*Piper*
Jason, of course, had been rushed to the hospital right away. We had put him in the back of the car and drove ourselves to the hospital. it was too risky to have an ambulance come with all those gunmen around. He was immediately taken to the emergency room. Dozens of surgeons and doctors have been working on him last night. Now he was in a recovery room in the intensive care unit.
I held his hand, which was full of tubes and wires, in mine. Me and the boys waited together for the results from one of the doctors. Jasper, Max and Adam sat on the folding chairs by the window and Luca paced down the hall. I still couldn't look at him after that kiss with that girl. I was already very emotional with the whole situation with Luk and then this came on top of it.
It was quiet in the room. The only sound we heard was the beeping of the heart monitor. I looked at my brother, who looked surprisingly good. He had only been hit by one bullet, but in the wrong place. He had no scratches or cuts, just a large bruise around the wound.
The door opened and my head immediately shot to the door. A doctor entered the room along with Luca and Lyla, who had just arrived. Lyla saw Jason lying on all the tubes and fell to the floor crying. I let go of Jason's hand and walked over to her. I got on my knees and put my arms around her.
"I have the results of the operations." said the doctor. "He was hit in a bad spot, but the bullet didn't hit any arteries or other fatal spots. If all goes well, he could survive the shot, but that's different for each person. We're keeping him in an artificial coma now, until he's strong enough to wake up on his own." I thanked the doctor and he left.
"It's going to be okay, Lyla." I whispered. "You heard the doctor and we both know Jason is strong. He'll be back." I wiped Lyla's tears with my sleeve. Lyla sniffed her nose and straightened. She walked over to Jason and sat down where I had just sat. She took his hand and stroked his cheek with her other hand.
"Let's leave them alone for a while." I said to the boys. We walked out of the room and sat down in the hallway. I slid down the dull, sitting wall and crawled closer to Adam. He put his arm around me and I began to cry silently.
"It's going to be okay, little one." I nodded and laid my head on his shoulder. Luca, sitting diagonally across from me, looked at me in anguish. On the one hand, I wanted him to take me in his arms and whisper comforting words, but on the other, I wanted him to go away and leave me alone. Luca was about to say something when I heard a boom in Jason's room.
"I'll take a look." I said to the boys. I got up and walked into the room. Lyla sat on the floor with her head in her hands. I sat down next to her and ran my hand over her back. I tried to soothe her, but it didn't work.
"There was something else going on, wasn't it?" I asked when Lyla didn't respond to my presence. She nodded at me with tears in her eyes. She inhaled a deep breath of air and, trembling, blew it out again.
"I wanted to tell him, but his phone cut out and then..." Her breathing became faster and shorter.
"Quiet." I calmed down. "You need to keep breathing easy, Lyla." She tried to follow my advice and her breathing became steady again.
"I'm... I'm pregnant." she said softly.
"From Jason?" She nodded. I looked at her belly and indeed saw a reasonable bulge under her shirt. How did I never notice that before! It's so obvious!
"for how long." I asked her. "Because I think you've been on your way for a while."
"Almost four months. I found out last week. The signs of pregnancy were there, but I just ignored them. I thought we were always doing it safely. I'm done with Christmas." I stroked Lyla's head.
"It will be fine. I will personally take care of it." I reassured her.
"Thank you, Piper." she sighed.
"No problem."
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The following weeks flew by. I had to go to the Academy and Jason was still in the hospital. Every day after school I visited him for an hour. Sometimes I did my homework after that and sometimes I just came to talk. His situation was still stable.
"Wake up, Jason." I whispered in his ear. "You've been gone so long and I miss you."
Of course he never woke up. Lyla became more concerned by the day. Normally you should enjoy your pregnancy, but she couldn't. every day she was reminded that the father of her unborn child is half way through in the hospital. She kept a small journal where she wrote down everything that happened to the baby.
- August 29, the baby kicked for the first time.
- October 17, had another ultrasound.
And so her entire book was filled. With all kinds of little things that Jason would love.
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Today I just had to go back to school and together with Peyton I walked through the corridors.
"Would you like to know what part you got for the play?" she asked me. Around Christmas, our class has to perform the classic fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty. Each class had been given a fairy tale that they had to transform into something modern.
"Yes!" I shouted relieved. "It will be a challenge, we don't have that much time until Christmas." Peyton nods. While talking we entered the room. All the chairs were in a circle and our mentor was already there. She had a notebook with all kinds of scribbles on it in her hands. The rest of the class also poured in and took their seats.
"I made the cast based on the auditions you did a week ago." Of course I auditioned for the lead role, but I knew I wasn't going to get it. the mentor started naming names. Some reacted super enthusiastically and some reacted super negatively. A number of tutjes, who had now been given a supporting role, insisted on the lead role.
"The role of the prince goes to Victor Linton." A boy with brown hair and brown eyes stood up and took our mentor's script. Several girls giggled as he passed by. I shrugged my shoulders.
"The role of Sleeping Beauty goes to Piper Williams." Wait what, me? Peyton patted my shoulder proudly and I stood up in surprise. I thanked the mentor and accepted the script. As I sat down, Victor winked at me. I quickly focused on the script.
"Today you are going to read the script for the first time." My mentor said enthusiastically. Peyton and I sat down in a corner together and looked through the script. I thought it was perfect except for the ending. the girl, Rose, falls into a coma from an accident and her old high school sweetheart Phil comes to kiss her awake. I immediately thought of Jason. I wish a simple kiss could solve such a problem.
The day of class was almost over and I almost knew the lyrics of my first three scenes by heart. I packed my bag and together with Peyton I cycled to my house, where we would continue to practice. We parked our bikes behind the gate and I opened the front door.
"I am home!" I yelled to anyone who wanted to hear it. I got an immediate response from Adam and Luca. Peyton turned a little red upon hearing Adam's voice. I grinned unseen and pulled Peyton into my bedroom. I took my script and highlighter out of my bag and started streaking again.
"What are you doing here?" Luca said, walking in. Me and Luca hadn't had a decent conversation since the accident. I was constantly trying to avoid him.
"We're learning our script." Peyton replied who clearly wanted us to talk again.
"What play are you doing?" You asked when he sat down next to me on the bed.
"Sleeping Beauty." Peyton said again. "Piper is in the lead."
"Real?" Luca asked proudly. I nodded. "If you want to practice, for the kiss scene or something, I'll be in the next room." He got up again and walked away. Peyton grinned at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Oh nothing."
*Luca*
I had a plan. It wasn't completely watertight yet, but it had to and would work. I waited for Piper to go to sleep. I listened with my ear to her door and I heard nothing more. Carefully I opened her door and stepped into the dark room. The only light that came in came from the hallway. I saw her school bag and reached for it. I felt her script and pulled it out of her bag. Cautiously I crept back outside. I walked quietly down the stairs to Jason's office. I laid the pages of the script on the copier one at a time and printed out my own script. I planned to learn the script and when the time came, take out her opponent. I had to win her back.
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1600 words
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