The Summer I Turned Pretty - The Years Later✔️

chapter 10

It was three am when Conrad's phone rang. The first thought you have so late in the night when your phone rings is: Something wrong. I had had the same experience when the phone rang to give us the demise on Susannah's death.

I knew what had happened and the realisation had struck me hard. I could never push these thoughts away when ever a phone rang at night even though it was just Taylor to talk me through her date night with one of her boyfriend's.

But Conrad, he was strong and he could push those dark thoughts away by just one bright thought like Dumbledore said,"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the light."

Conrad sat up and looked at his phone and stared at it for some time till his eyes adjusted to the brightness. I was watching Conrad.

He picked up the phone and said,"Hey Jere." Just Jeremiah. Must be some prank or something must've come up. I was drowning in these thoughts when I saw the colour from Conrad's face drain.

Something was wrong.

"Fuck!",Conrad said and started crying. He held me tight and sobbed the hardest. My shoulder was wet from his tears . He was shivering. I started crying too. I didn't know what was wrong but it was horrible I could tell.

I asked what was wrong and Con said,"Belly.J-jeremiah h-had an ac-acident. He was driving when- when a c-c-car hit him. He's been taken to Massachuetts''s by his friends. They were going home when t-this happened. Oh Belly! J-jeremiah is oh god, he's severely hurt. There's one more guy who's in this accident, Jacob. The others in the next car barely got out. W-we have to go now."

I was horror-stricken. I wanted to calm Conrad down but I couldn't. I couldn't calm myself down. I was heaving. I couldn't think of anything. The only thought that occurred to me was Jeremiah could die.

I still buckled myself up and said,"Hey, Con, just listen to me. Jeremiah will be fine. He'll get better soon but for that we need to go now. Con? Okay? Everything will be all right. Nothing will happen to Jere. You know how strong he is. Okay? Nobody can take Jere away Con. He'll be fit and fine in some time and he'll be sitting with us cracking some god damn horrible jokes and making us laugh. Okay Con? But he needs us now. He needs his elder brother. Con for Jere, please get up, please let's go, please stop crying Con."

I said all this trying to make Con stop crying but I myself had tears pouring down my cheeks like a waterfall. I knew what Con was thinking. First Susannah and now Jere. I was thinking the same thing .

I got up from my side of the bed and went over to Con's and nudged him to get up. But he wouldn't. He just kept pressing his face in his palms and sobbed. He was scarlet form crying and I guess that's how I looked too.

I decided to let Conrad pick himself up as Conrad was the best when left alone at difficult times.

I saw my face in the mirror and saw how frantic I looked. I was red, my eyes were near bursting and I was shivering at the person staring at me through the mirror. It wasn't me. I had to pick myself up.

When Susannah died I was sad but someday all of us knew it would happen. But Jeremiah, it wasn't something you've been telling your heart you were ready for. He wasn't dead but he was being taken to a hospital for surgery and he wasn't awake.

Only if he'd say something all would be better. I cleaned myself up in a state in which I could at least look at myself and firstly peeped in the room to see how Conrad was doing, he was sitting now looking at the photo of him and Jere surfing which was place on the night desk on his side.

I walked over to him and sat on my knees looking up at him, holding him tight by both his arms and slightly shaking him. He was startled to see me.

"Con?"

"Yeah."

I placed both my hands on his cheek and said,"We have to go Con. Everything will be just fine. His surgery's gonna start right? When we'll reach there he'll be all right.Be positive okay?"

Explaining to him was like explaining a baby. It had become imposibble now. Why was he so devastated? He's not dead.

Having not received his reply I pushed up a little bit and kissed him. If words wouldn't work I thought a long passionate kiss full of love and wanting would convey that I needed him to be with me, that I needed him to be his usual strong and positive self. He kissed me back with the same wanting and I knew how much it meant for Jeremiah to be okay at that moment. I broke apart softly and gave him the most convincing smile I could muster. He smiled back and gave me a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

We're on the road, I'm driving. Conrad wasn't in a state to drive but he was insisting though but with one reproachful look at him he quitely slipped in the passenger seat.

We reached the hospital when Jeremiah had just got out of surgery. The doctor told us that nothing was serious, they had just taken him in to stich the wound above his head and had hit his stomach near his ribs which caused a minor crack there and a minor whiplash. Well Jeremiah's friend didn't tell us that!

I saw Conrad release a small sigh of relief and caught myself doing the same.

I got us two sandwiches and coffees from the canteen while Con was using the restroom. When Conrad came back I said,"So I got us some food and I called mom to let her know. She'll be here in some time. Your dad's coming too. "

"Thanks Belly. I'm sorry I wasn't being my usual self today. It's just losing Jere was the last thing I want to happen. And that friend of his scared the shit out of me."

"I know. So chill. And now we know who's in their right mind during difficult times huh", I said teasingly.

"Yes. You win."

"I always win. I'm the best."

"Never spare room for compliments do you?", he said half laughing.

"Never."

"You really are the best", he said with such affection that still mealts my heart today, after almost a year of marriage he still makes me feel as if I'm his girlfriend.

He leaned and gave me a soft kiss when my mom came and threw a bursting question " How's Jere? What happened? Tell me now."

"Hey Laur, Jere's fine. He had a minor surgery. You could talk to the doc if you want. Everything's fine",said Conrad.
"I knew that everything would be fine the moment I came to know you were here Con. But I'll still go check up with the doc",my mom confirmed.

"Actually it was Belly who got me under control. I couldn't even think."

"Is that so? Well it's good to know that living with you Belly's getting sense of her responsibilities."

"I'm not a kid mom",I snapped.

"You always will be Belly."

"Okay Laur give Belly a break. She was great today",Conrad said.

"So you started taking her side now?"

"I always have, haven't I?, he said raising his eyebrow slightly and giving me a small kiss.

"At least mind your romance in the hospital Con. I know you love her but still",she said jokingly. Conrad blushed a little and still gave a small peck to tease my mom.

My mom would always be a different and funny person with Con. They just got each other so well.

The next thing I know I and Con are going back to NY and Jeremiah's going home. All was well.

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Hey guys hope everyone liked this chapter. Don't forget to comment and vote. Sorry this chapter is a bit short.

QOD: Do you ship Belly with Conrad or Jeremiah?

Editing note: So I kinda thought that this chapter was immature now that I re-read it . What do you guys think?