EURY PORTER’S POV

I woke up, it was 2 A.M. What happened? I sat up and tensed at the sharp pain and dizziness from my head. What the hell? That hurts… I noticed Fern was hugging me, as she slept. She stirred quickly and looked at me.

“Finally, you’re up.” She mumbled, still half-asleep.

“How long was I out? And why does my head hurt..” I asked.

“Oh well, Alex slammed you onto the concrete and you blacked out, I’m guessing you have a minor concussion. We put an icepack on your head.” Fern explained. She kissed me. “I was worried..” I hugged her.

“I’m sorry..” I mumbled.

“For what?” Fern asked me, her arms around my waist in a comforting hug.

“For making you worried..” I answered.

She gave me a disbelieving look and said, “Don’t be sorry. You’d be worried about me if I was hurt, right?” I nodded without hesitation. “So we’re even. But you hit Donny out of nowhere. It was hilarious! I didn’t think you’d ever hurt even a fly!”

“I-I did?” I asked.

Fern nodded excitedly. “Wait, you don’t remember?” she frowned. I shook my head and she said, “Maybe I should take you to the hospital.”

“No!” I exclaimed,immediately.

“What? But you hit your head pretty hard..come on, let’s go right now!” Fern said,getting up.

“No no, I’m fine!” I insisted. I really don’t want to go!

“You’re obviously not, Eury! Now get up and let’s go!” Fern exclaimed.

“I’m fine,please don’t make me go.” I said.

Fern looked at me with a confused look on her face. “Why don’t you want to go? You’ll feel better once you get some treatment for your head.”

“Uhh I don’t want to make you guys pay for the medical bill and It’s not that ba-" I was interrupted by a sharp pain in my head,again. “Bad..” I finished.

“Eury, it definitely is that bad. The medical bill doesn’t matter, we have enough money.” Fern said. “Your health is more important and we’re gonna take care of it so get up and let’s go.”

“I’m scared of hospitals..” I said,quietly. God this is embarrassing.

“Oh..well, why didn’t you just say so before?!” Fern asked, looking hurt. “You can tell me anything. You don’t have to hide things from me..”

“I haven’t told you a lot of things.” I mumbled. “I guess I just don’t want people to view me any differently? I’m not sure..”

“I would never judge you for anything, don’t you know that?” Fern kissed me softly and hugged me. “Don’t you trust me?”

“I..I guess I don’t know that for...reasons. I haven’t told you something about me..” I said.

“Then tell me,” she said into my ear.

“I..I can’t..” I said.

She immediately moved away from me, standing up. “Why not?!”

“I-you-..”I stammered,trying to gather my thoughts. “You’ll see me as a different person and think I’m...a horrible person..”

“When will you start trusting me?!” Fern burst out suddenly. “Didn’t I tell you I would never judge you for anything?!”

“That’s what they all have said...and..they never live up to it.” I said.

Fern glared at me then suddenly grabbed my face with both hands and kissed me passionately. When she finally pulled away from the makeout session, she said, “Whatever you’re hiding, maybe I’ll be a bit shocked to hear it. I might even get angry or something but I’ll never judge you. I love you Eury. When will you start believing that?!”

“Fern..I’m a bad person..” I said. “I had a younger sibling..his name was Ethan..I was at the park with him one day and I told him wait by the slide, I’ll bring him his water bottle… He had said something about a weird guy, I told him don’t worry, I’ll protect him..” I stopped when my voice started to shake,but I continued. “I turned my back for a minute to get the water..when I came back he was gone, there was no sign of him..They later found him,dead...he died knowing I didn’t protect him..Oh god,it should’ve been me not him..”

Fern stayed silent for a bit. “Did they ever find who did it?” she asked, cautiously.

“I...knew the person who did it, but they never found him and I was too scared to tell them who it was. He had been threatening us for awhile.” I answered. “I know, I know, I’m a bad person.”

“Wait..but you know who did it, right?” Fern asked.

“I...did, he was the guy who...took my innocence from me before he kidnapped my brother…” I said, ashamed.

“HE WHAT?!” Fern exclaimed, immediately.

“He..did things to me..I was 7 at the time..only a year apart from the murder of my brother. I think he was acquainted with my parents through an organization. One day, he asked me if I could go get something from the storage closet for my mom, I obliged and then….” I stopped myself at the end.  

“Oh God..” Fern said, covering her mouth with one hand as though she were about to throw up. She pulled me into a tight hug.

“Oh god...I deserved it...it was my fault..” I mumbled. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for me..

“Hey! Don’t say that!” Fern said stubbornly, forcefully holding my chin up so that we were making eye contact. “No one deserves something like that.”

“I know, I know...but I still deserved it. My brother wouldn’t be dead if it weren’t for me being oblivious to the fact that it was the same guy. It’s like...karma in a way?” I pointed out.

“No “if”s. What happened, happened. We can’t change the past. So stop living in it.” she said.

I stayed silent, unsure and kinda nervous on how to respond. I felt dizzy again and winced, leaning against the wall behind me. Fern took this opportunity to pick me up bridal style and carry me out the room. “Mom! Dad! We need to take her to the hospital!” Fern yelled,outside, then said to me quietly, “Don’t be scared. I’ll be there with you the whole time.” I considered protesting and saying I’m fine, but at this point, my head really hurt and I was feeling too weak to talk. I teared up at the pain. Fern looked at me,concerningly, but was interrupted by her mom before she could say anything.   

“Is she okay, sweetie?” Fern’s mom said, coming out of the bedroom. Fern’s dad came out too. The two of them looked worried and a bit surprised at the position Fern and I were in.

“I think she has a concussion. We need to take her to the ER.” Fern said, anxiously. Oh God..the ER is creepy..

“Eury,how do you feel?” Her dad asked me.

“It..really..hurts…” I said,weak.

“Maybe the ice pack needed to stay on longer?” He suggested.

“Dad, she’s too weak to talk and she can’t remember what happened in the afternoon. She’s been getting dizzy and she winces a lot from the pain, I’m pretty sure she needs to go to the ER.” Fern said.

“I agree, we don’t want to get ourselves into a situation where she does end up taking a turn for the worse.” Her mom said,siding with Fern.

“Okay, let’s go then.” He said, grabbing the car keys. Fern ran out with me carefully and set me down in the backseat, she sat down on the opposite side and put my head,resting against her lap. Her dad drove pretty quickly and it only seemed like seconds before we’d reached the nearest hospital. I looked at the glowing red, ER sign with fear in my eyes. My arms subconsciously tightening around Fern’s neck. We walked through the entrance and I noticed Fern stopped, she had a look of anger. What happened?? Oh my God, I’m not strangling her, am I?! Her parents were at the desk, signing me in.

The waiting room was completely empty except for two familiar people. What are they doing here?! What possibly could’ve happened to them?! The dirty blonde and brunette were seated and the brunette look unusually anxious, shooting worried glances at the blonde ever so often.

“What the- what are they doing here?!” The blonde one exclaimed, surprised. The brunette looked at us, his face turned into one of anger. Fern sat down with me in two empty chairs, far away from the duo. Fern and Alex were continuously glaring at each other whereas Donny had an exasperated look on his face. I couldn’t do anything, so even if they were to fight, I wouldn’t do anything.

“What are you two in for!?” Donny asked, rather loudly.

“Eury can’t remember some stuff and is too weak to move or talk, so we took her to the hospital.” Fern explained,calmly.

Alex looked embarrassed as he said to me, “Did I really hit you that hard? I..I’m..I’m sorry.”

“Why the sudden apology now? You act like you thought she would just walk away, perfectly fine.” Fern snapped.

Alex glared at her but before he could respond, Donny said, “Can we have a conversation and not an argument for once? We’re in a hospital for God’s sake.”

“Well, I mean, the reason she is here is because of him,but whatever.” Fern mumbled.

“You little-” Alex tried to get up, but Donny pulled him into his lap and covered his mouth with one hand muffling his words.

“What was t-" I forced myself to stop Fern,by forcing myself to stand up and cover her mouth. Stop..please. She glared at me and I winced because of my headache. Fern looked at me with concern in her eyes.

“Just...stop.” I managed to mumble.

“Hey, are you alright? You probably shouldn’t be talking,” Donny said. I tried to respond, but I felt weak again and had to hold onto the armrests of the chairs to keep me up now.

Fern sat me down onto the chair, saying, “Don’t strain yourself. Just stay there and rest. No one’s fighting.” She sat down in the chair next to me and said to Donny, “So what are you here for?”

“Surgery. I have to get my appendix removed. I’m terrified,” He responded with a shudder. I started to feel more of the anxiety from being in here set in. I need get out of here, now. I forced myself to stand up, but couldn’t really do much. Frick. Can I even walk? I held onto the armrests for support again.

Fern looked up at me and asked confusedly, “What are you doing?”

“I...need to go..” I managed to say.

“Oh no you don’t,” Fern said back, immediately grabbing me and sitting me down in her lap. She had her arms around my waist tightly,so I couldn’t go anywhere,unless she let go.

“Fern..please..” I said, trying to move.

“No! This is for your health!” she exclaimed angrily. “So don’t you dare try to go anywhere!”

“I..” I couldn’t talk anymore and winced. Come on, I just need some strength… The nurse called Donny’s name and Alex got off of him. The two disappeared into another room and now it was just me,Fern,and Fern’s parents in the waiting room. I felt myself start to tremble, partially out of pain and the other out of fear.

The look on Fern’s face immediately softened and her grip around me became a bit less tight. “Are you okay?” she asked quietly. I stayed silent, unable to respond and not wanting to respond either. “I’m sorry. You’re mad, aren’t you? I guess I deserve it,but I just don’t like seeing you hurt. I’m sorry..” she said,quickly. Oh no..I hurt her. I didn’t mean to..

“I...I’m not.” I said.

“Don’t lie. I know you’re mad. I’m sorry. Just don’t go, okay? You have to get better.” Fern said. I didn’t respond. What is taking them so long!? “Hey, say something..please?” she begged.

“I...love you, Fern. Even if I am upset...that won’t change..” I said.

“Are you sure you’re not mad at me?” she asked.

“No." I said. “I’m not upset.”

“Okay, are you feeling any better now?” Fern asked.

“If you consider feeling like dying any moment feeling better, then I’m swell.” I said,unintentionally being rude.

“Oh..” Fern said awkwardly, looking a bit hurt.

“Sorry.” I apologized. I suddenly felt a wave of pain and my vision started to blur. Ah...My eyelids felt heavier and I felt close to passing out.

“Eury?” Fern asked,concerned. I fell back on top of her. The last thing I saw and heard were nurses rushing to my aid.

End of Chapter 9, Eury Porter’s POV