34

Auriana

I felt my head pounding. Where did this horrible headache come from? I thought. I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't. I tried to think back to what could have happened to give me this headache…and it suddenly occurred to me that Nikki and I had pushed Jake out of the way of an approaching car. Why didn't that idiot look before he crossed the road? I thought. In the distance I heard people talking and decided to try to open my eyes again. My eyes slowly opened, but I quickly closed them again because of the bright light.

"Auriana?" I heard in the distance. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. This time I opened my eyes slowly and blinked a few times before opening them fully.

"Where am I?" I asked confusedly, sitting up. My throat was dry from sleep, which made my voice sound rather hoarse. When I looked over I saw Jake standing next to my bed. "You're in the hospital, Nikki's here somewhere too. Do you remember what happened?" he asked. I was surprised by the concern that was clearly audible in his voice.

"We had just done the shopping for Scarlet's surprise and were on our way home. You walked angrily into the road without looking and a car was coming our way. Nikki and I ran into the street to push you out of the way but then everything went black." I propped my bed up a bit more. My head started to pound even worse and I lay back down.

"After that Jake carried you to the hospital and you were out for three hours," Emma answered. Jake looked at her with an angry look but Emma shrugged her shoulders and ignored him. Jake stood rather awkwardly by my bed and although I found it funny to see him struggling like that, I also took pity on him.

"Can I maybe talk to Jake alone for a moment?" Emma nodded and walked out of the room with the others. I waited until the door closed behind them before turning my attention back to Jake.

"Did you really carry me to the hospital?" I asked him, the confused look on my face making it clear that I didn't understand why he had helped me. Jake looked up from the ground.

"What do you mean?" he asked confused. He had expected me to be grateful…or at least something like that.

"You hate me…at least that's what you've been saying up until now."

"I did, and I thought you hated me too…but you risked your life to save me. This was the least I could do," he felt guilty, "if I had just paid attention, you and Nikki would never have gotten hurt."

"Jake…don't think like that. You don't owe me anything, I would have done it for anyone." Jake was still standing awkwardly next to the bed, unsure of what to do or say.

"Come here," I said, patting the bed. I felt a little sorry for him and thought that this might be a chance for a clean slate. Jake sat down on the bed hesitantly and looked at me cautiously.

"Listen, just because you're not my favorite person doesn't mean I'm going to let you get hit by a car. I just hope we can put all this stuff behind us now," I said. Jake gave me a small smile and nodded.

"Friends?"

"Friends," he replied. Before he knew it, he felt my warm arms around his neck. His eyes widened in surprise. Yes, he knew I was a hugger, but he didn't expect me to give him a hug. He sat still for a moment and then carefully put his arms around me. What we didn't know was that Emma, ​​Brooke and Renee were looking through the window and had seen everything.

"I knew it," Renee said softly. She held out her hand for a high five, but she didn't get one. "Don't get any ideas, they just made up," Brooke said. I slowly let go of him and Jake looked at me. I gave him a cautious smile. He smiled back.

"Jake…" Before I could finish my sentence, a doctor came in.

"Hello Auriana, my name is Dr. Stevens. You were very lucky not to have a concussion in that fall. As soon as one of your parents signs the discharge papers, you can go. Take it easy for now." I nodded obediently and Dr. Stevens left the room, after which the girls came back in. Brooke, Renee, and Emma stood around my bed.

"You're not going to take it easy, are you?" Brooke asked, knowing the answer to the question as soon as she asked it. I laughed.

"Of course not, I thought you knew me better than that. Where's Nikki? I just want to make sure everything's okay." Brooke and Renee looked at each other doubtfully.

"Okay, what are you not telling me?" I asked suspiciously. I crossed my arms stubbornly and looked at them.

"Nikki…she uhm…she's here…but she hasn't woken up yet," Brooke told me.

"But she'll wake up…right?" I asked uncertainly.

"They don't know yet, she's lost a lot of blood," Renee said. I lowered my eyes and thought back to the dream I'd had while I was unconscious.

"Oh…" Skylar, Jimmy, and Jeremy walked into the room.

"Any news about Nikki?" Brooke asked hopefully. Skylar shook her head in disappointment.

"Since we're not immediate family, they can't tell us anything," Jimmy told me. Theresa walked into the room with a worried expression on her face.

"Auriana!" She wrapped her daughter in her arms and held her tightly.

"Mom, everything's fine. Don't worry." The others chuckled at my airiness about the situation. Dr. Stevens walked into the room a short time later when she was told one of the parents was there. She shook Theresa's hand and introduced herself.

"Your daughter was very lucky today. You may follow me to fill out the discharge forms." Theresa nodded and followed Dr. Stevens.

That evening I sat on my knees in front of my closet. My head was still pounding, but not as bad as it had been that afternoon. I slowly opened a box that was in the bottom of my closet. In my hands was a jacket that I never wore anymore but still looked at every now and then. With a sigh I put the jacket back in the box. I really didn't want to think about the time before my family moved to Westbrook. I wanted nothing more than to leave the past behind me. Little did I know that the future had other plans in store for me.