Brittany O'Neill and her family packed up everything and moved to Berkeley, California for a fresh start. Her brother and she were excepted into Berkeley University and she thought it would be the great college experience. With little to no stresses...
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Chapter Twenty-One
Do you ever wish you could build a time machine? Go back in time and change something? Even if changing the smallest thing could mean the destruction of everything you knew to be in the present? I believe I would. I believe if given the chance, I would go back and change the events of the past forty-eight hours. No questions asked. If Doctor Who were to pop up in this hospital room right now and ask me if I wanted a chance to change what happened to the person lying in this hospital bed, I wouldn't think twice.
"Britt?" I felt a hand touch my shoulder, and I flinched away.
"I'm sorry but I'm not leaving right now," I looked at Niles.
I faced the person laying still on the bed. He had a tube down his throat and an IV in his hand. He looked out of place in that bed, in this room. Jay shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be anywhere near a hospital. He promised me. He promised he wouldn't go back down this road again, but he did. This is where he ended up because he broke his promise to me and Mom. He'd been out in the road drunk and he'd been hit by a car. The person hadn't seen him until it was too late.
Niles was nearby when he saw the scene unfold. By then Jay had already been hit, and he told me the news. Naturally, I had questioned him to make sure he hadn't been attacked like Candy. He assured me that wasn't the case and promised it was nothing but an accident. He hadn't been targeted because of me or them. Right now, that didn't make me feel better.
"I understand, but you should eat. I know your mum is worried sick, too."
"I can't right now. I'm not hungry."
"If I got you something, would you eat it?"
"I honestly wouldn't so please don't bother," I admitted.
"Brittany—"
"Can I have some time alone, please? I'm sorry it's not you. I just want to be with him."
"Of course," he smiled at me as he left and I felt bad for asking him to leave. Still, I wanted privacy.
The doctors said he had been lucky. They said if the ambulance weren't called when they were, he'd probably be dead. I swallowed the lump in my throat. I'd cried enough in the past two nights. Who knew crying could be so exhausting? I placed my hand on his. His hand was warm despite how lifeless he looked. This was good. His being warm was good.
But he shouldn't be hurt. Mom and Mattie shouldn't be dealing with this. Everything else I dealt with seemed so unimportant now. So what if the guys and Clary were gang members? What if they were evil and harmed innocent people? What if they kept secrets from me? How dare I even feel that way? I just knew I'd faced gang members, and they paled in comparison. We needed Jay to be okay. I hated the secrets I kept from Mom, Mattie, and Jay.
"Britt?"
"Hey, Lily," I greeted as she came inside the room.
