Hello lovely people!
I loved all your reactions to my last two chapters. That just needed to be said. You guys are the most wonderful fans, EVER! I love you! :)
And so, I couldn't torture you any longer. Here's Chapter Thirty-Eight!
-jennaxxx
ps. what do you think of the new cover? good? bad? let me know! + comment!
Chapter Thirty-Eight
They were sneaking around, all over the building, being like spies, and I was sitting in that stupid hospital bed, staring at my fingers. I wanted to be a spy, damn it. But no; I was stuck there, with the smell of antiseptic stinging my senses, while the guys went out and tried to find out if Erick was okay – or alive. At least I was clearing my mind, sitting there by myself.
Not that I didn’t put up a fight when they told me I was in no condition to go running around the hospital with them.
“Besides,” Spencer told me. “If a nurse sees you in that hospital gown, don’t you think she’ll be a little suspicious of what’s going on?”
I told him that if he wanted, I could wear his clothes, and he could run around in the hospital gown, or better yet, stay in the damned bed. I even offered to shove the freaking IV down his throat, or if he preferred, up his ass.
He rolled his eyes at me and stalked out, cursing me, but before leaving, Lucas gave me a quick wry smile, commending how even in a hospital, with mind-splitting headaches and bruised ribs - I was still the fieriest girl he’d ever seen. I smirked, and told him that Cindy might beat me someday. He reddened, huffed, and walked away to find Mrs. Perkins with the rest of them.
It was our best bet, to find her first. Surely she’d know where Erick was, or how he was doing. The accident was close to Clayton’s exhibit, so it was beyond me how I’d gotten back to the one, nearest to home. Right then, there were a lot of things beyond me, to be honest.
And so I sat, staring at my fingers, and secretly wondering what it’d be like to punch Erick in the face.
Satisfying, I concluded.
It must’ve been at least half an hour before Spencer popped into my room with Nathan. They grinned wickedly at me, but made no move to speak. “Tell me you’ve found him,” I sighed, sitting up. “Tell me he’s fine.”
“He got out of surgery a little while ago,” Spencer nodded, and I let out a breath of relief.
“He’s sleeping now,” Nathan smiled down at me. “But wait a few hours, and I’m sure you’ll be able to sneak into his room.”
“Yeah – we found Mrs. Perkins, and with a little persuading on her part, we got Erick into a room just down the hall. Room 103,” Spencer grinned.
“Where’s Luke?” I asked, furrowing my brow, even though I was overjoyed. Something about hearing it from Spencer and Nathan comforted me, but I still had to see it for myself. When Mom died, the doctors were convinced that she was fine – that the chemo was going better than ever. They were wrong. Dead wrong.
“He’s calling Jane, and by the look on his face, she’s not being very pleasant right now,” Nathan chuckled. “Something about how she was going to kick Erick’s ass…”
“What even happened?” I frowned, despite the want to smile to myself. “I hardly remember anything.”
“Mrs. Perkins said it was a patch of black ice on the side of the road,” Spencer said. “The cops told her that you were lucky that the truck driver was there to call an ambulance.”
“Apparently, it could’ve been a lot worse, had Erick stepped on the brakes,” Nate added. “I sure as hell didn’t know you weren’t supposed to step on the brake if the car went out of control.”
“Jesus, Hazel,” Spencer grimaced slightly. “Why weren’t you wearing a seatbelt? If it weren’t for Erick, you could’ve died! What would we have done then, huh?”
My throat dried as I remembered undoing the seatbelt to get back into my dress. “What?” I croaked.
“Yeah,” Nathan nodded, with a sad look on his face. “Why do you think Lucas was so angry with you?”
Lucas, at that point, popped back in, scowling at his phone. “Jane does not have anything against cussing anymore…”
“You’re my brother Lucas,” I told him bluntly, right out of the blue, not wanting to explain anything about why I wasn’t wearing the seatbelt. This would just have to do, I thought, as I said, “I love you. I love all of you.”
Oh shut up. Let this one go, alright? I told you before, I’d always love people, and those guys were my bros. I loved them.
Lucas choked a little bit, but coughed out a, “Love you too, bro.”
I smiled to myself, and leant my hand out for his phone. “I gotta call my dad,” I scowled slightly.
“Your dad’s here, Hazel,” Nathan told me. “He was here when they brought you in.”
“Of course, he is,” I forced a smile and dropped my hand to my side. “My dad’s never anywhere but this place.”
Nathan chuckled and patted my arm in an, ‘that’s okay,’ gesture. “It’s why you’ve got us.”
“Yeah,” I grinned shortly at him before turning it upside down. “But wait…why are you here?” I turned to Spencer. “And you! Aren’t you supposed to be in the Bahamas?!”
Spencer shrugged. “My flight was cancelled because of the weather. There’s only one direct flight that’ll avoid the storm over Florida, and that’s in a few hours,” he explained, sending me a deeply embarrassed look. “Plus, how could I go now?”
“That’s sweet,” I frowned, and then grimaced angrily at him. “But Spencer, if you don’t get on that flight and spend the holidays with your sister, in the Bahamas, I will kill you.”
His jaw slackened. “What?”
“Go!” I ordered him. “If you don’t go, I’ll go, but I’m probably not in the best condition to fly. So get your scrawny ass on that flight, and get a tan I’d murder for, while you drink a Pina Colada on a breezy beach!” I all but shouted at him, and Spencer merely stared at me, dumbfounded. “Are you going to go, or am I going to have to kick you out?!” I narrowed my eyes angrily.
He hauled straight out of my room without another word, but only a goofy smile on his lips.
“Now you,” I rounded on Nathan. “Shouldn’t you be somewhere too…?”
“My dad and I weren’t far from here when Luke called about you being hospitalized, so we turned around,” he said. “Don’t worry, Haze. As much as I want to stay, he says that Granny Miller’s got only a few more Christmases left, and that we’ve got to leave in a few hours. The old man’s sleeping in the lobby as we speak.”
I nodded appreciatively to Nate, and lastly focused my attention to Luke. “Lucas?”
“I was on a date,” he sighed, giving me a dry look. “But you’re more important to me that a girl.”
“I am a girl, stupid!” I growled. Lucas said that I knew what he meant, and I ignored him. “Go call Cindy, tell her you’re sorry, and that I’m fine,” I said. “And take her out somewhere, okay? Frozen yogurt, maybe?”
“Wait -,” Lucas gasped, calculating how in the hell I’d know that she loved frozen yogurt. “You’ve been talking to Johnny about Cindy?!”
“Yes,” I responded primly, keeping my composure snobby. “Some people, for example, your girlfriend, tell their friends things.”
“Hazel,” he groaned, turning to Nate. “Get out,” he jerked his head towards the door. “Just for a second.”
“Anything you have to say, Nathan’s our friend too, and he should hear it as well,” I crossed my arms over the hospital gown, lightly enough to avoid the ever- present pain in my ribs.
“Fine,” Lucas bit out. “I don’t like telling you about her because I honestly don’t believe you’re over what Tommy did to you, and that if I bring up how great things are with Cindy, you’ll be offended.”
Wincing at the deliberate directness of his words, I frowned at Lucas. “You’re wrong, Luke. I’m well over Tommy,” a certain boy’s image popped into my mind. “That’s all ancient history, and just because I was a little weak in that time of my life doesn’t make me weak now. If you haven’t noticed, I’m totally kick-ass strong now,” I said, dead-serious. “I want to know about you and Cindy,” I told him sincerely. “And I want to hear it from you.”
He struggled for a moment, but I’d clearly won since long before he grumbled, “Fine.”
“Now go,” I shooed him. “Get out.”
“No, Hazel,” he shook his head. “I’m still not going – no, I’m not going anywhere. I’m your emergency contact.”
“Well my Dad’s in the building, so if I need someone to handle my shit, I’ll fish him out, okay?” I growled. “Now go. And Nate, take your Dad home. He can’t possibly be comfortable in the lobby,” I shook my head, remembering all the night’s I’d spent sleeping down there as a kid. And Nate’s dad was at least twice my size; there was no way he was getting good sleep down there.
Lucas hesitated for a second, but Nathan simply walked over to where he stood, and put his hand on Lucas’ shoulder. “Come on, man,” he smiled a little bit. “It’s better to just listen to her sometimes.”
On the short walk out of the room, Lucas kept looking over his shoulder to me, but nevertheless, Nathan pushed him out. There was a reason he was my favorite most of the time…
Sending all the boys out was for their own goods, but it left me horribly lonely. Sometime later, however, Jane came to my rescue. Well, she more busted through the door with her fists clenched, fuming. “Where’s that idiot, Erick?! I’m going to kill him! I swear it, I’ll kill him!”
“Shut up, Jane,” I laughed quietly.
She looked at me for a beat before her demeanor completely changed. “Oh, Hazel! Oh, are you okay? I’m so sorry this’ happened to you!”
“I’m fine, Jane,” I told her. “Apparently, you should be thanking Erick. He practically saved my life.”
“Wait,” she backed off for a moment. “What do you mean?”
I gave her a sheepish look. “I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt, but -,”
“Hazel! You idiot! What’s wrong with you?! And to think I was going to commit a crime because I thought he hurt you…” she shook her head derisively.
“You weren’t going to do anything,” I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. “But thank gosh you’re here; I was getting bored.”
“Oh,” she shook her head, laughing. “No way, buddy. I left Lionel at home, with the stove on and my curling iron on the kitchen table – plugged in,” she gestured towards her half-curled hair. “All for you, little miss,” she glared coolly at me for a second. “I’m leaving. I’ll be lucky if the house isn’t burnt down…”
I stared at her, utterly mortified, as she stood in the doorway, pondering it. Completely forgetting all about being bored, I shrieked, “Get out, you hazard! You’re brothers in there!”
She snapped out of her reverie and widened her eyes before leaving as quickly as she came, shouting that she’d be by later. And again, I was left bored out of my mind.
I counted the minutes until it’d been a couple hours. Okay, maybe it was just one hour. Or less than that…
But you don’t understand! Now, I didn’t just have to see Erick! I had to thank him too – the idiot saved my life! Before, I was planning on ranting on about how dumb he was for making me cry (I know it’s not logical, but I’m not logical), but now, I just had to thank him. And if he was sleeping, then I’d just wait in his room until he woke up – it was better than being completely lonely.
Plus, I needed to see if he was okay. Hearing it wasn’t enough.
And plus…I was bored.
I tiptoed out of my room and scurried down the hall until I found room 103, and I slowly opened the door, not wanting to wake Erick in case he was sleeping. Slipping into his room, I closed the door, mentally cursing the soft click even though it didn’t catch his attention. When I turned, Erick was wide awake, staring at the ceiling and running his fingers over his neck.
I only made sound at the sharp intake of breath when my eyes caught on the sharp red line, peeking out from where his shirt rode up a little. Erick turned to me, his eyes wide, as he dropped his arms to his side. “Hazel -,” he cut himself off, making a move to sit up, but deciding not to with a grimace. His head thumped back onto the pillow, and his eyes never left mine, causing all those emotions to stir back up, just as I was getting them under control. “Hazel…”
“I thought you were dead,” I blurted.
Yeah, I know. I’m fucking eloquent.
“What?” Erick frowned at me.
My back was pressed to the door and I looked at him from where I stood. Except for a few deep scratches at his cheek and temple, and a cast around his leg, Erick was okay. He was safe.
And I was pissed.
“I’m so angry at you, Erick!” I growled at him, my mood changing drastically. “I’m so angry! This is unbelievable, you know? Un-freaking-believable!”
“I know,” his frown deepened. “I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry?!” I shrieked. “Sorry shouldn’t even begin to cover it! You idiot, what’s wrong with you?!”
His eyes hardened as his jaw clenched. “Listen, I didn’t mean to -,”
“Bullshit!” I screeched. “Of course you did. You weaseled right into my circle of friendship,” I said, not wanting to call it my heart. “And then you go do something like this. You made me cry, Erick. It’s your fault! I don’t cry, and you made me cry!”
“I’m sorry!” he growled back. “Don’t you think I already feel guilty? Look at you!” he frowned again. “It’s my fault,” his voice trailed off, almost breaking. “All those times I teased you about staying safe, and I was the one to get you hurt.”
I was dumbstruck. “What are you talking about, Erick?”
“Are you really going to make me say it?” he snarled, looking away. When I didn’t respond, he said, “It’s my fault. You said it yourself. The whole accident was my fault.”
“What?!” I squeaked. “No! Of course it wasn’t! Erick, it’s your fault I’m alive!”
He turned to me and frowned, again. I was getting sick of seeing that expression on him. He needed to smile. “What are you talking about?”
“I thought you were dead, Erick,” I said again, this time just a little spitefully. “That’s why I’m so angry at you. Because you made me think you were dead. I thought I was going to lose another person to this god-awful place,” I gestured around the hospital room. “Not because of the accident,” I locked eyes with him. “That was not your fault.”
His eyes saddened. “Come here,” he scooted down onto one edge of the hospital bed, making room for me, as his room didn’t have a chair like mine.
“No!” I glared at him, crossing my arms. “I’m mad at you! You made me cry!”
“Hazel,” he whispered, catching my attention. “Come here.”
I don’t know at compelled me to go sit at the foot of his bed, but I uncrossed my arms and did just that. And as I adjusted my hospital gown, he just looked at me. “What?” I scowled, avoiding eye contact.
“Look at me.”
My neck snapped back to glare at him again. “You really need to stop ordering me around. It isn’t becoming of you.”
“Shut up he grimaced slightly, taking my hand and squeezing it gently. “I’m not dead.”
I don’t know why everyone wanted to hold hands today, but when Erick looked at me like the way he did, I couldn’t bring myself to pull away. “I know that, dill-hole,” I said, a little weakly.
So I sat there, looking at Erick, waiting for him to explain, but he didn’t. He just looked back at me, only stopping to blink every now and again. I guess it was just us, taking in each other. We were both alive, only scratched and bruised a little. The situation was almost laughable, but I didn’t laugh. I just looked at him, and he just looked at me. And I don’t know how long that went on, but I can tell you, Erick knew exactly when it was beginning to get annoying.
“What is it?” he asked, indifferent as usual, eyes not diverting.
“What’s that scar,” my eyes flickered down to his hip, which was slightly bare before.
Erick sighed and pulled the hem of his shirt up, examining where the scar trailed downwards and disappeared into his waistband. “Apparently my stomachache was appendicitis,” he shrugged. “Go figure, that’s why it hurt like a bitch.”
I gasped and hit his leg. “Erick! You moron! This is why it’s better to just go get these kinds of things checked out. Stomachache – my ass!”
He chuckled a little, and I savored the short sound of it. “Yeah, before I went into surgery a nurse told me it was pretty remarkable that I ignored the pain so long. The infection got really bad -,”
I made a sour face and motioned for him to stop talking about it. We looked at each other for a moment longer, again, before I looked towards the door. “You should probably get some sleep,” I said, and made a move to stand up, when Erick caught my arm again.
“Why?” he asked.
I looked at him for a second, dubious. “Because…aren’t you tired? After the surgery? They told me to wait a few hours before I came to see you, but I couldn’t…”
“I wasn’t sleeping,” Erick shook his head. “I haven’t been.”
I frowned. “That’s not what Spencer said.”
“Spencer?” Erick knit his eyebrows. “Isn’t he in the Bahamas?”
“Long story,” I grimaced.
“I wasn’t sleeping,” Erick explained with a crooked grin. “How could I? After the anesthesia wore off, I was going to try and find you, actually.” I smiled to myself, but looked to where Erick’s hand was still latched around my wrist. He took it back, but told me to stay.
So I did just that, curling up at the foot of his bed, and the both of us, we took in the whole crazy story.
And remember when I said the whole ordeal was laughable?
Yeah, well, we laughed. Like maniacs.