He couldn't be dead. No, this couldn't be happening. His blood was all over my hands and it was flowing down my arms. I screamed loudly once I saw that his eyes were completely closed. I took off my sweater and used it to stop the blood. I added extra pressure, but nothing was helping. Where was the ambulance? I called them ten minutes ago, they should be here by now.
"Please..don't die." I whispered while tears rolled down my eyes.
At this moment, I was hopeless. There was absolutely nothing that I could do to save Jai and it was all my fault. I dragged him into all of this mess. If only I pushed him away and didn't allow him to be near me, none of this would've happened. He would be safe. He would be at home partying with all his friends. He'd be anywhere but here. A couple more minutes passed until the ambulance finally arrived.
One of the police officers tried questioning me, but I refused to answer anything. I needed to go with Jai. I had to know if he was okay. I pushed my way through and saw that they were taking him into the back of the ambulance.
"I'm sorry, but you cannot come with him." One of the guys told me.
I argued with him and tried explaining how important it was for me to go with him, but they wouldn't let me. I ran back home as fast as I could, ignoring the fact that my entire body was hurting.
"Ava, what are you doing?" Rachel asked me as soon as I entered the house. "Where were you?" She looked furious.
I paid no attention to her and quickly grabbed her car keys.
"You can't take my car!" She began screaming and she said a bunch of other things, but I slammed the door without caring about what she was saying.
I needed to see Jai.
The ambulance had already left and I stepped on the gas pedal and drove as fast as I could to the hospital. I knew I was speeding and I would probably get caught and be given a huge fine if the police saw me. It was a risk I was willing to take.
I needed to see Jai.
I didn't think about my mom or Ricky. I didn't think about how took Rachel's car without her permission. I didn't think about how I was almost killed. I didn't think about how it was a school night. I didn't think about anything but the one person who jumped in front of me and saved my life while putting his own life on the line.
I needed to see Jai.
---
"I need to see him this minute." I argued with the lady at the counter.
She shook her head. "I already told you. He's in the Emergency room therefore you cannot see him."
"Have you ever almost lost someone?" I whispered. "And you know that they're about to die and you just need to see them? I need to see him."
She sighed. "The Emergency room is across that hallway." She pointed to show me.
I thanked her and followed the instructions to the emergency room. I saw Beau, Daniel, James, and Luke standing there already. I wasn't sure who called them, but I walked up to them.
"What the hell happened to him?!" Luke yelled.
"Long story." I said.
"Fucking tell me! Tell me what happened!" He continued to scream. "I need to know.. what happened." He broke down and began crying. I felt a pang in my heart. I looked around and realized I was the reason this happened. It was because of me that Luke was crying. It was because of me that Beau was walking around in frustration. It was because of me Daniel was silently sitting in the corner. It was because of me James wouldn't move at all because of the shock.
Tears blurred my vision and I told them everything. I told them about the party. About Ricky. About my mom and her crazy relationships. About the text message. About how Jai jumped in front of me.
"Why did he do that?" Daniel asked. "Why did he jump?"
"Because he's fucking stupid!" Luke cried out.
I saw one of the doctors walking up to us. He had a sympathetic look on his face and I felt frightened.
"Is he okay? He's not dead, right?" James asked the doctor.
"I am happy to tell all of you that he is okay. We gave him some medicine to stop the pain and we also did our best to heal the wound. He's very lucky, not many people survive after getting attacked in the rib. None of his vital organs were harmed. However, he does need rest and he'll have to stay in the hospital for a couple days just so that we can make sure nothing goes wrong. He's currently unconscious but you guys may go and see him. We recommend only two people go at a time." He smiled.
Luke hugged him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
I was so relieved. I rested my head on the back of the wall and felt my heart rate go back to normal.
"I'm going first." Luke said.
Beau got up. "I'm going with you."
They went for about twenty minutes and when they came back, James and Daniel went inside. I didn't talk to anyone. Now that I knew Jai was fine, all the guilt was beginning to come back. None of this would've happened if I didn't allow them in my lives. When James and Daniel came back, they decided that they would go home and come back tomorrow.
"I'll come back tomorrow too." Beau said.
"I'm staying." Luke replied.
They said their goodbyes and left. I walked into Jai's room with Luke and froze. He had band-aids all over his stomach and his ribs. His face looked pale because of all the blood that he lost. He didn't deserve this at all. This wasn't supposed to happen to him. Luke took a seat in the corner of the room.
"I'm glad he's okay." He whispered.
I began to wonder what would've happened if Jai wasn't okay. What would've happened to everyone if something did happen to him? I rubbed my eyes gently and yawned. I took a seat next to his bed and fell asleep.
---
The next morning I woke up and all the memories of last night flooded back. My back was sore from my uncomfortable sleeping position. I looked at Jai and he was still asleep.
"Luke, you seriously need to come home." I saw Beverly standing next to Luke.
"I'm not leaving him." He argued back.
"You're tired! You might as well go home for a couple hours and freshen up, and then you can come back. Besides, Ava is here and she's watching over him." She said.
Luke glanced at me and then got up. "Only for a couple hours and then I'm coming back."
Beverly and I nodded.
"I'll watch over him." I promised.
He grabbed his jacket and walked outside of the room with Beverly. He paused at the door and looked at me. "I should be mad at you. I should be so mad at you because you put my brother in this state. But I won't be. Because I don't believe it was entirely your fault. Just know that you better stop pushing him away after what he did for you. Don't you dare push him away." He said and then closed the door.
I sighed. My life was so messed up that it was beginning to affect other people too. Jai was a good person. His entire family was understanding and caring. These people could not associate themselves with someone like me.
"You look deep in thought." I jumped once I heard his voice.
"Oh my God. You're awake? Oh my God." I began to panic. "Okay, let me call the nurse."
He stopped me. "Don't do that." His voice was really light. "She's gonna annoy the hell out of me. But I do feel thirsty, can you give me some water? And fuck, this hurts." He began rubbing his ribcage and I handed him the water.
"I should really call the nurse." I said.
"No, you really shouldn't." He smirked.
Now I wanted to punch him. "How the hell are you smiling when you're in the hospital?"
"To be completely honest, the medicines they gave me helped a lot. I barely feel any pain. The only pain I feel is in my ribcage but I know that'll get better."
"Do you even remember what happened last night?!"
He laughed, which only made me more furious. "That bitch tried killing you. Of course I remember. And then I jumped in front of you and saved your life! I truely believe I'm your knight in shining armor."
I kicked his bed. "STOP LAUGHING! YOU ALMOST GOT KILLED!"
He rolled his eyes. "Almost. But I didn't. I'm still alive and I feel good."
I kicked his bed again.
"Stop doing that. When you kick my bed, it makes me shake a little and it feels uncomfortable."
I kicked his bed hard.
"Ava, seriously, stop!" He shouted.
I kept kicking his bed. In a way, it helped my anger and I began to calm down. When I finally stopped kicking, I glared at him. "You are the most irritating human being I have ever met. First, you stalk me all the way to an ally. Then, you jump in front of me and get stabbed by a knife and third, you end up in a hospital and once you wake up, you laugh! Do you have any idea how worried everyone was? I stayed with you last night and I still have dried up blood on my hands." He scrunched his nose in disgust. "Damn right it's disgusting. You think all of this is funny? I was afraid. I thought you died." His entire mood changed. He looked serious. "And it was all my fault." I said softly.
He groaned. "Why do you always blame yourself? I jumped. I decided to save you. You didn't tell me to do any of that. I did that stuff only because I wanted to. I have no idea why that guy wanted to kill you, but I knew that I wouldn't let him. I already told you before, I won't let anyone hurt you. I know you all probably think I'm some idiot for doing what I did, but I have my reasons. Trust me, I have my reasons."
"You barely know me. Why would you do that? We aren't even friends." I said.
"Oh, we are most definitely friends. Don't you dare deny that. I did that because I really like you and if something happened to you, I wouldn't ever forgive myself."
"And why did you follow me?" I asked, ignoring all his kind words that were making me feel a certain way.
He chuckled. "I was coming over to your house to give you your homework but then I saw that you were sneaking out of the house. I thought you were going on a date so I decided to follow you." He sighed dramatically. "What can I say, Ava? Jealousy is a terrible thing."
"Don't ever do the stupid shit that you did last night. And just keep your distance from me. I don't want you or your family to be in any danger because of me." I know Luke told me not to push Jai away, but I had to. It was for his own benefit.
"I'm not gonna distance myself away from you."
I kicked his bed hardly. "Yes, you are."
He shook his head. "Never in a billion years."
I rubbed my head. He was giving me a major headache. "Stop making everything so complicated."
"Ava, you look hot when your hair is all messy and you have smeared makeup all over your face." He smirked.
"Stop changing the topic."
"I'm not exactly changing it. I'm just adding some information. You look so cute."
"If you weren't already physically hurt, I would've made sure to break all of your bones." I said.
"I feel the love today. I feel the love." He said.
"You're disgusting. I don't love you at all. I hate you."
He smiled at me just like those goofy teenage boys. "But I think I might be in love with you." He whispered.
He was such an idiot but even I couldn't help but smile back.