Fighting a New World

55

Ryder's POV

I had seen The Fault in Our Stars on multiple occasions, my favorite time being my first date with Callum.

It had only been about a month since I came to camp and I still didn't like going out of cabin unless I had to. I was still too afraid that it would happen again if I went out and Callum, being the oh so patient person he is, declared that we were having a first date even if it mean us just sitting in the cabin the whole time.

So one night after class, he kicked out our roommates at the time and plugged in the movie that I got from my sponsor family. My first package from them had simply been that small TV and the cheesy straight romance movie but at the time, it was my favorite thing in the world but one scene from that movie always haunted me.

In the movie it talks about how when people you love are in the hospital, late night calls are never a good sign.

Having a sick mom made me a believer of that but luckily I had never had to deal with that.

Still, when I woke up to my phone yelling at me, I felt a pit in my stomach.

I struggled to get out of Jax's arms, as I thought back to that stupid scene in that stupid movie.

My hand picked up the phone numbly before lifting it to my face.

The number wasn't programmed into my phone and for a split second I thought maybe; just maybe it was a wrong number.

"This is Ryder Mason, how can I help you," I asked blankly as my free hand balled up in the sheets.

"Good afternoon Mr. Mason, I'm calling from Springfield County hospital," a cheery voice said, making my heart stop. "We have you listed at Ashley Mason's emergency contact, is that correct?"

"It is."

"There have been a few updates to your mother's condition. We'd like for you to come as soon as possible to discuss them with us."

"Updates? What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's best if you could come down here to talk about it," she repeated, her voice still as cheery as possible.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," I answered numbly. My fingers ended the call on their own as tears began building up. My eyes focused on the celling to keep the tears where they belonged before I began climbing over my boyfriends' limbs in order to get out of bed.

My feet lead to me to the closet, my hands undressed then dressed me again in more suitable clothing, then my legs lead me to the bedroom door all without me telling them to do a thing.

"Where are you going," Liam's husky morning voice asked as he lifted his head just enough to see me leaving the room.

"The hospital," my voice coming out just as numb as earlier.

His eyes went wide at my words as he lifted himself off the bed. I watched as he gently nudged Jax awake before all but body slamming Callum.

"Why are we going to the hospital," he asked as he got out of bed and put on him shoes. He was still in sweat pants and a tee shirt but that didn't seem to bother him.

At the mention of the hospital, our other boyfriends followed his lead. Jax slipped on a shirt and fumbled with his shoes while Callum slipped into his flip-flops.

"Something happened but they won't tell me what. You don't have to come. It's probably nothing," I said, trying to convince myself more than them.

Nothing was wrong. They just wanted to inconvince us at 3 in the morning for the hell of it.

It was a long shot but it still felt more plausible than something being wrong with my mom.