Smooth Sailing ✓ [Republishing]

20 | cherry and plum

Sometimes the words we leave unspoken are the most important ones that should have been said.

-Unknown-
________________________

- L I L A -

In that moment, everything around me came to a standstill. The scream that ripped from my throat echoed in my ear and Matthew's limp body fell to the ground after rolling of the hood of Jackson's car.

They instantly stopped, drunkenly getting out of their car. Greg stumbled to Matthew's body with a shocked expression. Yasmine ran passed me, her hand holding her phone tightly as she shook, and her eyes were watering.

She mumbled incoherently into the phone, shaking my shoulders violently at the same time I felt a tear roll down my face. She dragged me towards Matthew, his trembling breaths startling me.

I didn't focus on everyone else for too long, but they all began to run in different directions, wanting to escape the cops.

I kneeled by Matthew's body, my hand touching his cheek as I cried, the tears falling rapidly. "M-Matthew, please, stay awake." I fumbled with his glasses, sliding it off his face and looking into his grey eyes.

His eyes kept flickering everywhere, the sobs falling from his lips quickly. "Lila, I-I wanted y-you to know that I—"

Before he could say anything further, the deafening sound of the ambulance interrupted him, his breathing becoming laboured. The breath clogged up in the back of my throat, my heart almost stopping as his eyes began to flutter shut.

---

"What happened?" Katherine sobbed, running towards me with Angus in tow. He looked severely distraught, and had his bottom lip trembling as he tried it keep it together.

My cheeks were red, my eyes sore from all the crying. "It's my fault." I took a seat on one of the chairs, and buried my face in my hands. "He was walking away from me, a-and the car came out of nowhere." I pushed my hair back, weakly wiping to nose. "They won't let me see him."

"Were you arguing? Was he upset? Why was Matthew standing in the middle of the road?" Katherine shot desperately, her metallic grey eyes dimmed with sadness. Angus pulled her into his arms, his hand rubbing her back to comfort her.

"Let's go talk to a doctor," he murmed quietly, shutting his eyes tightly before kissing her hairline. "We can't lose hope just yet."

All of a sudden, a few doctors were wheeling Matthew through the hall, a bandage wrapped around his head whilst his right arm was in a brace. Katherine cried out, her hands curling around the metal bar of the bed. "What happened to my son?" she sniffed as Angus finally let out a sob, his shoulders beginning to shake when he looked down at the cuts Matthew had on his face.

"Ma'am, we need to get him on a machine," one doctor spoke, nodding his head to a nurse. "Nurse Zhang will update you on his condition."

Katherine reluctantly released her hold on the bar, gripping onto Angus as they wheeled Matthew away. I couldn't help but follow him with my eyes, his motionless body striking a pang of pain to my chest.

"He's in pretty bad condition," the nurse began soberly. "A shard of glass pierced the back of his head, and the force of the fall off the car caused it to damage his occipital lobe. I understand that Matthew could see the shape of things if they were up close?"