Lydia’s P.O.V:
“Hey girlfriend!”
Ivy’s voice was cheerful as she picked up the call right after the first ring. It felt like sandpaper against my senses, especially since I hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep last night and was running on four cups of unsweetened coffee since this morning.
“Hey…are you busy?” I asked to make sure. Generally 1.30 PM would be her lunch time but you never know when there would be an emergency at the hospital.
“Oh, no. Just about to get lunch.” She told me and in the background, I heard the low hum of people moving around. “I had this really difficult kid at the MRI and he kept moving around, so it took a while.”
“A kid? How old? What happened?” Whenever I heard of any kid getting an MRI or a CT scan, I tend to freak out. Maybe it was PTSD, but I couldn’t imagine any child going through what I had experienced.
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Lydia’s P.O.V:“Lydia?” Lyric blinked several times to make sure that it was actually me and not someone else. “How did you get here?”“Derek told me where to find you.” I told him a bit sheepishly. “I went to your house first.”“Oh?” Lyric scratched the back of his head awkwardly and even I was at a loss for words. Why was it so hard to say something that I wanted to tell him so badly? We had never had awkward moments like this before but I guess there was a first for everything.So, I took a deep breath and spoke what was in my mind.“I’m sorry for last night.”“I’m sorry for last night.”We looked into each other’s eyes then and Lyric cracked a smile of relief. “I didn’t think you’d come here today…or at all.” He told me. “I was so worried I hardly slept a wink last night.
Lydia’s P.O.V:“I guess I own you an apology?” Derek told me as he flipped a hamburger on the large charcoal grill. “And definitely a thank you.”“I’m hearing neither.” I handed him the couple slices of American cheese that I had just unwrapped. “Let the past stay in the past and never be brought up again.”“Wow.” He raised his eyebrows at me with a smirk on his face. “You’re in a good mood today.”I turned towards the basketball court where George was standing with a Lyric, Harvey and Cody along with a couple of Derek’s ex-SEAL friends, who were trying to teach him to play basketball while Avery, another woman I didn’t know and the Dawson twins were taking a dip in the swimming pool.I had been offered to join the girls in the pool, but I had opted out because I had wanted to stay and help Derek with the barbeque, even though he h
Lyric’s P.O.V:“Lydia!”With my heart in my throat, I ran towards the pool as fast as my legs could take me and without thinking twice, jumped in.The water was clear so I easily spotted Lydia’s form, but she seemed to be convulsing. Pushing my hands and legs outward, I began swimming towards her to get her out. A second later, I saw another figure jump in, a woman, and she began swimming towards Lydia as well. When I got closer, I found out that it was Tanya and we both reached Lydia at the same time and hoisted her up and out of the water.Lydia gasped for air as soon as we surfaced and I could instantly tell that she was in pain.All the boys as well as Trisha and Avery were already standing at the edge of the pool and Harvey and two of Derek’s ex-SEAL friends immediately reached for Lydia.“Careful with her head.” I warned as they lifted her up from our arms and placed her on a n
Lydia’s P.O.V:“What does it mean?” It was Lyric who spoke, breaking the icy silence.“The bullet has turned inside, due to the impact on her head.” The doctor explained. “It’s no longer near the facial nerve but it’s touching the glossopharyngeal nerve instead, which explains the searing pain she felt at the back of her throat and tongue. If the bullet is not removed now, Ms. McKenzie will continue to feel this searing pain at certain intermissions and it might get severe as time passes by.”“But can the bullet be removed, right?” Stephen asked desperately. “She’ll be fine after the bullet is removed, right?”“Yes. If the operation is successful, Ms. McKenzie can go back to living a normal life.”“If?” My mother gasped. “What do you mean ‘if’?”“There’s a ten per cent chance that th
Lyric’s P.O.VLydia’s operation was scheduled exactly two days after we arrived at Mayo Clinic. Thanks to the recommendation by the doctor who had previously seen Lydia and also thanks to her fathers’ influence, everything went by smoothly. Well, almost. Lydia had experienced that searing pain in her throat and tongue at least four times already and everyone was getting increasingly worried.It was one thing knowing that she had a bullet inside her brain that was preventing her from showing emotions on her face, but seeing her suffer…we had never felt so helpless in our lives.For the past two days, the doctors here had run continuous test and scans on her day and night and now, finally, it was time.“Don’t get your hopes up.” Lydia said as she sat up in the hospital bed, ready to head off to the operating room. “The doctors said there’s a 10% chance that they can’t remove the b
Lyric’s P.O.VThree hours passed and the lights above the operation theater still shore a bright red.Mrs. McKenzie, Nathan, Stephen and I sat outside the room with our hearts in our throat. Yes, the chance of Lydia dying during the operation was ten per cent, but it was still a chance I didn’t want to consider. None of us did.Somewhere along the way, Stephen had gone ahead and gotten us some coffee since all of us had stayed up last night. Right now I was on my third cup and I was getting jittery. But it was more from anxiousness than from the coffee.“You know this isn’t the first time we’ve all been here,” Stephen said as he took a small sip of his coffee. “The first time was even worse.”I knew what he was talking about. The first time was when Lydia had been shot. I couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like for Stephen and the rest of the family to sit outside for
Lyric’s P.O.VThere was this continuous beeping noise in the background when I woke up. Opening my eyes, I found I was inside a room with full white walls and bright lights. Groaning, I covered my eyes with my hands. It took a while for me to calibrate my senses, but once I remembered where I was, I almost jumped up.“Lydia?”“Relax sleeping beauty, she hasn’t woken up yet.”Clutching my head at the sudden ache, I fell back on the bed and took the chance to look at my surroundings. I was in one of the hospital rooms and the only other person in the room was Nathan.“What happened?” I asked him, clearing my throat when I voice came out hoarse.“You fainted.” He said with a smirk.“What?” I frowned. I wasn’t exactly the fainting type, so why would I suddenly faint?“Doctor said it was due to stress.” Nathan shrugged, before
Epilogue:Lyric’s P.O.V“Congratulation on graduation, Mr. David Donovan.” The Principal of Rosewater University shook my hand as he handed me my certificate.“Thank you.”I looked towards the front rows of the stadium and found my mom and dad as well as Derek, who had been given a place for his wheelchair. And then there was George, who was no longer the glasses wearing, shaggy haired, baggy clothed nerd, but a man in his own right. All of them had huge smiles on their faces and my parents looked proud of me. I waved at them before heading to the centre of the stage where the microphone was set up.Since I had topped in class, I had been chosen as the commencement speaker, which was a huge honor for me. Standing in front of hundreds of teachers, students, and their respective parents, I felt insignificant to be giving this speech, but I was ready.“Good afternoon, respect
Epilogue:Lyric’s P.O.V“Congratulation on graduation, Mr. David Donovan.” The Principal of Rosewater University shook my hand as he handed me my certificate.“Thank you.”I looked towards the front rows of the stadium and found my mom and dad as well as Derek, who had been given a place for his wheelchair. And then there was George, who was no longer the glasses wearing, shaggy haired, baggy clothed nerd, but a man in his own right. All of them had huge smiles on their faces and my parents looked proud of me. I waved at them before heading to the centre of the stage where the microphone was set up.Since I had topped in class, I had been chosen as the commencement speaker, which was a huge honor for me. Standing in front of hundreds of teachers, students, and their respective parents, I felt insignificant to be giving this speech, but I was ready.“Good afternoon, respect
Lyric’s P.O.VThere was this continuous beeping noise in the background when I woke up. Opening my eyes, I found I was inside a room with full white walls and bright lights. Groaning, I covered my eyes with my hands. It took a while for me to calibrate my senses, but once I remembered where I was, I almost jumped up.“Lydia?”“Relax sleeping beauty, she hasn’t woken up yet.”Clutching my head at the sudden ache, I fell back on the bed and took the chance to look at my surroundings. I was in one of the hospital rooms and the only other person in the room was Nathan.“What happened?” I asked him, clearing my throat when I voice came out hoarse.“You fainted.” He said with a smirk.“What?” I frowned. I wasn’t exactly the fainting type, so why would I suddenly faint?“Doctor said it was due to stress.” Nathan shrugged, before
Lyric’s P.O.VThree hours passed and the lights above the operation theater still shore a bright red.Mrs. McKenzie, Nathan, Stephen and I sat outside the room with our hearts in our throat. Yes, the chance of Lydia dying during the operation was ten per cent, but it was still a chance I didn’t want to consider. None of us did.Somewhere along the way, Stephen had gone ahead and gotten us some coffee since all of us had stayed up last night. Right now I was on my third cup and I was getting jittery. But it was more from anxiousness than from the coffee.“You know this isn’t the first time we’ve all been here,” Stephen said as he took a small sip of his coffee. “The first time was even worse.”I knew what he was talking about. The first time was when Lydia had been shot. I couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like for Stephen and the rest of the family to sit outside for
Lyric’s P.O.VLydia’s operation was scheduled exactly two days after we arrived at Mayo Clinic. Thanks to the recommendation by the doctor who had previously seen Lydia and also thanks to her fathers’ influence, everything went by smoothly. Well, almost. Lydia had experienced that searing pain in her throat and tongue at least four times already and everyone was getting increasingly worried.It was one thing knowing that she had a bullet inside her brain that was preventing her from showing emotions on her face, but seeing her suffer…we had never felt so helpless in our lives.For the past two days, the doctors here had run continuous test and scans on her day and night and now, finally, it was time.“Don’t get your hopes up.” Lydia said as she sat up in the hospital bed, ready to head off to the operating room. “The doctors said there’s a 10% chance that they can’t remove the b
Lydia’s P.O.V:“What does it mean?” It was Lyric who spoke, breaking the icy silence.“The bullet has turned inside, due to the impact on her head.” The doctor explained. “It’s no longer near the facial nerve but it’s touching the glossopharyngeal nerve instead, which explains the searing pain she felt at the back of her throat and tongue. If the bullet is not removed now, Ms. McKenzie will continue to feel this searing pain at certain intermissions and it might get severe as time passes by.”“But can the bullet be removed, right?” Stephen asked desperately. “She’ll be fine after the bullet is removed, right?”“Yes. If the operation is successful, Ms. McKenzie can go back to living a normal life.”“If?” My mother gasped. “What do you mean ‘if’?”“There’s a ten per cent chance that th
Lyric’s P.O.V:“Lydia!”With my heart in my throat, I ran towards the pool as fast as my legs could take me and without thinking twice, jumped in.The water was clear so I easily spotted Lydia’s form, but she seemed to be convulsing. Pushing my hands and legs outward, I began swimming towards her to get her out. A second later, I saw another figure jump in, a woman, and she began swimming towards Lydia as well. When I got closer, I found out that it was Tanya and we both reached Lydia at the same time and hoisted her up and out of the water.Lydia gasped for air as soon as we surfaced and I could instantly tell that she was in pain.All the boys as well as Trisha and Avery were already standing at the edge of the pool and Harvey and two of Derek’s ex-SEAL friends immediately reached for Lydia.“Careful with her head.” I warned as they lifted her up from our arms and placed her on a n
Lydia’s P.O.V:“I guess I own you an apology?” Derek told me as he flipped a hamburger on the large charcoal grill. “And definitely a thank you.”“I’m hearing neither.” I handed him the couple slices of American cheese that I had just unwrapped. “Let the past stay in the past and never be brought up again.”“Wow.” He raised his eyebrows at me with a smirk on his face. “You’re in a good mood today.”I turned towards the basketball court where George was standing with a Lyric, Harvey and Cody along with a couple of Derek’s ex-SEAL friends, who were trying to teach him to play basketball while Avery, another woman I didn’t know and the Dawson twins were taking a dip in the swimming pool.I had been offered to join the girls in the pool, but I had opted out because I had wanted to stay and help Derek with the barbeque, even though he h
Lydia’s P.O.V:“Lydia?” Lyric blinked several times to make sure that it was actually me and not someone else. “How did you get here?”“Derek told me where to find you.” I told him a bit sheepishly. “I went to your house first.”“Oh?” Lyric scratched the back of his head awkwardly and even I was at a loss for words. Why was it so hard to say something that I wanted to tell him so badly? We had never had awkward moments like this before but I guess there was a first for everything.So, I took a deep breath and spoke what was in my mind.“I’m sorry for last night.”“I’m sorry for last night.”We looked into each other’s eyes then and Lyric cracked a smile of relief. “I didn’t think you’d come here today…or at all.” He told me. “I was so worried I hardly slept a wink last night.
Lydia’s P.O.V:“Hey girlfriend!”Ivy’s voice was cheerful as she picked up the call right after the first ring. It felt like sandpaper against my senses, especially since I hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep last night and was running on four cups of unsweetened coffee since this morning.“Hey…are you busy?” I asked to make sure. Generally 1.30 PM would be her lunch time but you never know when there would be an emergency at the hospital.“Oh, no. Just about to get lunch.” She told me and in the background, I heard the low hum of people moving around. “I had this really difficult kid at the MRI and he kept moving around, so it took a while.”“A kid? How old? What happened?” Whenever I heard of any kid getting an MRI or a CT scan, I tend to freak out. Maybe it was PTSD, but I couldn’t imagine any child going through what I had experienced.&