The Prince and His Pauper

Chapter 54: The Pauper vs the King

Not again. . . I can't believe this is happening again. . . I'm back inside the hospital, the same one I was taken to when that football jock Thomas got me in a coma. Only this time, the roles are reversed. Antonio is in the Emergency Room while I'm in the waiting room, waiting for someone to come out and tell me what's going on. I asked the receptionist about a million times if there was any news and she gives the same answer: please wait for the doctor to come in.

I waited for that doctor for four hours and thirty-seven minutes and still counting. I texted Leo about the crash an hour or two after I got here. He was mad at first because I didn't call him when I arrived at the hospital, but he calmed down when I explained how the nurses patched me up. Then, I think I was in shock and it was by some miracle that I remembered Antonio's family.

"Cassiel! Cassiel! Hey, can you hear me?!" A loud voice shouts out of the blue.

"Huh?" I mumble as my eyes clear up from my haze. Who's talking to me?

Looking up from the floor, I was met with a pair of dark brown and blonde hair reaching the eyes. Leo's here, but I thought he wasn't going to be here for another couple of hours. Was I too lost in thought to notice? Probably, since everything around me goes by in a fast motion while time slows down for me.

"Hey, Cas. You're finally with me?" Leo asks in a soft tone, almost cooing the words to me. I couldn't respond to him so I just nod my head once. "Okay, good. Can you tell me what's going on? What happened to Antonio? Where is he?"

"Antonio. . . He. . . he was ran o-over by a car. . . The d-doctors took him to the E-ER, but they haven't. . . They haven't came out!" I wail while a wave of tears begin to cascade my cheeks.

In no time, I felt Leo's arms around my body and my head quickly took shelter into his shoulder. His hand rubs up and down along my spine which actually helped calming me down. I take a deep breath and ask,"Is it just you here?"

"I went on my bike as soon as you told me. My parents were taking too long in coming because of their work, so I went ahead of them. How long were you here?" Leo questions at the same time I pull away from him.

"Oh. . ." I let out when a doctor comes to the waiting room.

"Family of Antonio Zepeda?" He calls out, causing Leo and I to run to him.

"I'm his brother, what happened to him? Is he going to be alright?" Leo asks as his earlier calmness slips into a worrying mode. I would have been the same way if I was alone.

"He's going to be alright. He's suffered a fractured rib, a broken arm, and head trauma that required a few stitches." The doctor assures which Leo released a big sigh of relief. I'm relieved too, but the doctor didn't say that Antonio is fine.

"But?" I butt in, both the doctor's and Leo's head turn towards me in confusion. "I didn't sit in here for the past couple of hours for Antonio to have a few stitches and a broken arm. So what aren't you telling us?"

The doctor looks down at his clipboard before he spoke, "The head trauma he suffered from brought him into a coma. We don't know when he'll recover."

C-Coma? Antonio's in a coma? No, no he can't be in a coma! I thought to myself as my entire body just shuts down. I hear Leo's voice yelling at the doctor about his coma, but I don't hear what he's saying. I don't hear the words he's shouting to the doctor because the only thing I hear is the doctor's words replaying inside my head until it's finally interrupted by someone's else.

"I told you. I fucking told you, Cassiel! This was going to happen again! The Sex God was going to end up in a hospital because of you and look where he is! In a fucking coma because of your little scrawny ass!" The cold voice of my darker self growls inside my head.