Never Told You

Chapter Thirteen

My alarm went off, and I knew Alyssa was in the kitchen. I didn't want to talk to her, but I knew she was going to confront me. I walked out of my room, and went straight to the bathroom. If I hid for long enough, maybe she'd leave. I finished in the bathroom, and when I opened the door someone was standing there. I was expecting Alyssa, but instead I got Hunter. He broke into my apartment, and Alyssa was gone.

"Well hello. Thought you'd keep hiding from me, baby girl." I shivered at the cat name he called me. I was not his baby girl, and I wanted to be left alone. I already held up my end of the deal, so why wasn't he?

"What are you doing here, Hunter? You're breaking your half of the deal we had." He chuckled and continued to stare at me. My nerves were suddenly uncontrollable, and I had a feeling he was going to do something bad.

"Lauren, Lauren, Lauren...you just haven't learned, have you?" His words were eerie. I heard more footsteps approaching. Hunter wasn't alone, but I was.

"Hunter..you don't have to do this. Please just lea-" Hunter cut me off.

"Shut the fuck up Lauren! You're so pretty, but your big mouth always has to fucking ruin everything. I heard that you and River aren't talking anymore. Which means, he shouldn't be interrupting us." I gulped as Hunter chuckled. I was in trouble, and I had no way of getting out of it. I had lost River's protection, and Alyssa would get the same treatment as me. My keys were in the kitchen, and my knife was hidden in my bedroom. Hunter was smart enough to not take me to another bedroom.

"I'm sorry, Hunter." He moved closer and grabbed my arms. I knew if I tried screaming, Hunter would find a way to stop me.

"Oh Lauren, begging me for forgiveness? You should be after what you've done." I remained silent, and he squeezed my arms tighter. At this point, there was nothing I could do except hope this went by fast. Hunter dragged me to the living room. I guess he was stupid enough to move rooms.

River's P.O.V.

I sat silently watching Lauren's still face as she slept away. I hated myself for not making more of an effort for protecting her. She had been in a coma for almost a month, because of Hunter. I was so thankful that Alyssa was her roommate. If she had gotten to their apartment any later, Hunter would've probably killed Lauren, and that thought made my gut ache. I knew I was probably the last person Lauren wanted to see when she woke up, but none of her family could be reached. It made me think this beautiful girl had no one who cared for her. I would rather her wake up to a face she hates than an empty room.

"No movement from the patient?" Lauren's nurse, Betty, walked in while asking her question. It scared me a little bit considering I was lost in my mind.

"No, nothing at all. Do you know how much longer she might be like this? Have you been able to contact her family at all?" My voice was raspy due to very little sleep. Betty sighed and grabbed Lauren's cold fingers.

"Unfortunately, no one has been reached. Lauren only had her mom's contact information. There's not much else we can do without her permission. As far as her state, we aren't legally allowed to discuss that with you, but there are rules that state a patient's visator can be updated on their progress if the family is not successfully contacted within two weeks. With Lauren, it's been three weeks now. So let me run her blood samples out, and then we'll talk. Is that okay?" I cleared my throat, hoping it wouldn't be so raspy.

"Yes, of course. I'll see you in a little bit." I was nervous to hear how Lauren was doing. Hunter did damage. Her left ankle was sporting a black boot, as it healed while she remained asleep. Metal bars were inserted into her right hand, as Hunter had snapped all her fingers. Her beautiful face was bruised entirely from the punches Hunter and his friends landed on her, and just barely healing. She sported six neatly cleaned stitches on her forehead from the gash the coffee table had made when Hunter threw her down to the ground. As she lay still, her gown slightly hanging off her shoulder, I could see a tattoo she kept rather hidden. It consisted of a quote, and a beautiful little rose. The quote read, "love me for who I am", and it sent shivers down my spine. I walked over to Lauren and traced her tattoo with my fingertips. These six little words caused me to get lost in my thoughts. What had this woman gone through? Why couldn't her mom be reached? Did she have any other family? I had a million questions. I knew absolutely nothing about this girl except what her major was, and what Hunter did to her. I was snapped out of my thoughts by a soft, quiet voice.

"River? Is that you?" My heart sank.