The Broken Girl and The Golden Boy

Couple Stuff

Chapter 29: Piper

We passed through the doors and I stepped into my nightmares. Everything about this place was the same as it had been that night a decade ago. Nurses and orderlies rushing around, the clinical, antiseptic smell, the glaring flourescent lights. I felt myself shudder and Justin quickly turned to me.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you home?" Justin offered. I smiled and reached out to squeeze his hand.

"I'm fine," I said, "I'm a big girl, Justin, I can handle myself."

"Really, it's no big deal," he insisted, "I could drop you off and get back here in..."

"Forty minutes?" I smirked, "Trust me, I'll be alright. I wouldn't want to keep you from your friend when he might really need you. If it's as serious as Lindsey made it sound..."

"You're right," he nodded with a sigh. And that was the end of that.

Together, we walked up to the counter to try to figure out what room they'd put Chris in.

"Glad to see your girlfriend is conscious this time, young man," the receptionist said the moment she looked up from her computer and saw us standing there, "How may I help you today?"

While Justin turned an interesting shade of red, I explained our situation before finally asking, "Can we go see him?"

"Technically speaking, visiting hours are over," the receptionist said with a grin, "But this isn't the first time I've made an exception for the two of you. As long as you don't cause too much of a racket, I say go on ahead. He's in room 112, two doors down from last time." As we turned to leave she shook her head and said, "You kids must have the worst luck in the world."

"You have no idea," Justin and I muttered at the same time. We glanced at each other in surprise and burst out laughing.

"Shhh!" the reception-desk lady scolded, "Watch the noise level."

"Sorry," I mumbled and we quietly made our way to room 112. I paused just outside the door, preparing myself for blood and tears and... dying. What I wasn't expecting was what was waiting inside for us.

"Hey, guys!" Chris said in a relatively cheerful voice, "How'd the date go?" He was lying in his cot with a bandage wrapped around his head and his left arm in a sling, but otherwise he looked totally normal give or take a few scratches and bruises. Lindsey, Ian, Steven, Andy and Liv were surrounding his bed and they were all... playing cards? What the hell?

"Fine," Justin said hesitantly. He seemed just as confused as I felt, "We heard you were, uh, in an accident so we rushed here as fast as we could. Lindsey...?"

"Oh, Lindsey told you," Chris chuckled, making a that-explains-everything face, "You know how she overreacts. She heard I was in a car accident and assumed I was dying. But I'm fine, you know, more or less." He gestured to his injuries with his good arm and winced a little bit.

"So... you're all right?" I asked.

"The doc says he thinks I'm in great shape," he answered with a grin, "I was awake the whole time, so they don't think I have a concussion. To be sure they're going to have their specialist take a look at me in the morning, but they didn't think it was urgent. Good news for me, right?"

"Right..." I agreed, still feeling kind of muddled by the whole thing.

"Want to play some cards?" Ian said softly.

"Uh... no thanks," Justin answered. He glanced at me and added, "Actually, if Chris is doing all right I think I should be getting Piper home."

"Aw, but the party's just getting started!" Chris laughed until he cut off in a hacking cough, "Dude... that hurts..."