Eventually falling back asleep in Carter's arms, I woke up a few hours later with a stiff neck. It was late morning now, the conversation we had happening in the middle of the night. Nurses flooded in and out to check on me, but I was doing good. A lot better than they had predicted with the amount of water I had taken in.
I rolled over in bed, Carter's presence in the room lacking. I had no idea where my phone was either to contact anybody, so I was just left alone with my own thoughts for the meantime. It was a dangerous game to play.
I couldn't help but my mind wandering back to the crash. Is Ryan dead? Did they find a body? Do his remaining family know - if he even has any family left that is, he never spoke about them. I pondered about this for such a long time, I barely even noticed the door to my room opening.
"Surprise!" Jamie yelled, bursting into the room with balloons in hand.
The grin on my face grew wider as he pounced on my bed, giving me the biggest hug in the world. I squeezed him tight, thanking everything that he was okay. He eventually leaned away, bouncing with excitement at the gifts he had bought me.
"We got you balloons and lots of chocolate, Amelia!" Jamie laughed, rushing back to the door to get it.
It was then I noticed Olivia standing in the corner, gift bag in hand. She hesitated to enter as she handed the bag to Jamie, unsure most likely because of how she shouted at me last time.
"You can come in, you know. I won't bite." I laughed, waving her in the room as I opened Jamie's gifts.
She stepped inside slowly, shutting the door behind her and making her way over to the armchair Carter was in last night. Her face was slightly puffy, as if she had been crying, but she planted a firm smile to cover it.
"I'm so sorry, Olivia. About putting you through what I have-" I began, as Jamie handed me a square of chocolate he had opened.
"No, I wasn't thinking straight when you came to visit. I understand now that none of it is your fault, and I'm sorry that I blamed you. I'm just glad that Jamie," She paused, looking at him lovingly. "And yourself are okay. Seeing how much he loves you makes me realise that maybe we shouldn't have kept him from you for so long, after all you put your trust in us to look after him."
"Thank you, Olivia. But you are doing a great job - and he seems happy, that's all I want."
"Yes, well, I just hope they catch that silly boy so that this can all finally end. It's good that you're all safe and all, but with him on the loose I still worry about you..."
I zoned the rest of what she was saying out, panic setting in as I realised that Ryan was still on the loose. Why hasn't anybody told me? I suppose nobody had really had the chance, but what if he just came in this room and finished the job while I was sleeping? I couldn't stay here, I had to go.
Just as I was about to get out of bed, Carter entered the room with some coffee in hand. He passed one to Olivia, before putting what I assume to be mine and his on the bedside table.
"Ryan's alive?" I questioned quietly, staring at the bed sheets.
"Oh - I didn't realise," Olivia began, before making herself scarce. "I'll just take Jamie outside to the play area for a while. Come on Jame, let's give your sister some space."
He gave me one more big hug before heading in tow of Olivia, tipping me over the edge slightly as a tear rolled down my face.
"I can't do this Carter, not if he's on the loose. I can't go through it all again. I just can't." I broke down in tears, the panic of everything taking over.
"Hey, they're doing everything they can to find him, I promise. Dad and his team are out there right now looking for him, and they've got a few leads so it should be good news." He reassured, kneeling at the side of the bed and taking my hands in his.
"How did he even get out? I saw him still in the car with me before I lost consciousness, he looked dead."
"I'm sorry, I don't know. But he was gone by the time I got to the car, Amelia. He never popped up on shore so he must have swam to the opposite end of the lake or something."
Was it wrong of me to be slightly hurt that Ryan had just left me in the car for dead? He was meant to love me, and yet he just left me to die alone. So much for drowning together, asshole. He left before he even gave us a chance to be the next Romeo and Juliet. If I was awake, I'm sure I'd have left him there - but at the same time, I just wasn't sure if I had it in me to leave him there.
He was a monster, but I just don't think I could leave him to die.
"When I'm finished with him, he won't even be allowed to look at a photograph of you." A new voice interrupted, as I wiped the tears away to see who had entered now.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I laughed, a large grin tugging at the corners of my face.
"Well, you know, I had this whole mushy surprise thing planned in a few weeks time anyway. But, then I got wind of what was going on here, and seeing as you have to ruin all my plans like always, I took a few extra weeks holiday," My big brother shrugged as if it was nothing, entering the room and walking over to my bed. "It's good to see you, loser."
"I can't believe you, how did you even find out? I made Liam swear he wouldn't tell you." I scolded, not wanting to have worried him.
I stared at him slightly in awe that I was seeing him in person, noticing that he hadn't changed much at all. He still had the same boring nearly shaved head, he was still in better shape than me, he still had the same goofy grin as me. He was definitely the same brother who had left months ago, almost as if he had never left at all.
"Oh, I just guessed." He smirked in Carter's direction, shocking me slightly.
"You promised you wouldn't!" I chuckled, slapping his hand lightly with this new information.
"Nope, Liam promised he wouldn't. You never said anything about Joe to me." He pointed out, doing a strange bro handshake with Joe. "Besides, I'm pretty sure he'd have killed me if I didn't tell him - and I didn't want him to hate me before we'd even met."
"Ah," I chuckled, looking between them both. "So you just wanted to make a good impression on my family, it wasn't about me being missing at all!"
"What? No, not like that..." Carter squirmed, trying to get himself out of the hole he was digging.
"Yeah, sure," I teased, before leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. "Have you seen Jamie yet?"
"No - but I've got to rush off and do some work stuff, so I figured I'd surprise him tonight instead. Especially seeing as you'd ruined my original surprise, I want to at least shock one of you." He laughed, before pulling his phone out and rushing off to answer an 'important' call.
I laughed as he exited the room, stepping aside for the nurse who was coming in to check on me. Jamie would burst when he found out that Joe had returned from abroad, both his brother and sister in the same room for the first time in months.
Carter gave me a quick kiss before giving the nurse space, making me blush immediately. I felt like a child again around him, especially seeing as he was being so caring towards me in the hospital. I usually hated the attention, but right now I was loving every second of it.
I was even beginning to love him.
YOU ARE READING
Faded Memories
Teen Fiction"He seemed like a puzzle to me, and I really liked solving puzzles. But somehow, I don't think that I would ever be able to solve this one." Amelia Heart, with her large smile and her infectious laugh, is what most people would think has the perfect...
