Chapter Twenty Two - Crying Smiles

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White surrounded me from all sides. White walls, white bedding, white light. All of it was too much for my eyes to take in.

I groaned, and tried to my pupils with my arm, when I felt a tug underneath my skin. There was an IV bag connected to me. It didn't take me long to realize that I was in the hospital; the dull beeping to my left, the horrible white rooms, and the ugly gown I had on made it real obvious.

I sat myself up, and looked around dutifully.

Not a minute later, a doctor came into my room.

She was tall, thin, and wore glasses on an elongated nose. Her hair was blonde, and braided. She smiled at me, and then came close. "Good morning Mr. Seville," the woman said in a cheery voice. "I'm Dr. Hannigan, and I'll be your physician. How are you?"

I licked my dry lips and frowned. "I don't feel well," I said after a silence.

She nodded, and wrote something down on the clipboard in her extremely long fingers. "Could you give me symptoms?"

My head nodded slowly, and I explained to her that my head killed me, and my throat felt dry. I told her I felt fatigued, and my body ached. I explained I was shaky, and that every little noise was bothering me immensely. Lastly, I told her I knew I hadn't eaten or slept in awhile, but I hadn't felt the need to do either; or I couldn't, I should've said. Dr. Hannigan only nodded and listened to what I had to say, and then bid me farewell, leaving.

I laid back down and listened to the silence of my hospital room, the beeping from the heart monitor bothering me.

Suddenly, my door opened and my eyes flew open.

"Connor! Connor are you alright?"

I sat up, and in the doorway of my hospital room was my mother, my sister, and my aunt.

"Connor, oh my God! I'm so happy you're okay!" Mom shouted and hugged me so tight I felt like my lungs would burst if I dared to move. Instinctively I wrapped my arms around her body and buried my face into the crook of her neck. She smelled familiar. Like home. I felt my mom sob into my neck, and I couldn't help but do the same. I missed my mom. I missed my family; hell I missed Connie!

"I missed you, mom," I whispered into her ear.

"Me too baby, me too," she said.

Soon enough she pulled away, and another person launched themselves into my arms. It was Connie.

"Con! Don't you ever scare me like that again! If you do I'll- I'll-" and Connie burst into sobs, her arms around my neck so tight it hurt to breathe.

I patted Connies back, and sighed, hugging my eight year old sister close. She was soft, like when she was a baby.

"Connor?" Connie said suddenly. "Are you gonna leave me again? Are you gonna go up to heaven, just like Annie did?"

I couldn't help it.

I cried again.

I missed Annie, just like Connie did. Annie was our first animal - and also the reason I was allergic to dogs. Annie had died when Connie was only five.

"I'm not leaving," I sniffed, holding Connie closer. "I won't leave like Annie."

"Do you promise Connor?" Connie asked in a small voice, tears dripping down her chin and wetting her little blue dress.

I wiped the crystalline droplets with my thumb and held my little sister against my chest, my mother sobbing into the shoulder of her sister-in-law.

"I promise," I whispered.

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Dr. Hannigan came later in the day into my room, and diagnosed me with a mental breakdown. "A temporary emotional and psychological collapse," the doctor had said. "This usually occurs when one deals with an immense amount of stress for a long period of time, without being dealt with adequately."

My mother gave me a look. “They didn't find that woman...” her voice shook. “After what she did to you—”

Her voice clogged.

Apparently I had passed out after being visited by Chou and the Twins. I was found three days later, nearly dead, by a passerby in an alleyway. I had been beaten, and starved. I was lucky to survive.

Mom was too emotional to speak. My aunt and mother then filed out of the room, following Hannigan, leaving Connie and I in the room on our own while they began to speak about me.

Not more than five minutes later, Jade appeared.

She knocked on the door as she entered, and then gasped when she saw I was awake. She instantly walked over to me, and enveloped Connie and I in a hug.

"You idiot!" She shouted. "Are you stupid or something?"

I gave her a faint smile, and shook my head in agreement. I was entirely stupid. “I can't believe you kept that secret from everyone! You could've been killed!”

After her lecturing me for a bit, Jade pulled up a chair, and caught up with Connie. They talked, while I simply listened. My sister refused to leave my lap, and I had no qualms. I knew that Connie favored Aaron over me, so when we had special times like this, I treasured them. I'm sure she did the same. As I stared off into space, I heard someone call me name.

"Con? Con, are you alright?"

I blinked, and looked at my visitors. "I'm fine. I just need to pee. Connie, could you get off?"

Connie frowned and huffed, but hopped off me, and I went to the restroom, closing the door and leaning against it. After deep breathing, I did my business, washed my hands, when something in in the mirror caught my eye.

I blinked back, and shook my head. That couldn't be me. There was no way.

In the mirror was some boy who couldn't possibly be me. He was pale, and sallow. Underneath his dull, lightless eyes was dark shadows. He looked impossibly sad, and lifeless. I looked nothing like how I did before. Before, I was bright. I tried not to let little things bring me down.

And now my throne has crumbled.

I breathed in deeply, shakily. I tried to compose myself but it was too dificult to look at the stranger in the mirror.

This was the product of everything I've held inside, and all the lies I've told.

I stepped out of the bathroom, and noticed Connie was gone. She probably left to use the restroom, or to bother mom.

I sat back in my bed, and stared at Jade, who looked up from her phone. She effectively turned off her phone phone and quirked her head, asking what was wrong.

I did some more deep breathing and bit my lip, before saying: "I'm sorry, Jade. I never meant to drag you into my problems. I'm so, sorry. I'm sorry to everyone."

I stared her in the eyes, and then was surprised when she slowly rose from her chair and raised her hand.

SLAP!

I cried out when her hand slammed itself across my face, and I watched her in disbelief.

Oh my God. She just slapped me. AND it hurt!

"Don't you dare," she began in a shaky voice. "Don't you dare apologize! None of this is your fault! You were forced into being Callie! You didn't have to tell anyone about your modeling. They threatened your family! Kaoru had NO RIGHT to say what he did to you, Connor. You didn't force him to fall in love with you. Stop taking on everyone else's responsibilities and be happy!" She stressed, her voice getting higher and more agonized.

"Happy?" I said at last.

Jade stared at me tearfully. "I just want you to be happy, Con. You need help. I can't help you anymore. You need to help yourself."

My body trembled at her words.

Words that made sense to me, somewhere amidst the chaos inside of me.

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I cannot thank you readers enough for reading this story and commenting.

I recently had someone do a review on this book (a VERY honest review), and I was told that my writing is boring.

I don't fault this person, lol, because the first few chapters do suck tbh.

I was just wondering about YOUR opinions. Let me know down in the comments what I could do to make this piece of crap better.

Next chapter will be out soon, please vote, comment, and review!

BAI !

E D I T E D