Arranged Marriage

Chapter 5

I woke up in a completely white room, with beeping sounds every once in a while. "Olivia, you're awake!" I turned towards the sound, and saw Hayes holding a teddy bear, a box of chocolates, and a bouquet of roses. I looked away. "Come on, princess." I crossed my arms, still not looking at Hayes. "I already apologized to Daniel." I rolled my eyes. "Did you now?" I finally turned around and looked at Hayes. He had a black eye and a split lip. "So that just makes it fine? We can just forget about this all?" I was yelling now. "No, you hit me! And you said you wouldn't hurt me!" I started crying. "Look at me! You left a mark!" Hayes opened his mouth to speak, but then a doctor came in.

"Miss Olivia, I see you are awake. Well, it appears you have a minor concussion, so you will need to stay awake for the next 10 hours or else you may slip into a coma. If you want, you can choose any of the boys waiting for you in the lobby, or this fine young man to stay with you." I deliberately looked at Hayes. "Can you bring Daniel? And honestly bring anybody else except Nate or Sammy." The doctor nodded. "And would you like this young man to stay?" I shook my head. "No." Hayes threw down the gifts he had brought and stormed out of the room.

A couple minutes later Daniel, Taylor, Kenny, Nash, and Cam walked into the room. Kenny carefully picked up the stuff Hayes had dropped, and placed it on the table. "Hey." I said dully. "Come on. Cheer up." I shook my head. "I don't want to." Daniel gave me an awkward hug since I was lying down. "Come on, Lil O. We're all here for you. Even Nash has ignored Hayes since this happened." I looked at Nash. "Seriously?" He nodded. "Yea, my brother is being a babyish asshole, and we all love you already." I blushed. "Thanks." "No seriously, we're here for you, and we're only a call or text away."  

Taylor grabbed my phone and passed it around. When I got it back, all the boys' numbers were in it. I smiled weakly. "Thanks." Cam looked at me intensely. "So are you feeling any better?" I shrugged. "My head hurts like hell, but mostly my feelings are dead." Everyone looked at me sympathetically. "What's your favorite board game?" I thought for a moment. "Probably Monopoly. Why?" Kenny stood up. "I'll be right back."

Kenny came back in a few minutes with a colorful cardboard box saying Monopoly on it. "Oh, that makes more sense." Cam unpacked the box, and offered the pieces to me in his hand. I chose the dog, and placed it on the GO space. After the boys had chosen their pieces, the game began. It was a pretty competitive game, with everyone laughing and joking, except me. Several times, I almost smiled, but then I stopped myself. As we were just wrapping up the game, the doctor knocked on the door and entered. "Visiting hours are over, but because you are a special case right now, I can allow you one visitor to stay. The young man from earlier today is just sitting in the waiting room crying. I might suggest that you let him come see you, as he's already punched a hole in the wall." I looked at Daniel. "Can you stay?" I received a nod in confirmation. "Of course." I half smiled. "But just leave when Hayes gets here, I don't want him to get mad." Daniel looked concerned. "Are you sure? I don't want him to hurt you." I picked up the remote that the nurse had on the bedside table. "I've got this. I can call a nurse. D-dog, I'll be fine."

Daniel left the room, and Hayes came in. "Hi." I said dully. "Princess, I am so sorry."

I just looked at him. "I know. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm in the hospital for a concussion and I barely set foot in the hotel." Hayes turned away, and I saw a tear slip down his cheek. "Princess, I'm just worried that you'll be closer to Daniel than you are to me. You're my princess and I'm afraid that Daniel will take you away from me." His voice cracked. "Hayes..." He turned around, cheeks shiny with tears. "Daniel can't take me away from you. I'm yours and he's just a friend. I want someone my age to be close to, because everyone else is so much older than me." I blinked. "If you don't want me to be friends with him, then we can stop." Hayes shook his head vigorously. "I completely understand."

He walked closer and presented the teddy bear to me. I took it and held the huge stuffed creature close. Hayes pulled off his sweatshirt and handed it to me. I put it on over the ugly hospital gown. He sat next to me in the hospital bed and put his arm around me. "We're a mess." He laughed. I looked at him and used the sleeve of his sweatshirt to wipe away the stray tears under his eye. The nurse peeked her head in the door. "Do you want the young man waiting outside to come in?" I looked at Hayes, the question in my eyes. "Yea." Hayes nodded. "Let him in."