Song:
- Skinny Love // Birdy
Warning: Tissues at hand just incase you are faint hearted ;(
Or if you have a cold ;)
Chapter 36: Just One Thing
Luna*
It had been eight hours since we first arrived at the hospital.
During that time, Raven told our friends what happened and they stayed for about 4 hours when their parents started telling them to come home. The doctors also came in and did their medical things to him.
Throughout those eight hours, my hand stayed glued to his. Even when the doctors needed to do tests, I couldn't be asked to fight with them so I just pretended to be asleep. With a death grip.
The three of my friends switched roles in leaving the room for bathroom breaks and food.
I lost the appetite for food the second that Ace took the cup from Hayley, I know, it's so weird for me not to be craving food. I also somehow magically lost my need to use the bathroom.
My head was resting on the bed and my fingers were tapping along the rails, matching Ace's heartbeats on the monitor.
"Lu," Noah held up some burgers in his hands, "Time to eat!"
"Bring them over here please, will you?" I asked politely then went back to tapping on the rails.
"Come on little sis, you haven't left that seat in hours, take a break or something." He placed the burger beside me.
"Can 'or something' count as sitting here?" I eat the burger which once was delicious but now seems tasteless.
"Why won't you leave the chair?" Noah laid down on the now empty couch.
Lucas and Raven left to get clothes and food a couple of hours ago.
"Because if I leave, he might wake up and I want to know if he is going to be okay, that he will be alright so that I don't have to worry about him not being here and he can see that I was here, the whole time, waiting for him." I spouted out.
"You care about him." Noah seemed surprised by this.
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't but it's our job to protect him and what if I can't do something as simple as that?" I tried to get the subject off caring about Ace.
"You can't do that Luna, it's not allowed, they said No Attachments." Noah completely deflected my attempt to change the subject.
"You don't think I don't know that, Noah," Out of nowhere my bottled up emotions suddenly just spill out, "Did you think I wanted to care about our target? After 12 years of only having to care for 3 people in my life, I deserve to have someone else as well!"
"Luna, you don't get to say that to me. We both had only 3 people." Noah started raising his voice too.
"Well guess what? You have Raven to bloody love, and who do I have? No one! I have no one, Noah!" I yelled.
"Hey! What's going on in here?" Raven and Lucas were standing at the door with bags in there hand.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing." I had a sarcastic tone, I was gripping Ace's hand so hard that I'm surprised he didn't wake up from it.
"Luna, what's gotten into you?" Raven placed the bag down and slowly inched towards me.
"With me? What's wrong with me?" 12 years of emotions were now just running thick in my veins, "Of course, it's me thats wrong. Not Noah, me."
"No Luna listen to me-"
"No you listen to me, I've been through hell and my friend could be potentially dying right here then my brother has the fucking nerve to tell me that I'm not allowed to care about him, and you're siding with him? Un-fucking-believable." Tears were now streaming down my face, "I can't even go through one day without being judged or told what to do! Oh Luna has to do that mission, Oh Luna has to back off Ace, Luna you need to do cheerleading tryouts, Luna just has to read the script, Oh Luna just has to play that character, Oh no Luna isn't allowed to play that character, Oh Luna is a virgin what a big deal! Oh yeah, Luna has to be left in the dark, And this one's very important, Luna is not allowed care about anyone that she ever crosses paths with. Luna this, Luna that! It's like I'm not allowed to do anything with being told! I can't even catch a break! 12 years, this had been happening for 12 years and I have obeyed every single thing that everyone has asked me to do but I can't just have this one thing out of thousands. One thing to make me happy."
They became silent. Not a word. Not a breath.
There were tears all over my cheeks which were now red as I struggled to catch my breath, "Just one thing."
The monitor started beeping when Ace's heartbeats began to speed up, quietly I pressed the nurse button and looked over to the unconscious Ace hoping that he didn't hear any of it.
I pressed my lips to his hand before letting it drop back down onto the bed as I left the room.
***
Raven*
She was right.
All of what she said was right.
I even hate to admit that even I asked her to do things I probably would never of known that she didn't like if she hadn't said anything about it just then.
My best friend brushed past me and left the room without another word.
The nurses came bursting in and immediately checking if anything was wrong with Ace but it didn't move us from our spots. Doctor Chandler did.
"I'm afraid that you'll have to leave the room now." She ushered us out of the room and closed the door.
It was as if all my senses came back to me, I broke down and slid down the wall crying into my hands.
"Shhh, it's okay." Noah wrapped his arms around me but I could tell from his voice that he was trying not to cry and stay strong.
"She's right, She's always right," I sobbed, "I'm such a terrible friend, I didn't even realise."
"No one did, Birdy." It was foreign to hear and see Noah cry but he was doing that right now, "It's not your fault."
"I need to go find her, where is she?" I tried to stand up but Noah held me down.
"It's fine, Lucas has already gone to find her."
I saw his red rimmed eyes and the tears threatening to spill out of them which made my heart heavier than it was before.
"It should be me, N," I yawned, "I should be going to find her."
"You're tired, go get some sleep. Everything will be okay." He breathed, "Everything will be okay."
I leant my body against his while we sat on the cold hospital floor and started to drift off to a place where everything would really be okay.
***
Lucas*
It was heartbreaking to watch.
I couldn't do or say anything to help her.
This girl who I had only know for a short while had been through a lot by the way she put it earlier.
I didn't know. I didn't know what caused her to be so broken. And I didn't know how I could fix it.
As soon as the nurses came in, I went straight to finding her. I looked everywhere in the hospital to turn out that she wasn't there but to be sitting on the curb outside.
Her usual vibrant eyes were now dull, surrounded by redness and also puffed out from crying but she stopped.
I joined her sitting on the sidewalk. She had an emotionless face as she just stared out at the fast passing cars. She was the first one to speak,
"You know people treat me as if I'm just a tool. That they use and then don't give a second glance after their done with it, then only to be used again for or by someone or something else."
"Really?" I pulled my knees up to my chest, "Because I see a damaged girl who has single handedly made herself into a strong woman even though she had nothing."
Luna looked at me, "I'm still that broken girl, Lucas."
"Well that is maybe what you think of yourself but I, or any of those other people up in that room including Ace who heard none of what you said, think differently."
She smiled a little, "Thank you."
"I may not know what you have been through but I sure as hell know it's been worse than what I have so, on behalf of me, your, best friend and your brother, sorry."
"We are sorry that you have been made to feel this way, we are sorry that you can't be free to do what you deserve and we are most defiantly sorry for making you think of yourself in these disgusting ways when you are so much more." I wiped away a tear that left her watery eyes.
I pulled her into a hug that I knew that she needed. Not as a lover but as a friend and that is what I will be from here on out.
"Come on, it's freezing out here." I helped Luna up and took her back inside where we saw Noah and Raven running towards us.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Ace is awake."
***
A/N: and this is the end...of the 5 CM #2 😱😱5/5 😱😱
But not to fear! Since we reached 50k in Friday, I will be releasing 2 new chapter tomorrow. Yep, that equals 7 chapters this whole weekend!!
But back to this chapter, I definitely had a lump in my throat while writing this, anyone else?
And Lucas is finally accepting to be just Luna's friend, good or bad you tell me!
A lot of feels in this chapter 🤯 my heart 💔 I feel so bad for making Luna's character like this 😱
Chapter dedication to phoebe_xox for helping me generate the idea of this chapter, love you bubs💓
See ya tomorrow xx