as calmly as she could.

Jack smiled. "Much better."

Mia paused. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Jack nodded. "My head kind of hurts, but other than that I'm okay. I've been told I have a pretty bad concussion."

Mia looked worried.

Noticing her expression, Jack tried to calm her concern. "Hey, no worries, though. I finally have an excuse to act like a dumbass! It's actually a dream-come-true."

Mia glared at him. "You act like a dumbass anyway."

"Yeah, but now I have a better excuse for it." He smiled at her reassuringly. "Really, I'm fine. Don't worry."

She took a deep breath and looked around. "You weren't here alone all night, were you?"

He shook his head. "They called my parents as soon as I arrived and my mom got here before I even regained consciousness. My dad got here a little after her. They left to go grab some food a few minutes ago, but they stayed with me all night, no matter how many times I told them they didn't have to."

"Oh, thank goodness." Mia relaxed a bit. "I was worried you were alone..."

"You were worried?!" Jack blurted out. "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? I woke up and had no idea what had happened to you. I thought Chris must've attacked you after knocking me out. If I hadn't gotten that call telling me you were alright, I probably would've ripped this IV out of my arm and run out to find you."

Mia cocked her head in confusion. "Wait, someone called you? Who?"

Finally, Aren stepped out from behind the curtain.

Jack reluctantly nodded in Aren's direction. "Him."

Mia whipped around to look at Aren. "What? When did you call him?"

"While you were talking to one of the officers at the police station." Aren stated matter-of-factly. "Just before we left." He leaned casually against the wall.

Mia stared at Aren affectionately. She couldn't help but feel touched that he reached out to Jack for her sake. She knew Aren had a lot of negative feelings toward Jack, so the fact that he put those feelings aside meant a lot to her. Mia didn't want Jack worrying about her, and Aren guessed it in advance.

Mia's eyes lingered on Aren a little too long.

Jack noticed. He chuckled woefully to himself. "I should've known," He sighed.

Mia faced him again. "Huh?"

"You two are back together, right?"

Mia nodded with an uncomfortable smile.

"I guess I shouldn't feel too upset." He said, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. "It's not like you were going to date me, anyway."

"But at least Emily likes you-" Mia started to say.

"Mia..." Aren interjected. "There's something I need to tell you about Emily..."

"What is it?" She asked.

Aren threw a nod towards the hallway, motioning for her to step out of the room.

Mia felt uneasy, but she followed Aren into the hallway.

He led her to the waiting area so that Jack wouldn't overhear.

"Emily's the one who gave Chris the pineapple juice. She also told him about your allergy." Aren said in a dark tone.

Mia's face went pale. "What?!" She gasped.

"She asked him to throw it on you so you would break out in hives. I don't think she expected him to try and kill you with it, but she wanted to ruin your skin for a week."

Mia gaped at him. "Why on earth would she do that?! She's my friend!"

Aren looked down at the ground. He knew the answer wasn't good.

Seeing Aren's discomfort, Mia figured it out on her own. "Oh... She was jealous... I guess that's also why she lied to me about Jack trying to kiss her." Mia shook her head. She didn't want to believe it, but the truth was right in front of her. "I can't believe she would do something like this. Even if she was jealous... I never thought Emily was this type of person." Tears started forming in Mia's eyes.

"Mia..." Aren whispered.

"I have to call her." She said.

Aren looked at her doubtfully but said nothing.

"I can't just do nothing." Mia insisted. "I need to hear it from her. And even if she betrayed me... She still has a right to know what happened to Jack." Mia pulled out her phone and started dialing Emily's number.

Aren put his hand over Mia's phone. "Let me do it." He said softly.

"Why?" Mia asked.

"Just trust me." He replied.

Mia handed him her phone and let him walk away to speak to Emily alone.

He settled against a wall out of Mia's earshot. He hit the "call" button on Emily's contact.

She picked up.

"Oh, hi, Mia." She said.

"It's Aren." He replied.

"Aren? Why do you have Mia's phone?"

He paused. "We're at the emergency room."

Emily went silent for a moment. "I-It's not... M-Mia who's hurt, is it?..." She stammered.

"I know you told Chris to make Mia have an allergic reaction." He said flatly.

"W-what?!" Emily squeaked.

"Don't deny it, I heard the whole thing."

"Is that why you're at the hospital?? Is that why you're using her phone??" Emily blurted out. "Hives shouldn't have sent her to the hospital... unless..."

"Did you really think Chris would stop at splashing it on her?" He snapped. "You should know that he'll always try and do as much harm as possible if he has the chance."

Emily gasped. "What did he do?! Is she okay?? I swear I never asked him to hurt her this much! I only wanted her to be less pretty for a bit, that's all!" She sounded genuinely terrified.

"Maybe you should come see for yourself." Aren replied. "We're at the nearest hospital." He hung up without another word and walked back over to Mia.