thin walls / calum hood

2.4

Hayley

An hour or two had gone since Calum was assigned his hospital room and the nurses started forcing tubes down his throat. Hayley was sitting outside in the waiting area with Luke. The blond boy had been staring at the floor for the past half hour with head in his hands. Hayley knew he wouldn't be able to speak, so she didn't try to talk to him.

There was a woman in his room, holding a vivid discussion with one of the nurses. After a while, she sat down in the chair next to him, a defeated look on her face. It was his mother.

Luke's voice snapped Hayley out of her thoughts. "What if he won't wake up again," he mumbled. He lifted his head, blonde hair sticking out all over. He didn't even try to tame it.

"He's got alcohol poisoning. He's not dead."

"What about the things they're sticking down his throat and nose? It looks serious."

"He's probably getting his stomach pumped or something."

"That's disgusting."

"It's not exactly a fancy condition." Hayley squinted her eyes, trying to dim out the strength of the fluorescent lamps. "These bright lights are annoying. I feel sick."

"Don't even go there. Cal's in there barely breathing!"

Although she was trying to make light conversation with the boy who still looked confused and scared about the hospital environment, Hayley knew her choice of words wasn't great. It was unfair when Calum was in there, actually feeling terrible. "Sorry."

"Will he be okay?"

"I think. They're helping him breathe and he's getting hydrated through the drip."

"How can you be so chill about this?" He sounded offended, his blue eyes distressed.

Maybe she was cold hearted and emotionally inept. Hayley couldn't feel much, if anything at all. And then at the same time, she felt so fucking much. Maybe that was the problem. She felt too many things to be able to process it all.

All she could think was how stupid Calum had been for getting himself a free lift to the hospital, and how much he'd changed since the first time she met him.

He was supposed to be the shy, cute boy asking her to keep her singing down; the boy who'd slurred to her about Green Day not only being his favourite colour, but also his favourite band. He was the boy with the giggle - how the hell had he ended up here?

Betrayal, disappointment sadness and shock were all floating around somewhere in the mess of feelings she couldn't seem to untangle.

"I'm being realistic. Freaking out won't make it any better. What made him drink a bottle of liquor, anyway? He must have been upset."

"I don't know. I took the bottle from his hand when I found him."

Luke told her, sighing. "He's been different lately. I just don't know why he'd do this." Tears brimmed at his eyes.

"Maybe you should go home and get some sleep?" Hayley knew the puffiness of his eyes were mostly because he'd been rubbing them to hide the fact that he was crying. He wasn't fooling anyone. If anything, he only made it look worse.

"I can't leave him now. It's my fault that he's lying in there barely breathing. I pushed him over the line."

Hayley didn't know how to deal with sad, tall, teenage boys. Luke was a wreck, and she wasn't sure how to help him. "It's not your fault, Luke. He made the decisions himself."

"I shouldn't have teased him the way I did. I'm such a dick."

On Luke's request, Hayley walked over to see if Calum was making any progress. His door was open in case assistance was needed – if he'd throw up and they needed to make sure the pipes sticking out of his mouth worked to prevent him from choking.

There was a small sound at his breathing but Calum was completely still on his mattress, eyes closed. He had a bandaging around his head and an IV connected to his arm.

His mother sat next to him. She wasn't moving either, except for her lips. She was saying something to him in a low hushed voice. Hayley concentrated on her murmurs to make out what was being said.

"I don't understand why I didn't see what was going on. Why would you do this to yourself? What made you do this? I love you Calum, so so much."

The continuous wheezing of his breaths assisted by the tube shoved far down his throat forced goose bumps onto Hayley's arms. It was a terrible sound, although the only evidence of him actually being alive. He looked far from peaceful, dry lips around the pipe. The inner struggle he was dealing with showed on his face, even though his eyes were closed.

"Are you a friend of his?" the woman, looking much like Calum, asked.

"Yeah," she replied, but wasn't sure if he considered her a friend or not anymore. "I'm Hayley. I live in the flat below you. Luke came to get me because I know first aid."

"You're the girl they told me about."

Calum twitched, and both their eyes shot to him - he was still not out of his restless slumber.

"Thank you for what you did for my boy. I don't even want to think about what could have happened if you hadn't been there to help him."






A moment later, Calum wheezed again. His body moved up, as if he was having a seizure. He then looked over at his mother with watery eyes, a stray tear spilling from one of them.

Hayley felt her heart pounding out of her chest, seeing as he was awake. Calum reached for his mother's hand, pressing it as she cried. Figuring she'd let them have a moment, Hayley snuck out of the room, suddenly feeling lightheaded. She told Luke the news, and he looked up, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw his friend was finally conscious.

"You should probably wait, though. Just for a bit, anyway, I think they're having a mother-son kind of moment in there."

He smiled lightly, running his teeth over his lower lip. "Thank you for being here tonight."

"It's okay." She sent a glance in the direction of Calum's room, just in time to see his mother point in their direction, followed by him slowly moving his head to see her. His eyes were still a bit dim, she could tell even from that far away. There was a troubled look on his face. Hayley didn't like seeing him like that.

"Are you not coming to see him?" he asked, looking at her as she started to pack her things up and put her jacket on.

"Not now." Hayley shook her head. "I really have to go."

-

why calum, WHY?

thoughts on hayley running away? -.-

luke's being an emotional wreck

learn from your mistakes, kids

who wants a dedication?

~lauren