Sealed Lips ✔️

Chapter 23

Bethany:

I've barely managed five minutes of sleep in the past three days. The worry over Jake has consumed me.

Do the doctors not understand how desperately I need to see him? The image of him, his head smashed against the steering wheel, haunts me. It's driving me to the edge. The little sleep I did get was abruptly interrupted by a nurse insisting on sticking a needle in me while I was half-asleep.

According to the nurses, my blood pressure is high, and my leg needs time to heal. And thanks to my lack of rest, I've caught the flu too. 

I pull out my phone and open Instagram. Sky just posted a picture of her, Brooklyn, and Logan.

Heading to my notifications, I find that I've been tagged in several posts. Maya shared a throwback of us jumping on her mom's couch at five years old. Her caption reads: "Please get well soon Beth. We've been through so much, dear best friend. No one else understands how tough it's been. I know you can get through this because you've made it through much worse. I just hope that you'll forgive me for all the things I've done."

I'll send her a message later, but for now, I comment: "Maya, thank you so much :)".

I notice Fiona's post as well. It's a photo of her and Cole but with my head edited in as a balloon. It's hilarious – Cole holds the "balloon", and they both have enormous smiles painted on their faces. The caption is a sweet message about how much they miss me. They really are adorable together. I can't wait to reunite with them once I'm out.

As I continue scrolling, a wave of panic hits me when I spot a post by Marco. It's a picture of me, shirt in hand, using it to cover Jake's head at the accident site. My facial expression in the photo shows sheer terror as I gazed over at the cars in the background.

His caption reads, "We're all thinking about you!"

Why in the world would he post that picture? And how did he even get it? There was no one else, or so I thought.

"Take this down, Marco," I promptly comment.

He's an asshole, he has always been. His dad kidnapped my sister and Maya. His dad also forced my mom into kissing him and poor dad had to see it. Marco will always be dead to me.

I close Instagram before I lose my temper. A notification comes through.

It's Jake.

Beth❤️ I miss you so much and I seriously want to see you right now, but I'm still not allowed to have any visitors, nor the radiation from my phone, but I quickly need to, to ask you if you're okay. They won't tell me anything. I saw who was in the other-

That's all the message says. Someone must've seen him on the phone, so he just hit send.

Did he mean to say, "I saw who was in the other car?"

Well, even if he thinks he knows, he's likely clueless about the doll. Why is he worrying about me anyway? He's the one in agonizing pain with an actual chance of not making it... not me.

Comparatively, I'm practically pain-free.

I nearly forgot about Marco. I dial his number, and when he picks up, I fire off, "What's your problem?"

He replies, "I just saw your comment. I'm not taking it down."

"Marco Wilson, don't test me."

"But I already did, remember? Beth, you know you can't hurt me. Look, I'm just trying to be friends, but you're making it impossible," he says, and my anger flares. I wish I could reach through the phone and give him a piece of my mind.