Second Chances: Stargirl

Chapter 35

Henry King Jr. was currently at Blue Valley General Hospital visiting his father yet again, even though there had been no change. He was still in a coma and from what he could understand from the doctors, he wasn't waking up from it anytime soon.

Still, Henry didn't know why, but he felt like he was still hearing his dad's voice in his head and it was still annoying. And it was like it was getting louder, like the voice was pounding against his skull.

"Henry, are you okay?" a new voice asked and he turned to see Artemis enter his dad's hospital room.

"Yeah, just a headache. I've been getting them a lot lately. But I'll be fine. Better than my dad anyways." Henry said.

"I just wanted to check in. Has there been any sign of him improving?" Artemis asked, since even though she didn't particularly care for Henry's dad, it was actually through their parents that they'd met and become such close friends and she was the only one of his original friends to stand by him after the Yolanda situation, since Courtney, Rick and Beth had all cut ties with him about that, taking Yolanda's side, not that he could blame them. He was still surprised that Artemis had stayed by his side long enough for him to explain the truth and she'd stood by his side and had even told Cindy off for what she did before she disappeared.

"No. The doctors say he's stable, but none of them can figure out what caused his coma or how to bring him out of it." Henry said.

"I'm sure they'll find a way to wake him up. I know that my parents seem to be interested in him too." Artemis said.

"I always got the impression that our parents didn't exactly get along." Henry said.

"Me too, but maybe they're trying to make an effort for our friendship, since I'm the only childhood friend you've still got." Artemis said.

"Actually, I talked to Courtney and I think that while Yolanda might not be ready to forgive me yet, Courtney, Rick and Beth might be willing to consider forgiving me. Especially since they know that Cindy was the one who outed Yolanda and framed me for it." Henry said and Artemis smiled.

"Then maybe we can get the whole band back together, since you're not the only one who lost friends because of what Cindy did." Artemis said, since Courtney, Yolanda, Rick and Beth had seen Artemis siding with Henry as nothing short of betrayal.

"Why did you side with me over Yolanda anyways?" Henry asked, since he'd been curious about that for a while.

"Mainly because I didn't want to make things more complicated between us since we're teammates on the football team." Artemis said, since she was so talented at sports that Principal Bowin had allowed her to join the football team as Blue Valley High's first female quarterback.

"Fair enough. But still I'm glad I had one childhood friend stand by me, since you know how the other guys on the team reacted and they don't get it." Henry said.

"No, they don't. They're assholes who only care about popularity. At least what we put on at school is just an act." Artemis said, showing a much more compassionate side of herself than she shows everyone at school.

"Yeah, tell me why we do that again?" Henry asked and Artemis chuckled.

"Because it's what everyone expects. And I also put on the act because I have to since as the first female quarterback in school history, there are certain standards I need to live up to. Not from my parents of course." Artemis said, since her parents were her biggest fans.

"Yeah, I've always been jealous of how supportive your parents are for you. My dad, well, you know what he's like." Henry said.

"Nothing you do is ever good enough for him. I wish I'd gotten the chance to meet your mom though." Artemis said, since Henry's mom had died before Artemis had met them.

"Yeah. So do I. Especially since dad's story about what happened to her never really made sense to me, but I learned a long time ago not to question it." Henry said, looking at his father's comatose body, right as his stomach growled.

"When was the last time you ate something that didn't come from the school or hospital cafeteria?" Artemis asked him.

"I'm not sure." Henry admitted.

"Well, today is my cheat day, so we are going over to my place for pizza." Artemis said, making it clear that she was not giving him a choice about it.

"Fine. I wouldn't mind some food that actually tastes like food." Henry admitted as he let Artemis lead him out of the room, not seeing a magazine next to his dad's bad move slightly despite no one touching it.