Vincent's POV:
It has been three hours since Amara was taken into the ICU. I can't sit down and just wait. I feel like I am going crazy.
"Hey, any update?" I ask the nurse that just walked out of her room.
"Like the last 10 times, no. She's still in a critical state but we are trying our best." She pats my arm and walks off. The bullet had hit an important artery and Amara had lost a lot of blood by the time we got to the hospital.
"I can't believe it was her teacher all along." Mrs Winter mutters under her breath.
"He's in custody right now," I say softly and she nods. I turn and see someone at the end of the corridor slyly stealing glances. It was Vanessa. She sees me looking at her and her eyes widen. Just the mere sight of her makes me seethe with anger.
"Are you okay?" Pandora asks and Hazel and Xander turn towards me.
"No. I just saw Vanessa." I don't wait for another second and storm off where Vanessa was standing. I turn the corner and see her walking away. "Vanessa!" I know she heard me but she doesn't stop. She picks up her speed and so do I.
She's about to open the door to leave when someone slams into her and takes her down. I notice it was Hazel.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Hazel screams at her. "ANSWER ME!" She screams again in her face and I notice Pandora pulling her off of her.
"I just wanted to see if Amara was okay," Vanessa says softly and Hazel scoffs.
"YOU FUCKING SHOT HER!" Hazel lurches forward to attack her again but Pandora holds her back.
"You should leave." I hear Xander say and you could tell he was really hurt. This girl dated him as a distraction then dumped him for me and now shot his best friend.
"Xander..." Vanessa whispers slowly.
"Leave." His voice was stern.
"No. Amara is my best friend." She stands her ground.
"Best friend? Do you even know what that means?" It was Hazel who was speaking. "You helped your psychopath brother stalk her and kidnap her because you wanted her boyfriend. Don't you fucking dare call yourself her best friend."
The silence overlapped us as we stood there glaring at Vanessa.
"Get the fuck out of here Vanessa." I finally say and she looks up at me. She stares at me for a second and then nods.
We walk back into the hospital and see that the doctor was speaking to Mr and Mrs Smith. We rush over to see what she was saying.
"We've stabled her but the next couple of hours are dangerous."
"Can we meet her?" Mrs Winter asks.
"Not yet. She's unconscious and we need to be monitoring her vitals all the time." She gives a small smile and walks off.
"She's okay." I breathe out and it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulder.
***
A few hours later
Everyone was running around but it was like time had slowed down. Nurses and Doctors were running in and out of the room and shouting things at each other but I could barely pay attention.
"We're losing her." I hear someone shout as they rush into the room Amara was in and I feel my heart crash. She was showing signs of improvements and she was stable an hour ago but then suddenly her heart rate started to drop.
"Vincent." I break out of the slowed time and she that it was Xander.
"I'm scared." He whispers and I break down.
"Me too. But I know she is a fighter. She isn't going down this easily." I wipe away the tears and we sit in silence and wait for the doctors or nurse to tell us something.
10 minutes go by and finally the doctor steps out. "She's fine. We've stabled her again and the worst has passed."
Tears of happiness run down my cheek and I feel like I could finally breathe.
"You were right. She isn't going down without a fight." Xander sighs next to me.
"You can meet her now." The doctor says and walks off.
"Vincent do you want to see her first?" Mr Winter asks me and I look at him with shock.
"I expected to see her last."
"You saved her life, you deserve to see her first." He nods at me and I basically run into the room.
Even though she was in an ugly hospital gown, she was still the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I sit on the small plastic stool next to her bed and take her hand into mine. It was soft as I remembered.
"Hi, baby," I whisper quietly but her eyes flutter open. "You're awake! How are you feeling?"
"Tired." She gives a small answer.
"I'm so glad you're okay. I genuinely thought I was going to lose you again!" I start blabbing on but notice Amara was looking at me strangely. "What's up? Are you in pain?" I ask quickly and she shakes her head.
"No. It's just... do I know you?"
The colour from my face flushes out. I could barely find the words to answer that question.
"You don't remember me?" I ask softly and she sighs.
"I'm sorry. I don't. The last thing I remember is... well it's all blurry."
My hand drops hers and I felt my world spin. This can't be happening. As I regain my focus I hear laughing. Amara was giggling like crazy.
"Oh my gosh, Vincent you should've seen your face." She kept laughing. "Does my life look like Jane the Virgin to you?"
***
Amara's POV
"You fucking idiot!" Vincent shouts but pulls me into a hug. His familiar scent brought a sense of peace over me.
"I couldn't let this opportunity go!" He pulls away and glares at me.
"You're actually a dickhead." He shakes his head but there was a small smile on his face.
"I'm sorry," I say half-heartedly.
"We both know you're not." I chuckle and give him a small smile.
"Your face was priceless." I giggle but Vincent looked serious. "Vin?" I say softly.
"Why the fuck did you push me out of the way?" He takes my hand back into his.
"I don't know. It was instinct I guess. I couldn't stand there watching my crazy best friend shoot the guy I love. It was my fault you were in that position anyway." I shrug.
"I would take a bullet for you any day." He whispers back to me. "And trust me it wasn't your fault. It was mine that you got kidnapped."
"No! I don't blame you for what happened with Chris." We stay silent for a moment. "I have to ask this. When you were looking for me, was it out of love or guilt?"
"Honestly? Both. Mostly love but guilt played a massive part. I felt like if I hadn't taken the dare you wouldn't be kidnapped. And I couldn't just sit knowing that the girl I love was out there with a psychopath. But then again if it wasn't for the dare, I wouldn't have fallen in love with you."
"Why did you even take the dare?"
"Why do you think? I have a massive ego and I've never backed down from a dare before."
"At least you admit you have a gigantic ego." I roll my eyes.
"It's not that big -" I cut him off by placing my lips on his.
He didn't even take a second to react. His arms wrapped around my waist lightly and mine were tangled in his hair. Oh how much I missed Vincent's kisses. Kissing Chris was just out of helplessness. But kissing Vincent was out of love.
His arms wrap around tighter unconsciously and I pull away and wince.
"Fuck." I hold my wound for a second and wait for the pain to subside.
"Oh shit. I got carried away." Vincent says frantically.
"It's okay." I breathe out finally.
"I think your parents might start hating me if I spend a second longer." He chuckles and places a small peck.
"Go home."
"What?"
"You're so tired babe. Just go home, take a shower because no offence you stink. And sleep for a bit." I urge him
"I'm staying." He stands his ground.
"I said go home, Vincent. Just come back tomorrow. I'll be safe." He's about to argue but I give him a pointed look.
"Okay. I love you."
"I love you too."
***
The last two hours flew by as my family and friends came in to visit me.
The second I saw Mum and Dad I cried. Like snot was hanging out. Seeing them in person rather than on the TV felt surreal. We caught up on the things I missed out in the last few weeks and just spoke like normal people. It felt peaceful knowing that I wasn't being seen as a victim. Because I didn't want sympathy.
When I saw Xander I pulled him in for a hug instantly. It was my fault Vanessa played him and he doesn't deserve that. Even though I wanted to speak about the whole situation it was clear Xander didn't want to talk about Vanessa. So I stayed clear of that topic and he and Hazel caught me up on the school gossip.
Apparently, when I got kidnapped, everyone was worried about me. People from school I don't even know went looking for me. They knocked on doors, hung posters and did a whole social media appeal. It's actually really sweet.
Visiting hours were about to end and I had managed to send everyone home. They all looked tired as shit and seeing them all fresh tomorrow would help me feel a little less guilty about how I caused them this tiredness and pain.
There was nothing good on the TV so I just play the radio and decide I should try and sleep.
The door opens and a nurse walks in. Damn, he was cute.
"Hi Amara! I'm Toby your night nurse."
"Hi, Toby. A nurse already took the details."
"Oh yeah, I know. I wanted to tell you there's a girl outside to visit you. Says she's your friend."
"Oh okay. Send her in." I smile and figure Lucy was here to see me.
Toby nods and walks out. A second later the door opens again.
"Hey!" I gush but that dies down when I see who it actually is. "Why the fuck are you here?" I growl.
"I had to see if you were okay." Vanessa steps closer and the fear from earlier returns.
"I'm alive. Now leave."
"Please Mara. Can we talk?" Desperation her voice was evident.
"What is there to talk about? You fucking shot me."
"It wasn't for you. It wasn't meant for anyone."
"You still fucking shot me." I was about to call Toby and have her kicked out but I realised that for me to move on, I need this. "You know what? Let's talk." I point at the stool and she obliges quickly.
"I'm so sorry Mara. I don't know what came over me. All I could see was anger and jealousy. I was jealous of you and Vincent. I always wanted something like that and seeing you two just standing there in love boiled my blood." Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
"You're worse than Chris. You pretended to be my best friend but in reality, you were just helping your psychopath of brother get to me. And you know what's the worst part? You meant the most to me." I growl at her.
"I'm so sorry Amara." She was now sobbing.
"Sorry doesn't change anything." Silence overtook the room and the only thing that was heard was the sobs of Vanessa. "You should leave."
She wipes her tears away and nods. "I am. You won't see me again. I'm turning myself in."
"What?"
"I was part of Chris's plan too. And I shot you. I deserve to be punished."
"I'm not pressing charges against you." I just wanted this nightmare to be over. And even if Vanessa did me dirty, I still considered her to be my best friend. She was there for me when I needed her even if it was for selfish reasons.
"Why not? You have all the reasons why you should." She looked confused.
"Yeah. But I have one reason why I shouldn't and it outweighs the rest. You were my best friend even if I wasn't yours."
We sit in silence for a few moments and then Vanessa gets up to leave. Just before she leaves she turns around.
"Even though I started hanging out with you for selfish reasons, you were my best friend too."