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"I brought you something to eat." Marleen said as she entered the hospital room.

I looked up from my hands and managed to give her a small smile. She returned back the smile, holding the food tray and placing it on the table where another food tray was—untouched since I hadn't eaten much.

"Grace." She started, coming over and sitting down on the bed in front of me. I leaned back against the pillows and looked at her. "You really should eat something."

She looked exhausted. I wanted to ask her if she had slept last night, or the night before that.

Almost two days since I had woken up and I didn't know why the doctor wasn't letting me leave. He told me not to worry and just rest. Which to be honest, made me worry more.

"I...don't want to." I told her. Mainly because I'd throw it up, and I really didn't want to. Throwing up made you feel exhausted from the inside and I already felt like that.

"I know you don't." She smiled, facing me before picking up the bowl of hot soup. "But you need to get better, don't you? You've been missing out on school too."

That just made me furrow my brows.

"How's Frost doing?" I asked her before taking the bowl from her hands and slowly taking a spoon, sipping the hot liquid.

"Missing you, of course." She shook her head slightly, still smiling. "Though Alice sometimes offers to take care of him when I'm not in the house. Since Luc's been staying here too."

I looked down at the soup. It tasted fine, so I ate another spoon of it.

"I thought about bringing him here but I don't think the other staff would appreciate it." She shrugged. "And you know Frost. He gets...excited when he sees people."

Frost had been staying at her house this entire time. I did want to see him but then again, she was right. Bringing him here wasn't the best option.

I nodded, licking my lips. "You should tell...Lucius to stop staying here. He doesn't have to stay here."

She raised her brows slightly, letting her eyes wander away from me. "You and I both know how that's not possible."

I looked up at her from the bowl of soup, touching the spoon lightly against my lips.

"He wants to make sure you're fine before he leaves." She added.

"I am fine."

"Completely fine." She corrected.

I hadn't even realized how quick the soup got finished halfway. So I pushed the bowl away. I didn't want to eat it all, in case I threw it up later.

"Marleen?"

She let out a small questioning hum, seeming distracted by something.

"I'm really grateful for what you're doing for me. You and...Lucius." I started. She broke off from her thoughts and looked back at me. "I'm just saying that...I will take this from here. I mean, I can pay the hospital bills. You don't—You don't have to keep a watch on me or worry for me."

I stopped then, knowing clearly well that I didn't meant it in any way. Except about the hospital bills thing. I'd pay them. But I really didn't want her or Luca to stop caring. It made me happy. They made me happy.

"Gracie." She smiled warmly at me. "Don't be stupid."

I felt a small lump forming in my throat. "I mean it."

I didn't know why they were helping me in the first place. I left them two years ago. Mom left without telling her, I left without telling Luca. And they still...cared.

I broke out from my thoughts when Marleen gently took my hand, giving it a light squeeze. "I've known you since you were a little girl, Grace. Don't act as if I'm a stranger. We were a family, remember? We still are."

Are we?

I looked away from her, wanting to pull my hand away. Would she not have said any of this if she knew the real truth? About my family? About my parents?

"Look, I don't know why you all left for Manhattan." I bit the inside of my cheek, looking down at my lap. "I know you must have reasons for that. Everything has its reasons. And I'll wait till...Jordyn or you finally tell me that."

I felt my eyes tear up when I looked at her this time. "Please don't say that." I was clearly aware of my voice breaking as I whispered.

Yet her eyes just softened even more. "I forgive you, Gracie. It wasn't your fault that you had to leave. And...you make Luc happy, even if things seem complicated right now. So you can't just expect me not to care for you."

I nodded then, blinking back the tears. "But I'll...pay the hospital bills."

She let out a small laugh at that, giving my hand another squeeze. "I've already paid the hospital bills." When my eyes widened at that, she held up her other hand to silence me and added, "We'll talk about it later, okay? You can repay them later or something. Right now, you need to get better. That's all I'm asking you to do."

I opened my mouth but closed it shut after a few seconds. "Thank you."

She smiled before pulling back and getting up. "All right. Now I need to go and check up on the other patients. Make sure you finish that soup."

I nodded and leaned back against the pillows, a small smile playing on my lips.

•••••

I didn't tell Alice the truth. Instead, I made up a lie that she seemed to believe. I lied about how this was just an accident. An accident that happened when I had been away from Hayward, meeting a relative of mine.

She seemed to believe that because she didn't know that I really had no relatives at all. Well, except one Aunt of mine who lived in Manhattan—but she didn't know that.

Alice visited me again after school hours, even if she must've been tired after her cheerleading practice. She wanted to drop off my school work and well, check up on me.

And I wouldn't say that I wasn't happy to see her. I was. Because being here in this hospital room –all alone– got lonely pretty quickly, even though I was used to that. But still, it felt nice to have some company. Especially since I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts right now.

All I saw was the doctor or the nurses, who pretty much left after some small talk. Marleen sometimes came too, making sure I was doing fine. At times I wanted to stop her, ask her to stay a little longer, but the exhaustion on her face did not let me do that. On the other hand, Luca rarely came in here.

And so when Alice did, I was more than glad to hear her long rants and gossips. It made me feel normal.

"So," I started, making her look up from one of the random magazines in her hands as she flipped through the pages, sprawled on the small couch at the corner of the room. "Where's Fraser?"

The mere thought that Fraser hadn't come here even once didn't settle well with me. Of course, I remembered his creepy conversation back in that dog shelter. And of course, I didn't fully trust him. But he had kissed me that day.

And I hadn't seen him after that.

"He went back to Ireland." That's what Alice told me this morning, which left me in shock for the next few seconds.

"What?"

Alice seemed a little sad when she said that. "He had to go. My Aunt and Uncle called him back. Some urgent reasons. He told me he'd talk to you but...you weren't here the previous week."

I just stared at her speechlessly.

"I'm sorry. I know...that he kissed you." She lowered her voice, giving me an apologetic look.

I found my voice then. "Yeah well, it's okay. I...I'm sure it wasn't that serious."

She raised her brows and nodded, as if she knew that Luca had kissed me the other day. And I had kissed him back. Which brought me to the fact that we hadn't even talked about it, about that kiss.

But once again, I had pushed that thought far back in my head. I had other stuff to talk about. Other stuff to figure out.

However, the following night, I was sleeping in the same hospital room, when I woke up with a jolt. I think it was way after midnight, although I could hear few voices outside my hospital room.

But that wasn't the reason why I woke up. It was the other presence in my room that woke me up.

I got a little scared at that. Since it was all dark in the room and I could only see the silhouette, I sat up abruptly in surprise.

"You're awake?" It was just Luca.

I had to force myself to calm down before I replied. Still, my voice came out a bit shaky. "Y-Yeah. Um, what are you doing?"

He walked over towards the couch before picking up his leather jacket. Thankfully, I could actually make out his face now since he wasn't all in the dark now.

"I just needed this." He spared me one little glance before moving over towards the door. For some reason, he seemed like he was in a hurry.

Or maybe he just really didn't want to talk to me.

"Where are you going?" I almost cringed when I heard the slight desperation in my voice.

He stopped before turning around and facing me. From the dull light in the hallway outside, I noticed his dark grey T-shirt and black jeans, his jacket clutched in one hand and his phone in the other.

"I've got...some work to do." He spoke up carefully, as if not sure what else to say. That just made me frown a little.

"It's way after midnight right now." I said.

He just stared back at me blankly.

"What work is it that you're going to do?" I asked when he didn't say anything.

He ran a hand through his hair impatiently. "Look, why don't you just sleep, yeah? I really need to go."

"Can I come with you?"

"Of course not, Rose." And there was this sudden warning in his voice, telling me not to say anything further.

But where was he leaving off to? He said it like it was important. What was so important at this time of the night?

"Well, tell me where you're going then."

He looked irritated by now. "To a party."

This time, I was the one who stared back at him with a blank expression. As if people really went to fucking parties way after midnight when they looked exhausted out of their minds.

"Is the party related to that guy?" I asked him all of a sudden.

"What guy?"

I bit onto my bottom lip, looking down at my hands. Was I supposed to talk about that guy? What if I really wasn't supposed to?

I remembered that night, when I had escaped from the Research Department with Jonathan's help. It had been blurry but I remembered that I had panicked when I couldn't have opened my front door. Luca had dragged me away, telling me that he'd be taking me to the hospital. And then I had heard that guy. The strange deep voice.

"The guy who was there that night. Outside my house. When you were forcing me to come here, the hospital."

He went silent at that. I tried searching for any expression on his face, but found none. "There wasn't any guy."

I frowned at that. Did he just lie?

"I heard him, Lucius. I wasn't that high on...whatever drug I was on." I spoke slowly. "You really don't have to lie, you know."

He seemed highly irritated by now. But nonetheless, he took few steps towards me before sitting down in front of me. On the bed.

"You don't have to be concerned about that guy. Whoever he is. Stay out of it, okay?" He asked. And I was having a feeling that he was trying to be polite but it wasn't working well for him. Something that happened to me all the time.

I blinked, feeling the sudden rush of pills finally kicking in. The many pills that the nurse had urged me to take before falling asleep.

"And who is he?"

He let out a small, frustrated groan before running both of his hands through his hair. Now that the moonlight was directly shining on him, I realized how pale he looked, tired with dark circles around his eyes.

"Haven't you been sleeping lately?" I asked him, my voice lowering down to a soft whisper.

He looked back at me, a little surprised. "I...do sleep."

I blinked then, feeling sleep nagging on my own eyelids. "Is it Ryder?"

There wasn't any surprise this time. Neither was there any frustration or anger. "Yeah."

"A party at Ryder's house?"

Something lurched in my stomach when I saw his lips tugging upwards into a small smile. "Not exactly."

I nodded slowly. Meanwhile, I heard his phone buzz. He tensed up and took it out, his gaze lingering on the screen.

"If I tell you not to go?" I asked him. He looked up at me from his phone and soon enough, the smile was gone. Replaced with a frown.

I really wanted to see that smile again.

"Grace, do me a favor and sleep, okay?" He made a move to get up but I gripped his arm—something that made him stop almost instantly.

"I thought you would stay here."

I think he smiled then. But I couldn't have seen because he was in the dark again.

"I don't know why you would think that."

"Will you be here in the morning?"

He took my hand and gently pushed it away from his arm before standing up completely. "Maybe."

"What would it take for you to promise me?"

He was silent for a little while and I heard his phone buzz again. "I'll promise you if you sleep."

I curled back against the pillow and pulled up the hospital sheets over me, turning on my side so that I could still watch him. "I'm about to sleep. Promise me now?"

He nodded then, not moving from his spot, still eyeing me. "Okay. I...promise."

I blinked before closing my eyes, repeating his words in my head. Again and again until I felt myself drifting off to sleep.

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Crystal 🌿