The Locker Room Incident

Chapter 30: I'm No Angel

Will

The phone buzzed angrily, waking me out of a deep sleep. I rubbed my eyes and reached over to my phone.

It was Kat.

"Hello?", I mumbled.

Kat was crying. Sobbing relentlessly.

"Kat? What's wrong?", I sat up, every nerve in my body was suddenly on edge.

"It's her, Will", Kat said between sobs.

"It's who? Kat, what happened?",

"It's Harper",

"What happened to Harp?",

"She....she had an accident",

My heart stopped beating. My lungs felt heavy, almost as if something was blocking my airway.

"W-we're at t-the same hospital y-your p-parents work at", she managed to say before cutting the call.

I sat there motionlessly for a moment. I felt numb. I couldn't even think about what to do.

Harper was hurt. She was in an accident. I just told her I loved her.

But I can't sit here. She needs me. I need to be stronger than this. With my shaking limbs, I managed to scramble out of bed and walk up to my parents' room, banging on the door.

"Will? What happened?", My mom came out wrapped in her nightgown.

"Harp....Harper's been in an accident", I stuttered out.

My mom's face paled, her lips started trembling along with her hands, "I-Is she a-alright?",

"I'm not sure, Kat called and she was hysterical, we have to get to the hospital", I stated firmly.

"Y-yes, go start the car, we'll be right in",

*****

I rushed into the hallway to see everyone seated together.

Kenzie and Liv were huddled up together next to Harper's mom, who looked like she'd seen a ghost, her face was pale, her lips trembling as she mumbled incoherently. Liam was sitting with Daniel, Mason and Cody, all of their eyes red and puffy from crying. Harper's dad had his face resting in his hands as they trembled ferociously. Kat sat on the floor next to the emergency room, her hands joined together in prayer as she mumbled something through her tears.

Levi ran up to her and slid across the floor, engulfing her in a hug as she started sobbing again while he consoled her.

"How's Harper?", Mom asked Mason.

"They said she suffered from severe second degree burns, but those were just the external injuries, they took her in just a few minutes ago", Mason said, "They gave us all the things they found on her, including this", He put the ring in my hand.

We waited. All of us. In complete silence.

The girl I loved was in there, fighting for her life. We were going to go to University together, we were going to make our relationship work, meet up on the weekends, maybe move in together someday and perhaps even get married. We had it all planned out.

But now, I knew nothing for sure.

Harper looked so happy when I told her I loved her. I was looking forward to seeing that smile on her face everyday. I wanted to see her get back on her feet and grow to be confident and daring. I wanted to see her scars fade away as she grew stronger everyday. I wanted to see that smile grow.

But now, the ache in my heart told me that I might not see it again.

I fiddled with the ring in my hand, remembering how she yelled at me for getting her something so expensive.