Forbidden Attraction (Book 1)✔

♠Chapter 8♠

♠CHRIS♠

 I never thought I'd be one of those people bursting through hospital doors all dramatic like the people on television do. I never knew exactly what those people felt and I never really thought much about it because those were just movies.

 People like me tend to forget that, most of the time, movies are made to depict real life situations, although some of the time they're not really realistic.

 In this moment, however, I felt it. I knew exactly what they were feeling. Their hearts were racing, hands shaking uncontrollably. They definitely had cold sweat. And they couldn't hear anything over the blood rushing in their ears.

 For me to be feeling this, being this worried about someone I met just a couple of weeks ago, didn't make sense to me. For me to be this scared…

 Running up to the front desk, I think I startled the receptionist since she jerked a little, “Sorry. I-I’m here for umm-” I stuttered over my words and squeezed my eyes shut, forgetting her name momentarially.

 “Sir, can you calm down,” the lady said lowly, “Who are you here for?”

 “I-I-” I stuttered, struggling to remember her name. The thing is, I did know her name, but for some reason it's like it was erased from my mind right now. I reached up to press my fingers against my temple, willing myself to remember.

 A hand rested on my shoulder and I jerked, turning around to look at the person.

 “You alright?” She asked lowly.

 I let out a semi relieved breath, “Do you know-”

 “She's in surgery,” she said and I held my breath. She probably saw how uncomfortable and tense that made me, so she quickly added, “No, she's fine. She's gonna be okay,” I let out a breath, “The bullet hit her shoulder, so they had to take care of that, but she's gonna be fine.”

 I nodded, a flood of relief washing through me and reached up to run my hand down my face, “Okay.”

 “You wanna sit?” She gestured to the waiting area where a couple vacant chairs were and I nodded so we made our way over and took a seat.

 Watching her mother, you could tell she'd been crying. Her eyes were red and a bit swollen, but nothing else gave away if she was worried or not. She sat with her legs crossed and her handbag in her lap. The only thing I noticed then, was how tight her hands were clasped together and that was probably the only give away, that even though she said everything was gonna be fine, she was still a bit shaken up.

 I swallowed hardly, twisting in my chair to turn toward her and asked, “W-What happened?”

 She turned her attention to me, “A shooting,” she said and her voice cracked a little, so she cleared her throat and looked down at her hands, “Just a random shooting. Just another dumbass who wants to take their pain out on everyone else.” Her breathing became shallow and I wanted to comfort her, but at the same time, I didn't want to cross any boundaries, so I kept my hands to myself.

 “Did you tell anyone else?” She asked, looking at me, “Any other friends?”

 I shook my head, looking down at my hands that were still shaking, “Uh- no. I didn't…” I shrugged, “I didn't think she'd want me to,” I met her gaze, “So… When I talk to her—if she wants me to, then I will. But for now,” I shook my head, “Not until she says it's alright.”

 She eyed me and nodded, then she adjusted herself so she was turned toward me, “Are you dating my daughter, Chris?”

 My eyes widened in surprise at how forward she was with the question. I shouldn't even be, because since I've met her, she's been nothing but straightforward and to the point.

 I let out a small laugh out of surprise and shook my head, “No. We're not dating or… anything really. She's just… a really nice person. Fun to be around. We sit together in first block, so I got to know her a little and she doesn't have much friends-”

 “I know that,” she said lowly. She said it in such a ‘know it all’ mom way that all mothers seem to have and that made me chuckle.

 “A lot of people seem to know her though. Acquaintances more like, but she doesn't have someone to sit at lunch with or to talk to and feel comfortable, so I kinda force her to talk to me sometimes since she's kinda reserved,” she nodded, not saying anything as I continued talking, “I introduced her to my friends and it's sorta a big group of us, so whenever we're going out or doing anything, we extend an invitation to her-”

 “You wanted to take her to homecoming.” She said.

 I let out a nervous laugh, “Yeah, it's still kind of a group thing. And I wasn't gonna ask her at first, because I knew she wasn't into that kinda stuff, but I did,” I shrugged, “I probably shouldn't have though…” I trailed off.

 “Oh, don't do that,” she said.

 “Do what?”

 “Sit there and take the blame for what happened to her.” She stated, knowing that's exactly what I was doing, “Just because she was looking for a dress to go with you, doesn't mean it's your fault,” she said and I looked down at my hand, picking at my nails, “Faulting yourself isn't going to make it go away or undo it. And even if she wasn't there, it still would've happened. It's just a part of life. Don't try to take the blame for something that you didn't even know was going to happen.”

 I nodded, “I just can't help but feel like… If I didn't ask her, then this would've been avoided, y’know.”

 “Even if she wasn't there, it still would've happened to someone else,” she stated, “Other people got injured too. It wasn't just her.”

 My eyebrows furrowed. I was so busy worrying about her that I forgot that there could be other people.

 “Some of them had something much worse happen to them, so all we can do is be grateful that she's gonna be okay. Maybe not right away, but eventually.”

 I nodded, “How long do you think it's gonna be?” I asked.

 She shook her head, “No idea. But I'm not leaving.”

 “That makes two of us,” I voiced, leaning back in my chair amd getting comfortable.