Cassidy drove straight to the Freetown hospital from Phoebe's place. She  stepped into the familiar hospital through its revolving glass door. She had been there a few times from when she or any of her family members or friends got sick or hurt. But she had ever been there to visit Matt, out of all her friends he was the one that hardly got sick, and he was usually the one cracking up all the sick people back to health. He was one of those people that seemed like they would be young forever and outlive everyone, the one that would attend all his friends funerals and make inappropriate jokes in his speech.

The hospital smelled strongly of disinfectants, medicine and felt like death was looming over it. Like most people she had never liked the smell nor the sight of hospitals, but she particularly hated hospitals because they reminded her of her murdered friend, Avril.

She walked to the reception where a middle-aged woman was sat behind the desk. She had dirty blonde hair that was stuffed into a white scarf. She was carelessly flipping through pages of a magazine and masticating a piece of gum in a mannerless manner that made Cassie wondered how she got hired to be the first person that everyone walking into the hospital will have to interact with. Cassie cleared her throat to get the woman's attention. She looked up and placed the magazine down at the sound of Cassie's voice.

"How may I help you?" the woman asked in a raspy, almost manly voice as she eyed Cassie.

"I'm here to see my friend Matt, Matt Rivers, he was brought in this afternoon, he was involved in a car crash," her voice broke. The receptionist scrolled through her computer and shook her head sadly. 

"Oh I remember him, that kid was in a really terrible condition when he was rushed in, I hope he makes it" she said, chewing even more obnoxiously. "Anyways he's in surgery so you'll have to wait over there," she pointed to the waiting area to her right. It was then that Cassie noticed Matts mother who looked lifeless as she sat alone, waiting in clear agony. She was sat in the front row on a white metal chair that had small holes piercing through. The waiting area was quite empty. There were a few other people, only about six, there was a pregnant lady and five other people scattered randomly around the waiting area.

"Thank you," Cassie said to the receptionist and walked toward Matt's mother. "Mrs. Rivers?" she said once she was close enough.

Matts mother shook slightly as though she was being awaken from a trance, or woken up from a bad dream. It was evident in her puffy red eyes that she had been crying for a long time, she looked much like Cassie did when she cried from the breakup. Her usual beautiful black silky hair was dishevelled, she could easily be mistaken for a homeless person by the look of her face. Matt was her only child, and the thought of losing an only child could drive any parent crazy. It didn't help that Matt and his mother didn't have the best relationship, it would crush her if she lost him without making things right. She forced a smile and stood up to hug Cassie. If only she knew that Cassie might have been the cause of her sons accident, she'd be stabbing her instead. Cassie looked down at Mrs. River's feet and noticed that she had mismatched her shoes. She was probably in a rush when she got the call about her son and wasn't paying attention to what she was putting on.

"You came," she said with a melancholic smile.

"Of course I did, Matt's one of my best friend's, " Cassie replied still in Mrs. Rivers tight grasp.

"Thank you so much," she said finally letting Cassie go, she looked over Cassie's shoulders and scrunched up her face in confusion. "Where are your other friends? You kids are always stuck together like glue," She said.

As if on cue they all came rushing through the revolving door like crazy people. Jesse spotted Cassie and Matt's mum and motioned the rest of the group to where they were standing.

"We came here as soon as we got the news," Jesse said breathlessly placing his hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath.

"How's Matty?" Phoebe asked tapping her feet on the floor impatiently.

"I've been in the dark for a long time now, they won't tell me anything. All the doctors can say is that it's too soon to tell, and that they'll do their best," Matts mum replied in a frustrated tone. 

They all hugged her and gave her the most comforting words they could think of. They said a little prayer for him as a group, Jesse being the one praying. It was obvious that he didn't pray much, he found it hard to say the right words but he did the best he could for his best friend. 

After about thirty minutes of waiting the one person Cassie didn't want to set eyes on walked through the hospital doors. He hadn't noticed them yet, like Cassie, he walked to the reception desk. Cassie watched as he talked to the lady for a while and she quickly averted her gaze to the clean marble floor when she saw the receptionist point to where they gathered. Cassie sat beside Matt's mother to her right while the others were to her left obviously trying to avoid her.

She listened as Tyler's feet tapped on the marble floor as he walked to them. She had to fight the urge to look up and get lost in his beautiful brown eyes.

"Hello Mrs. Rivers," he greeted with a smile.

"Tyler dear, thank you so much for coming, it would mean a lot to your friend."

"I'm sorry I'm late, I had something I had to deal with," he explained.

"The most important part is that you're all here, i'm sure Matty can feel your presence. . .somehow."

"We're idiots, we were all in a rush that no one even remembered to bring flowers, or a get well soon card," Phoebe said hitting her forehead with her palms.

"I guess it skipped all our minds," Danny said "all we could think of was seeing Matt and making sure he's alright."

"Tomorrow we can bring him all the flowers in the flower shop," Tyler joked as he made his way over to seat beside Jesse who had been quiet the whole time they were there. He bit his nails and stared at the floor, tears rolling down his face.

"Hey Cassie," Matts's mother said as she placed a hand on Cassie's shoulders. "Why aren't you over there with your friends?"

"We aren't exactly on the best terms right now," she confessed.

"Whatever it is don't let it ruin your friendship. Friendships like the one you guys have created shouldn't just die over a misunderstanding."

"Thank You," Cassie said with a warm smile. She couldn't help but think that Matts mum was right. Everyone in the group was so different, somehow they managed to merge into one amazing family. Family is meant to be forever and she couldn't loose her forever because if she  did, she'd feel alone. No one could make her happy the way those people did. Although she wasn't exactly close to Jesse, Matt and even Tucker who she couldn't exactly stand, they were necessary to create the intricate puzzle that was her chosen family. 

They sat for a while longer and just talked, they talked and talked about Matt, and everyone had something great to say about him. Cassie was randomly scrolling through her phone, it was then that she realized how miserable her life was. She didn't have any other real friends. Usually whenever she would get bored she'll text Phoebe and they'll chat about the most random things, she couldn't do that now of course and so she plugged in her ear plugs and listened to some music.

"Mrs. Rivers?" They all looked up to see a young doctor, probably in her mid thirties. She was a redhead with very prominent features. She had a pointed nose and a birthmark above her upper lip on the left side. She had in her left hand a clipboard and in her right, a pen.

"Yes that's me," Mrs. Rivers replied looking to the doctor hopefully.

"Congratulations, the operation was a successful," she said with a warm smile. "He is still unconscious but he should be awake soon."

"Can I see him now please?" She pleaded as she got up ready to run to her sons ward.

"Yes, you can come but his friends here have to stay, family members only," she said pointing her pen to Matts friends.

"He's my brother," Jesse lied, but he really was not lying because Matt was very much like a brother to him.

The doctor looked at him quizzically, and then she looked at Matt's mother who nodded in confirmation. "Alright, just you two can see him for now" she said to Mrs. Rivers and Jesse. "The rest of you will have to wait until he's strong enough," she said to the rest of them.

"Can we please just have a look at him through the window or something, I just want to see what state he's in.," Cassie pleaded. She needed to get the guilt off her chest once and for all.

"Very well, he's in room 208, and remember that only his mother and brother can go in. The rest of you can watch through the window," she warned.

"Thank you so much," Phoebe said. They all walked behind the doctor as she led them to Matt's ward. His mother and Jesse went in and the rest of them stood outside, it was a big window and the curtains weren't drawn so it was pretty easy to see what was going on inside. His room was pure white, it was quite big and very plain. The only thing that decorated the room was Matt himself.

"He looks terrible," Phoebe exclaimed. He had an oxygen mask over his nose. There were wires strapped to him like he was a puppet.  His mum walked in with trembling legs and took his frail hand in hers. Although the operation was successful, he looked like he had a long road to recovery. He looked so fragile, he looked like he could break at the slightest touch. Jesse just stood there speechless, he stood at the corner not being able to say anything. 

Both Jesse and Mrs.Rivers got out of Matts ward. "You guys should go home and have some rest, thank you so much for coming. I'll stay here with him till he wakes up and you guys can come back tomorrow," Mrs. Rivers told them.

Everyone went their separate ways but Cassie was unable to move, the guilt made her unable to move. After standing outside Matt's room for a while and staring at him like it was the last time she would see his face, she was finally able to leave. As she stepped out of the clinic she felt her phone buzz in her pocket, and she looked down to see that it was a text message which read:

'I warned you, drop the case or else your friend Phoebe is next. And by the way that dress looks good on you,' Attached to the message was a photo of her standing outside Matt's room. Her eyes widened in shock, her palms got sweaty and her heart started racing at the thought of the killer being in the hospital with them. He had followed them, he was watching them. She looked round and scanned the hospital closely. Everyone was a suspect to her. She looked carefully at everyone in the hospital, everyone seemed suspicious to her.

Fear washed over her for a second before she calmed down. Her mind shot right back to Matt until she remembered that his mother was staying with him overnight. She suspected everyone holding a cellphone but there was no one that truly stood out, she was just being so paranoid. 

The killer was obviously Extremely smart and wouldn't stay in a place that he could be seen. She stepped outside and then she saw a bike that she recognized perfectly, it was Caleb's bike. She raised  her eyebrows in confusion. She wondered what Caleb's bike was doing there, she tried calling him but it went to voicemail. She dropped her phone in her bag and walked to her car, all she wanted to do was to go home and clear her head, she also needed a good meal, a nice long shower and to sleep for a very long time.