Breaking Walls (Lauren Cimorelli)

Chapter 17

Coley's POV

I woke up with an extremely painful headache, and for a few seconds, I didn't know where I was or what had happened. I looked up and immediately saw my mom, and I frowned. She looked so sad, and her eyes were barely open when she saw me. I looked over and saw Jake, and he immediately smiled.

"Hey sweetie, how're you feeling?" My mom asked.

"Not that great," I said, my voice cracking.

"I'll go tell the girls and get the doctor," Jake said, walking out of the room.

"The girls?" I asked my mom, confused.

She gave me a weak smile. "Lauren and Lisa are here."

I felt my heart get heavy as everything that had previously happened came flooding back to me. "Oh."

"Yeah," She said, grabbing my hand, "Do you remember what happened?"

"I remember being on the phone with Lisa in the car," I started, "That's the last thing I remember."

"An eighteen-wheeler t-boned you, Coley," She said, starting to raise her voice a little, "It was a miracle you even survived." She started to tear up, and I squeezed her hand.

"It's okay, mom. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

Before she could say anything, the door opened, and I saw Lisa walk in with Lauren following her. My eyes connected with Lauren's for a second, but they quickly moved to Lisa as she sat down on the bed. "Hey. How're you feeling?"

"Could be better," I said, my eyes moving to Lauren again. She sat down in the chair across the room and looked down at her hands, playing with them.

Lisa gently placed her hand on my leg, and that's when I realized that my other one had a cast around it. Ugh. I must've broken it. "I'm glad you're okay. We were worried sick," She took her hand off of my leg and looked at my mom. "Jake has to wait for the doctor, do you want to come with me and wait with him, Ms. Anderson?"

My mom looked at me and smiled before glancing at Lauren and saying, "Sure."

Lisa smiled and stood up with my mom, glancing at Lauren and giving her a smile before leaving the room. Lauren was looking at the floor now, trying to avoid my gaze. It was obvious she wasn't going to say anything, so I decided to start. "Lauren?"

She looked up when I said her name, and when she saw me, she looked guilty. "Y-yeah?"

My heart broke when I heard her stutter. I hated knowing she was nervous. I motioned for her to come sit in the chair beside my bed, where my mom was previously sitting. She nodded her head and walked over and sat down, playing with her fingers. When I opened my mouth to speak again, she cut me off. "I'm sorry." I tried to respond, but she wouldn't let me. "I'm really sorry that you saw that. I... I don't know what it looked like from your angle. I mean, obviously you saw us kissing, or at least that's what you thought, but," She stopped speaking and took a deep breath, "Coley, I didn't kiss her. I didn't even realize what was happening until I saw you. She set up the entire thing. She found me in the library and started apologizing for everything, and she somehow managed to get me in that position I was in, and I trusted her. I trusted her to not hurt us again, and she did. I'm so sorry I let that happen."

She stayed quiet after that, finally giving me a chance to speak. "Lauren, I knew you didn't initiate it. I couldn't imagine you ever doing that. But, in that moment... I don't know. I wasn't thinking realistically. And, obviously, my overreaction led to all of us being here. I shouldn't have reacted that way, I'm sorry."