chapter 43

Hunter's POV.

I could feel my heart beat out of my chest as we carried her body into the ambulance, the party was long forgotten, every one slowly sobering up in terror, she had a seizure, at least that's what it looked like. 

I couldn't hear anything all the way to the hospital, it was like I was stuck in time, that moment when her legs gave way and she started shaking in my arms on loop, it played over and over again in my head, I couldn't even bring myself to think of anything else except my mother and brother. 

It felt like that day all over again. Tears streaming down my face, heart pounding, my whole body in autopilot.  

The trip to the hospital felt longer than it should have been, and when we got there, she was taken from us, taken to one of those rooms where people go to die.

Terror. The emotion I could identify with right now, my hands shook in fear and I couldn't stop pacing, I was anxious and scared, we didn't know what was going on, no one was telling us anything. 

A tall Brunette woman came into view half walking, half running with JJ trailing behind her, worry etched on his face. 

"Am looking for Lia, where is Lia?" She asked frantically, staring at Sierra. 

"She's inside there, the doctors haven't told us anything," Ashton replied, seeing as Sierra could barely comprehend what the woman was talking about. 

"What happened to her, what happened to my baby?"

"Seizure" Ashton replied and the woman sat herself on a bench in the corner rocking herself and JJ. 

Moments later a doctor came out and we all shot up asking different questions at the same time

"Relax,  relax, she's okay, she's out of any sort of danger but she will still be asleep for a few more hours because of the treatment, is any of you family," 

"Am her mother," the lady replied and the doctor nodded.

"Am going to need a word with you ma'am, please follow me," he requested 

"Can we see her?" Dylan asked 

"Only with permission of a family member," the doctor replied and all our  eyes averted to Lia's mother. She nodded hesitantly and disappeared away with the doctor. 

I felt small hands take a hold of mine and looked down at JJ. He was more terrified than he let on. He was probably more terrified than all of us. He looked at me and I sent him a small smile hoping it would ease his mind a bit. 

Lia was laying in bed, her once olive skin was looking pale and lifeless, you could see the eye bags under her eyes more vividly now that she had more make up, yet she was still the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on. 

She looked sad and restless even in her sleep and I couldn't help but wonder if I had caused that, did I do that to her. 

Sierra had stopped crying and was now looking at me in something that looked like a mixture of anger and distaste. I knew what was going on in her head, what must be going on in all their heads? They all saw the bottle of pills that fell out of her pockets, the question was, was I the cause? 

And I knew I shouldn't be here, it was selfish of me to even stand here like I was innocent when I've caused her so much heartache, but I couldn't get myself to leave her here, at least not on my own. 

"What were you doing with her? What were you telling her Hunter?" Sierra asked and I kept quiet.

"Did you just find her unconscious? Were you lying to her when it happened? Were you lying to her about your non-existent feelings again?" 

"Sierra.... not now" Ashton said 

"No, he doesn't deserve to be here, he doesn't get to play heroe, he doesn't get to stand in front of her after what he made her go through" 

"It's not his fault Sie.... it's not anyone's fault," Ashton tried again, I appreciated him trying to defend me but I knew that he knew it as well, this was wrong. 

"No she's  right," Dylan said and we all looked at him. 

"It might not be your fault Hunter, but  I don't think you should be here when she wakes up, she's been confused enough, you won't help her heal," he said and we were all quiet, I slipped my hand out of JJ's and nodded at the ground, avoiding eye contact as I walked out. 

I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, my eyes burned but the tears never fell, I can't remember the drive back to my house, it was mostly a blur, I had been in my head the entire time.

Dylan came home the next day in the afternoon and I was still in the same spot on the couch since I got back. 

"Did you spend the whole night seated there?" He asked and i didn't bother answering 

"How is she?" I asked as I walked towards him. 

He took a big breath before answering, "she's awake, she's weak and hasn't really talked to anyone but she's awake that's what matters," I nodded 

"What.... what happened to..." 

"Hunter, you're my brother and I love you, but maybe you should leave her alone for sometime. I am not even supposed to talk about this with you." 

"Dylan, I know I am an ass, I know I've been shitty, but I swear to you I am honestly worried, I didn't sleep a wink last night thinking about what could have happened, what will happen? Am losing my mind," 

"Did you mean what you told her when you called?" I wasn't shocked that he knew about that, the three of them were close I'd honestly be shocked if he didn't know

"Every word," I replied 

"Then why did you choose Marrisa?" 

"I was being petty, I thought Lia didn't want me and my ego was hurt, am not sure what I was trying to prove,"

"Okay, why did you stay, she was single all that time, why didn't you tell her how you felt," 

"Maria's father is getting married again, she was devastated, I guess I felt like I owed her the support because she really was there for me when mom and Harry died, I was acting out of gratitude not because I love her, " 

"Well, that's shitty," he replied and I nodded, falling back down on the couch and closing my eyes.

"I know," I whispered.

"She a seizure because of a serotonin syndrome, the medication she was taking sort of fucked with her serotonin levels, they were antidepressants, I don't think it was your fault though, obviously that affected her somehow but the doctor said she has to have been taking them for longer than two months for this to happen and that was before you guys fell out," he said after sometime and I looked at him.

"She's been dealing with something all on her own, honestly we all feel like shit, she's been there for all of us and we didn't even notice when she was going through something heavy enough to have her on serotonin pills," he sat next to me and I patted his shoulder. 

We sat in silence for sometime before he spoke again. 

"Look it's not your fault honestly, but it's not a good idea to show yourself to her, the doctor doesn't want anything that could trigger her in anyway, she's under observation and limited visits, she'll also be doing therapy and won't be at school the first week, you can't see her till then," he said and I nodded. I totally understood where he was coming from.