****Author's Note: Hey guys! I am so so so sorry that I didn't upload yesterday. I was just majorly tired and I left the chapter finished halfway. I didn't save it and my computer shut off so now its gone! :( But its fine because I made a whole new one. Its the same story line as the one that got deleted so its fine. Also, I'd like to thank you guys for reading, it means so much to me and I'm really glad you guys like it. I love reading your comments and feedback. Another thanks to @kimathy for making my AMAZING cover. Thank you. Anyways, I hope you enjoy. Please comment, like, and fan for more. Thanks, love you guys. - Amy :*
Chapter 5- Time To Face The Pain
I woke up in a brightly lit white room. Everything I could see was white; the chairs, the door, the walls, everything. I started to sit up, but a sharp pain in my back stopped me. I sighed and laid back down. Looking down at myself, I noticed I was wearing a hospital gown. The bed I was in was hard and the sheets were thin. I started to shiver. Trying to remember what had happened, I closed my eyes and lay my head on my pillow. The last thing I remember was seeing Macy walk into the hospital. After that, everything was black. I tried to look around to see if I could find a phone, or a button to summon the nurse, like I'd seen in movies. I twisted my torso to the left and squeaked. It hurt so much to move. There was nothing useful to the left and I was in too much pain to move again, so I stayed still, disappointed. I don't know how long I laid there. It might've been a couple minutes, but it felt like hours. the only thing I thought about while laying there was Mom and whether she had gotten better. Just as I had started to drift off, the door opened and in walked my sister, Macy, and my new friend, Emily. They were holding Starbucks coffee drinks and laughing. As soon as they saw me, they stopped abruptly. I stared at them, and they stared back. No one said a word. After about 2 minutes of silence, I decided to say something.
"Can you ask the nurses to move me to another room? preferably one that isn't all white.", I cracked a smile and sat up, despite the pain. I opened my arms, beckoning my sister to come. Macy broke out into the biggest, most beautiful smile I'd ever seen and ran up and tackled me.
"OWW!!!", I shrieked. She had hugged me so tight, the pain in my body increased by 10 times. She pulled back.
"Sorry, i'm sorry. It's just I was so worried and-", she started to ramble apologetically. I smiled and shook my head. My sister may be one of the most chic and poised girls in the world, but she could be such a geek some times.
"It's fine, Mace. really. I'm not the one you should be worried about.", I replied. I smiled again and then massaged my cheeks, because they had started to hurt. I then looked at Emily for the first time. She was standing at the edge of my bed, smiling. If I were in her place, I'd be embarassed to interrupt the family time, but she was so much more outgoing. I had only known her for a couple hours at most, and already I was glad to have her as a friend.
"You know, I've never really had a friend who was as wierd as you. I mean, your all over the place.", she joked. I laughed and she reached over to hug me, too.
"You can't just leave me to rot with Holly and her Barbies", she said to me and then turned to Macy, who had a hurt look on her face, and added,"No offense to you, your nothing like them." Normally, someone's opinion wouldn't matter to Macy, but this time I thought I saw a spark of happiness and excitement. Thats wierd, I thought to myself.As soon as the thought crossed my mind, the look disappeared, replaced with a look of smugness. All the laughter and happiness had bumped the burning question out of my mind for a while. I felt ashamed, forgetting Mom. I looked up and saw a rare sight. My sister and Emily were pushing each other back and forth, giggling. My sister was never one for violence, so this was a sight to see. They were having so much fun, they didn't notice me staring. I cleared my throat and they stopped. My sister's cheeks blazed red, for some reason. Emily was looking down at her feet. I was about to ask why they were asking so wierd, but was cut off by Macy.
"You hungry? I could get you something.", she quickly said, changing the subject. I was still a little bit confused, but I could see I wasn't going to get any answers.
"Um..I..No. I'm good, but..", I stammered. I tried to find the right words to ask what I wanted to, but I was scared. I was scared of the answer, but I needed to know. I needed to find out about my mom. She was the most important thing in my life, other than Macy. I cleared my throat again and faced my sister.
"Macy. I know everything is fine with me, I can feel it.", I started, not giving her time to argue,"There's something more important than me right now." I stopped, giving her time to think it over. i could tell she knew what I was talking about, because she started to bite her lip, something she does only when she is nervous. She glanced at Emily, and then back at me. I raised my eyebrows.
"Mace. How is Mom?", I asked. I was trying to keep cool on the outside, to not show how nervous this was making me. On the inside, however, I felt like I was about to throw up. I looked straight at my sister, who had turned pale. This was not a good sign, but I tried to keep positive. I repeatd my question.
"Macy, how's Mom? I need to know, just tell me. Pleae4", I begged. She looked at me for a while and then covered her face with her hands and started to shake her head. I grabbed her hands and took them into mine, causing her to look at me. Her lip quivered and I could feel her trembling.
"She's.. She's.. The doctor's said.. They said.. She's in a coma, Arianna.", she finally blurted out and quickly covered her mouth. My mouth fell open. Everything went hazy for a fw seconds. I couldn't believe it. I mean, I had just seen her the morning before school. She drove me to school, she didn't look sick. This couldn't be happening, it wasn't happening. I tried to convince myself, but as I looked at my sister and Emily, I could tell by the solemn looks on their face, this was real. My mother was in a coma. She might die. As it sunk in, I sputtered. I remembered everything I could about her. I remembered her smile, her laugh, the twinkle in her eyes when she saw us. I remembered our tradition of making hot cocoa and watching "The Last Song" during thunderstorms. That can't be over, she can't be in a coma. But I knew she was and I knew I couldn't do anything about it. All my memories of her passed through my head.
"Arianna?" I was shaken from my thoughts by Macy. She had a worried look on her face. I looked at her. I tried to say something, but nothing came out. A tear slid down my cheek. I hadn't cried in so long. I promised myself I would never cry in front of anyone. But I was broken inside. My heart hurt and the pain was greater than any physical pain I had ever endured. I started to cry, I started to cry and shake. I felt Emily and macy hugging me, I felt them crying along with me. We sat there, hugging and crying for a long time. All of us were hurt, upset, and desperate. We needed each other. Even Emily, who hadn't even known our mom, saw how much se meant to us. I sniffled and wiped away my tears. I sat up straighter, ignoring the pain. It didn't even compare to what I was feeling. Macy looked up. Tears filled her eyes and I felt so bad for her. I wish I could make her happy, because Macy didn't deserve to be hurt like this.
"What do we do?", she asked me. Her voice was so innocent, I wanted to take her and protect her from all of life's worst.
"I don't know. I don't know.", I answered and hugged her. Emily joined in.
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"Sweetie, kick your legs higher.", my mom said. I wanted to impress her, so I kicked my legs and began to swing higher. Macy ran up beside my mom and giggled, pigtails swinging back and forth. She started to cheer me on and I smiled. I swung higher and higher.
"You can come down now.", a voice I thought I'd never hear again said. I looked down and saw Rob holding his hand around my mother's mouth. The other hand wa sholding a knife to her throat. I began to whimper.
"Just come down, sweetie, and I won't hurt your mommy. I promise. Remember hwo much fun we had that night? We could have more! Just come down and Mommy will be fine.", he beckoned. I shook my head. I began to cry, and he laughed.
"Then I guess we can say buh-bye to Mommy.", he roared and drove the knife across my Mom's throat.
"NOOOOOOO!!", I yelled,"NOOOOO!"
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"Arianna, wake up. Wake up, it's just a dream. calm down.", a male voice spoke above me. His hands held me down, while he whispered into my ear. I stopped squirming and opened my eyes. Jake's head was hovering right above mine. We were so close, i could smell his minty breath. His hand was covering my mouth, probably from when he tried to calm me down in my sleep. I stared at him, and he stared back. Finally, he removed his hand and stood up, to my disappointment. I sat up. My gown was stuck to my body with sweat, so I pulled the covers up so he wouldn't see.
"Where's Holly?", I asked, noticing her absence.
"She had to babysit her brothers, but she said to wish you the best.", he said and smiled. I resisted the urge to scream. He was so gorgeous!
"Thanks, I guess.", I forced a smile. I looked around and didn't see my sister and Emily.
"Where's Mace and Emiy?", I asked him.
"Oh, uh.. I think tthey went to the cafeteria. I hope I'm not bothering you.", he said, shyly.
"No,no, not at all. Please, sit down."
"Thanks. I, uh, I brought you these.",he said, taking out a bouquet of poppies.
"Oh my gosh, thank you. These are my favorite!", I took them and inhaled. I wondered how he knew my favorite flower. While giving me the flowers, his fingertips touched mine and my body began to tingle.
"Yea, I asked your sister what to get you and she suggested these.", he said. I was hoping for him to say something along the lines of,"I saw you for the first time that day and I fell in love. I had to have you, and when I heard what happened, I rushed to find everything I could about you, so that I could surprise you when you got better. Marry me?". Still, the fact that he went and asked Macy made me happy, because that meant he had thought about me. I smiled.
"You know, I'm really sorry.", he said, breaking the silence.
"For what?"
"I'm sorry about your mom and I'm sorry you have to go through that. My dad died when I was 7, I know what it's like to be in your position. I mean, not that your mom will die. I'm sure she'll live, but I know how hard it is.", he finished, trying to fix himself. I laughed. he was so cute. he smiled back at me and sat down.
"i'm sorry, too. About your father. I never had a father. Mom didn't think she could give up spending all the time she could spend with us for some guy.", I remembered. I sighed. I thought about how she had told us she wouldn't remarry. Secretly, I was happy about it. I knew if she would marry, she'd have other kids because she was still so young. I didn't want to give up all the attention she had for me and Macy to some baby. Looking back on it, I'd rather she have remarried and have her here now, then have her in a coma. I gulped, I hated thinking about it. I snapped out of it and looked at jake. He was staring at the wall, deep in his thoughts. I left him alone. Suddenly, he spoke.
"My dad.. he was.. uh.. he had clinical depression. He was diagnosed when I was 5 and he hung himself when I was 7.", he said, still looking at the wall.
"I am so, so sorry. That must've been terrible on you and your mom.", I said. He was so nice, so sweet. He didn't deserve that.
"Yeah. I mean, when I was 10, my mom married Josh and had the twins. I love them and Josh, but.. I miss my dad. He and I used to play catch every Saturday at the park across the street from us. He would put m up on his shoulders and walk there.", he said. Finally, he looked at me.
"Your so amazing. I mean, with everything happening in your life, your staying so strong. I would never be able to do that. You inspire me, your personality. Your one of the most down-to-earth girls I've ever met.", he took my hand and sparks flew up my arm,"I'm so glad your my friend. Thank you." I sat dumbfounded. he squeezed my hand, still smiling at me. I managed a smile back. My hand wa son fire. If only he knew how much he meant to me. Maybe his girlfriend wouldn't matter, maybe.. maybe there was something between us that'd overcome that. We sat, holding hands for a while. Suddenly, his phone rang. he let go of my hand, and pulled it out.
"Ah, shit.", he looked up at me,"I'm sorry, Arianna. Holly needs help with her brothers. I feel so bad. Maybe I could tell her I'm busy?" As much as his offer tempted me, I knew I needed to do the right thing. I didn't want him to leave, but otherwise it'd create problems.
"No, no. Go, I'll be fine. I mean, i feel great. I'll probably be back in school tommorow.", I said, forcing myself to act cheerful.
"You sure?", he asked. I nodded and smiled.
"Okay. Thank you so, so much. Your the greatest. I really am sorry.", he stood up and started to go, but turned around,"Thanks, Arianna. Your an amazing friend." He leaned in, kissed my cheek, and ran out the door. I sighed. Friend. That is all I get it. Oh, how I wish it was more. I put my hand up to where he kissed me. I sat back on the bed, picked up a magazine, and began to wait.
*****Author's Note: What'd ya guys think? Jake and Arianna are so cute!!!! Ugh, I feel so bad for her and Macy, though. So, anyways, tell me what you thought in the comments. Please fan, like, and vote for more stories. You guys are the best and thanks for reading and supporting. Love you, angels! Bye!!! -Amy xoxoxo :*