"𝓢𝓱𝓱𝓱..." ✔

₣ØⱤ₮Ɏ-Ɇł₲Ⱨ₮

   

Now playing..

"Crossfire"
-Stephen
////
"Heaven if you sent us down, so we could build a playground"
•-•

I hated the look of hospital rooms by now. Every time I've been in a hospital room, it's either myself suffering or someone I care about suffering.

   This time, it was Mike.

I've never been more thankful that I am now. Mike's doctor explained that his injuries weren't as bad as we thought they were. He would only be in the hospital for an estimated few days to a week.

   Of course, this didn't change the fact he was still in a good amount of pain.

  I was staring out the large window that stretched from the floor to the ceiling.

   We got a nice view, the sun rising up in the sky, causing the sky to be a blur of orange, pink, and a mixture of other colors.

   I sat in one of the chairs across from the bed. Michael was asleep.

  I was waiting for Henry, William and possibly other people to arrive.

   The hospital room was quiet. It was early and I just stared out the window, enjoying the sunrise.

   I was running off of shitty coffee that a nurse had brought me a few hours before.
    I leaned back in my chair, just thankful that we never had to go back to that horrible place ever again.

   Maybe my life would start going uphill now instead of tumbling downwards at the speed of a bullet train.

   I sighed and looked down. I carefully took the small piece of paper out of my belt.

   The note of Michael calling me a dork.

The edges of the paper were slightly bent, and it was a little ripped
   Of course I kept the paper. Even if Mike was insulting me, it still held value to me.

   Knocking began at the door before it opened.
   Henry appeared, a few other figures behind him.

   I got up and hugged him tightly.

I almost started crying right then and there.

  He returned the hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Henry said.

"Where's our hugs?" I heard a familiar female voice say before laughing.

  I quickly gave Audrey her hug. "Glad you're okay, you nerd." She said jokingly. I punched her shoulder. "Jerk." She laughed at my remark.

   I noticed two other figures standing there.

Julian and William.

I ran up to Will before embracing him. His arms wrapped around me tightly.

  "I'm so, so grateful that you two made it out alive." He said, still embracing me.

   I rested my head on his chest before softly laughing. "Yeah.. it was.. an experience to say the least."

  "Is Mike doing alright?" Audrey asked.

I nodded. "His injuries aren't too horrible. He'll be out in maybe a few days to a week. It depends on how fast he heals."

     I looked over to Julian. He just stared.

The only difference Julian's appearance had made, is that he grew out a bit of stubble and his dirty blonde hair is longer.

    I felt Julian's gaze on me as I walked back over to my chair and sat down. Henry sat next to me.

  "I tried to keep him safe, I really did." I said, disappointment in myself for causing this to happen.

  Henry placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. You did your best and that's all that matters."

I gave him a small smile.

Julian sat in the other chair beside me.

"So," he started. "We haven't talked in a while."

  I looked at him from the corner of my eye. "Yeah, I guess so." I responded.

"We should really catch up soon." He said, leaning back in his chair.

  "Yeah, maybe." I said, giving an awkward smile.

  "So do you want to come with me to a bar or something?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know.."

"C'mon. Linc is with a babysitter. You don't need to worry."

  "I guess." I said, looking back at Mike.

"Did you ever find a picture for the locket?" He mentioned the locket I got six years earlier.

  I looked back over at Julian and then the locket that hung around my neck.

"Oh, yeah I did." I said, holding the locket in one of my hands.
  "Who's the lucky guy?" He asked, smirking.

   I awkwardly laughed. "It's.. someone." I responded, not exactly wanting to give away Will's identity, considering him and Henry both didn't know.

   "Aw, come on. Give me a hint?" He asked playfully.
   "Nah."

  "Come on, just let me see." He pushed.

"Julian, I don't think she wants to give out that information." William's passive aggressive tone made me look towards him. He was leaning against the wall next to his son.

    I nodded my head slightly towards him as a thank you.

Julian shut up after William said something.

  The room was quiet for some time. We all shifted our attention to Michael, when he made subtle signs of being awake.

   He slightly opens his eyes. It took him a good minute to adjust his eyes to the sunlight that was now pouring into the room.

   "D..dad?" He asked quietly.

  William carefully hugged his son.

"Mike, thank god you're okay."

Michael slightly smiled, slowly bringing an arm up to hug his father back.

  When William withdrew himself, Michael looked at me. "Don't just sit there, give me a hug." He laughed softly.

  I got up, laughing with him before hugging him.

  "It should've been me in that bed." I said.

  "You owe me, you dork." Michael said, jokingly.

  I laughed. "I'll buy you ice cream or something."

"A new skateboard." He said.

"Skateboard?" I repeated.

"A skateboard and ice cream." He said.

I chuckled. "Alright. It's a deal."

Mike laughed quietly before his blank face returned.

"That wasn't Liz." He said. I sat on the side of the bed. "I just feel it. I feel like whatever it was talking to us wasn't her."

I shrugged. "I don't know at this point, and honestly I don't really care. I'm just.. so glad to finally get the hell out of there."

He nods. "Yeah."
•———•
Bruh