Chapter Nineteen
Lucy
“Lucy!” Fallon cries as I make my way into the family room at the hospital. She runs up to me and curls into my waiting embrace, burying her face into my neck as she sobs.
“What’s happened? Are you okay? Are the sisters okay?” I ask, my voice wobbling.
I have never seen this side of Fallon before, and it has taken me by surprise.
She has always been a little ray of sunshine, even in some of the worst situations.
Seeing her like this, in such an uncontrollable state, is worrying.
She continues to sob instead of answering me, so I glance around the small room to take count of who else is here.
The sisters, Blair and Gracie, are huddled together on the couch. Blair's head is buried in her hands as her shoulders shake. Maya must be in a terrible way for them all to be reacting like this. These four girls aren’t just friends, they’re family.
What the hell could have happened?
On the other side of the room, I notice my dad and Liz standing staring at us wide-eyed, like they’re not sure what they should do for the best. I continue to rub Fallon’s back until her breathing eases and her sobs start to lessen.
“Dad?” I question, raising my brows for an explanation.
“Maya and Harry were hit by a speeding car. It sounds like it was aiming right for Maya, but Harry dove to save her.” His voice is soft as he fills me in.
I haven’t seen this look on his face for a very long time.
He looks stricken. “We’re still waiting on an update from their doctors.
All we know right now is that they’re both currently in surgery. ”
This is all so much to take in. I’m trying really hard to hold myself together for the girls; they don’t need another person breaking down after what they’ve all witnessed tonight. If I have to be the strong one right now, I will be.
“Are you hurt, Fal?” I ask, leaning away so I can check her over.
“N-no.” She whimpers. “We didn’t see it coming. We weren’t close enough to help them.”
“Well, from the sound of it, there isn’t much you could have done, so don’t be overthinking anything like that,” I say to reassure her.
A quiet cry comes from the other side of the room, and when I glance over, Blair looks even more upset than before.
“It’s all my fault.” She whispers. “I told her to hail the cab. If I hadn’t said anything…”
“Stop it right now,” Gracie shouts, gripping her sister tighter to her. “There was no way anyone could have known what was going to happen. You’re just upset…”
“Of course I’m fucking upset. I might have just killed our two best friends.” She pushes away from her sister. Blair's whole body is shaking violently. She wraps her arms tight around her own waist, as if she is trying to hold herself together.
“Now, come on. No more of this. I won’t have you girls falling apart when we don’t know how they’re doing.
Those two need you all to be strong for them.
If buts and maybes won’t change the present.
” Liz barks as she stares us all down. “Now we are going to wait and see what the doctor says before we jump to any conclusions. Everything else can be dealt with if and when they happen.”
“She's right, you know,” I whisper beside Fallon’s ear. “Let’s be strong for them until we know more.”
She nods into my shoulder before walking back over to the others. Once she’s sat down, Liz and Dad rush over to me and both wrap me in a hug. We stay like that for a while, the shock of the evening's events just hitting home.
“Maya?” We hear someone call from down the hall. There is no denying who the deep voice belongs to, as Tommy bursts into the room, with Max only a few paces behind. “Where is she? What’s going on?”
Tommy rushes over to the girls, asking a million questions that they can’t seem to answer quickly enough. But Max comes over and stands next to me. I don’t have to look up to see that he’s staring down at me, I can feel his gaze burning into the side of my face.
“Are you okay?” He asks quietly.
“Honestly? I don’t know. It’s so bloody scary. No one knows what's going on.” I reply, daring to turn my head to look at him.
His eyes are bloodshot, which isn’t surprising considering the time, and the fact that I know he hasn’t had any sleep at all tonight. I probably don’t look much better myself.
“Do we know how they are?” He mumbles, voice still low, whilst Tommy’s voice takes over the room.
“No, nothing yet. We’re due an update soon.”
“Fuck. Tommy is a mess. I have never seen him act like this before.”
“Are they together?” I ask, my brows furrowed. I’ve always thought they had something, but they never made it official, at least not to me, but it’s not like I’ve been around much to find out.
“Technically, no, but those two have been in love for years.” He smiles glumly.
“I always thought they would have been together. I think they’re a perfect match.”
“Yeah, sometimes timing just gets in the way.” He says, the smile dropping from his lips.
I have a feeling it isn’t Maya and Tommy that he is on about.
By the time we finally make it back to Tommy's place, it’s almost noon.
I haven’t slept in well over thirty hours.
The adrenaline from earlier has well and truly left my body; it’s a struggle to stay standing upright.
After everything that’s occurred through the night, Max and I decided it would be best to crash here for the night…
well, day. We want to be close to the hospital in case there are any more updates, but also, we didn’t want to leave Tommy. He is a train wreck waiting to happen.
Flopping down onto the couch, I stare up at the ceiling.
My brain is a jumbled mess of mashed potatoes right now.
I can’t function enough to make sense of it all.
All we know right now is that Maya is in a coma and Harry is in an even worse state.
Both will be lucky to make it through to the other side of this at all.
I can’t wrap my head around everything that’s happened in such a short amount of time. How did last night go from me moping around my parents’ house to having sex with my forbidden love and then ending up at the hospital? It’s all just a bit too much.
I don’t even know where to sleep. Do I stay on the couch or take the spare room? One thing I am certain of is that if I don’t sleep anytime soon, I might just pass out.
A hand on my shoulder jolts me out of my seat. Spinning round quickly, my eyes land on an equally tired-looking Max.
“Fucking hell, my stomach just nearly fell out of my arsehole, you scared me that much.” I whisper-shout, clutching a hand to my chest as I try to calm my racing heart.
I didn’t hear him come up behind me at all. I take deep breaths in an attempt to relax. If I was tired before, I am definitely awake now.
“Sorry. I called your name, but you didn’t answer. Are you coming?” He asks, taking a step away from me.
“Coming where?” I ask in shock. “Please don’t tell me we have to leave? I am way too tired to go anywhere right now.”
“To bed. I’ve set the room up for us, and there isn’t a chance in hell I’m sleeping without you.” He says it so matter-of-factly, like it would be the most normal thing in the world.
But is it? You did have sex with him less than a day ago.
The thought of curling up in his arms does sound like my idea of heaven right now.
Fuck it.
Too much shit has happened for me to give a damn about being caught with him right now. I stand and walk closer to him. A small smile tips the side of his lips as he raises a hand towards me.
“Come on, Sugarplum.”