Belle

𝑋𝐼𝑉

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On the way back last night, Ace called Kaden and asked him if I could come by, to which Kaden agreed.

When I woke up, I saw that Cal and Ace were still asleep so I quickly went to take a hot shower. When Ace woke up he drove me to the hospital to see Kaden.

"Elani Colette Zhang," He says to the lady at the front desk and she points us to a room down the hall.

"Hey" I whisper weakly to my brother, who looked like he hadn't slept in months. His under eyes were dark and swollen and his lips were chapped. When was the last time he ate?

He doesn't move from his spot, holding Elani's hand as she sleeps. He simply motions his head towards us, acknowledging his presence.

I go to take my spot beside the bed, ace trailing behind keeping his distance. I watch Kaden scan over her features, the look of admiration deep in his eyes. I'd never seen him look at someone like this since Gemma.

Although he didn't think we knew, it was pretty obvious he and Gem had something. He was 16 but he loved her, and her death broke him.

Now, years later he is looking at Elani with the same longing. Holy shit- did my brother love Elani?

"Kaden?"

He grunts in response.

"How are you?" I ask.

"How am I?" He scoffs. "What the fuck does that matter, Ara? She's in a hospital in a fucking coma because I couldn't keep my fucking mouth shut. I keep fucking playing games with her and now she- she could be gone without even knowing that I fucking love her." He stutters, his eyes glistening in tears and his voice breaking.

He did love her. And he blames himself.

"Kaden, did you hit her?" I ask looking into his eyes.

"No, I didn't fucking hit her what the fuck" he says angrily.

"Then how the fuck was it your fault you dipshit?" I ask him.

"Because if I stayed with her she would still be here awake. If I stayed, that motherfucker wouldn't have gotten his hands on her." He says looking down.

"Kade, people fight all the time, it's not your fault and it sure as hell isn't Elani's. Kade, it's that piece of shit who hurt her's fault." I say to him.

He just shakes his head.

"When did the doctor say she'd wake up?"I ask trying to change the topic.

"Her system is stabilizing and she might wake up today, tomorrow, or in the next week." His voice breaks.

"Kaden you stink and you look like shit, this isn't what she wants to see when she wakes up" Ace says to him from behind me. "He's right, go get something to eat and clean yourself up, we'll stay here" I look at him but his eyes are on Kaden's.

After a couple more minutes of convincing, he finally agreed on going back to the hotel for a bit.

"It's like deja vu but Kades in my spot," he says with a painful sound. I'm assuming it was supposed to be a forced laugh but the hurt behind his voice said it all.

I look back to see his eyes covered by sunglasses, leaving me unable to read him.

"How so?" I ask, curiosity nipping away at me.

"When you were in your coma, I never left your side. The day you woke up Kaden basically threw me out so I could go wash up." His voice is painfully shallow when he speaks, as though the very memory made him shatter.