Maple

Ch16

Maple

It seemed like I've been in the hospital a lot lately. Dr. Lisa was not happy. I strained my injured foot, so it would have to stay in a brace for longer. But that was not what she was worried about. The blow to my head caused a fracture in my skull and internal bleeding.

The surgery was short and simple and I was sitting in bed with my head in a bandage two days after the incident. I was worried about the cost, although I did have health insurance. But the whole time I've been saving for Alex, to allow him to stay in the hospital on life support. This would cause a blow to my savings.

Megan and I shared a room with another girl, whose name was Francis. Megan's parents came to visit regularly, as well as her older brother, Thomas, and her little sister Emma. Obviously, no family members came to visit me and Megan was starting to get suspicious. Several times I thought of telling her about my family situation, but then I found myself unable to speak. Knowing Megan, she would definitely treat me differently. She's too kind-hearted not to.  

Mr. and Mrs. Ray visited shortly on the very same day, right after my surgery, and it caused my heart to flutter with joy. Max and David were going home today, although they promised to pass by our room before leaving. The door opened and I looked up expectantly, but it was just a nurse. She went over to Francis and after checking on her wounds, which she received from falling down a flight of stairs, announced that she could go home today.

"Lucky!" Megan said after the nurse left, "You get to eat real food again."

"Hospital food is not that bad," I laughed. In reality it was the first time in a while that I had eaten something that I had not cooked myself, so it was a nice break.

"Are you kidding me!" Francis grinned. "Well, it is better than airplane food, I guess."

Francis's parents came and we all said our goodbyes as she left the room, limping slightly. A second later, Max and David walked in wearing their own clothes.

"Hey, guys!" Max greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thanks" Megan said, smiling.

 "Although this bandage is really itchy" I grumbled, pointing to my head.

"Guys, before we leave, I have something important to say" David announced, gulping. "I'm really sorry about all of this. If I had just taken care of my business instead of running away none of this would have happened."

"Not this again," Max complained, rolling his eyes. "I already said that it could have happened to anyone stop blaming yourself!"

"You could never have guessed something like this would happen!" Megan assured.

"David, we don't blame you, so you shouldn't blame yourself." I explained, and the others nodded in agreement. David looked relieved, although the guilt had not completely left him.

"Oh, yeah, how's Cyrus, do you know?" Mega asked suddenly.

"He'll live," David said sarcastically. "They wouldn't let me see him though. I don't even know where he's being kept."

"What will happen to them? The Blood Hounds?" I ventured out of curiosity.

"Most of them are still underage, so my money's on a delinquency center or juvenile" David answered.

"You'd be right about that," announced Officer Chloe as she stepped into the room. "Hello everyone, how are you all doing?"

We all assured her that we were fine.

"Well, I just came to let you know that Cyrus came out of surgery just fine. The rest of the delinquents are being held at the police station until their sentence is decided. It's looking like a year in juvie for each, plus a fine that will compensate for your hospital expenses."

"Oh thank goodness" I sighed. Everyone gave me a confused look. "What? Hospital bills can be expensive!" I shrugged.

"Anyway," David said, changing the subject, "can I please meet with Cyrus? If there's one thing I learned from all of this it's that leaving things unfinished only leads to trouble. I need to talk to him."

Officer Chloe studied him carefully. She thought about it for awhile before she finally gave in.

"Fine, but I'm going in with you."

"Thank you so much!" he lit up. "Bye guys! I'll come to visit tomorrow sometime."

"We'll be expecting you," Megan said as him and Officer Chloe left the room.

"I hope it goes well" I said, looking at the closed door.

"I'm sure it will" Max assured. "Officer Chloe is with him, what could possibly happen?"

 "I think it's the first time that Max is actually right" Megan joked.

It was good to have friends to take my mind off of things. It was the first time since the accident that I didn't have to force the smile o my face. It was the first time I could feel happy without feeling guilty towards my parents and Alex.

I just hoped it could last.

David

The room was eerily quiet as I stood at the end of Cyrus's hospital bed. Officer Chloe stood a respectful distance away by the door, pretending to be busy with her phone. I knew that there was another policeman just outside the room, incase Cyrus tried to run.

Looking at Cyrus, I just couldn't believe that this was the same person who I had trusted with my back less than a year ago. He glared at me with so much hatred, but I knew him better than that. Cyrus was feeling betrayed, I could understand why.

"What do you want?" he hissed, "Here to boast about how you'd won?"

"Cyrus, you know that's not something I'd do."

"No, apparently, I don't know you at all" he barked "I would have never expected the David I know to walk out on us."

I sensed Officer Chloe become more alert.

"Look, I'm sorry. You can think of me as weak if you want, but I wanted out for a while, and you knew that. You just pretended not to notice. And when I brought it up, you laughed it off as a joke."

"You were our leader; I thought you'd be there until our graduation at least! We were doing great! Our territory was spreading; we beat other gangs left and right. There was no reason to leave."

"Maybe not for you, but I had had enough" I explained. "I felt like I was doing the wrong thing. I wanted to live differently. To be a different person, someone I'm be proud to be. I couldn't very much do that as a Blood Hound, could I?"

I saw the hurt in his eyes. I knew he had understood my reasoning from the beginning; he just didn't want to accept it.

"You're just making excuses."

"Perhaps," I agreed "but I know that you'd felt it too. That it just wasn't for us."

Cyrus turned away "I don't know what you're talking about."

There was a moment of silence before I sighed and walked to the door.

"That's all I came to say" I announced as Officer Chloe opened the door. "I just hope you'd understand one day."

I stepped out and closed the door behind me, but not before I heard the last thing that Cyrus said.

"Perhaps."

I laughed. Some people never change.