The Republic of Linae (Book 1)

Chapter 26: Eric

I should have visited Jared sooner. It's been nearly three and a half months since he has been placed in this hospital in a coma, yet this is the first time I could bring myself to see him.

We weren't really close. The only reason the two of us really hung around each other is because of Allyson. Other than that, neither of us have really had a meaningful conversation.

That really isn't a good excuse, though.

Several machines are gathered in the corner of his room, made with the purpose of keeping people alive. I understand almost nothing about what half of these devices do, but I know that Jared is in good hands.

The chair I am currently sitting in is horrible and uncomfortable, but it's better than standing for the time I am going to stay here. "Hey, kiff," I start. One of the healers told me that he might be able to hear me, despite being in a coma. Talking might help him wake up. "It's been a while."

It feels silly to talk to someone who can't talk back. The only part of Jared's body that moves is his chest, which rises and falls at an even pace.

"I miss having you around at school. I've put myself in a position where I'm all alone again." A bitter sigh leaves me. There's no one I can blame for that situation except me. I'm the one pushing Allyson away every time she extends an invitation. She's even kind enough to offer to hang out without Prince Caspian.

I cannot afford for her to discover the truth, however. With the prince around, it's practically dangling right in front of her face.

Suddenly, the door to the room opens. Allyson stands in the doorway, a pot of white flowers in her hands. She freezes at the room's entrance. Tension lines her shoulders as she stares at me sitting in the chair closest to Jared's bed.

"Sorry, I didn't expect—" She abruptly cuts herself off with a deep breath. Then, she releases the air and relaxes. "Actually, I'm not going to apologize." She walks further into the room to the table on the other side of Jared. Allyson sets down the pot.

An awkward silence settles between the two of us for a few moments. "I didn't think anyone other than me and his family visited him," she finally says. Her hand is wrapped around Jared's, gently holding onto it. I never realized how frail Jared has become in this hospital. About how small his wrists now are.

They remind me of what Allyson's had looked like when we had first met.

"This is the first time I've visited," I admit to her. I avoid making any sort of eye contact with her, instead staring down at Jared's pale face. "I've been a shitty friend."

A breath of air leaves Allyson's nose in what could be a laugh. She doesn't respond to my statement. I risk a glance in her direction, finding her to be staring down at Jared with tear-filled eyes. Her lips are pressed into a tight line while she tries to prevent those tears from falling.

Jared had been found in the rubble of the school. When they found him, he had been shot once in the spine and suffered a hard blow to the back of his head. Healers had managed to remove the bullet and heal his spine before he became paralyzed. What they were unable to do, however, is wake him from his coma.

No one knows how long it will be before he wakes up— if he ever does. If Allyson and Cameron truly brought down the building, which I believe they did, it's easy to understand their strange behavior lately. Why Cameron has been isolating himself from everyone and why Allyson threw herself into dating Prince Caspian.

"Hey, Jared," she begins. "You missed out on Prince Caspian trying and failing to impress Celeste, London, and I with ice sculptors." Her hand reaches out to brush back a strand of hair from his face. A sad smile forms on her face. "I'm sure you could have upstaged him with your cool party trick of making rare flowers grow."