I really hope everything is okay with her. I sat down on one of the chairs aligning the wall, my eyes fixed on the closed door of the room where I had left Lea. The doctor was inspecting her right now. It was already six o’clock in the evening. My right leg bounced as I waited. I would always do this whenever I feel impatient. After five minutes of trying to sit still, I stood back up. Why was it taking so long? I thought as I glanced at the door while walking to and fro outside the room.
A scream from inside stopped me in dead in my tracks.
Without thinking, I burst inside the room to find Lea struggling against the two nurses trying to hold her to the bed.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice raising an octave.
“Who allowed you in? You need to step out.” The doctor warned me.
Before I could refute him, Lea intervened.
“Ryder!” She screamed my name painfully.
Seeing her relaxed posture, th
“Don’t you dare hey me! Where the hell have you been, bro? I’ve been fucking calling you since like forever.” Jake exclaimed. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at his over-dramatic self. “I had my phone on silence.” I said. If I hadn’t lied, he would have never stopped complaining about my ignorant ass. “Did you forget?” he asked. “Forget what?” I frowned in confusion. I probed my mind thinking about what I might have forgotten. “Max?” He tried to see if I remembered by simply telling me about Max. Max? What about Max? Just then, I remembered that last night at the party, we had decided to pay Max a visit at the hospital today. “I’m already at the hospital. Where are you?” I lied as I squeezed my eyes shut. How could I forget about Max? The fuck is wrong with me? “What? You left without informing us. Anyway, we are almost reaching the hospital.” He said before cutting the call. He sounded
Shelly still looked pretty worn out with dark circles under her eyes. All of us couldn’t sleep well this past week. We thought that we would have lost our brother. He was pretty messed up after the fight with Aiden and his father. He was on the verge of losing his life. He took three bullets trying to save Shelly from them.He did not accept defeat though. Not then and not when we reached the hospital as well. He had lost consciousness and a lot of blood but he fought for his life. He had slipped in a coma for six days before waking up yesterday morning.When we heard about the coma, Connor and Alex were enraged at Aiden and his gang. They wanted to go fight their gang. Jake and I had to stop them. I was furious too but if one of us hadn’t acted rationally, maybe today, not one but more would have been injured.I was just worried about Nick coming back. That bastard managed to escape the police. I don’t get how. Max had battered him to death bu
“I need to talk to her.” I said as I moved to step outside.“Girlfriend? When did this happen?” I heard one of the guys from behind exclaim but I did not stop to tell them that Lea wasn’t my girlfriend. That can wait.I walked out with the doctor following me.I could not think straight.I needed to speak to Lea.“Is she awake?” I asked.“No, not yet.” He replied as he walked beside me.I padded inside her hospital room with the doctor and nurses in tow.“You should take a look at this.” One of the nurses uttered as she handed some x-rays over to me.“Right here, it is broken with some bones cracked. If she so much as move in a bad position while asleep, these cracked bones might become severely damaged.” She explained as she circled the left side of her ribs. The bone was cracked in the middle. This must be the broken one. It was sickening to
“She has marks on her body.” I told him.I clenched my jaw when I saw a couple of people walking by, glancing my way. What the fuck is their problem? Can’t they just mind their own fucking business?“Marks?” Jason repeated.He sounded still surprised.“Are you dumb now? What’s with the one word questions?” I shouted in anger but ended up whispering when the lady behind the counter glared at me pointedly.“Why are you whispering?” Jason asked in curiosity.“Shut the fuck up! I’m at the hospital right now. The doctor checked her body. She has m-marks at her intimate parts. I think that she might have been r-raped, bro. That’s why she tried to commit suicide.” I gritted my teeth together.“But, the doctor here did not find anything. He might have missed it.” Jason replied sounding deep in thought.“Fuck! -”“Wha
“Can they still see us or did we become invisible?” I heard someone whisper behind Ryder.It was not really a whisper. It sounded like he was making sure Ryder hears him. I remembered him. It was one of the guys who burst inside Ryder’s bedroom this morning.“I don’t know about Ryder but Lea can see us pretty well.” Someone else muttered. I looked towards the voice and saw one of the girls staring at me. I tried to look away but stilled when she smiled at me.It’s been so long since someone smiled at me so warmly.The last time I remember seeing such a smile was when my mother was still living with me and my father. A memory of my mother’s smile flashed into my mind. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut as I clenched my jaw in anger. The image that once warmed my heart with love now only haunted and taunted me. If she really had to leave me, what was the point of showing me what love was and what the feeling of l
Ryder’s point of view:Lea shyly tucked her hair behind her right ear and glanced over my shoulders.The action exposed more of her face to us.A faint scar behind her right ear caught my eyes. From the way it was angled, it was surely done with a small sharp knife or some small pointy thing. It looked like she was attacked from behind.Must be her fucking father!I followed the length of it with narrowed eyes. The line disappeared down her neckline, under her shirt.If I wasn’t so close to her, I would have missed it.She withdrew her trembling hands onto her lap.She was griping the bed sheets tightly.“H-Hi” she stuttered out and quickly glanced down at her hands.She kept fidgeting her fingers together.“Stop doing that, you’ll hurt yourself.” I told her but she ended up flinching away from me.Was I too harsh? Before I could apologize fo
I slowed down once I reached the hospital forty minutes later and swerved the steering wheel to the right to turn the corner.The ride from my place to the hospital usually took forty minutes. I made that journey in ten minutes when I drove Lea to the hospital earlier. It sounded insane to even think about it later on.I panicked upon seeing the state she was in. The adrenaline rushing through my veins at that time made me rush to the hospital but thankfully, the roads at night here were not as busy as during the day.After parking the car back to the same spot as before, we got out. The spot was strangely still available.I grabbed the bag which contained everything Lea would need during her stay at the hospital.I handed Jake the hot soup before locking my car.Jake had been quiet during the ride back to my home and back to the hospital. I kept pestering him to tell me about what the guys were hiding from me but he wouldn’t bulge.
Lea’s point of view: A week passed by quicker than I had anticipated. I was reluctant to stay here. I wanted to go home but then I realized that I did not have any home. Ryder’s place was just my temporary home. I couldn’t ask him to take me home. It was getting awkward to even face him. Even though I stayed with him, no communication was as smooth as butter with him. I couldn’t bring myself to speak to him like I would to Jason. I felt my tongue tightened at the sight of Ryder. His strong dominating and determined aura whenever he walked into a room intimidated me. He appeared powerful and confident. Ryder and Shelly visited me every morning and evening during this one week. Shelly would usually drop by during her visits at the hospital. Her boyfriend, Max had injured himself in a fight two weeks back but he was getting better. Ryder brought me different soups every day while Shelly fed me. The first time she
Lea’s point of view:After I wore the knee-length black dress Aubrey and Shelly chose for me, I applied some light make-up.I let my hair down, wore my high-heels and walked out before locking my bedroom door.I squeezed my eyes shut for a second when I got out. The music was overwhelmingly deafening.The music was muffled while I was in the room with the closed door but now, it was time to face the real deal, my first high-school party which was organized by Greg, Shelly’s friend but it was being held at Ryder’s place due to some housing issues at Greg’s house.Wondering whether Ryder was still in his room, I peeked through his slightly ajar door to notice some movement. I smiled and sauntered inside as if I owned the place.I was greeted with his signature smirk and shirtless figure, and like always, my heart raced. It still got to me every time he would cast me a simple look.His eyes
Lea’s point of view:The racetrack area was all hustle and bustle. When Ryder told me about his illegal racing matches, I was repugnant. I couldn’t accept that he was into such dangerous and violent sports but seeing his passion for it, I grew a liking for it too.The moment Ryder left to go get ready for his race along with the guys; I leaned against Jake’s car beside Aubrey and Shelly.I crossed my arms over my chest before sighing.Thinking back to this past week, I smiled when I thought of my mother. We spent some quality time together, cooking, watching movies and even listening to bedtime stories like we used to do back in the days.My mom was actually quite pleased with my decision of making her stay here. She thought that it was best to start anew in this new town as she did not want to go back to the bitter memories she had made with her husband in the past.She also was not as anxious as she origi
Lea’s point of view:“- I was so relieved when I saw the police paramedics rush in to get me out of that room -”“I’m so sorry, mom.” I choked back my tears and wrapped my arms around her.A minute of silence passed by before she pulled me close to her chest and kissed my temple lovingly the way she would always do back in the days.She swept the tears rolling down my cheeks and shook her head slowly.“I’m sorry for leaving you, Lea. I should have never left you alone with him. I’m the one who should apologize.”“No, mom… I always hoped that you would come back to get me but I killed that hope when you never returned like you had promised… I should have never stopped hoping -”“You never stopped hoping, Lea and this -” She lifted her chain off my chest and smiled, deep in thought. “- right here, proves it.” Sh
Lea’s point of view: The moment Ryder drove into his driveway, he slowed down when we noticed Jason’s police jeep parked right in front of the house and a woman sitting down on the front steps of the patio. I frowned faintly in confusion when I got out of Ryder’s car and glanced at Ryder to find his eyebrows furrowed deep in confusion too. I guessed Jason did not inform Ryder about him coming over to his place at this time of the day. I squinted to get a better view of the woman who had her hair covering the side of her face when she abruptly glanced up in my direction. My eyes widened in disbelief as I quickly took in a short and quick breath through my mouth in bewilderment. Different kind of emotions hit me at once, stopping me in my tracks when I recognized the woman whose eyes welled up with tears the second she saw me staring at her. “Mom?” I whispered in a gasping manner. I hesitantly stepped back when s
Lea’s point of view:“You three… Detention!” The principal’s order from earlier flashed into my mind when I walked down the hallway towards the detention room.Jake had humphed childishly and Connor had slumped defeatedly in his seat while I had simply gulped down nervously when the principal’s angry gaze trailed over us from behind his table.When we had left his office, Connor shifted uncomfortably while scratching his chest which had patches of dried up food.“I badly need a shower.” Connor had said before making his way towards the gym.“This taste good… I wonder what sauce this is.” I had almost gagged when Jake had licked his index finger.I got yanked back when I was about to push open the detention door.I squeezed my eyes shut and opened my mouth to scream bloody murder when someone covered my mouth, muffling my scream.I jumped slight
Lea’s point of view:I gasped in horror when the cup of hot coffee accidentally flew out of Jake’s hands and exploded right on Connor’s head.Connor screwed up his face and shot out of his seat while yelping in pain as he tried shaking the hot coffee off his head and stopping it from sliding down his neck and body. “You fucking stupid – Shit, damn it!” Connor yelled and seized Jake’s collar angrily but ended up pushing him away from him.I squeezed my eyes shut before glancing away when he unexpectedly took off his shirt.I heard the girls having lunch from around our table squealed in delight before giggling and whispering among themselves.I cried out in surprise when I felt myself being lifted up from my chair and then everything went upside down.I opened my eyes to find myself slung upside down over Ryder’s right shoulder.I held myself up by pressing
Ryder’s point of view:I picked the birthday gifts Lea received from the girls and the guys after they left for the night. It was already nearing two o’clock in the morning yet I did not feel like calling it a night.I slowly opened Lea’s bedroom door to keep her gifts on her study table. Teddy’s ears perked up in alert when he heard me entering the room but he went back to his nap when he saw me.I glanced at Lea to find her already in a deep slumber.After leaving the gifts on her table, I quietly tiptoed out of the room but the cold wind blowing through the opened windows stopped me halfway.I walked towards Lea’s sleeping figure after shutting the windows and closing the curtains.I lifted the comforters and covered her shoulders well when she shivered in cold. She immediately caught onto the edge of the comforter, fisted her hands tightly onto the soft sheets before turning to the right whi
Lea’s point of view: I glanced at Ryder with a frown when he parked the car on an unfamiliar street which was still bustling with people. It was already nine o’clock and we were still far from home. It seemed like in this town, a completely different atmosphere reigns at night, yet I realized later on that the busy street never slept until later at night when we ended up spending two whole hours there. There was always going and coming of people, police cars patrolling the area and the restaurants and street snacks vendors remained open till late at night. I sighed in delight when a delicious smell of food wafted in the air as we neared a food truck selling Mexican tacos which tasted amazingly luscious. We couldn’t stop ourselves from eating a late night dinner when we tasted those tacos. It was already nearing midnight when we reached home. I was sleepy but I did not show it when Ryder pulled me into the kitchen and o
Lea’s point of view: “Ryder, stop!” I seized his right arm to stop him from advancing towards the boy. I thought the boy would return back to his place behind us quietly seeing Ryder’s death glare but he did something unexpected. He leaned forward towards me and draped an arm presumptuously over my shoulders to taunt Ryder. Right when Ryder took a threatening step towards him in anger, I pushed my two plushies into Ryder’s arms, halting him and grasped the boy’s hand and threw his arm off my shoulders. “In your dreams, buddy.” Ryder smirked in pride and crossed his arms over his chest and the two plushies to watch the scene being unfolded when I gave him a I-got-this look when I remembered some self-defense techniques Aubrey taught me. I raised an eyebrow when the boy shrugged his shoulders at me. He appeared unaffected by the insult. “You’ll definitely be in my dreams tonight, naked.” He smirked smugly and poi