𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥'𝐬 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟝𝟚

"We put her on a drip of morphine that made her sleepy, so her body is resting right now. Her medication wasn't working due to other medications she was on, and yes, the meditation was legal. She will be discharged today, but I suggest that you monitor her closely and don't put her in high-stress situations..." The doctor continued to ramble on.

I canceled everything out after that. The whole Giordani clan was here and hanging on to every word the doctor was saying. I had been through this entire speech before. My cousin was a doctor, and every time a nightmare would happen, I would take her to get a workup.

It wouldn't be on Rose's permanent record because the checkups were free of charge. Rose had told me a week before I ran away that the nightmares had stopped. I never thought of the possibility that she could be lying to me.

"She said they stopped," I whispered underneath my breath. Cedric caught what I said and turned towards me.

"The nightmares? She told you about them?" Cedric asked. I shook my head no and contemplated telling him the truth. It's their business because they are her family.

"Rose had nightmares all the time when we were younger. I took her to the ER for my cousin to check her out a couple of times. She said they stopped," I said the last part to myself.

Guilt was piled on top of my heart, and everything seemed to be closing in. Getting up, I walk back towards the front entrance and out of the waiting room. I couldn't do this to myself again.

I thought I already forgave myself for being selfish. When I said I would be sent to military school, it was somewhat close to the truth. My parents aren't good people, very catholic and religious.

Which is hypocritical in itself because they are terrible people. I don't even know why Rose being in the hospital brought up old memories, but it did. Fuck, I can't even think about someone other than myself for thirty seconds.

I finally reached outside and started taking deep breaths. I felt a hand grab my shoulder, making me flinch away because of the sudden contact. When I turned my head, I realized it was Cedric.

He motioned his head to the bench up front and took my forearm, dragging me over there. We both sat down and watched cars arrive and leave. The sounds of sirens in the distance, you'd expect this to be far from calming, but it was comforting.

"Talk to me," Cedric said after a moment of silence. I looked towards him to find him already looking at me. My eyebrows furrowed, and I started to calm my racing heart seeing his calm eyes on me.

Something about him makes me feel at peace. At first, I thought it was because he reminded me of Rose, but now I'm starting to panic. "About what?" I asked, not knowing where to start.

"What's got you fidgeting and pulling at your hair?" He asked, watching my hands. I didn't realize I was doing it until he said that, so I put my hands in my lap and looked forward.

"I lied to Rose about why I left," I said quietly. He didn't say anything, so I continued going. "I wasn't going to be sent to military school," I reminded myself to take deep breaths.

"My p-parents wanted to send me to..." I cleared my throat, unclogging the broken words. "Conversion camp," I spat the words like poison on my tongue. I had never said it out loud before. I thought maybe if I just pretended it was a military school, then I wouldn't have to live with the fact that my parents hated who I was.

"Why couldn't you tell anyone that?" Cedric asked as quietly as I was. I turned back towards him and saw him through teary eyes. I have never really been an emotional person in front of people, but this is an exception.

"Because then it would become true. I spoke it into existence," I whispered. "And besides, I'm telling you now,"

"I don't think that's how it works," Cedric said with a little laugh, making one of my own follow.

"I don't see your parents around, just people that care about you. I mean, we care about you, so be yourself. You can do that anytime with all of us around. Besides, all of us have our secrets, so we have no room to talk about what you did or didn't tell us," Cedric said, looking towards me.

A piece of his hair was blowing in front of his eyes from the wind. He had dark circles underneath his eyes. Cedric's Italian features were coming out to play, is all I need to say. He is so incredibly handsome I don't know if I want to be him or be with him.

I was interrupted from my staring when Cedric's phone chimed. He looked at his screen and stood up from the bench, grabbing my hand to pull me up with him. "Rose is being discharged and is awake and walking around," He said, shaking his head.

"She wastes no time, does she?" I said, already knowing the answer. Rose had always had a problem with sitting around and doing nothing. She says it's a terrible waste of time, and every second is precious. However, that was when we were younger now. I have no idea how she feels about time.

Probably the same, but they don't know what to do with it all the time. I took one last deep breath of freshly polluted air and walked into the hospital. When we got to the waiting room, Rose was in a wheelchair with a pitiful pout on her face.

Lucifer was behind the wheelchair holding her shoulders, probably ensuring that she doesn't stand back up. "There is no reason for me to be in a fucking wheelchair. I am traumatized, not paralyzed!" She shouted over her shoulder to the doctor, who looked horrified.

"Although nothing is wrong with being paralyzed, I'm not!" She continued. I think the pain killers are still making her weird.

Honestly, I wouldn't want to be on the other side of her glare. It's murderous. Lucifer rolled his eyes and started rolling her out the front door. Rose resumed her sitting and pouting with her arms crossed over her chest.

She was wearing hospital-issued clothing for some reason. I didn't get all of the details of why she was in the hospital while I had my pity party. I felt someone looking at me while we were walking back to the car and looked over to see Cedric looking at me.

I couldn't read his emotions since he has an incredible poker face, but he looked content. He realized I caught him staring and looked away with a small smile and heating cheeks. I almost had a heart attack right then and there. Is Cedric fucking blushing?

This has to be my biggest accomplishment yet.