Spilled Ink and Scribbled Lines (Crimson Lines Sequel)

Chapter Twelve

[ J a c k ]

"Come on Kat" I look around frantically "Alex fucking call somebody for help!"

"I did, Jack! They're taking fucking forever!" He shouts from the hallway.

"Shit" The bleeding hasn't stopped. I think she cut a vein.

My heart pounds in my chest. Alex yells "They're coming down the hallway!"

Everything moves slowly as the medical workers at the hotel make her throw up the rest of the pills, and bandage up her arms. They try to get her to wake up.

My trembling hands reach out to help them carry her through the hotel. "Look out!" Alex shouts as we run past woman who grabs her daughter, pulling her out of the way just in time. I hadn't even noticed that someone phoned an ambulance.

As Alex and I are shoved into the back of the vehicle a man runs out of the building. "She left this!" He pushes a slip of paper into my hand and closes the back doors. I absentmindedly shove the paper into my pocket.

EMT's crowd around Kat, while the ambulance speeds off. A man turns to us and asks

"What's her name?"

"Katrina Dawson"

"And you are?"

"I'm Alex Gaskarth, he's Jack Barakat" Alex answers for me

"Is there anyone we need to contact? Family, legal guardians?"

Shit.

Alex and I look over at each other, he subtly shakes his head.

"No. She's uh... She's an only child and both her parents are deceased. Not close with anyone else in her family" I lie.

"What's your relation to her?"

Alex answers "We're both friends of hers"

"Has she ever tried something like this before?" My throat feels like it's closing.

Again Alex takes the lead "No, this has never happened before"

The man nods and returns to writing on his clipboard.

I watch as the EMT's try to help her breathe. Tears blur my vision.

God dammit.

Why does this have to fucking happen.

[ Z a c k ]

I wake up to the hazy sound of my phone ringing. I take it off the table next to me, it's Jack.

"Hello?" My voice sounds like shit. God how did I manage to catch a cold?

"Zack, it's bad"

Instantly I sit up "What do you mean?"

"It's Kat" He then tells me the address of a hospital.

I frantically get dressed and Jack says "Fuck... I think we need to tell Rian"

My heart stops for a second. When something like this happens we always keep it from Rian.

"Jack, is this that bad? You hide everything from Rian.... Is she gonna make it?" I ask, pulling on a coat and racing past people in the hotel.

"Just, please get here as soon as you can and I'll call him. Alex is here" He takes a deep breath "All we know is that she's in the ER, they wont tell us anything else"

I flag down a taxi and give the driver the address "Okay. I'll be there in ten minutes"

He hangs up.

Fuck. I just talked to her last night. I knew she was in pain but I didn't expect this to happen again.

"Hey, kid, you alright? You look like you're gonna throw up" The driver says

"I'm fine, just please hurry"

He nods and the car speeds up.

[ J a c k ]

I look up from my phone to see a nurse staring at Alex and I. She's talking to the receptionist and shaking her head, a look of sympathy on her face.

A bad sign for anyone in hospitals, we're no exception. Alex picks up on it and whispers "Do you want me to call Rian?"

"No, I've hid everything that went on with Kat from him, now I need to be the one to talk to him"

I take a deep breath and dial his number.

"H-Hello? Rian?"

"What's going on, Jack? Nobody's in their rooms. Where are you?"

"We're at the hospital. Things don't look too good..."

[ Z a c k ]

I arrive to find Jack and Alex in the almost empty waiting room. Jack's on the phone, most likely with Rian. I sit down next to Alex, feeling the uncomfortable quiet in the room.

Hearing Jack try to talk to Rian really puts the situation in perspective. And that really fucking sucks, because from what he's saying it doesn't sound like she's gonna make it.

[ J a c k ]

Rian said he'll be here as soon as he can.

Y'know, I've really grown to hate the white tile floors in hospitals. The sorrowful looks people here hand out like candy on Halloween.

I hate having to ask "Is she going to live?" And having doctors shrug the question off with a simple "Only time will tell"

What I hate the most is knowing that I hurt her. My fucking stupidity left scars on her body, and now we might lose her. I'll never get to make it up to her. Rian will lose his sister. Zack and Alex will lose their one of their best friends.

Tears slip down my face and I continuously wipe them away.

Rian walks in and looks at the three of us. His face is pale and his eyes are glazed over. He quietly talks to the receptionist then takes the seat next to me.

"They haven't said what condition Kat's in. But she said that means Kat's still alive" He takes a deep breath "My sister's still alive"