The Bad Boy (26 page)

Hailey caught my
eye and gave me a sad smile. Her earlier happiness gone. I take it
Matt and her were told what happened to Austin. It broke my heart
to see the scene in front of me but I didn’t open my mouth or look
at anyone else.

I pulled Jared to
a seat and cuddled up next to him as we waited.  

The room was
filled with silence because no one had anything to say. No one
wanted to say anything. I just sat there my hand in Jared’s and my
side pressed against his. It felt like hours as we all stayed there
lost in our own thoughts.

Mrs. McKingsley
was silently crying but she was trying to hide it. I even noticed
Hailey sniffling from a couple seats over. I was too numb too
anymore. Plus, I had to be strong for Jared. If I broke down again,
I don’t think he would be able to take it.

An hour passed by
and still nothing was announced to us. The nurses offered us coffee
and something to eat but no one took up on the offer. Timmy was
dead asleep in Hailey’s lap and she soothingly rubbed his back.
 

Willis just
stared at the wall across from him with no emotion on his face. I
wanted to go and sit with him, to make him have some comfort but it
didn’t seem like he would respond to it, so I stayed glued to
Jared.

A throat cleared
and all our heads snapped up except Timmy who was still sleeping
away. A doctor who looked in his mid-forties stood there with a
clipboard in his hands. I felt my heart pulse rapidly as I stood up
and let Jared’s hand drop.

“
Are
you all here for Austin McKingsley?” His voice was gruff and he
looked tired as hell.

That’s how we all
felt from waiting for so long.

I spoke before
anyone could. “Yes.” My voice was hoarse from not speaking for so
long and I cleared my throat. “Yes.” I repeated more
clearly.

“
Are
you his sister?” He looked down at his clipboard and then back at
me.

“
No
she isn’t but I am his mother.” Mrs. McKingsley spoke up with tears
running down her face. Her legs wobbled from under her as she stood
up with Mr. McKingsley supporting her.

The doctor nodded
and once again looked down at his clipboard. Just fucking tell us
what is going on! I screamed in my head. We waited long
enough.

His eyes crinkled
at the sides as a smile appeared on his face. “He made it
through.”

Mrs. McKingsley
dropped to the floor in a burst of tears but you could tell they
were happy ones. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Thank you!” She kept
repeating as she cried.

The doctor nodded
and smiled at all of us. “He is still unconscious though and
probably won’t wake up for another twenty-four hours.”

“
But
he will be okay, right?” I asked taking a step forward.

“
Yes,
he is going to be fine. I know for sure.” He reassured me and then
said his final words before leaving.

Mrs. McKingsley
was now standing and hugging her husband who had relief and
happiness written all over his face. “Our baby is okay!” She was
crying onto his shoulder.

A smile ripped
through me and I jumped around and pulled Jared into a tight hug.
“I told you everything was going to be okay Jared! Austin is okay!
He’s going to be okay!” I cried smiling up at him.

He was grinning
down at me and then turned to Matt and Hailey. Without hesitation
he grabbed Matt and they hugged. Hailey moved to me and wrapped her
arms around me.

“
Thank
God, he is okay!” Hailey said squeezing me to her so tight, I felt
light headed. When she pulled back, I heaved a breath and then
smiled at her.

“
It
was torturing waiting but it was worth it.” I wiped my tears away
but not my grin. I couldn’t get rid of that grin and there was no
reason too.

Austin was going
to live!

Timmy sat up from
his laying position on the chair and looked at us hugging and
smiling with furrowed eyebrows. “What’s going on?” He rubbed his
heads and then hopped off the chair.

His mom grabbed
him into a hug and spun him around. She looked into his eyes with a
bright smile. “Austin made it baby, your brother is such a
fighter.”

Timmy looked
shocked for a second before hugging his mother back and crying on
her shoulder. “I was so scared mom.”

She held him
tighter and rubbed his back. “I know baby but it’s over now. He’s
okay.” She soothed rocking him and my heart soared at the picture
of them right there.

A nurse walked in
and smiled at us. “He can have some visitors but only two at a time
please.”

Of course Mr. and
Mrs. McKingsley went first. We all decided now that the news was
good; to go and eat something at the cafeteria they had in the
hospital.

Willis was now in
motion and you could see the relief all over him. Timmy and he were
in the lead then Hailey and Matt were right behind them holding
hands and yelling at them to stop making so much noise.

Everything seemed
back to normal now. I couldn’t thank God enough for letting Austin
make it through. The suspense and pain we were all dealing with
before seemed to vanish as we went to get our food.

Waiting for him
to wake up would be torture too but at least we
knew
he was
going to wake up. Just that fact made it so much easier to digest
food.

The four of them
entered the cafeteria but Jared grabbed my hand and pulled me back
just as I was about to go in. “What are you doing? Don’t you want
food?” I raised my eyebrows in question.

“
Thank
you Emilie.” His words melted my heart and I gave him a sweet
smile.

“
I
would have done it no matter what Jared. Even if I didn’t know
him.” I admitted walking closer to him.

He dragged me the
rest of the distance by my hips and pulled my body up against his.
“I’m thanking you for something else. Although, I really am
grateful for what you did but I’m also thanking you for not hating
Austin after I told you he was gay.”

I hitched my arms
around his neck and pressed my chest closer to him. I cocked my
head to the side and prodded. “Why would I hate him for that?” I
never judge anyone on what gender they liked. It was who they
wanted to be.

Jared smirked and
leaned down so our lips brushed when he talked. “That’s where I
judged you wrong Emilie.” His soft lips and breath sent shivers
down my body as they touched my lips.

“
Jared…” I was so lost in wanting to kiss him my words were
jumbled and I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to say.

Suddenly, the
door behind me slammed open and Hailey came out throwing her hands
in the air. “Are you coming to get food or not? We still want to
see Austin!”

I wanted to be
mad at her for ruining the moment but I couldn’t. Instead, I pulled
away from Jared and laughed at my rude and obnoxious best friend.
“We’re coming in now Hailey. Give us one more minute
please.”

She tapped her
wrist where there was no watch and then pointed at us. Before she
left through the door though she sent me a wink.

Shaking my head I
turned back to Jared. Now that we had space between us, I could
complete a sentence. “What did you mean before when you said you
judged me wrong?”

He grabbed hold
of my hand and rolled his eyes. “When we talk later, I will explain
everything. But right now I want to eat and then go visit my
brother. Okay?”

I bit my lip from
protesting. I couldn’t argue with him over that. We could wait to
talk but we did have a time limit on when we could see Austin and I
wasn’t going to take that away from him.

“
Fine
but you are buying me pizza. Deal?” I batted my eyelashes and sent
him a flirty smile.

“
Sure
princess, anything for you.” He rolled his eyes and held the door
open for me. “Ladies first.” He waved his hand for me to
go.

“
Thank
you.” I smiled and went through. I shrieked when I felt a pang
emerge on my ass. I spun around to a smirking Jared.

“
No
thank you. That view was good.”

“
Perv.”

“
You
wouldn’t want me any other way sweetheart.” He yelled as I walked
away from him.

A smile tugged
on my lips. He was right, I wouldn’t want him any other
way.

Jared’s head
snapped up as Matt and Hailey came out of Austin’s room. They were
quiet and Hailey looked upset. When they reached us, they both
offered small smiles to us. “Thanks for letting us see him.” Hailey
whispered squeezing Jared’s shoulder.

Giving her a tiny
small he stood up from his seat and I followed suit. “Thank you for
coming. I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay?”

Matt grabbed his
shoulder and shook him a tiny bit. “Yeah, man. Call if you need
anything.” He sent me a fleeting look and grabbed Hailey’s
hand.

“
Bye.”
She said giving me a quick hug.

Then they were
off which I think was a good thing. It was almost past mid-night
and the rest of Jared’s family had already gone home. It was a
struggle to get Mrs. McKingsley to leave Austin but everyone
reassured her that he will be awake tomorrow and she can see him
then.

I linked my
fingers through Jared’s. “Ready?” I looked up at him with searching
eyes. He was hesitant to go in the room. I think that’s why we were
the last to go. The most affected by this whole ordeal had to be
Jared. He tried so much to help Austin and then here he was, going
to visit his brother who had just been stabbed for being
gay.

The disgust that
rolled over me at those words was a mountain load. It sickened me
to the core that people are so cruel.

I snapped out of
my thoughts when I felt a tug on my hand. “Coming?” Jared’s grey
eyes were bland as he spoke.

I nodded and
followed him into the room letting the door swing closed behind
us.

The first thing
my eyes landed on was the tube placed in Austin’s mouth. I put a
hand to my mouth to stop from gasping. His face was pale, his eyes
closed but he looked so peaceful in that state. Tucked tightly,
into the blankets, I couldn’t even see his stomach. I was grateful
for that because I don’t know how much I could digest looking at
him.

His arms were
over the blankets and lying on his sides. A clip was placed on one
of his fingers and I figured that was for the nurses to keep track
on him or something.

Jared dropped my
hand and moved closer to his brother. Two seats were seated around
the bed but I stayed back. Jared needed his own time with Austin. I
watched as he took a seat and grabbed hold of Austin’s
hand.

He was silent for
a second before his shoulders shook a little. “I guess you finally
did it?” His words were chocked and then I knew he was crying. I
felt like I was intruding on him. Like I shouldn’t be there, it
felt so private.

But I couldn’t
find myself to leave.

“
You
finally did it.” I didn’t know what he was talking about but didn’t
question it either. For all I know, Jared doesn’t even know what he
is talking about, his mind is that jumbled up. “I tried so many
times to get you to tell, I even got arrested for you and this is
how you repay me?”

My eyebrows rose
to my hairline at his words. Austin got Jared arrested?

“
I’m
your older brother and as that I should be able to protect you. I
can’t do that though if you hide everything from me. I never judged
you for yourself; you came to me first when you were coming out.
Right away, I was by your side and had your back
Austin.”

Jared leaned his
head down on the bed and I just watched from the corner of the
room. He was crying harder this time. I was about to take step
forward but held myself back. He had to let it all out and I coming
into the picture would ruin it.

His head was
still down as he spoke. I could hear him though. “I swear when you
wake up, I will not let you let this slide. This is the last time I
let you get away with covering for these guys.”

Austin was
covering for those guys? That’s why he didn’t want me to call for
help. I was a witness and he didn’t want to risk anyone being sold
out by me. I guess he got lucky because for the life of me, I can’t
remember the damn faces of the boys.

Just the nasty
words they kept saying to him. It’s like in a dream when you know
who is in it but you never actually see their faces. That’s what I
was going through.

“
Emilie?”

I gazed over at
Jared and saw him looking at me from his seat. I took a couple
steps closer. “Yeah?” My voice was soft.

Jared’s eyes were
red and his face was streaked with tears but I didn’t comment on
it. Pointing it out to him would only embarrass him. “C’mere.”
Sticking his hand out, he grabbed hold of mine and tugged me down
to sit on his lap.

I didn’t
complain.

I could tell he
wanted comfort and I would give it to him.

“
Do
you remember the last thing he said before he passed out?” Jared
questioned lowly looking at Austin and rubbing his thumb over my
fingers.