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I check the clock for the fifth time in the last twenty minutes. We’ve been here for three hours already.
“Ren,” Nash sighs, watching me pace in front of him and Holden. Nash looks ready to pass the fuck out while Holden stares at the wall. He disassociated the moment he ended the call with his parents and hasn’t said a word since.
“Can’t,” I grumble, knowing he’s telling me to sit down and chill. But I just fucking can’t. I’ve been here before…
Waiting for news about a girl in a hospital bed getting her stomach pumped.
I stop my pacing long enough to squeeze my eyes shut, and the memory of that night three years ago slides into focus.
“What happened?” I whisper, staring down at Kelly. Her father sits beside her, red eyes swollen and puffy from crying.
“She overdosed. Someone called 911 but just left her alone on the front steps of the abandoned house they were in.” There’s a war in his eyes as he fights against his own anger and guilt. I can tell he’s grateful someone called an ambulance for her but is equally pissed that they just left her there dying.
“Fuck,” I hiss, running a hand down my face.
“Lorenzo, she’s pregnant,” her father whispers, and I nod.
“It’s not mine. She cheated…” I wasn’t even that upset when I found out she was sleeping with some asshole druggie. But when I ended things, she lost her fucking mind. Thought I would raise some other guy's baby…
When she threatened to kill herself if I didn’t take her back, I thought she was full of shit. She’s always been overly dramatic. When she showed up at the frat and found another girl in my lap, she promised I'd pay…
I just scoffed. Brushed her off. She cheated on me, and she was mad that I was hooking up?
I shake off the past, take a deep breath, and fall into the empty seat beside Holden.
All we can do is wait…
CHAPTER FORTY THREE
“Time” by NF
ROSE
I groan, but it’s muffled. There’s something in my mouth. I try to yank it out, but it’s taped down. An alarm beeps loudly, making my already pounding head throb harder.
“Calm down, Rose! You’re in the hospital…you’re okay,” some disjointed voice says, but I can’t place the source before the world goes black.
* * *
“Oh, Rosebud!” my mother cries, but I don’t dare open my eyes. So much pain. Too much. Instead, I just slip back into the void.
Consistent beeping fills my head, pulling me out of the peaceful darkness of my mind. It takes my dry and sore eyes several minutes to blink open. Thankfully, the room is mostly dark.
“Rose,” a deep voice whispers. I try to lift my hand to my head, only to realize a heavy weight holds them both down. One side of the bed holds my mother, curled up in a chair, her hand clinging to mine.
The other is Holden, his blue eyes searching my face.
“What's going on?” I croak, my mouth dry and my throat aching.
“Oh, Rosily,” my mother whispers. One look at her tear-streaked face tells me something is very wrong, and given that I’m the one in a hospital bed, it’s because of me. She never calls me by my actual name.
What have I done?
* * *
“Where’s My Love (Acoustic)” by SYML
HOLDEN-EIGHT WEEKS LATER
