What A Secret Looks Like | ✓

19: tessa

There's a difference between getting the call and actually being in the hospital. The elevator ride is taking forever and I came straight from the airport. I only stopped once to grab comfort things I'd wished someone had brought me because I should have been here yesterday. This can help make up for the fact I couldn't get a flight out until almost midnight last night.

What was even more sickening than Sephine being in the hospital, was the fact that it was leaked that she and Hayes were here. There was a number of paparazzi that were camped out near the front entrance on public property so security couldn't force them to move.

It wasn't the same floor that Peyton was on two months ago, but it was similar enough to make me afraid of seeing another friend in a hospital bed. I spot Grayson sitting in a chair near Ollie, who is asleep in the chair he's camped out in. I know that he's seen me because he's walking towards me.

His arms wrap around me after I meet him halfway, and the tears I didn't know I'd been holding in start to run free. "I'm sorry," I mumble into his shirt because I should have been here.

"Tess it's okay. It's going to be okay."

We're both speaking in code, and he hears the words I'm saying, just like I hear the words he's saying. Just being back around him makes it easier to breathe even though I'm crying. It's safe with Grayson.

But we're also in public and it's not the time for anyone to be finding out so I pull back, even though every part of me just wants to stay with him. "Where's Hayes?" I ask, looking around and Grayson sighs.

"He's in her room refusing to leave, but he's never looked worse, Bella." Grayson says, reaching forward to brush away a stray tear.

"Shit," I murmur, and he pulls his hand away. "I can get him to leave. Where is Seph's room?"

"Follow me," He instructs, but doesn't reach for me again as he leads us down a hallway and to the right, stopping in front of a room on the left side of the hallway. The name Sephine Benson was lettered on the chart, and I look at Grayson in shock. "It happened six days ago, this is a great way to celebrate as newly weds."

"What are they charging the man with?" I ask quietly, staring at the chart with markings and notes everywhere on it.

"Second degree aggravated assault, fleeing the scene of a crime, drunk and disorderly, and first degree involuntary fetal manslaughter."

My hand rests on the handle of the door and as I think of the list I turn it, revealing Sephine asleep in a cot. Hayes is sitting there, staring at her with unshed tears in his eyes. A short gasp escapes my mouth as I take in her visible injuries, "Oh my god."

There's a cut along her temple and a large scrape on the side of her arm, both looking equally painful, but I know that it's the internal pain that hurts the most. And then I look at Hayes, seeing the unshaven stubble on his face and the dark bags under his eyes associated with a lack of sleep. Gray was right, he does look horrible.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper, but it travels to him because the only sound in the room is the steady beating of her monitor. He nods in acknowledgement at me, getting up from her side to walk closer to us.

"Thanks for coming," He musters a weak smile.

"When was the last time you slept?" I ask, making sure to keep my voice quiet as Hayes turns to look back at her.

"I'm fine. I got a little bit earlier, but Seph needs me here."

"She also needs you to be taking care of yourself." He gives me a look, but Hayes needs someone that will give it to him straight. "Go home, eat, shower, shave, sleep."