What I Wish You Knew | ꪜ

Chapter Twenty Three

To Drayton,

23. I wish you– I knew how selfish I was.

Hayley's POV

"Is she gonna be okay?"

I felt a warm hand caress my cheek and the feeling of someone hovering over me. Another voice spoke in somewhat of a whisper, "she'll be fine, Jenna. She's exhausted and dehydrated. You said she fainted during the cheer performance so all of the stress her body was in forced itself to shut down." After a few seconds, I recognized who the voice belonged to and peeled my eyes open.

"Drayton," I croaked. A bright light blinded my vision for a split second where I couldn't see the face hovering directly over mine. Finally, after squinting well enough I could see the outline of Drayton's features; he wasn't happy. Something cold touched my hand and as I was pulled into a sitting position, I realized that it was a glass of water.

"Drink," sitting across the room just watching in complete worry was Landon and Jenna. They seemed to be stuck in an almost catatonic state, just observing the interaction between my brother and I. I could feel the tension rising between us: tension I have never felt before. "I'm gonna go, you're okay for now, but we might have to go to the hospital later."

"W-why?" Jenna asked softly as her eyes snapped between Drayton and I. Without meeting my eyes, he set a styrofoam container down onto the nightstand, "antidepressants and pain killers aren't meant to be ingested at the same time. It can cause bleeding from the stomach but considering that she took paracetamol, the chances of that happening are low. Still, if I see anything wrong then we need to do a check-up. For now, just keep an eye on her."

Stomach bleeding? I knew that taking painkillers might have been a risk but I didn't know it was this severe. Drayton hadn't even batted an eye in my direction as he left the room. However, the tension remained. What the hell did I do?

"Hey, I'm just glad you're okay," Jenna said as she pulled me into her arms, hugging me tightly. "You had me so scared." I pulled away from her grip, "I'm okay, Jenna." She sighed and turned her head towards Landon who was slowly strutting towards us. "I don't wanna leave but my parents have a date tonight and I have to stay home and babysit my siblings."

"Go, don't worry about me, Landon and Drayton are here." She nodded her head hesitantly and reeled me in for another hug before reluctantly pulling away. "Call me if anything happens," she said as she pointed a wary finger in Landon's direction. He waved her off and with a goodbye, she left.

Landon immediately climbed onto the bed beside me and leaned against the headrest. "Internal bleeding huh? You're not gonna die on me are you?" He mumbled, trying to make light of the situation although the context of the conversation was particularly dark. "You wish. You can't get rid of me even if you tried."

He laughed softly and though he tried to play it off with a smile, I could still see the worry evident in his eyes. Drayton said I'd be fine. He's a registered nurse, plus my brother so I trust his words more than anything else. If he says I'm okay, then I'm okay. "I know right now isn't the time to bring this up but I have to get it off my chest."

Landon tilted his head downwards but even so, I couldn't meet his gaze, knowing what I was about to say would leave him disappointed. If it's true that he was the one who persuaded Vanessa to speak to me in hopes that we reconcile then, he won't be too happy about the decision I've made.

"Landon, I didn't only faint because I drank painkillers with my meds. I was exhausted, dehydrated and most of all frustrated. Vanessa pushed me past my breaking point tonight when all I wanted to do was move on. I don't wanna fight with you so just hear me out. I'm done with all of this: the back and forth, the fights, the anger. . .it's not worth it. Vanessa isn't worth it. She and I will never be friends again."