Cheater (Complete)

Chapter Thirty-Four: Crisis Averted

DEDICATED TO ef_girl and AimeeCrimson

IF YOU COMMENTED ON THE LAST CHAPTER, I'D LOOK HERE!

ef_girl: You were the first to comment and you did it so soon after I posted the chapter. You have no idea how I happy I was about that. I honest to God didn't expect any comments at all. I thought that no one would answer the question. I'm sorry for the late upload but I tried. Anyways, thank you.

AimeeCrimson: You gave me such a sweet message. It made me so happy to read it and I felt flattered that you took the time to send it to me. Thank you so so much. I hope you continue to like my work and that you'll stick around even though I take forever...

Living_Free: You are sweet and funny and someone I consider a friend. Do I even need to say how awesome you are?

rawnaldgregory: I was thrilled to see that you had commented. And I'm even happier that you answered the question. So thank you, my friend, and I hope that you aren't still as traumatized by that squirrel. I know that it took me a long time to recover from seeing that poor dog...

Anyway, onto the story!

Memory

I normally liked the hospital. Whenever I'd have to be here, I normally didn't have a problem with it. But suddenly, I was noticing what everyone hated about hospitals. Like, how it smelled like death. Or how the staff was so infuriatingly free of any emotion.

Or how my boyfriend was laying on a hospital bed, body broken by the car crash.

I didn't like any of those things.

Ricky stood by me, looking down at his best friend. I was sitting on the only chair, staring at Dean blankly. He had quite a few broken bones, most in his legs, while I crawled away with a fractured arm. Bruises littered my body, some cuts and scrapes, and all of that combined did hurt but no where near how much it hurt to see Dean on that hospital bed, helpless and in pain.

I haven't stopped crying since last night.

“Do you need a ride home?” Ricky murmured to me. I clung to Dean's arm. He was asleep now. I didn't like him to be so still and sickly looking. It made me so afraid for him. But he was dopey on pain medication and wasn't himself so I suppose this was best.

“I guess, yeah” I murmured back, still holding Dean in a tight grip. The nurse was going to kick us out soon. I desperately didn't want to leave him but I was being forced to.

Gah. This was plain cruel.

Ricky took hold of my shoulders, lips thinning disapprovingly when I bent down to give Dean a light kiss.

“Let's go” he practically dragged me from the room. I kept my eyes on Dean until the last possible second, feeling fresh tears arise.

I could barely stand to look on his broken body but I was equally unable to look away. It was a painful paradox.

The car accident was traumatizing. While Dean had been driving us home, a jeep hit us, t boning us from the driver's side. Dean got the worst of it but I was the one to crawl through the broken window, cutting myself in a dozen places. The jeep driver was talking frantically on the phone, but I barely heard it. I stumbled to Dean's side and looked at the damage uncomprehendingly. My original intention was to open his door and drag him out. But the side was so wrecked that I didn't want to move a single thing out of fear that it might hurt him even more. I couldn't comprehend my feelings. It was a mixture of uselessness and agony, standing there, watching him, waiting for the ambulance.

I wished our roles were reversed. Though the prospect of even more pain was unappealing, I'd take it in a second to keep Dean from feeling it.

But that wasn't an option. And I had to go on though I didn't want to. I still had school and work even though I'd rather be at Dean's bedside. They've kept him high on the pain medication. He mostly slept through my visits but I didn't care. Somehow, I still needed to be reassured that he was okay. That he wasn't gone from me.