I barely register the voices around me as my eyes flicker open. They immediately snap shut against the vicious white lights in the room. I try opening them again, adjusting to the brightness. But as my eyes adjust to the light, a headache comes on.
I groan and the sounds of the voices stop suddenly.
"Evelyn?" A familiar voice calls. I try to find the person. Nick. "How are you feeling? Can you talk?"
"Where am I?" He frowns. "What's going on?"
"You're in the hospital. You don't remember how you got here?"
I blink rapidly trying to get my bearings straight. I look around and like he said I'm in a hospital room. It's a homey and spacious room with large windows that I assume holds a great view of the town.
There's a leather couch in the corner and a small table holding a lamp next to it. A large TV and a few paintings hang on the wall. Looking down at the hospital gown I'm wearing, I frown; I hated these things.
But what the hell am I doing in a hos-
"Mom!" I try to sit up but Nick's hands gently force me back down. I struggle against his strong grip. "Let me go. Where's my mother?"
"Your mother's fine, sweetheart," Dad says, entering the room. "She's giving the nurses just as hard a time as you're giving van Hale right now." He smiles, but his eyebrows are scrunched together in concern.
"You have a concussion." Another familiar voice chimes in. "When I was driving to your apartment I saw your car..." He shakes his head. "Then Nessa called to tell me you were here."
"Nessa called you?" I ask him, surprised. I find it shocking that Nessa would call Marcel seeing as she isn't his biggest fan.
He shrugs. "I wanted to make sure you were alright. I'll leave if you want me to."
"Why were you driving to her apartment?" Nick folds his arms, glaring at Marcel. But the usual stubborn set of Marcel's jaw isn't there. He doesn't even look angry at Nick for asking such a personal question.
"I was going to talk to her about something. I'd still like to." He turns to me.
"The hell you do. You've seen that she's alright. You can leave n-"
"Nick, it's fine. I wanna hear what he has to say."
Nick looks at me like I'm crazy. I guess I am. But before he could say anything Dad interrupts. "Let's get you some coffee, van Hale," he says.
Nick hesitates but he follows Dad out anyway. Marcel doesn't move from his position on the wall across the room. Seeing him eases something inside me but the sting of his betrayal prevents me from getting up from the bed and wrapping myself in his arms.
He looks at me for a while before he speaks. "I don't know if it'll change anything but what I'm about to tell you is the truth. I swear. I wouldn't make this up after everything we've been through." He pauses and I nod, telling him to continue. "I didn't cheat on you, Evelyn. I never have."
I stare at him, confused. "Marcel, what are you-"
"I called you that night - the night of the party. You remember that?"
I nod. "Yeah. But I was out with Nessa and I missed it."
"I left the party to go upstairs to make that call. I didn't go back down. I was wasted and I fell asleep with the phone in my hand when I couldn't get you." He looks a little uncomfortable so I know the next part is going to be hard to say. "Ariel made me think we had sex. She saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. Stripped both of us naked. But I did not have sex with her. At all."
I don't know what happened after that except my heartbeat starts going haywire and my head starts pulsing. "You didn't..."
"No. I would never betray you like that." He looks torn and I could imagine I look the same.
All this time we spent fighting then separated. Me losing my trust in him.
For what?
He crosses the room and sits next to me on the bed. He uses his thumb to wipe away the tears from my cheeks that I didn't even know were there. "I'm so sorry I put you through this. I hope someday you'll forgive me. Even though nothing really happened I was wrong to put myself in that position." He presses his lips to my forehead and pulls back to look at me for a long moment. Then just like that, he leaves.
"Marcel...." I whisper his name in the quiet, empty room. Did I really just let him leave?
Marcel
Leaving her there in that room felt like saying goodbye all over again but it's the least I could do. I didn't come here to force her to believe me. It's hard to accept that the thing you believed to be true for so long turned out to be something else entirely. I have to give her some time to think about what she wants.
Even though I didn't cheat on her, I still put her through a lot over the past months.
I bite back a curse and the urge to put my fist through a wall. All those months wasted. Wasted because Ariel wanted to get a kick out of getting back at me.
I shake my head and continue walking away from Lyn's room. As soon as I turn the corner I see van Hale and his father. Well, both van Hales. They're whispering something to each other. I step back around the corner where they can't see me but I can make out some of what they're saying.
"I didn't know he was going to show up here, okay?" Nick argues.
"Well he did. Now get rid of him."
"Trust me, I want to. He doesn't even know it was you so why are you freaked out?"
His father takes a deep breath. "You're right. I'm sorry, son."
"Have you thought about confessing? Maybe that would clear your conscience."
"Don't be ridiculous. That would do more harm than good."
"Right. Running a couple off of a bridge while drunk driving can't be good for your image," Nick says sarcastically.
No.
They can't be talking about me.....about my parents?
This can't be the rich son of a bitch that ran my parents off a bridge when I was ten years old.
I round the corner, making my presence known. When Luther van Hale visibly pales I know right there and then that it's him. He's the bastard that took my parents from me and covered his ass with his money.
"I think people finding out you ran a couple off a bridge while drunk driving then covered it up is worse for your image. Don't you think?" I ask.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Mr....?"
"You know who I am. Weren't you just telling Nick here to get rid of me? Or is there someone else in the hospital whose parents you killed?"
"You're hearing things. Get the hell out of here, Jamison," Nick huffs. Before I knew what I was doing I'm across the room and my fist is pounding his face in. "Get off of me!"
He shoves me off. I hit him again but he blocks it and hit me square in the jaw, busting my lip. I hear his bastard father calling for the security but I don't care, I hit him again. I guess I was taking my anger towards the father out on the son. It would be hard to take the bastard in for a crime he committed if I assaulted him.
I hit him and he hit me back until someone was pulling me away. It's a security guard. But that isn't why I stop fighting. It's her. Her bright blue eyes are staring at me in confusion and something else.
That's the last thing I see before the security guard hauled me out the hospital.
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A/N
It's wrapping up soon so all secrets will be out!
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