A Race to the End

Chapter 6

I start to open my eyes slowly, adjusting the brightness that's beginning to overtake the room. I rub my eyes and look around the room. White blinds cover the windows attempting to keep the bright sunlight out of the room; however, failed to prevent the sun from providing light.

A heart monitor is located next to the bed, the quiet beeping bouncing off of each wall. Along with the heart monitor, an oxygen and IV machine are standing tall and proud — the IV leading to my arm with drops of liquid following the path into my hand.

Pushing myself up to get a better look at the room, I see a black uncomfortable looking couch pushed against the wall in the corner of the room and a tv hanging on the wall across from me. At the end of my bed, there were get better soon balloons, cards and sweets waiting for me to eat. The rest of the room was empty besides a couple of bags, no doubt filled with some of my clothes and my dad's stuff. I smile at the thought of my dad sleeping on the couch in a hospital room. Falling back into the bed, I let a small laugh escape from my lips. I felt ecstatic to be back home even if it meant I had to be in a hospital room for a couple of days.

The door opened and in walked my brothers and dad, all holding either a hot chocolate or coffee. If it was possible, my smile grew bigger and wider when I saw them. When they noticed me awake, their expressions seemed to match mine. They put down their take-away cups, and we all hugged, happy to be in each other's arms.

When we let go, a nurse and doctor came in to check my vitals and injuries. They told us that because of the injuries; I had to stay for a couple of days to make sure everything is ok, and it ended up being the same case for the others. Once the doctor and nurse left, my brothers and dad sat down and explained everything to me as well as telling me over and over again how worried they were. We ended up talking for the whole of the day with Ethan and his family, Sophie and her family, and Mason and his family join us in my room as well. Ethan and I were told that we had unexpectedly fainted and put onto a medically induced coma. The doctors couldn't explain why we had fainted, and we both laughed, knowing why we had passed out.

It's been a few days since we got back and were out of the hospital, and it's been crazy. Sophie and Mason made their miraculous return to Huston Texas, where everyone was happy to see them. The four of us agreed not to tell the police or our parents about the full truth, knowing that they wouldn't believe us. So, we kept it to ourselves with the exception of Bailey and Sean, of course. We spent a couple of days in the hospital due to our injuries and discharged with clean bills of health. Ethan and I seemed to grow even closer together, and I will admit that I might have developed a small crush on the boy from England.

It was a Thursday and Sophie, Mason, Sean and I got the day off, the majority of us it was so that we could get better and dad let Sean have the day off to spend time with us. Sophie and I were sitting in our room while the boys were doing some chores outside on the farm. We were talking about everything that she had missed out on, and I told her about my growing crush on Ethan. Her reaction was as I expected it to be, a high pitched squeal and then she said something that I definitely didn't expect.

"But he's ginger."

"So?"

"You can't like a ginger." She said in a matter of fact tone.

"Why not?" I asked, slightly frustrated with my best friends behaviour.

"Because they're not exactly known for being nice" she tried to reason.

"Well, Ethan is nice and sweet, and he can be kind of cute sometimes," I say dreamily. "And besides, it's not like he's fully ginger, his hair is a little brown as well" I explained to my best friend, snapping out of my dreamy state, as I move to sit on my knees.

She just sighs and falls back in the bed in defeat.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you."

"You can be my supportive best friend like always and help me." I say hopefully and poke her in the side.

"I guess I could do that. As long as your happy" She smiles and sits up.

"Good, cause I've missed you so much." I hug her and smile wide, glad that I finally have my best friend back.

It's peaceful for a moment before the boys barge into my room. Once they see us, they yell "Group hug" and jump into the hug, causing all four of us to fall back on my bed and Sophie and I both squealed as we hit the soft mattress.

Nevertheless, we all laughed, and at that moment, everything feels normal and right again, but I'm afraid this was only the beginning.