I awoke in a white bed, surrounded by a group of machinery. There was a steady beeping and that was when I realized I was in a hospital bed. I jolted, like I had just been stabbed with an electric plug.
Why was I in a hospital?
I looked at all the chords and needles attached to me. It was scary. I had never been in a hospital before, besides going there to see a family member or friend. I sat up, and instantly my head hurt. "Ow," I muttered to myself. I desperately wanted to pull the needle out in my wrist, so I could get up and walk away, but I knew that that wasn't such a good idea.
After subjecting to defeat, I laid back down, trying not to hurt my head anymore than it already was. I couldn't remember what happened, except Noah's beat-down face(which lead me back into a terrible heartbreak pain again) and my bio teacher writing me a pass to the nurse.
The nurse! Maybe I was really sick or something!
I guess that it was okay to have a sense of what was going on, but I was also really afraid. If I'm in a hospital for being sick, then I must be super, super sick. And that's not something to be happy about.
I heard laughing from outside the door, and then it opened. Hannah was the first to enter, the Bailey, Andrea and surprisingly Kayla, too. I sighed a sigh a relief because I wanted to see my friends.
Even if Noah cheated on me with one of them.
"Hey, guys," I said. I adjusted myself in the seat and winced at the pain in my head.
"Damn, you look really bad," Hannah blurted. I saw her jolt a little. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"
"No," I chuckled. "It's fine."
They sat down where they could find a seat. Hannah sat on the edge of my bed. Kayla sat as far away as she could on a little couch near the window. "So, uh," I began. "What happened to me?"
They looked at each other. Finally, Bailey spoke. I wasn't surprised she did. "You fainted in the nurse's office. They called the paramedics because they thought there was something wrong with your heart or something, but I think now they learned it was from extreme exhaustion and malnutrition. Have you been eating? Or even sleeping?"
I tried to remember. I didn't eat anything on my birthday, or even the day before that. Why wouldn't I eat?
"Now that you say that, I remember I didn't eat anything for the past few days," I spoke. "And the night after my party I had trouble falling asleep because I kept waking up. I was too upset about, N-" I stopped myself, as I saw Kayla get uncomfortable, and I didn't want to say his name. There was a long silence, but it was deafening. I was screaming internally.
"I have to use the restroom," she finally said, standing up and walking out.
After the door shut, I spoke. "What's up with her?" I asked them.
"Guilt, you know. Anytime someone mentions Noah, she gets all weird. She really wants to apologize to you, but she thinks you're too mad at her to forgive her," Andrea sighed, laying on the couch Kayla got up from and propping herself on an elbow.
"I'm actually not mad at her, I'm mainly mad at Noah, I guess." I bit my lip to keep from crying. "It was just really weird. I know he loves me, but I just had to—" Hot tears moved down my cheeks. Hold yourself together, girl! I told myself, but that just made it worse.
"It's okay, it's okay." Bailey comforted. She jogged to the bedside and knelt down. "He doesn't deserve you anyway."
I sobbed. "I k-keep telling mys-self that, b-but it doesn't wo-work," I cried. "I still love him. And he still loves me."
I watch as her eyes became glossy. I knew she was going to tell me something that would really hurt, but she was trying to think of a way not to say it meanly. Eventually, she gave up.
"I'm confused," Hannah blurted out. "If you still love him then why don't you give him another chance?"
Bailey closed her eyes and looked at Hannah, giving her a did-you-really-just-say-that look. Hannah shrugged and then focused her eyes on me again. I calmed myself down before I spoke, which was a really difficult thing to do.
"Because, he was cheat—" I knew that if I said the word 'cheating' I would start crying again. "He felt super guilty about everything, which was to be expected, and I knew that it would be best to take a break from our relationship," I sighed. "And he agreed with it, even though we didn't want to."
Hannah made the shape of an 'o' with her mouth and Andrea nodded. "That actually makes sense," she chuckled. I smiled. "Hey, there's a smile!" She laughed. My smile got a little bigger, but not much.
After a bit of silence, I spoke. "Can someone go get Kayla?" I asked. "Tell her she can apologize to me and I'm not mad." Bailey nodded and stood up from the bedside. She made a face of disgust as she brushed all the dirt off, even though there wasn't any.
"You know I love you when I'm kneeling on a disgusting hospital floor," she muttered. The room filled with laughter. She left the room, still brushing off dirt and finally, she came back with Kayla. When she walked in, everyone else left the room, and I could tell she didn't want that because all the happiness left with them. All there was now was just tension and awkwardness. I looked at the bed sheets and she looked at the floor beneath her.
After a few moments, she inhaled a shaky breath. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed. I looked up surprised to see her crying already. "I didn't kn-know what I was think" —she sobbed again— "ing. I love you, Keaton, and I-I just don't why I was so stu-stupid."
"I forgive you, Kayla," I smiled reassuringly, stretching out my arms. She ran to them and embraced me tightly. "I'm not mad at you, I never really was. I love you, too."
We stayed like that for a long time before the girls walked back in.
"Aw!" Hannah cooed. "Group hug!"
We started laughing as they all joined around Kayla and I and wrapped their arms around each other. After a few minutes of that, we heard the door entered. They all stood up and looked at the person, but I couldn't see who it was. They were blocking my view of the door.
"I can come later," a familiar voice said. I moved my head (which really hurt) to see Ray standing there. Out of all people in the entire world, there was Ray, standing with a wrapped gift and a flower bouquet.
"We were actually on our way, so you can stay," Andrea responded. I knew she was lying, but no one said anything. "Come on guys, I told my mom I'd be home in five minutes and this hospital is at least twenty minutes from my house. My cousins are coming over for dinner."
All the girls put on their winter coats and hats and gloves, while Ray was taking his off and putting them on a nearby chair.
"Bye, Keaton!" They all said in unison as they walked out the door. I waved to them even though they could see. Without saying, anything, Ray walked over to my bedside and began touching all the machinery.
"Hey, please don't mess anything up," I commanded, holding my hand up towards him, trying to stop him. It hurt to move even a little, so finally, I put my hands back down. He smirked at me as he touched the heart monitor.
"What're you gonna do now, cripple? Beat me up?" he teased. I rolled my eyes.
"Now I know why I don't miss you." I responded. He just chuckled a low, quiet chuckle. It made my heart flutter. Have I mentioned that Ray is super sexy?
"So," he said, finally taking his hands off the machines and sitting down in the chairs to the left of my bed. "How are you feeling?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. My head hurts."
"Yeah, when you fainted you hit your head pretty hard, but the doc said it was just a mild concussion. It'll go away in a few days," he explained. "I was just talking to your parents." I nodded slowly.
"Thanks for coming," I said. "And bringing me something, you really didn't have to."
"It's November," he smiled. "I guess I'm a little festive."
I nodded slowly, so my head wouldn't hurt. "Christmas is next month." I told him.
"Do you want the present or not?" He sassed.
I nodded(again, slowly). "Sorry," I chuckled. He rolled his eyes.
"Here, you can open it now." He leaned back and reached on the counter top where the gift sat. His t-shirt rose up a little, and all I could do is stare the exposed lower ab muscles. It was only for a few seconds, because then he was leaning forward and handing me the gift, chuckling. "You, girls. Always have to check out the abs," he teased.
I felt my cheeks turn red from embarrassment. "Shut up," I muttered. I placed my finger in where the paper overlapped and tore it apart. There was a little box with the words Pandora on the top. I looked up at Ray, with a weird look. He gestured me to open the box.
Inside was a beautiful bracelet. It was silver and it has one lone charm on it, a pink letter 'K' complete with rhinestones. It shimmered in the light.
"Ray," I gasped. "This must've cost a fortune."
He shook his head. "I got a good deal on it. I made some whole story about how my girlfriend was in the hospital and stuff."
"G-Girlfriend?" I repeated, with a stutter.
He rolled his eyes at me and laughed because the heart rate monitor sped up slightly. "Relax. I'm not asking you out. It was just so they'd feel bad and lower the price."
I laughed as the nerves fled. "But, you didn't need to get me this. I just fainted, not get sick with a lethal disease."
"I know," He confirmed. "I just wanted to do something nice for you. Everyone's worried. Especially Johnson, he hasn't been at school really."
"How long have I been in the hospital?" I asked. If I had only been here for one night, no one would be worried about me.
"Maybe like three days."
"Three days?" I shrieked. "Seriously?"
"Okay, maybe your concussion was more than mild." He stated. "Plus you were exhausted. Like hospital definition of exhausted. And they said you hadn't been eating or anything."
"Holy crap," I gasped. Suddenly, I remembered Noah. "Is Noah okay?"
"Didn't he cheat on you and you guys broke up after your birthday party?" He asked, ignoring my question. "Why do you care about him anymore?"
I bit my lip, insulted. He shook his head and apologized. "It's just complicated," I sighed.
"Yeah, well, back to your question," he redirected. I noticed he felt bad about what he'd just said. "He's actually in pretty bad shape. I don't know what we're going to do. The big game is like a few days away and he's a necessary player. We won't win without him."
"Wow, look who's saying something nice about Noah!" I gasped over dramatically.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm being serious."
"So am I."
"Whatever. Anyway, I don't want to leave this school without the big trophy all because he's hung up on a stupid girl." There was the mean, self-centered comment.
"Thanks," I said sarcastically.
"Okay, you know what I meant," he defended himself.
"Yeah, I know that you are a narcissistic guy who wants everyone to be his little servants." I sassed.
He clenched his jaw. "That's not true. I'm just saying that—"
"You're better than everyone else?"
His fists balled up. Just then, a nurse knocked on the door.
"Come in," I muttered.
She poked her head through."I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over in a few minutes." She faced Ray. "You can come back tomorrow at the same time."
"I'm not sure if I'm going to come back," he muttered under his breath. I smiled at the nurse and she smiled back, closing the door.
"Do you always have to be a douche?"
"Do you always have to be a bitch?"
My face turned into a snarl. "Get out."
Without saying anything, he gathered up all his stuff, and angrily threw the flowers on the countertop. And with that he left, slamming the door behind him. I sighed to myself.
"What am I going to do?" I whispered to myself. Then, after letting all my energy drain, I fell asleep.
———
This chapter is boring. Sorry about that, it was kind of a filler chapter I guess. Please comment and if you really liked it I would love a vote.
Thank you so so much everyone. Feel free to message me if you liked the story, or if you want to make a cover, banner, whatever have you.
Thanks and lots of love <3
-Alyssa