Everything happened so fast. We had all gotten the signal Aiden had sent us and wasted no time in moving.
Carter appeared with a rover and yelled at us to get in and didn't wait for us to settle in and stepped on the pedal. We made it a few yards away from the scene and the boys jumped out of the vehicle before it was even parked.
I knew I was wasn't ready for the scene I was about to witness but it was a punch to the stomach to see Aiden cradling what looked like a lifeless version of my best friend.
In the background there was shots being fired but I didn't care as I ran and didn't stop until I was kneeling beside my best friend.
My heart broke more (if it was even possible at this point) as I heard Aiden beg my best friend to stay with him.
"H-Hey, I'm here now, you can open your eyes." My voice trembled as I slowly reached forward to hold her hand in mine, using the other to push her bangs out of her face. "I-I'm sorry it took us so long to find you but w-we're here n-now." I sobbed as her hand lay limp in mine.
She looked at me briefly before her eyelids fluttered close and when her head rolled to the side, I let out the most gut-wrenching scream my body could muster. Justin who was next to me wrapped his arms around me and began pulling me away.
"L-Let me go! Let me go! She needs me!" I cried hysterically, my tears blinding my eyes. "D-Don't make me leave her p-please!"
"Bella, Bella I need you to snap out it!" Justin grabbed my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him. "Hey, hey we're going to take her to the nearest hospital. I need you to calm down so we can go with her okay?"
"W-What?"
"Look." He gently turned my head, the two of us watching as they rushed her body to the car. I looked back at Justin and managed to nod my head. He let go of my face and grabbed my hand as we ran after them. Aiden was no longer holding her as Carter gently took her in his arms but the moment he was able to, Aiden held her hand in his.
By the time we had reached the hospital, Aiden too had passed out but when I looked down I realized his hand was still holding hers. So now we had two people we had to sit around and wait for updates on. He had also been the first to wake up as his injuries hadn't been as severe. From the moment he awoke to after he had been discharged he refused to leave my best friends side and didn't want to do anything that didn't include being next to her. We had to force him to eat. The same applied to the rest of us. It was hard to consume anything when we weren't sure when she would wake up and get to do the same.
We knew she wouldn't be waking up anytime soon so preparations were made to transport her to a hospital back home. The flight was quiet and heavy. I let Liz and Jordan know of the updates and wasn't surprised when I already found them waiting at the hospital.
"How is she?" Liz asked, fearful of the answer I'd give her.
I slowly shook my head as tears welled up my eyes. "She's not good Lizzy. The doctors aren't certain when she'll wake up."
"M-Maybe the doctors here will say something e-else?"
"Let's hope." I said wrapping my arms around her when I saw tears leave her eyes.
I wanted to tell her what I saw to get some of the weight off my chest but I knew that not only was that not a good idea, it was a selfish one.
Unfortunately the boys made us return to school, with the promise that we could come visit her before and after. It was a lot harder to convince Aiden on the other hand. He always slept at the hospital and only ever went home to shower. His family often accompanied him to the hospital and I was glad that they were being supportive and understanding, I knew he needed them the most right now. The same couldn't exactly be said for the rest of us. Our parents were never very active in our lives and it looked like this time wouldn't be any different.
"Aiden honey, you need to eat something." I turned to look at my mother, worry evident in her eyes.
"Mom, I'm scared. What if she doesn't wake up?" I whispered.
"Oh my baby," She was quick to wrap her arms around me and quietly said, "I'm scared too."
"M-mom?"
"Yes?"
"Can you tell me more?"
She froze but then relaxed. "Only if you promise to eat."
The idea didn't sound appealing to my stomach but I knew it would do more good than harm to get some food in my stomach.
If I'm being honest I didn't think I had the strength to hold the bowl of soup and feed myself. My mom spoon fed me and it reminded back to my toddler years. There was a strange nostalgic feeling in my chest and I saw it in her eyes.
"What do you want to know?" She asked after a few spoonfuls.
"Everything, or at least whatever it is you're comfortable sharing with me."
"Well," She sighed, "like I had mentioned before, I was best friends with her mother, her actual mother. " She clenched her jaw at that. "The two of us were inseparable you know, always attached to the hip all throughout high school and even before that..."
That was how the rest of the week went by, my mother would come sit with me and make sure I ate and at the same time tell me a little more.
A part of me also believed in a sense that her telling these stories about my angel's mother were helping her. I say this because, it all started during one of her storytelling, while I held her hand as I always been when I felt the tiniest twitch in my hand. I didn't hesitate to call the doctor. He said things like these were always a good sign but the only thing we could do was hope she got better soon.
From there on, the twitch became a little more frequent and a little stronger. When Bella and the rest came to learn about this, they made sure to attend my moms storytelling sessions as well. At first we all kind of had our own time given to ourselves and sometimes it overlapped but now we were always together in the same room.
It was a week later that I felt it.
"She squeezed my hand!" I shouted practically jumping out of my seat.
"What! Are you sure?"
"Yes! I'm positive!"
"This better not be a joke Aiden."
"It's not I'll prove it!" I leaned down and gently said. "Baby, if you can hear me squeeze my hand again. Please angel."
Everyone crowded around her bed as we all focused on her hand in mine. This time when she squeezed my hand again it was a lot fainter but we all still saw it.
"Oh my god!" Bella was the first to react. "Baby we're all here okay, we'll wait as long as you need okay?" She sobbed. "I love you." She kissed her head gently.
"Bella is right," Justin choked out his words. "we'll wait for as long as you want us to, just don't make us wait to long yeah? We all miss you terribly."
She tried squeezing my hand once more but we could all tell it was taking a lot of strength for her to do, judging by the crease in between her brows.
"It's okay angel, don't force yourself, we all know you can hear us now." I whispered, kissing her forehead softly. My heart clenched seeing the one tear slip down her face.
"Mom," I said turning to face her again. "Will you continue telling us?"
"Of course," She attempted to smile. "Haven known her what felt like my whole life, I was obviously there when her father courted her mother." She managed a laugh. "Oh that man was absolutely smitten with my best friend and why wouldn't he when she was the most gorgeous girl there ever was."
Bella let out a small giggle, her lips curling up. "Sounds like someone I know." She said grabbing her best friends hand. Another tear slipped down my beauty's face which Bella gently kissed away as she gave her hand a soft squeeze.
"She definitely got my best friend's genes." My mother smiled sadly. "Oh her mother was absolutely beautiful. She was the angel of my and her husband's life."
My heart thumped. I didn't know she had meant that much to my mom.
As if she has heard my thoughts, my mom said, "I.. I loved her very much and it absolutely broke my heart when she passed, to the point where I couldn't see myself living in a state where my best friend no longer was so we moved shortly after. When your father got his promotion last year, he hesitated at first for my sake, but I figured it had to be a sign for me to return and finally get the closure I never allowed myself to have." She said wiping her tears as she looked at my angel. "When I saw our old home up for sale I figured that too had to be a sign so I asked your father to buy it again."
I frowned, thinking about how that explained the weird feeling I had experienced the night we moved in. Despite having no recollection of ever stepping foot in that house, it did feel as though I had been inside before. It would also explain all the baby pictures that contained a background that didn't match the house we lived in back in New Jersey.
"I didn't know how to feel the night we moved back and received that invitation for dinner. I suppose I felt weird knowing I was being invited to the house where my best friend once lived in. I can't tell you how shocked I was when the one person who tried to make my best friend's life a living hell, opened that door. Even more so when she asked you to call down her "daughter" and for Stephanie" She scoffed at the name" to be the one to come down... I didn't know what to think. It couldn't be possible that she was hers when she was an exact replica of my Angelica."
"Mom, why do you say her name like that?"
"Like what sweetie?"
"Like you're almost disgusted to do. You sound appalled to even mention that name."
"That's because I am."
"Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever heard you even say it before. Do you not like her name that much-"
"That is not her name!"
"W-What.. W-What are you talking about?"
"Stephanie is not her name!"
Everyone was so focused on my mother's outburst that we failed to notice a certain someone open their eyes, clearly hearing everything, until that person spoke.
"What is my name then?"
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Hi, I'm sorry for the lack of updates, my mental health hasn't been doing so well this semester if I'm being honest. It is something I've always struggled with and I decided maybe it was finally time to get some help. Again I'm sorry it took me so long to post this chapter, I hope you still enjoyed.
Thank you for reading!
Miss you lots.
~ THIA ♥️