White Liar (20 page)

Chloe continued to stand there, staring at that lonely tear that had just fallen on the bed. That one tear seemed to express everything she was feeling right then. She was feeling so alone and no matter what she did, it didn’t seem to please anyone, not even herself. She had hurt an innocent person because of her own personal insecurities.

Chloe looked back up at John and he seemed ever so peaceful. Not like the vibrant boy that she had come to know at school, but more angelic. Unable to stop herself, she lifted her hand and moved it towards the wet spot that had captured her attention. Her hand inched it's way towards that spot, lightly brushing the back of his hand.

When she felt the warm contact of his skin, a volt of electricity ran through her. Feeling this shock, she jumped and jerked her hand back to her chest wondering if there was any way that he felt it too. Chloe just didn’t want to hurt him anymore than she already had.

But then she remembered why she had come in here to begin with. Ever so slowly, she slid her hand back to the bed and gently placed it under his.  This time soaking up the warmth that his large hand provided.

Letting out a slow breath, she looked at their joined hands and tried to swallow past the tennis ball sized lump that had formed in her throat. “I’m sorry, John,” she whispered, keeping her gaze fixed on their hands. “I never meant for this to happen, I didn’t think you would get hurt like this. If I could take back that night, believe me, I would. Instead, I would have gone to that stupid dance with you, and get this,” she laughed humorlessly, “I would have even saved you a dance.”

Stopping when she felt the sting of tears in the back of her lids, Chloe lifted her head and stared at the blank wall, closing her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said again, not sure how many other ways that she could say those two words. “I’m so damn sorry.”

Sitting there, she felt something squeeze her hand. At first, Chloe thought it might be a reflex but then she looked down at his face and John’s groggy eyes were watching her. “John?” she spoke again, not quite believing what she was seeing.

He lightly squeezed her hand again.

“Ohmygod!” she squealed, her voice rising in pitch, “You’re…you’re awake.”

He lifted the hand that she wasn’t holding to his mouth, feeling the tube that was there. Chloe reached for his hand and shook her head. “Don’t,” she whispered hoarsely, “You’ve been out for a while, let me get a doctor.”

She started to stand but he held onto her hand, weakly squeezing it yet again. Chloe looked up at him and their eyes met, his eyes saying everything that he couldn’t say. He didn’t want her to leave. “John, I… I have to…”

“Excuse me, who may I ask are you and why are you in my son‘s room?”

Whipping her head around, Chloe was surprised to see a small woman that, in so many ways, looked like John. She stood in the door way, her hand on her hip, looking incredulous. “I.. I..” she started and then stopped, at a total loss for words. Looking back at her Chloe finally wrangled out the two words that just mere moments before had escaped her,
"He's awake!"
 
she said as she watched her.

John's mother advanced in Chloe's direction, acting like she didn't hear her. She stiffened, not sure what to do or what to say. Hell, what was she supposed to say to her? Feeling a weak tug on her hand, Chloe turned around to see John staring back up at her again.

“I don’t care who you are, I want you out of-” the woman started, and stopped when she turned and caught a glimpse of her son, his eyes open wide. “John,” she whispered, ignoring the strange girl completely, “You…you’re awake,” she exclaimed.
He turned to catch his mother's gaze and as he did Chloe pulled her hand away from his, taking a step back so that the woman could get closer to her son. She noticed his mothers shoulders begin to shake and soon after, a strangled sob escaped her throat as she reached for his hand. Feeling more like an intruder than anything else, Chloe slowly started to back herself towards the door. Once she hit the door she pivoted and fled the room, fast walking towards the elevator.
He was awake
, she reminded herself, stepping back on to the elevator. Chloe couldn‘t help but to smile at the revelation. Her life may be one humongous effed up mess but at least John was awake and hopefully, God willing, he would now be okay.
 

Chapter 16

 
 
 
 
Justin couldn’t make himself move beyond the frame of the door.
 
He was stuck, suspended in time, watching as the scene played out in front of him.
 
His hand gripped the silver plated door handle and rivers of relief poured into him.
 
He was awake.  John was awake and from the looks of it, he was going to be okay.

 
 
 
 
Alana fast walked all the way to his room, pushing her way in until she was standing right there beside his bed.
 
Her parents stepped back, allowing her all the room she needed.
 
John looked up at her and gave her a slight smile.
 
For what seemed like an eternity, the two of them just stared at each other.
 
John still had a tube down his throat, unable to talk, but that didn't seem to impede their silent communication.
 
Everything that needed to be said, was said in the way that the brother and sister looked at each other.

 
 
 
 
“Justin?”
 
Hearing his name being called, Justin blinked and looked up and four sets of eyes turned in his direction.
 
Lifting his hand, he went for what he thought was a casual smile and a half wave.
 
“Are you just going to stand there all day?”

 
 
 
Meeting Alana's gaze, he shrugged his shoulders at her question.
 
Just knowing that John was okay was enough for him.
 
Right now, he thought what John needed the most was to be with his immediate family.
 
There would be plenty of time later for John and him to play catch up.
 
"This should be family time," he told her.
 
"I'll come back tomorrow."
 

 
 
 
 
"Nonsense," John's mother interrupted.
 
She walked over to the door and pulled him by the wrist into the room.
 
The faint scent of roses tickled Justin's nostrils, as she drew him closer to the bed.
 
Stopping, she stood behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders.
 
It was then that Justin realized the rose scent was probably her perfume.
 
Her thin fingers gave his shoulders a little
 
squeeze.
 
"You're just as much a member of this family as anyone else in this room.
 
Plus, John needs to see you."

 
 
 
 
Standing there, Justin shot John a grin and lightly punched him in the shoulder.
 
The gesture was familiar between the boys and he knew that John would understand the meaning behind it.
 
"What took you so long?"
 

 
 
 
 
The corners of his lips curled up, lifting up his sallow cheeks.
 
He weakly nodded back at Justin and he understood perfectly what John was trying to say.
 
He was back- maybe not quite up to his normal par but he was most definitely back and that was all that mattered.
 
"Yeah," Justin swallowed, "You need to get better so that I can kick your ass on the field again, you feeling me?"

 
 
 
 
He made a throaty sound, something that was a mix between a chuckle and a gargle, resonating deep within his throat.
 
Justin drank in that sound, just thankful that he was going to be alright.
 
Soon enough, he would be back at school, living it up and enjoying being the center of attention.
 
"You scared the crap out of us man."

 
 
 
Justin continued to watch him, feeling the unfamiliar sting of tears behind his eyes that he refused to shed.
 
One minute life had been so good, they were all having fun and the next, everything just sort of hung out there in the balance.
 
Justin didn't even want to think about what could have happened, but the possibility had always been there, lurking in the back of his mind.

 
 
 
 
 
"There was another girl here." Spinning around, Justin glanced back at John's mother.
 
He felt like that was an odd statement to make.
 
It was one of those things that just sort came out of the blue.
 

 
 
 
 
"Like a nurse?"
 
He asked, scratching his head.

 
 
 
 
"No," she wrinkled her nose, "It was a young girl, someone your age.
 
I was coming back from the cafeteria and she was standing here with John.
 
I started to question her and that's when I realized that John was awake."
 
She paused and gestured towards the door.
 
"A few minutes later, when I looked up, she was just gone.
 
I never did get her name."

 
 
 
Justin felt Alana's presence at his elbow.
 
He had a pretty good idea of who it might be but didn't want to say anything here, not yet anyways.
 
She had said that she was coming but he didn't really think she would go through with it, not after that fight.
 
What in the world is going on in that girls head, he wondered.
 
Can't she just leave well enough alone?

 
 
 
 
"Who do you think it was?"
 
Alana had pushed herself closer to Justin's side and instinctively he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
 
She was like the baby sister that he never had and at times like these he still felt the need to shelter her in some way.

 
 
 
"I'm not sure," Justin spoke, not wanting to divulge what he thought to be the truth.
 
John's mom frowned at him and he briefly wondered if she knew that he was lying.
 
The second that he thought about it, he dismissed the idea.
 
There was no way that she could know what he was thinking.
 
"I guess it could have been anyone, a lot of girls crush on him at school."

 
 
 
"As much as I hate to admit it, that's true enough," she said, glancing back over at John.
 
"I don't suppose it makes a difference now since he's back with us."
 
She pulled away from Justin and strode over to a chair on the other side of the bed.
 
She took his hand in hers and held on to it.
 
"Getting the phone call that he woke up was the best news that I've heard all week."

 
 
 
Justin smiled again, glad to see some of the sadness and hurt gone from her eyes.
 
After standing there for a long minute, with no one saying anything, he pulled his keys out of his back pocket.
 
"I've got some homework that I need to be getting to and John probably needs his rest.
 
I'm going to go ahead and get out of here."
 
Inclining his head in John's direction, Justin told him pointedly, "You work on getting your strength back.
 
Believe it or not, your butt's actually being missed at school."

 
 
 
John weakly acknowledged his statement with a nod, and a small smile on his face.
 
He slightly raised his hand at Justin.
 
For a second there, Justin felt like there was something else that he wanted to say to him but he just couldn't with that tube down his throat.
 
He glanced over at his parents and then looked back to Justin, his brow pulled together in concentration.