The Fallen King | ✓

Chapter 24

~Chapter 24~

Two weeks. Two fucking weeks. That's how long it had been and she still hadn't woken up.

I sat by Maddie's side, clutching her hand tightly as I prayed for her to talk, move, stir, anything. This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't. Not after Zack. Not Maddie too. I refused to believe it.

Maddie had had an alcohol relapse after being sober for months and the aftermath was bad; scratch that, terrible. She'd drunk so much that her body just collapsed and started convulsing violently. I wasn't there to see it myself but Winter had gone to visit her and found her next to a shattered glass coffee table in her living room and immediately called an ambulance.

We were lucky. If she hadn't gone round for their monthly movie marathon, Maddie definitely wouldn't be here now.

I was frightened by the whole situation but what scared me even more was the thought of what could've possibly triggered Maddie into a relapse when she was doing so well. What could've made her go back there? Back to her darkest place?

I shuddered, not wanting to entertain the thoughts threatening to enter my mind.

December clearly hadn't been off to a great start.

Furthermore, it felt so inappropriate to me that joyous Christmas songs were playing, singing about spending time with loved ones when my brother had died and my best friend was in the hospital fighting for her life.

But I knew I was just being petty. Just because I'd been having a shit year, it didn't mean that everyone else had to as well but this was going to be hard for me. Zack and Maddie were the two people in my life who loved Christmas more than anything and if I didn't get to spend it with either of them this year... I wasn't sure how I'd cope.

Relax, Harper. It was only the beginning of the month. She'd wake up. Maddie always pulled through. She was a trooper and a tough one at that. She'd be fine.

She'd be fine.

I wanted to believe that. I wanted to trust the encouraging voice in my head but I couldn't and that thought terrified me to no end.

~*~*~

"Ah, look at you, Livy. You've grown so much," I cooed into my laptop whilst video calling with Nathan and Olivia.

She grinned at me, that cheeky smile definitely inherited from her father. "Yeah, she has," Nathan sighed, hugging her closer. She started fussing so he let her go and she went out of shot, probably playing with a toy or something.

"Nathan!" A voice shouted from off screen. Definitely Aria, my little sister and Hunter's twin. "Have you seen my blue backpack anywhere? I can't find— oh, hey Harps," she grinned, finally in range for us to both see each other on our screens.

"Hey, sis. How's it been going?"

She shrugged, before sighing, sitting down on the seat Nathan had vacated, probably to go and tend to Olivia. "Not great. A-levels are too hard." Hunter and Aria were sixteen and had started lower-sixth this year. To say I felt her pain was an understatement — the jump from gcse to a-level was massive and definitely not a fun adjustment but she was smart and hardworking so I was sure she'd manage.

"Try not to stress about it too much, Ri. Honestly, I promise it does get better you just gotta give it time."

She ran a hand through her thick, wavy hair. "I know. It's just... urgh. Way worse than I was expecting but I'll manage it somehow. I always do."

I grinned, nodding encouragingly at her. "That's the attitude. Also, no fair. Your tan looks so good. How come you bronze so well and I just burn like a shrivelled tomato?" I whined over-exaggeratedly, purposefully changing the subject to brighten her mood.