Beautifully Broken (in editing)

Chapter 16

HAYDEN

I leaned my head against the steering wheel, my burning eyes blurring the lines of the speedometer in front of me. I hadn't slept since that morning with Delilah and my head spun a bit.

She didn't have long.

I'd been staying up with my mom the past few nights as she gagged and coughed up blood. She wasn't keeping any food down at this point and there was nothing I could do.

Goddamn it, I wished there was something I could do.

I punched the steering wheel, trying to focus on the pain in my knuckles instead of the pain in my chest.

She just wouldn't let me take her to the hospital. She refused to move, refused to let me call an ambulance, but she was in so much pain, and Ashley was hysterical, crying and begging me to do something.

"It's okay baby," she gripped my baby sister's hand weakly and comforted her. The dying woman comforted my sister while I sat there, doing nothing.

And all I could do was nothing. I was fucking useless. All I could do was sit there and watch her waste away.

And Reed, she was so emotionless. It was like she didn't even care, and I was so worried about her becoming too unreachable.

Everything was just so fucked up. I felt worried sick to my stomach.

At that moment, I looked up and I saw her, the one person that centered my gravity and made my stomach stop spinning uncontrollably.

Her face was completely white, like she'd seen a ghost, and a hand was clamped over her mouth like she might puke at any second.

I watched as Delilah sprinted to her car, Dani calling after her from across the parking lot. Her tires screamed as she streaked out of the parking lot.

Something had happened, and it had to be bad.

I was out of my car in seconds and running towards Dani.

"What the hell was that? What's going on?" I hissed, my breathing heavy.

Dani looked at me with tears streaming down her face. She was stuttering to explain, a paper clutched to her chest.

I couldn't understand a word coming from her mouth. None of it made sense. I rubbed my eyes in frustration.

"Dani you are not making any sense." I growled, trying to keep the overwhelming urge to go after Delilah under control.

"Just- Here." she shoved the paper at my face.

My eyes scanned the article and I immediately recognized it.

Oh, no.

I was seeing red. Who the hell would've done something like this? Who could've known?

"Did you write this?" I whispered.

The only person that made sense was Dani. She's the only other person that could've known besides me.

"What? No! I-I didn-" she hiccuped and let out a sob. I faintly spotted Ryan rushing down the hill from the school towards us.

"Did you fucking write this?!" I yelled, flinging the article at her.

She shrunk away from me, dropping her face into her hands as Ryan reached her side.

"Hey man, you need to calm down." He pressed a hand into my chest, pushing me away from Dani.

"It doesn't matter who wrote it. What matters is you making sure Delilah is okay, got it? Go."

He was right. There was no telling what Lilah would do now. I had to find her. The urgency was back tenfold now that I knew the situation.

I didn't even reply. There wasn't time. I had to get to her now. I had to find her. I sprinted to my car, my heart pounding in my chest.

I had to find her.

AUTHORS NOTE; okay this was a short chapter but I'm still trying yo balance updating and editing my older chapters too, so please just hang in there. The next chapter will be super long I promise. ALSO: IF YOU HAVNT READ THE UPDATED CHAPTERS PREVIOUS TO THIS ONE, I CHANGED HAYDEN's YOUNGER SISTER'S NAME FROM RENA TO REED. DO NOT BE ALARMED. OKAY THANKS BYE.