One Chance (Part 1)(56)
“How’s she doing?” Rebecca and another girl Cara, asks.
“She’s still sleeping. The sedative should wear off soon,” I say hopeful.
“Her parents are here, right?” Quinn asks.
“Yeah, they just got here along with Kenzie and Brody.”
“Who were the other people?” Quinn asks.
“My parents and my brother Isaac.”
“Why?” she starts to ask.
“We all grew up together. My family looks at Haley like family, there’s nothing they wouldn’t do for her.”
“Yet somehow you missed that memo,” she states bitterly.
“Knock it off you two. Haley doesn’t need you guys going head to head right now. She needs our support,” Cara says harshly.
Haley
I wake up feeling confused, trying to figure out where I’m at.
“You’re in the hospital Haley,” it sounds like Kenzie telling me.
“Kenz?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” she says rubbing my hand.
“What’s going on?” I ask confused.
“You’ve been in the hospital, you got sick and they brought you here to figure out what was wrong with you,” she says softly.
“What’s wrong with me?”
“You have meningitis.”
“What?” I ask, thinking I didn’t hear her correctly.
“It was bad Hails. You’ve been in and out of it for the past seven days.”
“How long have I been here?”
“Four days now.”
“What? I have school.”
“No, you need to let your body get better first. You were really lucky, Hails. The form of meningitis you had could have killed you.”
“How did I get it?”
“They aren’t sure, but it’s common that kids our age can get it at college.”
“Hey,” Brody says as he enters the room.
“Hi.”
“It’s great to see you finally awake,” he says as he comes up and gives me a small hug.
“It’s good to be awake,” I say feeling like I should say something else, “Are Mom and Dad here?”
“Of course, I’ll go get them,” Kenzie says as she stands up and rushes out of the room.
“Listen Hails, I’ve been thinking, I think you should transfer and come to school with me and Kenz,” Brody says as he squeezes my hand.
“What? No, I like it here,” I say pulling my hand from his.
“I know, but what happened to you, the hazing bullshit, it shouldn’t have happened to you,” he says as he stands and starts pacing.
“It already happened. I’m dealing with it. It can’t go on forever.”
“It’s done already,” he says as he stops pacing to look at me.
“What do you mean?” I ask with a confused look.
“Liam took care of it.”
“It was his fault the whole thing even started,” I say in a higher pitched voice than I intended.
“I know and I’ve had my words with him,” he says as he starts pacing again.
“Brody, what did you do?” I ask, sitting up further on the hospital bed.
“I told him to fucking look out for you Hails, not make your life miserable,” he says an in irate tone.
“He’s not completely at fault here,” I admit, looking directly at him.
“What do you mean?” he asks looking confused.
“I lied to him, it pissed him off, he was angry at me.”
“Haley, there is nothing you could do that would make him have people slander you like that,” he says as he walks back to the chair beside my bed.
“But there is.”
“No there isn’t. He’s an asshole. I told him to stay the hell away from you.”
“You didn’t need to do that Brody.”
“Hails, I’d do anything for you, even if that means to protect you from my own dickhead of a brother,” he says as he takes a hold of my hand again.
A few minutes later my parents come into the room with Kenzie and the Masters. They talk to me and all ask me the same questions, “How are you feeling? Can I get you anything? Blah blah blah.
I end up staying at the hospital for five more days before I’m released to go home. Mom and Dad want me to go home with them; Brody wants me to transfer schools, while all I want is to get back to school and get on with my life.
“Are you sure you want to go back there?” Brody asks.
“Yes, I have some stuff I need to figure out, but I want to stay here, this is my school.”
“Fine. Well, Kenzie and I are going to head back to school; you keep me posted if you need anything. Anything at all Hails,” he says before pulling me in for a big hug.
“I promise, thank you,” I say before releasing him and going in to hug Kenzie.