Bridge (One)

"I...I don't know what to say."

"Well don't look at me, you're the one who said we needed to talk," I croaked out, wincing from how scratchy my voice felt just from uttering a few words.

He looked concerned and rushed over to me, grabbing the water from my bedside table and putting the straw close to my mouth so I could drink from it.

I looked at him with wide, confused eyes, wondering why he was being so kind to me when the last memory I had of him was being a cruel ass to me.

I remembered how harsh his words had come out, the things he said. He wanted to leave me alone. And I told him that if he was going to be that way then he should leave me alone as well. He obviously didn't take that to heart given the situation we were currently in.

His green eyes bore into mine, assessing and cataloguing each injury as if committing them to memory.

His dark hair was disheveled, his hands probably running through it one too many times.

I could see the hard outline of his abs through the tight blue t shirt he wore underneath the white doctor's coat that I figured he was just using as a disguise to see me, but why he went to such great lengths to do so was far beyond my comprehension.

His tall and lean physique was prominent through his clothing and my mouth was nearly watering at the sight, that is, until he snapped me out of my lust filled reverie by actually snapping his fingers. Literally. In my face.

"Are you okay? You just zoned out there for a second. You must have hit your head a little harder than I thought..." he trailed off and I felt my cheeks heat up immediately in embarrassment.

No, my brain was working just fine. And that was actually the problem...

"No I'm fine. What is it that you needed to talk to me about?" I asked him, cutting straight to the point of the conversation so I could finally have a clear head.

It was like my brain was a pile of mush when he was around me and all I could concentrate on was the way his eyes twinkled when he smiled, the crinkling edges around them ever prominent when he laughed at a joke.

"Well, once your doctor has cleared you and you're ready to be checked out, I have excellent health care professionals ready to wait on you hand and foot at my house."

The look I gave him was scorching.

"That still doesn't explain why you're in my hospital room disguised as my doctor..." I trailed off, failing to see where he was going with this.

He groaned and sunk into the chair closest to my hospital bed.  I shifted uncomfortably underneath the scrutiny of his gaze, the tension in the room so thick a spoon could cut it.

"Holly, I know you got my texts, but if I have to say it again I will.  I'm sorry.  There are some things that I haven't explained well enough to you and for that I really am sorry.  There isn't really much time to explain right now though, and I know you saw the media circus outside.  They know I'm here and they obviously know you're here too now that you did that little window peep show.  All I'm asking is for a little trust here."

His eyes were pleading with me to go along with whatever he had planned.  I usually would have been a sucker to those green eyes holding me in place, but the sound of bickering caused my head to swivel in the direction of my door so fast I almost got whiplash.

It was my parents, and they were about to come storming right through the doors.

"Quick, hide under the bed!" I whisper shouted to him while I positioned myself with my arm resting over my eyes and half of my face, wincing from pain whilst doing so, not trusting myself not to smile and ruin the whole fake sleeping facade.

I didn't know why I was protecting Sebastian, I should have just let my parents find him and kick him out, but something about the way his eyes held mine, the intensity behind his words and apology...it made me want to know more.

It made me want to know why he acted so cold towards me that day in the diner when I brought up his girlfriend.

I didn't have time to ponder over anything else as I closed my eyes swiftly and Sebastian dive rolled underneath the bed just in time as the door swung open and their voices hushed as they saw my sleeping form, but they didn't stop their fight.

"You saw that security tape.  You know just as well as I do that those boys deserve everything they have coming to them!" I heard my mother whisper-shout.

"Yes of course they do, but hasn't she been through enough already?  And what if she doesn't even remember anything?  Why put her through all that unnecessary stress?" My father's voice sounded strained, in pain, as if it physically hurt him to whisper these things instead of flinging them out of his mouth like a curse.

"Wouldn't you want to know if it were you?  And what if they don't get convicted based solely on the recording, what if they need her testimony, what then?  This is all because of who his father is, isn't it?!" I heard my mother accuse.

"Maybe it does.  He has the power to get his son off scot free, while he was probably the main instigator!  You saw him pull her shirt up, he was the one who went after her first!  The other two just stood there and watched.  I wish he would've been the one to end up in the hospital with a concussion and internal injuries, but no, he gets to walk away and continue living his life while our little girl was lying here in a coma because of him."  My dad's voice broke at the end of his sentence and a little piece of my heart did too.

I knew what had happened to me.  I gained my memory of that day not long after I had woken up, which was why I needed some time to myself after my parents practically smothered me.

I knew Dylan and his friends assaulted me, pulled my shirt up, and then we fought and he basically threw me down the stairs, but I took him down with me.  I guess I didn't protect my head as much as I thought I did.

"I know this isn't fair, but it wouldn't be right to keep it from her.  We have to ask her what she remembers, and then if she doesn't, we'll show her the video.  They'll probably show it to her in court anyway."

"You're probably right there.  But what do we do about this famous guy, what's his name, Sir Bastian?  Seems like a strange name to me.  What do you make of it?"

I heard a little chuckle from underneath the bed and it took every ounce of willpower within me not to reach under and kick him for almost getting himself caught.  Thankfully, my parents didn't realize it and kept talking.

"I spoke with Josephine, she said they just met at the concert they lied to me about going to.  It's not the worst thing she could have lied about.  Apparently they had meet and greet passes and that's where they met, then he came to their school to see some of his old teachers and they ran into each other again there, the media just drew their own conclusions about the nature of their relationship.  I'll ask her more about it when she wakes up."

"Good, good.  The last thing we need is the media following the story of her trial like hawks.  Hopefully this kid can set the record straight and we can get through all of this like a family, together and-"

"Together?  Weren't you the one threatening to tell her the one thing we agreed to never speak about ever again just to get back at me for the divorce?" My mother interrupted him.

"She deserves-"

"Mr. and Mrs. Vickers?  We have a few questions about Holly's medical history, could you come out here and answer a few of them as well as some paperwork that we need you to fill out to sign off on the tests we want to conduct on her now that she's woken from her coma?" the doctor interrupted yet again, and I almost sighed in relief if it weren't for the fact that they all thought I was still asleep.

My mind was reeling from all of the information I'd just heard my parents spew out.  I cringed internally, knowing that Sebastian had heard every word about the trial and hopeful prosecution of the boys that had put me in the hospital.  He knew more than I wanted him to.

I didn't want to tell him about Dylan because I was embarrassed at first, when it was easy to escape Dylan by just kicking him in the balls and running away, but once it escalated to him punching me in the face, my defense mechanisms kicked in and I remembered who his family was.

His mom was the mayor and his dad was a well respected chief of police.  I couldn't accuse him without actual proof of his actions.

"Of course, doctor."

They left the room soon after and then it was just Sebastian and I in the room again, alone.

"What was all that about?  You didn't just fall down the stairs did you?  Someone pushed you?  Multiple someone's?!"

His voice raged at me as did his eyes and I gulped, not ready to face this conversation head on.  I felt my breathing quicken, and the rapid racing of my heart was evident on the monitor I was strapped to, the beeping going off the charts.

I clutched at my throat, but no air would come in.  Sebastian looked at me panicked, like he didn't know what to do.

He reached forward and pressed the nurse call button and then ran out of the room yelling for someone to help as there were black dots in my vision and the last thing I saw before they stuck a syringe in my IV line was a nurse's calm face and Sebastian's panicked one in the background.