Waiting on You

Chapter 30

I woke up to the smell of hand sanitizer and rotting flesh.

I try to remember what had happened before I got wherever I was now. It was all a blur, but one thing I could remember clearly: Jacob and I getting into a fight and then being smashed by a semi truck.

A groan escapes my lips and I feel a horrible pang in my head. I bring my fingers to my temples and massage them until it goes away.

I hear someone crying, and even though I can't see them, I would recognize that sound anywhere. It was the same cry I heard when I broke my arm in the third grade, the same cry I heard at Juliette's fourteenth birthday party when she saw her crush kissing another girl. And suddenly, I wanted to cry.

I force myself to open my eyes and when I do, I see a familiar girl with hair the color of fire, her hazel eyes glazed with tears.

"Rory?" She looks over at me and rushes to my side. "Oh my gosh, you're awake."

"Yeah, I think so. Unless I'm dead." I try and sit up but a sharp pain shoots throughout my whole body. Reaching up to try and move my hair from my eyes, my fingers touch a bandage on my forehead.

"Woah there," she rests a hand lightly on my shoulder. "You're not going anywhere for a while."

I sigh. "How long have I been here?" I ask groggily, scanning the walls for a clock.

Jules smooths my hair down with her perfectly manicured fingers. "Just a couple hours. You're parents are on their way right now."

"Great," I moan. "They are going to be so mad at me."

"For what?" She sits down on my bed. "If anything they will be mad at that creep Jacob," she hisses.

"Where is Jacob anyways? Is he hurt?" I ask, only slightly alarmed. A couple broken bones I could handle, but anything worse... Definitely not.

Juliette shakes her head. "He's fine, he just got a couple bruises and sprains," she says with a hint of anger in her voice. "You've got it way worse."

I look down at my own body and a shiver goes down my spine as I picture doctors hovered over me, figuring out all the things wrong with me while I am unaware of any of them.

There is a cast on my wrist and my leg, which is being held up by some strap that is attached to the ceiling. A throbbing sensation above my eye tells me that there are stitches. "I'm a wreck," I mumble.

Juliette laughs in return. "That's true," she says. Then she pauses for a moment. "I'm so sorry, Ror. I really am."

I shrug, trying to ignore the pain as best I can. "For what?"

She sighs and looks down at the barren hospital floor. "For letting you just drive off with him. I should have just taken you home."

I rest my hand on hers and give her the most real smile I possibly can. "It's not your fault, Jules."

My best friend puts her face in her hands, her hair falling in front of her like a curtain. "I'm just so sorry that this happened to you."

I smile weakly and sink back into my pillow, watching as Juliette lifts her head, her eyes watering.

"I'm not that sorry," I admit.

She looks shocked. "What?"

I rub the top of my head where my hair is matted down and greasy. "If this didn't happen, if it weren't for that truck, then I probably would have gotten back together with Jacob. That's how stupid I am."

Juliette laughs. "You're not stupid. And I'm glad to hear that you dumped pretty boy."

"I'm glad I did to," I whisper and I am rewarded with a big grin from Jules.