*Faith POV*
A pained yelp sounds from behind me as I run as fast as I can away from who I am sure is a guard coming to keep me away. I hear footsteps clattering behind me and turn over my shoulder to check the distance. The moment my eyes land on Noah chasing me down, I slow down and come to a stop as I round a corner. Noah comes fumbling around and I grab his arm, yanking him against the wall.
“What the hell! Did you seriously sick an old lady on me?” he rubs his upper arm, scowling at me.
Realization dawns on me, and I see my mistake. Breaking out into uncontrollable laughter, I bend over and rest my hands on my knees, wheezing in a fit of giggles as I work through what just happened in my mind. I just played ninja with my, maybe still my boyfriend’s, grandmother, let her sacrifice herself as she beat the person I thought was a guard who, as luck would have it, is just one of my best friends trying to help
*Faith POV* Hours have passed, and Cameron hasn’t stirred since his terrifying screaming. The doctors have assured us that any progress is good progress, though it feels like we are back to square one. Cameron’s father, Richard, has sat silently with me in the room, neither of us willing to take a step away from him in fear of missing out on whatever might happen next. It’s strange to see Richard so torn up over Cameron after all the stories I have heard about him. Cameron had often painted him to be a cold unfeeling man, yet according to the nurse, he has been here the entire time conducting business meetings out of the corner of the room while waiting for progress of any kind. I have seen him cry twice since being allowed in. The first time was when I hadn’t recognized it was him in the cafeteria and I had given him my second chocolate bar. The more recent time had been silent tears after everything had settled down in the room.
The steam swirls around me as I step out of the warmth from the hot shower. Reaching out, I grab my fluffy towel and wrap it around my body, padding over to the mirror and wiping away the condensation. I assess the dark circles under my eyes and frown. Not only have I not slept well lately, they literally pried me away from Cameron at 3 am. Edith took over watching him so I could come home, shower, eat, and sleep. I’d sleep better knowing I could get ahold of Cameron when I wanted to, but he is still loopy and healing. I sigh as I remove my towel and step into my pajamas; Taking the towel, I wrap it around my wet hair and walk over to my bed and find a sleeping Mia. A smile crosses my lips when I hear the little snores floating through the room. She must be as tired as I am. I crawl into bed, doing my best to not disturb her, and pull the blankets over us. She stirs slightly, lifting her head and looking at me through par
*Cameron POV* My head is pounding as the nurse explains to my father and grandma what the next few days will entail for me. I was hoping to be discharged today, but the Doctor quickly nixed that hope. Twenty-four hours of observation before making any big decisions, he told my dad. All I want is my bed, my own clothes, and Faith near me. I groan as I drop my head back on the pillow. My dad comes running over, concerned. “Are you ok? Do you need more medicine?” “No, what I need is to get out of here,” I say, annoyed. He frowns at me. “You need to be observed, to make sure you are really ok.” “I’m perfectly fine other than a terrible headache,” I complain. “We expect headaches with head injuries.” The Doctor interjects. “I know being stuck in the hospital isn’t ideal but it is the best thing for your health,” he assures me. “Can I at least get up and walk around?” I ask. The doctor looks at me, thinking hard, and sigh
*Faith POV* It’s hard to catch my breath as I wheeze in yet another uncontrollable fit of laughter. Break up? Does this idiot think he can shake me now? After everything, we just went through. Cameron just looks at me dumbstruck, trying to understand what is going on. How can he not see the humor in this? His words should break me apart, should tear me down, but they are having the opposite effect. “Faith,” He says solemnly. “I’m sorry. I know you are being serious right now. But the only thing I can think of to say is ‘Do you have brain damage?’ and it’s hilarious because you kind of do,” I laugh again. This time an unattractive snort pops out and I cry laughing tears. “I’m sorry, I’m ok now.” I pinch my hurting side. “Eh hem. Ok. so. You want to break up. Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” “What?” he says, looking shocked. “Cameron, I’m not a moron. I know it’s because you are worried about if th
The dishes clink as I rinse them and stick them in the dishwasher, humming happily. Cameron is being discharged tomorrow, and he is trying to convince his dad to let him go to school on Monday. We haven’t discussed if we are going to announce that we are together or not. I’m leaning towards waiting for Angela to have the paternity test. I want to avoid unwanted attention if I can and seeing as dating Cameron will already be front-page news, we should probably wait until we know for sure if the baby is his. “Faith?” my mom says, startling me. “Geez! Mom, you scared me.” I chuckle at her, and she smiles warmly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” She pauses. “We need to have a chat.” “Ok…?” Conversations go downhill when they start like this. “It’s about Mia.” “About how Aunt Serenity signed her parental rights away and you want to adopt her?” I feel relieved that it’s about Mia. “Ah, she already told you then
I take a deep breath of the crisp air as I stand outside the school doors, anxiety taking over the normal, everyday functions and replacing it with paralyzing fear. The moment I walk through those doors, I know everyone will stare and the whispers will start. All these years working to be invisible are about to be made worthless. All because the school’s playboy rich kid couldn’t leave me alone. The thought of Cameron brings a smile to my face. I can do this. Stares and whispers are trivial compared to the things I’ve been through. Plus, I have Cameron I can lean on and I’m fairly certain Mia and Noah have already laid the groundwork and warnings out. Mess with me, they get to deal with them, and though they aren’t the most popular kids in school, everyone witnessed Mia annihilate Angela when she made me break and Noah is a renowned youth boxer. “Do you
Much to my relief, I hear a door open and slam behind me as someone runs over. I turn and look at my dad. And for the first time in a very long time, I am relieved to see his worried face. “Dad, please help me,” I beg him, looking down at a now unconscious Cameron. The desperation in my voice snaps Dad out of his concerned state, and he swoops down to check on Cameron. There is no way the two of us can carry him. I am strong, but I refuse to risk dropping him in his already injured state. Dad jumps up from evaluating him and slowly we lower him to the ground. “Stay here, I’m going to grab the nurse and call for an ambulance.” And he runs off. I scoot my lap under Cameron's head and as gently as I can; I stroke his hair and try to talk to him. I know when he first came out of the coma; he said he could hear everything the surrounding people were saying. The thought of him worrying about me when he is like this makes my heart clench
“Cameron has a severe concussion.” The doctor explains to us, “When we discharged him, I told him he needs to take it easy and make sure he is taking his medication. He should not have been at school.” The doctor is agitated, and it shows with his tone as he reprimands Cameron’s dad, who stands there listening intently. I feel a tinge of guilt since Cameron only came to school today because he wanted to make sure I was comfortable at school after all the bombshells that were dropped this past week and weekend. “Can we see him?” I say, finding my voice. “Family only,” the doctor says sternly. “She is,” Cameron’s dad responds with zero hesitation. When we arrive at his room, we walk in to see him sitting up and smiling. Relief and annoyance fill me as he shifts his stunning smile to me. “Hey,” He says. The audacity of this man to scare me and then smile at me like everything is hunky-dory.