𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 | 𝐊𝐚𝐢 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫

Chapter Twenty One

[What Comes Around, Goes Around]

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AUTUMN'S POV

Feels like time has stopped moving. I don't know what time or day it is at this point. I've been trapped in my own head for hours now. I tried to open my eyelids, but I couldn't. All I could hear were the murmurs of those around me. The need to scream was all I could think about, and as much as I tried to let out a sound. Nothing happened. Felt like a nightmare...I couldn't escape that paralyzed me, but like all nightmares? It came to an end, and I was okay again. Although the fear still lingered in the air.

When I woke up from Annabelle's spell, I was greeted by Jo. She looked relieved to see me awake, but her emotions soon switched at the speed of light. The girl broke down in front of me and told me everything that had happened when I was gone. Jo told me what Annabelle did, what Kai did not just to my brother but to others, and the last but most important thing.

She told me what had happened to Joel.

To say I was mortified would be an understatement, but out of all this chaos? The one good thing is the fact that Joel is still alive. Kai was able to save him and has been at the hospital for hours now, not willing to leave. Jo thinks his guilt is keeping him there, and he apparently told her to stay with me and wait until I wake up.

Now I felt guilty because I could see how much she wanted to be with Joel.

Thankfully Annabelle hasn't shown her face around here, and I'm happy about that, but once she does? I'm going to rain hell on her. She did all this for some boy, and now people got hurt...-what the hell was she thinking? Eh, I can't even think about this right now.

It was about 8:32 am; the cold air masked the sun's heat as we stood in front of 'New Orleans' hospital. Jo practically ran inside, but I couldn't blame her. I was itching to see the boys as well. Following her down the hall and up some stairs, we made it to the second floor.

"He's in this room, Autumn." She points at room 14 and quickly swings the door open. Jo's eyes landed on Joel, who looked up at us with a smile on his lips. The girl ran over to Joel and hugged him; I couldn't help the smile that formed on my own lips as he laughed at her embrace. "I'm okay, babe." He said towards Jo, who finally pulled away and slapped his arm. "Ow!" He yelps, and she huffs. "That's for putting your life on the line!" She snaps but soon calms down.

Joel's eyes landed on me while my eyes landed on his stomach, looking at the bandage covering his wound with sadness. "My sista is finally awake, thought you turned into sleeping beauty for a second there." He joked, and I rolled my eyes playfully. "Oh, Joel...your jokes never fail."

He gave me a thumbs-up before turning back to Jo and talking to her while Kai just sat back in his chair. Not talking or looking at me, which was frustrating, but I could understand why it was hard for him to say anything. So much happened last night, and he was exhausted from the looks of his features. His hair was messy while having bloodshot eyes. I let out a soft sigh and sat next to him.