Pulse

Regret

    I'm in the lobby of the hospital, waiting for Rachel to meet me here. I sit anxiously, tapping my foot on the thin carpet, and clenching the handle of the chair until my knuckles turn white. The lobby was quiet, filled with anxious people like me.
It had light blue walls with dark green carpet. Many plants sat on small tables lining the walls. Small, spindly plants, up to huge tree-like bushes and long, full vines that hang from a pot near the ceiling. It was almost a jungle in here.
Finally, when the elevator door opens this time, Rachel comes out and walks briskly towards me, and I stand to meet her.
"How's Aaron doing?" I try to look somewhat professional, knowing that the Lycan family is loaded and Rachel probably knows more about business than I know about myself.
"He's doing fine, but he broke a few things." She yawns, "I'm very sorry, I didn't get any sleep." Not that she mentions it, I see the dark under her eyes, I guess I didn't realize it before because it looks like she tries to cover it up with foundation.
"Oh no, it's fine I understand completely. Is it okay if I go visit him?" I mess with my hands, unable to stand still, even for a moment.
"Oh! Yes, I'll take you to his room right now, then I'll leave you two alone for a while." She leads me back to the elevator and we climb inside. She presses the 3, the doors close, and the elevator starts to move.
After about thirty seconds, the elevator slows to a stop and the doors pop open with a ding. She leads me to room two-hundred and thirty-seven, and she opens to door revealing a white-walled room with a small, barred window.
I evert my eyes to the hospital bed, containing an unbelievably thin and bandaged Aaron. I immediately felt a pang of guilt, for making him leave, I still don't understand any of this.
He doesn't look at me, he just stares straight ahead at a painting on the wall, his face expressionless. "Hey,"
"Hey..." I awkwardly stand near the door, and ask the first and most general question I can. "What happened? Why?"
    I didn't realize Racheal was still there, but she must have been because the door closes quietly.
    "My question is, why do you care?" He finally looks at me, but I can't tell what is in his eyes, hatred? Regret?
    "I came because your mother called. What I don't understand, is if you cheated on me, and I found out, you tried to... you know." I shrug.
    "What you don't understand is that that wasn't me. I would never do something like that to you. And I did it because the only good thing in my life was taken from some bastard who thought it would be a good idea to photoshop me into a shitty picture of a girl I've never seen in my life,and send it to my girlfriend. And I don't even blame you for thinking it was real. And Look at me, I'm a mess. I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm never hungry. I'm always tired. And I never have the motivation to get up and go to work." Tears well up in his eyes and slowly slip down his face.
    I don't know what to say. I feel tears welling up in my own eyes, but I fight them back. I will not cry in front of him. "I- I'm so sorry." I'm so embarrassed. This is all my fault, I was too ready to accept that it was real, I didn't even think for a second it might have been photoshop.
    He just stares at me, almost like he doesn't know what's going on, which makes me angry because he knows more than I do, he's the one who just tried to kill himself because of me.
    "Aphmau?" His eyes look sad, dull even. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, you shouldn't be here, if my mom just didn't call-"
    "No, Aaron, don't blame this on yourself or your mother. I was so gullible and I shouldn't have doubted you. I'm sorry." I put my hand over my eyes, and shake my head. Don't cry, don't cry. The tears well up in my eyes, and I can't keep them from spilling onto my face. "And now I don't know what to do."
He looks at his hands. "Neither do I."