A Scary End to the Triangle

A Tense Situation

The ambulance arrives at the hospital and Lucas is immediately taken for some tests, leaving Riley alone in the waiting room.

She waits there for Pappy Joe to arrive with her friends.

She is scared for Lucas and keeps praying for him. Pappy Joe arrives after some time and asks her if there's any news.

Just as Riley is about to answer, the doctor calls out, "Family for Lucas Friar."

Pappy Joe goes to the doctor along with the teens.

The doctor says that the information about Lucas' health is for family only. The teens turn to walk away when Pappy Joe surprises everyone by saying, "My grandson considers them to be family so they can also know how he's doing."

The doctor gives in and tells him that Lucas has a head injury from the fall and should probably never ride a bull again.

Maya mutters under her breath, "Like anyone is gonna let him near one after this hospital visit." They all hear her and crack a smile.

The doctor continues to tell them that he just has some simple bruises over his body from the fall but none of them are serious so there was nothing to worry about. His main concern is the head injury which might take some time to heal.

Farkle then asks, "When will he wake up?"

The teens look to the doctor, all of them curious to know.

The doctor sighs and says, "I'm not very sure because his body needs to heal before he wakes up. It will be up to him when he wakes up. You all can talk to him because some people believe that it actually helps them heal faster but it's just a belief people have around here. I really hope he wakes up soon myself because otherwise things could get worse. Anyway you can call me or one of the nurses if you see any changes."

The doctor then takes his leave to complete his rounds.

Zay turns to Pappy Joe and asks, "Did you mean it? Do you really think Lucas still considers us family?"

Pappy Joe smiles and replies, "I know my grandson well enough to know that even if he's mad at you all, you're still his family. Honestly speaking you guys have been more of a family to him than his own parents. Just do me a favour and don't hurt him again. He's been in enough pain for the past few years. Now if you'll excuse me I'd like to go see how Lucas is doing. You kids can go see him but just give me a few minutes with him."

The teens all nod and Pappy Joe leaves to see Lucas.

---------

The teens are waiting for Pappy Joe to return in silence. None of them know what to say in this situation.

All of them were extremely worried about their friend.

Suddenly Farkle turns to Riley and asks, "Riley what were you and Lucas talking about before the rest of us arrived?"

Riley looked startled by the question and took a moment to compose herself.

She then replies, "He wanted to know why I, umm, why we were in Texas because he never even told us that he was leaving so I explained how we found out where he was. I told him that we knew about him riding the bull again and umm..."

Smackle looked at her suspiciously and asked, "And what Riley?"

Riley sighed and answered, "I told him that I supported him. I knew I had no right to try to stop him after everything I did so I did the only thing I could. And that was to offer him my support. He was surprised but grateful."

"What?!" Zay exclaimed.

Maya asked, "You had the chance to stop him, so why didn't you?"

Zay added, "He would have listened to you more than any of us. Riley you could have stopped him from getting hurt like this. Even Pappy Joe thinks he would have listened to you."

Riley looks slightly angered and replies, "I couldn't have changed his mind. Did you not listen to the other things Pappy Joe said as well? Lucas had made up his mind so the only thing I could do was support his decision. And I did that because that is what a friend does. Friends always have your back no matter what. Even if he would have listened to me, which I doubt he would now, I'm not going to take advantage just to make Lucas do something that I want him to do. I want him to trust me and this was definitely not the way to go about that. So I don't know about you but I took the decision to be his friend. I hate that he got hurt but at least he finally got the support that he wanted from all of us these past months."

The other teens finally understood what Riley really meant and looked down ashamed.

Farkle asks, "I didn't help matters when I showed up later, did I?"

Riley takes a deep breath and replies, "No you probably didn't."

Riley pauses before continuing with a stern expression, "Pappy Joe also said not to mention anything about his parents to him. If you do, you will only hurt him more and I don't wish to do that anymore. He'll tell us when he's ready. Until then none of you will say a word about this to him and I mean it."

The teenagers look terrified of Riley's expression but they all nod in agreement.

They all just sit there in silence waiting for Pappy Joe to come so that they could find out when they could finally go and see Lucas.

Pappy Joe arrives after some time and tells them that they can go to see Lucas.

The teens all start walking towards the hospital room while Riley takes a few moments to compose herself.

She is afraid to see Lucas look vulnerable and hurt again after the ambulance ride to the hospital.

Pappy Joe sees her hesitation and gives her a piece of paper instructing her to read it first.

He waits patiently with her hoping to fix the mess the two young oblivious lovers were in.