Another One Cindirection Story (L.P.)

Chapter 13 - Forgiveness and Love

Aubrey's POV

Eleanor and Perrie were waiting by the stairs when I opened the door. When they saw me, they jumped to their feet. I was prepared to tell them that I wasn't in the mood for whatever they had planned when I noticed their tear stained faces.

"What's wrong?" I asked immediately.

"It's Danielle," Perrie said, teary-eyed. "She's been in a car accident."

My eyes widened and Eleanor started crying again. Perrie put an arm around her in an attempt to calm her down, but it only made her cry harder.

"Where's Layla?" I asked and Perrie tilted her head in the direction of the living room. I slid the door close behind me and headed for her. I found her in a daze on the couch, her eyes staring at nothing.

I kneeled down beside her and took her hands. "Look at me, Layla, everything is going to be okay. We're going to go to the hospital right now to check in on her. I need you to drive. Can you do that?" I asked. I felt her hands trembling in mine.

"Layla, I need you to focus on breathing, okay? Breathe in," I said and waited until she followed before saying, "and breathe out." She closed her eyes and repeated the motions. We did this several times before she finally nodded and I pulled her to her feet.

We were almost all in the car when Layla seemed to regain all her senses and asked, "Where's Owen?"

"I don't know." I answered from the backseat. After our fight, he dropped me home and told me to tell Layla that he wouldn't be home for dinner. He sped off before I could even agree.

"I'll text him," Eleanor said and pulled out her phone. Her phone screen lit up, and for half a second, I thought I saw "poem names" in her search bar before she closed out of the tab and opened up her messages. Strange, I thought to myself, but it wasn't the right time to ask. I made a mental note to myself to ask her later.

Soon, we arrived at the hospital. I got out of the car first with Perrie and Eleanor following closely behind me. We made our way to the front desk while Layla went to find somewhere to park.

I walked up to counter and cleared my throat. "We're here for Danielle Peazer." The receptionist ran her finger down a clipboard and nodded.

"Follow me, please," she said and took off quickly. We followed her and arrived at a door marked 6954.

Eleanor shoved her way past me and Perrie and opened the door.

The first thing I saw was machines surrounding a bed. Danielle seemed so small in the midst of all the machines. I walked toward her tentatively, careful to not wake her up, but it didn't seem to matter. Her eyes were closed and her breaths slow. I glanced at the heart monitor next to her and the lines showed steady signs of a strong heart. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Perrie and Eleanor were opposite of me on the other side of Danielle's bed. Eleanor leaned forward and smoothed a curl away from Danielle's forehead.

"Who did this?" Perrie asked sadly.

It was strange being in this room with all of them. I couldn't remember the last time we were all together and it was this quiet. I had made it a mission to steer clear of them ever since my dad died, hating them for becoming involved in my life. But standing here in silence, they didn't seem as bad as I remembered them to be.

The door to Danielle's room flung open and ended the quiet. Layla rushed in, tears falling down her face before she even reached Danielle's bed.

"Oh my baby, oh my baby," she cooed. She attempted to smooth down Danielle's hair like Eleanor had done but only made it worse. She didn't seem to notice. She was too caught up in making sure that her daughter was okay. From what I managed to get out of her earlier, she had no idea what happened to Danielle. The hospital didn't tell her much on the phone except that she had been hit by a car. She must've been worried out of her mind, maybe expecting the worst.