Pleasure

Chapter Twenty-Seven

It almost feels like a dream. I watch her kiss him and I feel breath escape my lungs. I feel the world tilt beneath me, and I can't seem to catch my balance.

Jacob instantly pushes her off of him with disgust. He wipes his lips and looks to me with a hard look. I shake my head in confusion. I don't know what to say. I know my body won't let me stick around to listen to what he has to say either. My feet are moving faster than my mind can process and I'm already heading towards my car.

"Aria, wait." I hear him call out from behind me. I feel vomit rise in my throat as the image plays over and over in my head.

I rush into my car and immediately start the and engine. I see Jacob shouting things to me but I don't know what it is. I don't want to know. I just want to leave. I don't want to see him or her or anyone else.

Tears sting my eyes as I put the car in reverse, back out of the driveway, and speed off. I wipe them away but they're only replaced by larger, much heavier tears. I cry loudly to the emptiness of my car as the engine gets heavier and heavier, and the speedometer rises.

I don't know what to think. But I don't want to think. I don't want to feel either, because this pain is so tremendously wounding, my mind can't seem to handle it.

I hear a loud horn and look to my left to see a blue car heading right towards mine. Then everything goes pitch black.

Jacob

I wait outside the room for a doctor but it seems like years pass before I'll talk to one. I've gone to the front desk seven times to ask about Aria, and I'm sure the woman is tired of me, but I don't know what else to do. I keep pacing back and forth and I can't stop chewing on my nails.

Her parents rush in and file at the same front desk. The woman tells them the same thing she told me, Aria is being examined and the doctor will speak to them when he is done. Aria's mother falls into her husbands shoulders and cries. He comforts her by rubbing her back slowly.

He catches my eye, but I don't look away. He should be thanking me, honestly. I called the school and told them to call her parents when I found Aria. As much as I don't like them for what they did to Aria, they still needed to be here. I know she'd want them here when she wakes up. As for me, it might be a different story.

I take a seat and eye the same door the doctor went with Aria in. Her father come takes a seat next to me, sitting up tall and formally.

"Who called you here?" He asks in a deep yet calm manner.

"No one." I state and look at him. "I called the ambulance when I found her."

He's thrown off by my statement, and I can tell. He looks over at me with a sort of pity in his eye. There's a slight hint of anger but it's not gravitating towards me. It's an internal anger.

He's about to speak when suddenly the doctor comes out and calls their last name. Even though I'm not family, I rush along with them to see what he has to say.

They start asking questions immediately, but the doctor tells them to calm down and speak slowly.

"Aria is currently in recovery. She has a couple minor sprains, but our biggest concern is her head injury. She was in a conscious state for a moment but couldn't remember much. It would be best if we kept her overnight to do further examinations to look into her concussion. It would also be best if you could all hold off the questions, as it might be hard for her to remember a lot right now."

With every word he says, I feel my body sinking further and further into the ground. This is all my fault and I'm feeling something so far beyond guilt, I don't know how to handle it. I can't stop thinking about how I found her. The pain in her face as she slowly passed out and slipped away. She didn't even know what hit her. She couldn't of expected any of this to happen to her and it's all my fault.

"Just go home, get some rest, and you're welcomed to return in the morning. She should be feeling a little better by then." He says with sympathy in his eyes. He walks away and leaves me with practically nothing. I'm not sure if I was supposed to feel better after this talk but I sure as hell don't.

"Jacob, do you need to sit down?" Aria's mother asks me. I snap my eyes her way. Aria looks just like her mom. They both give the same sympathetic look.

I feel that feeling rise in my chest again. The same feeling I got when I would walk up to Aria's window and see her face appear through the glass. It's much more patent now. It burns. No, it stings. It knocks the wind out of my lungs. I haven't felt this type of hurt since my sister died. It's not guilt, but in a way, it is. I can't help but feel it and it can't help but haunt me.

"Come on, take a seat." Her mother says. They guide me to the chair and sit me down. Instantly, my heart sinks beneath me. I can't wrap my brain around anything and every little thing makes me want to snap. My breathing becomes unsteady and my eyes are unfocused. Every image of Aria is running through my mind and it's the guilty part of me that wants to make it all go away. She's only yards away from me, laying in a hospital bed because of my actions. My mind can't seem to fathom that either. I can't be here. If she wakes up and sees me... the pain on her face. I can't be here.

"I have to go." I mumble to myself. I get up immediately and wobble for a few seconds before rushing out of the hospital...