The Things I Hate About You - (gxg)

Chapter Twenty

April's POV

"Family of Iliana Raymond?" The doctor asked making all of us stand up.

"That's my daughter," Sarah said.

"Hi Mrs. Barnes, I'm Mrs. Raymond's doctor Todd Johnston," he shook Sarah's hand. "Mrs. Raymond is stable and will get better she just needs a lot of rest. She has three broken ribs which were the reason for her troubles when breathing but they will heal in about 6 to 8 weeks from now. She also has a fractured wrist and we stitched the gash on her head, she was lucky with that one, hits on the head like that can be very dangerous especially considering how much blood she lost. Her bruises will heal with time of course, so theres no worry in that."

"Can we see her?" Kai was the one to ask.

"Of course but just two at the time," the doctor told us.

She nodded and looked at me, "You guys go first, I'll go last."

I didn't even have to ask why Kai wanted to go last, it was obvious, she wanted uninterrupted time with Iliana, not having to rush so the rest of us could see her and as much as I wanted to talk to my best friend right now I also knew they both needed each other right now.

"Okay." I nodded, I looked at Alex who was standing by my side and she grabbed my hand, squeezing it in support. I took the doorknob and entered with her.

The room was dark, the only light coming from behind one of the curtains, yet the dim light was enough to see Iliana on the bed... to see how badly injured she was.

The sight alone made me cry.

How could I not notice before? How did I let one of the most important person in my life suffer?

I felt Alex let go and stay back near the door as I walked closer to the bed Iliana was laid on.

"Don't cry please." Iliana's voice came almost as low as a whisper.

"I can't, how can I not." I tried to quiet my sobs putting my hand over my mouth. Illiana weakly extended her hand towards me, motioning me to go to her.

I carefully sat besides her, seeing the bruises on her face more clearly, the gash on her forehead now covered with bandages, one of her wrists in a cast. "I should've seen it, I should've fucking known. What kind of friend am I?!"

"April please don't blame yourself, I hid it, I didn't want anyone to know. It's not your fault." Her hand tried to reach for mine, but I reached her first.

"I should've kept trying! I knew something was wrong. I'm so sorry Iliana." Tears still fell from my eyes as the blonde rubbed her thumb over my the back of my hand.

"It's okay... I'm okay." Iliana said with tears rolling down her bruised cheeks as well.

I shook my head and hugged her, apologizing when I heard her hiss. "Don't scare me like this again, I can't lose you Lia you are my best friend... fuck, you're my sister, my family. I can't lose you." I said against her shoulder.

"You won't, I'm here. I'm sorry."

I backed away from the hug to see her, "Never apologize to me for something that is not your fault, okay? Never."

She nodded weakly and hugged me again, "I love you Aps."

"I love you too." I didn't want to hurt her again so I backed away from the hug. I looked at Alex now, standing still by the door.

Giving Iliana one more hand squeeze I motioned Alex to come talk to her. The taller woman was hesitant for a moment to move from her spot, but eventually walked across the room until she stood besides Iliana's bed. I stood up and went to her former spot so they could have their moment.