Perfectly Wrong || Luke Hemmings

23

My leg bounces anxiously as I sit in the hallway with Tori and Calum, waiting for the verdict on Luke. Biting down on my knuckles to keep from saying anything I will regret, I feel sick. The sight of all that blood on the floor, on the rag, on Tori's car.

Michael comes out of the room he and Luke disappeared into nearly two hours ago, his brows drawn together. Tori rubs his shoulder comfortingly as he takes a seat beside her.

"How is he?" Calum asks, leaning around my friend to look at Mike. I'm glad he asked the question because I don't trust my voice right now.

Sighing, Michael says in a shaky voice, "They're not sure whether they're looking at mild or severe brain injury yet. They said if it's just mild, he should be fine in a matter of weeks, he just needs rest. If it's severe... he's looking at months to recover."

I cover my mouth with my hand to keep from saying anything or crying out. If I had moved faster, maybe I could have prevented the accident. Maybe Ashton wouldn't have lashed out at him if I just gone with him to his room. No one notices my strange reaction to the news because they're all dealing with their own reactions.

"When is he going to wake up?" Tori asks, her concerned gaze more for Michael than for Luke.

Michael can't hold himself together any longer and he breaks down, crying into Tori's shoulder. She puts an arm around him, rubbing soothing circles on his back. "They don't know," he says, his voice muffled by her shoulder

"Can-can we see him?" I ask tentatively.

Mike nods, unable to speak. Calum and I shoot to our feet and I force myself to fall back to let him go first. A nurse is adjusting a tube injected into Luke's hand, smiling as she hurries out of the room. He's hooked up to dozens of beeping machines and it's all I can do to keep my walk slow and casual instead of running to him. Cal bites down on his fist, glancing down at his best friend with worry. I wrap my arms around my stomach, my stomach churning. What if he never wakes up? What if the trauma is severe and he'll spend the next few months recovering?

"Hey this isn't your fault," Calum says, setting a gentle hand on my shoulder. I look up in surprise, wondering how he read my mind. Does he know the truth about me and Luke? At my confusion, Cal launches into a brief explanation. "It's not your fault that Ashton hit Luke because he stood up for you. Ash shouldn't have been hurting you, touching you when you didn't want him too." He frowns, his dark brown eyes full of concern. "How long has that been going on?"

"Since last night," I mutter, dropping my gaze to the tiled floor beneath us.

"Why haven't you broken up with him?"

I almost tell him everything, how I'm worried about what will happen to me or Luke when I dump Ashton and start dating who I truly like. Instead, I select a portion of the truth. "I'm scared to."

"It'll be okay, I promise." Calum gives me a half-hug with one arm, smiling reassuringly at me. "Once we sort out this Luke situation, we'll try to figure something out. I promise we won't let him hurt you again. I don't know what's gotten into him recently."

I try for a smile, looking back at Luke. Calum looks positively awful, exhaustion draining all the life from his face. "You go rest. I'll stay with Luke in case he wakes up." Cal nods, shooting me a grateful look as he walks out of the room. I drag a chair over to Luke's bedside, burying my face in my hands and breaking down into tears.

*

It's two days of rotating in and out of the hospital, one of us always watching Luke. Tori takes a sick week from school and stays with me in my apartment since I'm incredibly lonely without Luke there. Not wanting to take Luke's bed, she stays with me in my room and I curl up beside her, hiding how I wake up from nightmares with tears streaming down my face. My grades start to slip, but I try to power through it, eventually giving up and telling them I need a week off. I hardly eat anything, but I try to keep that from Tori, claiming that I'm not very hungry or throwing out the remainder of my food before she notices.

I rub the sleep out of my eyes as I shuffle into the kitchen early in the morning, making coffee while I scroll through Instagram mindlessly. I jump as my screen lights up with an incoming call, holding it up to my ear. "Michael? What's up?"

"I tried calling Tori, but she didn't pick up," he says, a slight frown in his voice.

"She's taking a shower," I say, taking a sip of my coffee. It's black, exactly what I need to get through another rough day of crashing on my couch and pretending to be fine.

"Oh. Well, I have exciting news! Luke's awake! And they said that his injury is mild, so he's going to be just fine!"

I almost drop my mug. "That's great!" I say, happy tears coming to my eyes. "We'll be over there as soon as possible. See you then." I hang up on my best friend's boyfriend, covering my mouth with my hand while I cry in relief. Rushing to the bathroom where Tori's turned the water off, I yell, "Tori! Get dressed, we're going to the hospital! Luke's awake!"

"No fucking way! That's amazing!" she shouts back. "Hang on, I'll be out in a minute."

I duck into my room to exchange my pajama pants and oversized shirt for a pair of black jeans, still wary of the handprints on my thigh. Throwing on one of Luke's sweatshirts that I stole when our AC went crazy awhile ago, I twist my hair up into a messy bun. Tori's just coming out of the bathroom, dressed in a cute jean skirt and a purple crop top.

"Let's go!" she squeals excitedly, racing me to the door. She calls dibs on driving so we take her car. It's not a very long drive to the hospital, but it feels long. I'm practically bouncing in my seat eagerly but I tell her it's the caffeine kicking in from my coffee.

Calum, Michael and a woman I've never met before with graying blonde hair stand in the hospital room, sitting on various pieces of furniture while they talk to each other and Luke. Luke's hair is flat and messy and I ache to run my fingers through it. He glances up when we enter, his eyes lighting up as they land on me. But he quickly covers it up, acting simply happy to see his friends.

"Hey guys!" Tori says, walking over to stand by Michael. "Good to see you awake, Luke."

"Glad the damage was only mild," I add, trying to appear nonchalant as I take a seat on the couch next to Calum.

"Hey, Tori, Izzy, thanks for coming." Luke pushes himself into a more upright position, gesturing toward the woman sitting in the chair next to his bed. "This is my mom."

"Hi, I'm Liz," she says politely, reaching over to shake hands with both me and Tori.

This isn't exactly how I pictured meeting Luke's mother, but I guess you can't choose everything. I smile back at her, feeling an overwhelming need for her to like me. After all, I have been making out with her son. "Izzy."

Tori introduces herself too, but I hardly pay attention. I can barely look at anyone other than Luke. He seems to be having the same problem I am because he keeps staring at his hands. Clearing his throat awkwardly, he asks, "When do I get out of here?"

"Soon, honey." Liz Hemmings leans forward and pats her son's leg gently. "They just have a few more tests to run and then you're good."

He nods, playing with his fingers to avoid looking at me. I watch my legs swing back and forth, pushing down the urge to run to him and kiss him, consequences be damned. But I don't. I'm this close to breaking up with Ashton. The less people know about what's transpired between me and Luke these past few weeks, the better.