One of the doctors turns towards me as the rest continue to wheel her away. “You can’t come in here, sir.”
“B-but that’s my sister,” I rasp. “Is she going to be okay?”
“We’re doing everything we can. Alright? We need the space to take care of her. We’ll give updates when we know more,” he says as he flicks his eyes between mine.
I don’t want to accept it, but I have to. They’re doing their job.
He closes the door, and everything inside me crumbles. I run a hand through my hair and viciously tug at the strands to stop the aching in my chest, but it’s never going to go away. Not until I know she’s going to live.
How am I going to tell my parents?
What if she’s not okay?
What if she dies?
No.No.
Shecan’tdie.
“Move! Move! Move!” I hear from behind me.
I whip my head to find Ben, my sister’s boyfriend, being wheeled in on a stretcher. He looks the same as Ivy, but his entire face is black and blue, covered in blood, and he’s unconscious.
What on Earth happened for them both to end up like this?
My stomach churns, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth, and I pray my sister makes a recovery because I won’t be able to survive it if she doesn’t.
CHAPTER 1
FINN THOMPSON
PAST - 19TH SEPTEMBER 2023
“Why the hell are we coming to campus on the day the freshers move in?”
I glance at JJ, my best friend, and shake my head. “Come on. You know Silas is working at the SU bar and can get us some good deals. Might as well get out of the house, right?”
And the fact I had to spend the entire summer at home without my sister because she can’t face the nightmare of what happened there last year. I’ll drown in my thoughts if I stay at home; I need to keep my brain active.
I don’t blame her, but I definitely blame myself.
What happened to her ismyfault, and she doesn’t even know it.
My fingers itch for a drink. Anything to take away the sudden rush of guilt and shame, knowing I put her in that position because I couldn’t handle her being with one of my friends who didn’t deserve her.
I shouldneverhave let that rumour spread. I should have admitted that I lied. And yet I still don’t have the courage to tell her the truth, so I let it eat me alive instead.
“Yeah, I guess,” JJ says from beside me.
We silently weave in and out of the new students moving into their accommodation with suitcases, boxes, and trolleys. My first year of university was a blur. All I remember is getting shitfaced and attempting to turn up to lectures. It’s the culture, but I wasn’t drinking for fun, I was drinking to forget.
And forgetting is my favourite thing to do.
My mind falls quiet, I never dream, and for those few hours, I feel nothing. It’s bliss to feel nothing when all I ever feel is pain.
“How was your summer?” JJ asks. “You’ve not really said much about it.”
I internally wince. “It was fine. Same old, same old. You know?”
