CHAPTER 26

I stumbled over the the steps as I ran down the steps and somehow made it into Amy's car. I slammed the door shut and felt my body was shivering like crazy. I closed my eyes, but the image of Alex having her mouth on Liam's just would not stop playing in my head. It was so disgusting, so horrible. I groped for the keys to put into the ignition. I took deep breaths. Trying to calm myself enough to start driving myself back to my dorm. I knew it. I knew Alex would do something like that! I just knew it! Taking the last deep breath, I started the car and drove slowly out of the dorm parking lot.

When I got back into my dorm, Amy was in there, looking at me in surprise. She looked like she was getting a face mask on. Her boyfriend Steve was not on campus. He had gone back to his hometown to visit his sister who just came back to the states from Germany. I stumbled in and sat on my bed wordlessly.

"Hey Hannah. Back so soon...Hey, babe, you ok? You look weird." Amy asked as she came to my side and sat beside me on the bed.

Somehow, I croaked out what had happened. I told her I had walked up the stairs quietly up to Liam's dorm to surprise him. I was grasping the bag containing the kimbap, korean fried chicken and sodas with me. We could eat in his room while watching Stranger Things. And then we could probably hang out for a while and all that.. But I saw them sucking face instead.

"And then I saw them." I said simply. Amy grabbed my arm.

"Who?!" Amy urged.

"Alex and Liam... they're.. they're..kissing-" I was suddenly overcome by sobs and a fresh bout of tears came raining down my face. Amy gasped as she grabbed me into a hug. I cried into Amy's shoulder. I wondered if I was over-reacting, but I didn't know how to handle this. I only knew that seeing them together like that broke me.

"Oh, honey! I'm so sorry!" Amy said as she hugged me. I sniffled and finally pulled away. I wiped away my tears as I exhaled.

"I don't know what happened. I saw them..kissing..urgh!" I said with a disgusted look on my face.

"So, what happened after that? Did you talk to Liam? Did you slap that bitch across her face and pull out her weave? What?!" Amy asked. I sighed and shook my head.

"No, I..I just ran from there. I was too shocked! I didn't think to stick around to go to them and mutilate Alex's face and ask Liam what was going on. Sorry to disappoint. It was not every day I catch my boyfriend sucking face with the she-devil!" I cried in frustration and Amy flinched.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. I just..I don't think Liam did it on purpose. The skank probably ambushed him or something. I refuse to believe Liam would do that. And you should see him and ask him about it before you make snap judgement." Amy said wisely. I took a deep breath and knew she was right. But really, I just couldn't right now. I need a breather.

I tossed and turned in bed. I half-expected Liam to at least text me. But he didn't. I mean, I wouldprobably ignore his text if he ever texted. But that's not the point. A least, he texted me. But now that he hadn't, I didn't know how I should feel. Urgh, having a boyfriend should never be this complicated!

***********************************************************************************************I It was Sunday afternoon. I sat at my desk, fuming. I glanced at my silent, smug phone on my desk. I couldn't believe Liam hadn't texted me all weekend. Like, what the hell?! What was this? Did he think it's all a joke?! I felt like crying.

I waited for Liam to text me all weekend. I wanted him to send me a pathetic, grovelling text, begging me to forgive him and to deny all allegations against him. But none came. My phone had kept its silence for the whole 2 days. I even broke down and called Trey to see if Liam was there. Trey said he wasn't around.

But then Trey said Liam had not slept in their dorm since Saturday night. Meaning, on the night I caught him with Alex, he did not sleep in his room. Threy said that he thought Liam was spending the night with me. That made me blush as I stuttered that we did not spend the night together.

"Then, where did Liam go?" Trey asked, mystified. His words made my heart race as I started to get really worried. Gone was the jealousy and petty tantrums. I was genuinely worried something might have happened to him.

"Oh God, did something happen to him? Oh my God." I started to panic. Tears started forming in my eyes.

"Hey, hey, relax. I'm sure everything's fine. Look, why don't you try to call him. If you can't get him, let me know, ok?" Trey said, trying to calm me down. I said a shaky 'ok' and hung up. With trembling hands, I scrolled for Liam's number. With shaky hands, I hit the green button and waited for it to ring. But all I got was a busy signal. I tried many times and the busy signal kept coming. When my call finally went to voice mail, I panicked.

"Liam, pick up the phone, you asshole! Pick. Up. Your. God. Damn. Phone! You're making me worried sick! Where the hell are you?!" I screamed tearfully into the phone when it dawned on me that something was very, very wrong. I never, ever got the busy signal or be directed to his voicemail when I call his phone. He picked up my calls. Every. Single. Time. So me getting a busy signal and then be directed to the voicemail was really very strange. And made me sick with worry.

I quickly dialled Trey's number and he immediately picked up my call. Once I heard him say hello and mentioned my name, I whimpered like a lost puppy.

"Trey, I couldn't get him. All I got were busy signals and voicemail. I'm worried Trey. What if something happens to him? What if he's lying somewhere in the ditch somewhere...Oh my God.. I was so angry at him on Friday. I just lost my temper. Oh God, oh God, oh God.." I was starting to sound hysterical. Trey quickly tried to calm me down.

"Hey, hey, come on Hannah, you have to calm down. Look, I'll make some calls and ask around if anybody has seen Liam the last couple of days, ok? You hang tight, alright." Trey said calmly. I squeaked out a tiny okay and after some comforting words, Trey hung up. I hung up and started fidgeting with my t-shirt and phone. I couldn't sit still. I was even annoyed at myself.

Just then, Amy came in after her shower. Her eyes widen when it fell on me. I probably looked awful.

"Hannah, what's wrong?" Amy asked as she sat beside me on my bed.

"It's Liam. I couldn't get him on the phone. And Trey hadn't seen him since Saturday night. Liam never ignored my calls before. And he never just disappears. I'm worried that something has happened to him. ANd it's all my fault. I yelled at him. I didn't give him a chance to explain. " I said with tears threatening to flow from my eyes.

"Look, Hannah, you know it's not your fault. Err, maybe his phone's broken. Or maybe he's somewhere where the cell signal sucks. ANd he might even gone to visit his family and forgot to tel you." Amy gave a list possibilities. None of which I found feasible. In the end, we just sat on my bed and waited for my phone to ring.

Suddenly, after an agonizing half an hour wait, my phone rang. I quickly scrambled to answer the phone.

"Hello?! Trey!" I answered the phone, my hand gripping it for dear life. I heard a sigh on the other side and my blood froze. Oh no. Something's happened. Oh God...

""Umm, Hannah..?" Trey started to say.

"Yes?!" I answered in a rush.

"I've called every mutual friends that we have and none of them had seen Liam. So, I called the hospitals in our area next. And, uh...I found a Hennessy in the ICU in Pine Ridge Hospital." Trey said and I just felt numb, all of a sudden. I felt breathless and tried to take deep breaths. Hearing me gasp alerted Amy and Trey.

"Hey, Hannah. You ok?! Hannah!" Trey said frantically.

I felt the world shattering around me as it dawned on me that I could lose Liam. I quickly scrambled to my feet and hung up my phone. I turned to the confused Amy. I looked at her as I tried to get ready to go to the hospital to see Liam. Wordlessly, Amy followed me to the hospital.

Amy drove us to the Pine Ridge Hospital. In the car, I was a nervous wreck and fidgeted like crazy. I prayed fervently for Liam to be okay. I would forgive him for anything if only he'd be alright.

When we got to the hospital, Amy and I ran to the entrance and scrambled to find the front desk. We quickly went to the nurse on duty, breathless and feeling like my lungs would burst.

"Yes, may I help you?" The nurse asked cordially.

I looked at her, my mouth dry. I couldn't say anything. Seeing me scrambling for words, Amy came to my rescue.

"Yes, um, is there a patient in the ICU named Liam Hennessy?" Amy asked and my heart beat faster ad I waited for the nurse's answer. Please be alright, please be alright. Please be alright Liam, or I'll f****ng kill you!