I do, I don't [under major editing]

f o u r t e e n

Arden held her breath as the hooded shadow inched closer and closer towards them. The person turned on the light, causing Arden to squint her eyes. An unfamiliar face removed the hoodie on his head and walked over to Ryan lying on the hospital bed, completely ignoring Arden's presence.

"Ryan." The man had a short buzz hair cut, a cute baby face but had a low, husky voice. He took Ryan's hand, while observing the cuts, stitches and bruises on Ryan's skin. "Wake up please." He begged. Arden rose from her seat, suddenly feeling overprotective over Ryan.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Arden looked up the man, who seemed to have sad, empty eyes. His eyes stared back into hers, drawing her into the dark abyss . It made her heart ache somehow.

"Sorry if i just came in like that." He broke the eye contact for a moment, sheepishly scratching his head and  giving her an apologetic smile. "I'm Sean. Ryan's best friend." It took Arden a full moment to realise what he had just said.

"Oh." Was all she managed to blurt out.

"I hope he wakes up soon. I haven't talked to him in ages." Sean sighed, and looked back longingly at Ryan. "Has the doctor said anything yet?"

Arden sucked in a quiet deep breath. "I think it would be hard for Ryan to talk to you once he wakes up." She paused, and eyed Sean's reaction.

"What do you mean?"

"Well according to the doctor, Ryan may have prosopagnosia which means that he will struggle to recognise the faces of familiar people... he will also have some memory loss." Arden's voice became quiet.  A silence broke in between them, as they listened to the sound of Ryan's breathing.

"Oh." Now it was Sean's turn to become speechless. His expression changed, and his aura suddenly became gloomier and sad.

"So, what happened?" Arden asked, trying to change the subject.

"Huh?" Sean asked absent minded.

"Why did you guys stop talking?" She felt a little nosy and pushy, but she wanted to get Ryan better. If forcing it out of this guy had what it takes to dig deep into what was making Ryan sad and depressed, then she would take it as it is.

Arden looked at him impatiently, shifting in her seat as she waited for an answer. He stared blankly at the wall before starting.

"Well, Ryan had a girlfriend. But that hoe wasn't faithful and he instantly went into depression mode. Ever since then he hasn't hung with me or the rest of our other friends. He completely shut everyone out. We decided to give him some space, thinking he'd come back out of his shell.. but he hasn't..." Sean's eyes landed back onto Ryan. Arden knew he wasn't finished, so she egged him on with her raised eyebrows.

"That's awful."

"Want to know what's awful? That bïtch went behind Ryan's back to hook up with his older brother. Apparently she only dated Ryan to get to Kyle." Sean paused and leaned in towards where Arden was sitting. "And at that time, Kyle also had girlfriend."

Arden could feel her heart drop. A ringing noise filled the inside of her ears, and the sudden banging of her pulse on the sides of her head began to pound. So it was true. All the lying Kyle told about being busy, all the late replies, the unreturned phone calls... it was all adding up together now. Ryan was telling the truth. Now Arden felt nothing but feel bad for hating and blaming him in her head.

"Man, i feel sorry for Ryan." Sean continued to drone on, shaking his head. "I also feel sorry for Kyle's girlfriend. I wonder if she knows-" Arden couldn't hear anything after that. It was like her brain shut off at that moment.

n/ things came up, im sorry if this is late :/