Unforeseen Circumstances

Chapter 13

I have no idea how long I was out for, but when my eyes eventually fluttered open I was greeted with the unpleasant, blinding brightness of the fluorescent, overhead lights that lined the ceiling. I blinked a couple of times in order to speed up the adjustment process that my eyes needed in order to be able to see properly in the room after hours of darkness. Once I could see properly once again, I became aware of the hand that was loosely holding my right hand as the owner's head rested against the mattress of the bed I was on, signalling that they had fallen asleep, probably waiting for me to wake up again. I smiled slightly to myself at this fact, knowing that the people who had me randomly thrusted into their lives, genuinely cared about me instead of putting up with me because they simply had no other choice. After a couple of moments of taking in the peaceful appearance of the raven-haired man that was sleeping at my bedside, I gathered the energy needed to gently squeeze his hand, signalling that I had woken up once again.

At the squeeze of his hand, his head almost immediately shot up and his eyes locked onto my own as his jaw dropped open at the surprise of seeing my awake and breathing. I let out a soft chuckle at his shocked appearance and seconds after it escaped my lips I was engulfed in a hug, which I quickly returned. Savouring the familiarity that the warmth offered.

"Hey Dev," I spoke softly as I rested my head on his shoulder. However, not long after I greeted the man who was hugging me, he pulled away from the hug and held me at arms length, a serious look upon his face. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Wasn't he just happy that I was alive?

"Don't ever scare me like that ever again!" He stated in a deadly serious voice, causing me to try and hold in the laughter that wanted to break loose. This was one of the few times I had ever seen him look and sound so serious. He raised an eyebrow at my expression, as I desperately tried not to ruin his serious moment with my immature laughter.

"I solemnly swear that I will do my absolute best not to scare you like that ever again," I replied with a raised hand, as if I was swearing an oath in a court of law. Devon rolled his eyes at my sarcastic response before pulling me in for another hug.

Unfortunately, our reuniting was cut short as the door to the room I was in slowly creaked open to reveal Naomi, Reece, Brent and Alex. Without a second of hesitation, Reece and Brent sprinted over to my bed and flung themselves onto me, engulfing me in a hug. I simply laughed at their reaction, knowing that this was extremely typical behaviour for two boys. Always over-the-top in the majority of their actions. My laughs were joined with Naomi, Devon and Alex's laughs at the sight before their eyes.

"I'm glad to see you're awake again Faith, you had us worried there for a second," Alex began as he rested his hands on the bed frame at the end of the bed, to which I smiled at the sincerity in his voice whilst waiting for him to continue. "However time is of the essence. I know this is unfair of me to enforce upon you at such a time but we must conduct the reverse now, before the Myriad have a chance to disrupt our attempts once again."

I nodded my head in both agreement and understanding. I knew it was far from the ideal situation but understood the importance of it happening before the Myriad could do even worse to me. I placed my hand on Devon's shoulder as he went to disagree with Alex, no doubt believing I needed more time to recover, which I probably did. I gave him a look which told him not to argue.

"I agree Alex, when is it going to happen?" I asked the leader of the Resistance, wanting to prepare myself mentally as much as I could before I was thrown into this situation in less than ideal circumstances.

"This evening would be ideal but tomorrow evening at the latest," Alex stated. At the mention of it potentially happening this evening, I swear my heart stopped for a brief moment as my face, no doubt faltered from the false smile that I had plastered on. Devon must've noticed the brief change in my facial expression as he was quick to answer before I had the chance to.

"Tomorrow Alex. Let her at least have the rest of today to fully recover and prepare herself, she deserves that much!" Devon responded to the man in charge, to which he nodded in understanding.

"Of course, I completely agree," Alex replied to Devon before giving his attention to me and continuing, "I would like to apologise one more time for not giving you much option in this situation, but I wish you all the best for your, unfortunately, short recovery period Faith."

"Thank you Alex, but honestly, no need to apologise because I opted to go through with the reverse in the first place so I have no one to blame but myself," I responded with a soft smile on my face as Alex nodded at me before slipping out of the room, no doubt to give my friends and I some time to talk.

After the door clicked shut, I took a moment to just look at the four people who were left in the room with me. Devon had become so much more than a friend to me, he was always so kind and caring, the one who I could rely on no matter what. Naomi had become a genuine friend to me instead of just needing to help me in order to get her little sister back. Then there was Reece and Brent who were such light-hearted characters who were children at heart. Just simply taking a moment to appreciate those who had stuck with me throughout this experience, made me realise that this sacrifice I was making, if it went wrong, then at least I was giving them back their original best friend, and I was just thankful to have gotten to know them.

"Earth to Faith!" Reece called as he snapped his fingers in front of my face to try and gain my attention. I lightly shook my head, breaking myself out of my thoughts as I smiled at the three people sitting in front of me.

"Woah, Fay, are you okay?" Devon asked as he leant over to wipe a tear away, that had slipped out of my eye without me realising. I chuckled and nodded.

"I was just thinking about how lucky and grateful I am to have gotten to know you guys and that no matter what happens tomorrow, you will have your original best friend back." I explained as they all looked at me with sympathy on their faces.

"No matter what happens, our lives will never be the same if you aren't in them Faith! You are just as much a best friend to us all as Rosie is. Never forget that," Naomi spoke as they pulled me into a group hug as I smiled to myself.

How did I get so unlucky but so lucky at the same time?