fameless → ZACH HERRON ✓

t w e l v e

CHAPTER TWELVE
( DON'T LEAVE )

     CARMEN COULDN'T MOVE from her spot. The only movement that made it obvious that she was alive was the faint rise and fall of her chest, and the barely noticeable twitch in her fingers. The only thing she could hear was the loud blare of sirens outside, and the yells of voices from her phone- of which she hadn't ended the call.

Her phone was now in the floor of the car, her arm and body unmoving as pain tormented her. The worst came from her chest- something she found to be from her ribs. And it was definitely that she had shattered at least two. Pain scorched her arm, of which she couldn't move at all. She only hoped that it wouldn't have to be amputated.

But the worst of all was the fact that she could barely breathe. Her lungs felt like they could collapse at any second, and she feared for that. She at least wanted to see her friends one more time.

As the paramedics and officers pried at the side of the car, yelling orders to each other, Carmen hoped that they would find Mark and Elle alive. She could no longer hear them, or see their movements, but she believed it may have been due to passing out, or a mild concussion.

And when they finally got the door open, and found Carmen, she could hear a relieved voice.

"She's alive!" An officer announces, gaining the attention of two paramedics. "We need to get her out now."

Carmen couldn't open her eyes, though. She couldn't do anything, as her brain seemed to be shutting down. The pain was reducing slowly, although no one had given her medicine to help with it. She was confused, but didn't question it as someone lifted her from the totaled car.

The officer carried her gently but quickly, having seen the amount of damage the crash inflicted upon her. A silent prayer was running through his mind as he placed the teenage girl on the stretcher, and watched her get put onto the ambulance.

As the stretcher was jolted around in the hands of another, Carmen let out a cry of discomfort. Her arm, during the process, had gotten jostled a little too much for her to ignore the flame of pain.

"We're getting you to the hospital as fast as we can, okay?" One of the paramedics says as the stretcher finally goes still. "Do you have any family or friends you want us to call?"

The only thing Carmen could get out was, "Zach." It came out in a murmer, one that the paramedic didn't hear over the chaos inside.

A breathing mask was latched onto Carmen's face before she finally let go, and allowed herself to go unconscious.

---

Zach couldn't breathe properly. His heart was beating overly fast, and he couldn't stop staring into space knowing that Carmen was hurt.

By the time the group had arrived at the hospital, Elle and Mark were pronounced dead, and Carmen was in critical condition. And at the time, only her mother could visit her in the hospital, leaving everyone else in the waiting room.

To say that Aurora was a mess would be an understatement. She was in hysterics with Callie and Jonah trying to comfort her. But after hearing that her best friend and his girlfriend were dead, along with her other best friend being on the verge of dying, sent her into a traumatical state that she couldn't get out of.

None of the boys took it easily, especially Jonah and Zach. Jonah, as he had grown fond of Carmen, Mark, and Elle, and he couldn't stand seeing Aurora in such a state. But Zach was the worst of all.

His face was buried in his hands, and he refused to talk to anyone. Because this, in his mind, was his fault. How could he allow Carmen to leave? He should've been there to protect her, to make sure that she hadn't gotten hurt. But instead, he allowed it. And now, she was on the brink of dying.

To Callie, the situation hadn't quite settled in. She didn't seem to believe that Elle and Mark were gone, let alone that Carmen wasn't far away from joining them. She had turned to Jack for comfort, of which she then began to cry for the three of her friends.

Daniel couldn't process it, either. In fact, he was the first of the boys to cry. He had saw Carmen before she left, she couldn't be in the hospital. She was fine. Corbyn sat beside him, awestruck. He couldn't cry, he couldn't feel anything- the boy was in denial, to say the least.

And now, Carmen wouldn't wake up. She had four shattered ribs, a critical concussion, a broken arm, and a fractured collar bone, and is currently residing in the ICU.

Jonah wraps an arm around Aurora as Callie turned to face Zach. She takes his hand in both of hers, "Zach."

He continues to stare at the tiled floor, lost in his own thoughts.

"Zach," She says firmly. He looks up at her, his eyes full of nothing but sadness. Callie's heart tore in two for him, examining his state. "It's going to be okay, Carmen can fight this, she can make it."

"What if she can't?" He whispers in reply, barely audible. "Who knows if she is even going to make it to morning-"

Zach stares at Callie in shock, holding his stinging cheek where a red Mark begins to form. The blonde, with tears streaming heavily down her face, scowls.

"Don't you say that!" She growls. "Don't you dare say that! Don't you dare lose hope! There is a girl in there, scared and alone. You- we have to stay strong for her."

She hesitates as she looks at the floor, not noticing Jack standing on the other side of Jonah.

"I-I went through something very similar, multiple times with family members," She stutters. "Back then, I didn't have anyone left to comfort me. I had no one to tell me it was going to be okay. I had lost all hope when my brother died. He was- he was my rock. But I did have someone."

She looks into Zach's eyes fiercely.

"I had one person to help me through it because neither of my parents cared about me or my brother. I had friends. I had Alex, my best friend to help me through. I had Alex take the medicine bottle out of my hands numerous times. I had Alex talk me out of something very dark that I don't want you to go into."

She grabs Zach's face in her hands.

"So don't you dare lose hope, Herron. You aren't alone like I was. You have me, Jack, and all of these people who also care about Carmen. So stay strong. Never lose hope."

"Our hope, our selves," She pauses, glancing around the group, "Might be the only reason Carmen is fighting."

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