Mr. Anonymous

Chapter 18

Austin's car tires squealed as they pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. Audrey's car door was open before the car had even come to a complete stop.

She ran at a dead sprint into the hospital doors, running straight into an older nurse.

The nurse held her at arm's length as Audrey tried to wiggle out of her grasp to look for Jack.

"What's wrong, honey?" the nurse asked her, concern etching her face.

Audrey had been in tears since the moment she heard Jack was in the hospital and now she struggled to explain what she needed to the caramel-skinned nurse.

"J-Jack M-Matthews." She finally got out through her tears. The nurse just nodded and lead her to the counter, where she typed into a computer. A moment later, she looked up.

"He's in 307." she said. Audrey immediately was off, ignoring whatever other information the nurse was trying to call after her. She ran up the flights of stairs to the third floor and saw Jade, Christian, and Noah huddled together outside the room. Audrey slowed to a walk as she took in their facial expressions.

"Is he okay?" she asked in a quiet voice.

They all turned except Jade who was crying into Christian's chest. No one spoke. Audrey decided to see for herself and looked in the hospital room... but the bed was empty. She turned to her friends.

"Where is he??" Audrey asked, beginning to feel nauseous. For a moment, no one spoke. Noah opened his mouth to speak, but Audrey was suddenly afraid to hear it. She started shaking her head, tears streaming quickly down her face.

"No, listen, Audrey - he's in surgery right now. They haven't brought him back to the room yet." Noah explained, reassuring her.

Audrey was still concerned, but felt like she could breathe again. Austin finally caught up to her then, out of breath.

"What happened?" Audrey asked the group.

"You happened!"

Audrey heard Jessie's voice and turned around to see her angry, crying face. "Bill lost it and pushed him down the stairs because Jack just had to be with you!" Jessie said, poking her hard in the shoulder.

"What?" Audrey said, still crying, but confused now.

"They were fighting because of you! Bill told him to stay away from you and Jack wouldn't listen. He was going to leave the house and see you, so Bill pushed him down the stairs!" Jessie said, crying hysterically now.

Audrey broke down in sobs, dropping to the floor. It was all her fault. She left him there with him. She knew that Bill was angry and she left Jack there alone.

Austin picked her up off the floor and into a hug. Noah consoled Jessie, rubbing her back as she cried into him.

After a few minutes, they all calmed down a little bit.

"Where is Bill now?" Christian asked Jessie.

Jessie took a deep breath. "They're still looking for him. I called 9-1-1 as soon as I saw Jack fall down the stairs and Bill took off while I was trying to help Jack."

Diana walked up to the group then and they all fell silent, awaiting her news. Her eyes were red and swollen - she had clearly been crying a lot.

"Jack hit his head pretty hard on the stairs." Diana started and then had to compose herself before continuing. "He lost a lot of blood. He's in a coma now, but the doctors are optimistic that he will wake up soon." She finished, nodding her head over and over, as though she could will Jack to wake up with her optimism.

Everyone nodded along with her silently.

Jessie spoke up. "I'm sorry, Audrey. I shouldn't have blamed you; it's not your fault. I was just upset about Jack and wanted someone to blame."

"No you were right. It is my fault. They never would have been fighting if it weren't for me." Audrey said, crying harder now.

"No, honey, you can't blame yourself. This is my fault. I should have left Bill a long time ago... he hurt me many times, but I thought I could deal with it if it meant you kids were taken care of." Diana said, cutting off when her tears overwhelmed her. "I should have known he would do something like this someday! I should have protected you, two!" Diana said, sobbing now.

Jessie put her arms around her mother as they both cried.

Jack was eventually wheeled into the room and hooked up to various machines. A whole new wave of tears hit Audrey as she took in Jack's appearance. He looked terrible, laying in that hospital bed, tubes and wires keeping his body functioning. They all sat with him for a long time that day, hoping and praying he would wake up soon.

--------------------------------------------------

A week passed and Jack's condition hadn't changed. The more time that passed and he didn't wake up, the worse his chances were.

Audrey struggled to get out of bed each day and go to school, knowing Jack was in the hospital. She could tell her parents were getting worried about her, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

She also couldn't bring herself to care that Mr. Anonymous had never texted her back after she revealed she had feelings for someone in real life. Audrey felt numb. She walked through the halls in a daze, thinking only of Jack's condition and her role in everything. She couldn't help but feel responsible for everything that happened despite what Jessie and Diana had said over and over throughout the past week or so - that it wasn't her fault.

The only bright side to all this was that Bill had been caught and arrested a few days before. The craziest thing about it was he wasn't remorseful at all, even when he learned Jack was in a coma.

Audrey was mulling over all of this when the school secretary came over the intercom in her class.

"Mrs. Varner?" The school secretary's voice crackled over the intercom.

"Yes?" Mrs. Varner answered.

"Audrey Greene's mother is here to pick her up."

Confused, Audrey stood up, gathered her books, and started to walk out. She glanced at Noah, but he wasn't looking at her, which had become the usual. He'd been acting very strange around her this past week, solidifying Audrey's suspicion that he was Mr. Anonymous.

As Audrey made her way towards the front office, she saw her mom waiting for her by the front doors.

"Mom? What's going on?" Audrey asked as she reached her.

"It's Jack - he's awake!"