His Scarred Love

Chapter 10 - [The Hospital]

Frowning, I stuffed my hands into my pockets. “Why does she keep saying no?” I asked as I walked down the hall with Tristan. Nikita had said no to me yet again. This time, she even sounded a little upset when I asked.

Tristan laughed. “You’re moving way to fast with her.”

I rolled my eyes. “Man. I’m hot, I’m cool, and now I’m pretty smart too. What more does she want?”

Tristan chuckled as he patted my back. “Relax, man.”

“How long is she going to keep saying no for?”

“How exactly did you ask her?”

I thought for a moment and tried to remember what exactly I said to her. “I called her last night and asked her if she will go out with me.” I said. “And she said, ‘I’m sorry, Nate. But… no. I’m not ready to go out with anyone.’ And then she changed the subject to math.”

Tristan shook his head. “See, she’s not ready.”

I threw my hands into the air, frustrated. “Then when the hell will she be ready?” I asked.

Tristan put his hand on my shoulder. “She isn’t like other girls, Nate. She won’t just say yes to any guy. She’ll only say yes to the guy.”

I frowned. “Then how the hell is my plan going to work?”

Tristan surprised me by kicking me, hard.

“Ow man! What the hell?” I stopped walking and bent down to rub my right calf.

Tristan stopped walking and looked at me. “Stop with this retarded plan thing. It’s stupid!” He hissed. “I’m not going to let you screw up your rep and definitely not Nikita’s!”

I frowned at him. “Why not?! I’m not going to ruin anyone’s rep! The plan is flawless.”

Tristan rolled his eyes. “You keep telling yourself that.”

I shrugged. “I know it’ll all work out.”

“So you don’t actually like her?” He asked.

I hesitated. “Well, as a friend, yeah.”

Tristan shook his head. “Well, if she finds out about this ‘plan’, she’ll never forgive you.”

“She won’t find out.”

“You won’t know that for sure.”

“You don’t have faith in me?”

“If you keep going on with this stupid plan, then that’s not the only thing that I won’t have in you. Like the trust.”

“You’re just worrying too much.”

“No, I’m not. I think this is the stupidest thing you have ever chosen to do. And you’ve done a lot of stupid things.”

I rolled my eyes as Tristan turned into his math class.

“I’ll see you later.” He said.

I nodded.

After a short second I heard Mr. Alton. “What plan?” He asked.

I jumped when I heard his voice and realized he was walking behind me.

“Hey Alton…”

He nodded his head at me. “So, what plan were you and Tristan talking about?”

“What? Plan?”

Mr. Alton raised an eyebrow. “I’m slightly concerned, Nate. Tristan didn’t seem too happy.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Really?” He asked, obviously not believing me.

“Isn’t it like, illegal or something to be eavesdropping on your students?”

“I wasn’t eavesdropping.” He said. “I was simply walking to my next class and saw Tristan kick you, so I was concerned. It’s my job to look out for you.”

I frowned. “You were still eavesdropping.”

Mr. Alton smiled. “Well, let me just inform you that I am really, really, hoping that you aren’t doing anything stupid… like Tristan said you were.”

“I’m not. Don’t worry.” I smiled.

“Alright, I’ll trust you.” He said, cautiously. “Now, get to class.”

The day seemed to pass by slowly. When lunch had come, I went out with all my friends —except Tristan— and it took a lot of me to make sure I didn’t take the cigarette they offered. It was a good thing that I wasn’t addicted.

They criticized me, but I wasn’t surprised.

“She’s not even here!” Ronan said. “Why are you being such a p***y?”

I rolled my eyes. “She might walk by…” I muttered.

Then they started teasing me again, telling me that I was actually in love with her.

When the day had ended, I went to the library to get my daily dose of tutoring. When I got there though, I was surprised to see that Nikita wasn’t at our usually seat at a round table in the middle of the library.

I looked at the time. It was a quarter past three. I was only five minutes late… but where was she? She was always here before me.

“Nate?” I heard the Librarian, Ms. Willow call.

I turned around and smiled at her, but it disappeared immediately when I remembered that I never smile at the Librarian.

“You’re here for tutoring, right?” She asked. Ms. Willow was a lady who was in her late forties. She was always strangely grumpy with everyone except the kids she liked. And I wasn’t one of them.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Oh, okay. Well, Nikita asked me to tell you to go home.”

I hesitated. “…Why?”

“She mentioned something about going to the hospital.”

For some reason, a sudden fear boiled up within me. “Why?” I asked. “Why is she going to the hospital?”

Ms. Willow shrugged as she shook her head. “Why don’t you ask her? Now, I’m busy. Leave and don’t cause havoc.”

I nodded and I could see the surprised look on her face when I just turned around and left without saying a word.

Why would Nikita be in the hospital?

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed her number as I left the building. When she didn’t pick up, I started to panic.

Was she okay?

I called her cell a couple more times and then felt my heart jump when someone finally picked up.

My heart sank when I heard the voice. “Hello?” The deep male voice, probably her dad, said.

I hesitated. “Hi… er… is Nikita there?”

“Who is this?” Her dad asked, with a hint of anger and suspicion.

“I’m Nate… she tutors me… I was just wondering—”

“Oh yes. She’s told me about that. She’s not here right now.”

“Can I know where she is?”

Her dad hesitated. “At the hospital.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “Which hospital… sir?” I asked.

“Why are you asking?”

“I… I need to ask her something… related to homework. I have a test tomorrow and I really need her help.” That was a pretty good lie.

He didn’t respond for a moment and I assumed that he was wondering if he should tell me or not. But eventually, he did. “She’s at Sunny Lane hospital. Twelfth floor, room one hundred twenty-five.”

“Thanks, sir.”

He sounded like he was going to say something, but I closed my cell phone and ran to my car, the car I was lucky enough to be able to borrow from my mother.

The drive seemed really long but I ran into the hospital when I got there. I took the elevator to the twelfth floor and ran to the receptionist on that floor. “Hi, can you tell me which way is room one twenty-five?”

She pointed to the right. “Please wait on the chair outside of the room.”

I turned around and walked in the direction she told me to go. When I made it to the room, I did as she said and waited in the chair.

A lot of things were going through my head during the wait. I regretted not asking her dad what had happened. But what could have happened?

Was she hurt?

Was it serious? No. Probably not. If it was serious, her parents would be here.

I placed my face in my hands when I started to panic some more. Whatever happened, it was probably my fault. I was the one who screwed her up… it was my entire fault.

I then heard the door click open and my heart jumped when I heard her voice.

“Nate?”

I looked up and saw her. She looked normal. Nothing seemed wrong. “Hey… why are you here?”

She raised her eyebrows. “I should be asking you that.”

“Oh… yeah.” I put my hand on the back of my neck. “Sorry, I sort of freaked out when Ms. Willow told me that you were at the hospital.”

Her shocked face changed as she smiled a warm smile. “Aww, Nate…”

“So… why are you here?” I asked quickly. I was already really embarrassed, I didn’t need her to thank me and embarrass me more.

She walked to me and sat next to me. “I’m seeing a psychiatrist…”

“Why?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Apparently I was traumatized after what happened.” She reached up to touch the side of her face but put her hand down.

“Do you remember what happened?” I asked, hesitantly. I was a little surprised by my own question.

She looked at the floor. “I remember a ball smashing through the window and I remember feeling a lot of pain. But that’s it. And then I was getting therapy and checkups and all this weird stuff.” She sighed. “I don’t think my life will ever be the same…”

I felt my heart squeeze. “I’m sorry…”

She looked at me. “Why are you saying sorry? It’s not like you did anything.”

It felt like someone had punched me in the chest. I wondered why it hurt so much… maybe it was because she actually trusted me and thought I didn’t do it.

She took my hand in hers. “Nate, it was really sweet of you to come looking for me.”

I shrugged as the guilt was pushed aside and embarrassment filled me. “I just wanted to make sure that the girl I have a serious thing for is okay.” I said, without thinking.

She looked at me, carefully and then sighed.

“Why won’t you just say yeah and be my girlfriend?”

She looked away. “Listen…”

When she didn’t say anything, I frowned. “I’m listening.”

She looked back at me. “Nate… The problem is… I already have a crush on someone…”

I felt like I was slapped across the face, again. The same feeling, twice, from the same girl. Wow. “Oh.” I said. I was surprised by my own reaction. I actually expected to blow up.

“And, it’s just a tiny crush but… you’re going to have to prove to me that you can be better than this guy.”

“Which guy?” I asked.

“I can’t really tell you…”

“Then how am I going to prove I’m better than him when I don’t even know who he is?”

“I can tell you how he is…”

“Fine.” I said. “Go ahead.”

“Well, he’s sporty and always spends time with his family on the weekends. He loves everything he does and is super nice to everyone. Not to mention how much he cares about all of us. He always motivates people and tells people that we are capable of doing anything we want too. You know how Mr. Alton always does this thing where…” Her voice trailed off and she slapped her hand over her mouth.

I stared at her. “Mr. Alton…”

Her cheeks turned red.

“You have a crush on Mr. Alton.” I asked.

She hesitated but then looked down and nodded.

“Mr. Alton…” I said. “Really…”

She looked at me.

Mr. Alton, my favourite teacher, was the guy who was keeping her from saying yes to me? “I guess this means war…”