Forgiven (JD x Veronica)

Chapter 10

TW: SUICIDE ATTEMPT MENTIONS

Her window was finicky to get open, she practically had to snap her window lock off just to get it open. She gazed at the remains of the window lock in her hands before quickly dumping the remains onto the floor. Now this window resembled the other one; it's lock smashed and destroyed, providing easy access to anyone wanting to get in. Heaving open the window, Veronica stopped for a moment, freezing cold air whipped against her face, blowing her hair back behind her ears. Momentarily, she looked back, eyeing the light underneath the door and the time on the clock. 6:49 P.M. She hopped out onto the roof, softly shut her window, and wormed her way to the edge of the roof.

Her way off the roof was less than peaceful. Originally, she wanted to climb down using the downspout as a wall to keep her balance. It started out fine, her hands wrapped around the downspout tube, her feet pressed firmly against her house wall, making small hops that lead ever closer to the ground. That was all fine and dandy until her hand hit an area on the spout that was wet, she lost her grip, and fell the rest of her way down.

Veronica let out a small groan of pain as her back throbbed. Gritting her teeth, Veronica struggled to sit up, nearly letting out a scream of pain as she did so. Once she was up, her vision took its time to stop spinning. If she squinted, she could barely see the spout she had just fallen off of. From what she could discern, she fell half of the way down.

"Shit." Veronica muttered to herself. Firmly, she planted her hands into the ground and attempted to lift herself up. Dirt smothered itself over her hands, crumbling into each and every crevice, her legs ached and wanted to collapse every second she continued, and her back pulsed and pounded in a frequency similar to her heart. Eventually, when she was on her feet, it felt like a dream, her head was light and she stumbled forward, smashing her arms into a wall and laying her head on top.

The cold air whipped against her legs and blew up through her arms, brushing itself over her face and leaving its stinging feeling all over. Veronica pushed herself off the wall and stepped back. Looking up, a smile painted itself across her face as she saw the light for her parents room go out. Creeping to her car, she opened it as quietly as possibly and started it, hoping her parents would assume that it was some neighbor going out for a drink, or someone starting their car just for the hell of it. Softly, she pulled out and drove away as slowly as possibly, trying her best to imitate one of her neighbor's driving patterns.

. . .

The smell of antiseptics and antibiotics filled her nose and overwhelmed her senses. Her footsteps were almost the only noise in the hospital, besides the distant rhythmic beeping that seemed to echo throughout. The air was surprisingly lukewarm, it wasn't freezing compared to the outside, but it wasn't warm enough to make one comfortable; it was just there, heating Veronica up, but never making her feel warm. The lights, which normally felt dull and yellowish, were surprisingly white when contrasted against a black sky. Veronica shivered and shook her head. Visiting a hospital at night was fucking weird.

Approaching the wooden door she had become so acquainted with, she placed her hand hesitantly on the handle. Her face twitched slightly as she leaned her head against the door, trying to understand what she was doing. It was only in this silence did she make out a noise. It was whispy and quiet, as if it was actively being muffled. Thinking it might've been coming from JD, she placed her ear on the door, straining for any noise being emitted from his room. Sobbing. The noise she was hearing was sobbing, coming directly from JD's room. Veronica leaned back away from the door, her hand involuntarily covering her mouth, her posture and reaction eerily similar to when she had found out about the fate of JD's mother.

Carefully, her right hand still covering her mouth, she reached out for the door, grabbing the handle and twisting it open and slowly pushing the door open. The hand at her mouth instantly dropped inself next to her thigh. Standing there awestruck, she observed JD. His hair was shaggy, thrown around and placed on his forehead scraggly. His face was covered by his hands, one of which, Veronica noted, was inside his mouth as a way to muffle his sobs.