Broken Promises (#4 in the 'Outcast' series)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Andy's Point of View:

"Andy? Andy, can you hear me?"

Whoever was speaking sounded quite distant, and I wasn't sure if I was imagining it; I couldn't even tell who it was.

"Honey, I don't think he can hear you. Now come on, let's go get something from the café, ok?"

"They said he should be awake soon! What if he doesn't wake up?"

"Oh sweetheart, of course he's going to wake up. I know it may seem bad right now, but Andy's going to pull through. He's not going anywhere, so come on. We'll be back soon, I promise."

My head was pounding as I managed to open my eyes a bit. I couldn't focus very well, but I saw whoever'd been talking was heading for the door.

"Tara?" I managed to say as I tried to wake up properly.

They both stopped and looked back to me.

"Oh my God, you're awake!"

I was pretty sure by this time that it was Tara. She rushed over and pulled me into a hug as I tried to make sense of what was going on. Tara let me go, a relieved look on her face as my focus finally returned and I managed to wake up a bit more.

My aunt was still standing over at the door, a bit of a smile on her face as she saw how happy Tara was. I looked to Tara, feeling rather lost and confused at the moment as to what was going on.

"What happened?" I asked, feeling a bit freaked out now that I didn't even know where I was. "Where am I?"

Tara's expression changed to sadness and concern.

"Andy, you..."

She trailed off and looked over at her mom, making me glance over at her before looking back to Tara.

"Tara?" I said cautiously, still worried. "What'd I do?"

She looked back to me, clearly unsure about what to say to me. I just looked back at her, and the look on my face must've been enough to make her realise just how freaked out I really was right now.

"You tried to kill yourself Andy," she said sadly, my aunt looking at me with a bit of disappointment from her position at the door.

I looked between Tara and my aunt, not sure what to say. My aunt just walked out the door, disappearing around the corner. I looked to Tara who was still looking at me with concern.

"What day is it?" I managed to ask, feeling really bad about what I'd done.

"It's Monday," she said. "I came straight here after school about an hour ago."

I looked away and looked out the window that was off to my right. I was still having trouble believing I'd actually tried to commit suicide four days ago.

"We were worried you wouldn't even wake up," Tara said, and it was clear she was crying. "We didn't wanna have to make that decision Andy..."

I looked back to her, seeing how much this'd actually affected her.

"Tara, I'm so sorry," I said, putting my arms around her and pulling her into a hug as she cried. "I dunno what was going through my head. I'm so sorry."

"It's ok," she said through the tears. "I understand why you did it, and I don't blame you. I'm just so glad you're ok. I didn't wanna lose you."

She kept a hold of me as she calmed down, and I realised I'd broken my promise to Ashley.