Hope

Chapter 15

          My heart started beating faster. "Riley," I said once more. I couldn't take it any more. I took her arm and I pinched it as hard as I could.
She pulled her arm back to her chest. I let out a sigh of relief. She's alive.
Her eyes slowly opened, and it was obvious how much pain she was in.
"Asher?" She whispered, looking at my face, her pupils dilating to try and focus.
I smiled, and immediately remembered that I had been crying. I quickly wiped the tears of my cheeks and cleared my throat.
"Uh, yeah," I said, cleaning my throat again. That brought a small smile to her face, and that made me happy.
          She started to sit up slowly, groaning in the process. I made sure t keep my hands ready if she was going to fall over. She made it so she was sitting upright. She had a black eye, blood dried on her face, and bruises on her arms.
           "What did they do? We have to get you home. Your parents should be the ones to take you to a doctor," I said to her, looking at the skin that was exposed.
          "My parents won't be home to drive me. They'll be home in about a week," she said, her voice cracking.
           "Why? Did they leave you and your sister here all alone?" I asked her, getting concerned.
           "My sister will remain in the hospital for another week. She's actually doing well. Surgery was successful. But my parents left to go stay at hotels and drink while they're waiting. There's no money for the doctors. They're using everything that I had got them," she explained quietly. Riley started to sway, and I could tell she was getting dizzy. I gently placed my hands on her bruised shoulders to keep her from falling over.
          Anger rose from within me again. Her parents used most of their money on her sister's expenses, knowing there wasn't much left for just food. And they decided to stay at a hotel for a week and spend every last penny on alcohol.
         "You're not staying at your apartment alone. I'm taking you to stay at my house. My mom can take care of you and get help," I said to her, and I was set on that idea.
         "But that's so expensive, and I don't want to intrude-"
          "You won't. I promise. We'll leave now, I'm ready to get away from this place," I said to her. I was not in a million years going to make her take care of herself alone in the health state she was in.
         "I don't know if I can stand up without falling," she said nervously.
          I nodded. "Ok, tell me if I'm hurting you. I'll carry you to the car," I stated to her. I then placed my one arm gently under her legs and my other one around her shoulder. I made sure I had a good grip, slowly bringing myself to stand up while holding her.
         It concerned me how light she was. She needed some proper dinners from my house as well.
          She rested her head against my chest, closing her eyes. I could tell she was so exhausted. I walked down the corn maze, finding the short cut to get to the end of it.
         I walked out, Riley doing ok in my arms. I made my way over to the car I drove here, seeing Olivia and Kayden's car were gone.
         I opened the passenger door with a little trouble to make sure I didn't hurt Riley, and set her down gently in the seat. I closed the door and got in the drivers side.
Before turning the key, I looked over at her.
"I'm really sorry, about everything. I'm sorry about believing their lies, about being so rude and tripping you, about what happened between Olivia and I-" I said, getting cut off suddenly.
I felt something soft press against my lips. It startled me because I wasn't paying attention to Riley leaning in.
She pulled away, slouching back in her seat, her face bright red. She winced from the pain of moving.
"I-I-I- I'm - Im so sorry, I-I didn't mean to..." she said, trailing off, staring at her feet.
           I started smiling from ear to ear like an idiot, realizing what just happened.
           "I know you forgive me now," I said and laughed a little bit. "Don't apologize for that," I added. I put the key in the ignition and turned it, starting the car.
            She smiled a little bit, looking up from her feet and out of her window. I started driving the car, leaving Gebor's for hopefully forever.

•••

        I can't believe I kissed him. Why did I do that? What came over me. My head isn't right.
        Everything was sore. I saw what I looked like from the car mirror and was disgusted by myself.
         What if Asher's mom doesn't let me stay there? What if I have to go back to my apartment? Everything could go so badly.
         We had been driving for about 15 minutes and we pulled into Asher's driveway. He parked and immediately got out of the car, coming over to the passenger side. He opened my door and contemplated the situation.
         "Here, try standing up," he said, holding out his hand. "I'll help once you get up," he added.
         I grabbed his hand and took a deep breath. I used his hand to pull myself up, my muscles screaming at me to stop doing whatever I'm doing.
         Once I was pretty much up, I got dizzy and started to lose my balance. I stumbled backward but Asher grabbed onto me. He put my one arm around his shoulders to help guide me to walk.
         I took one step, and my knee had already given out. He held onto me and contemplated again. Asher put his one arm under my knees again and was carrying me like before. He shouldn't have to do this. I feel so bad. I'm a piece of useless crap.
          He closed the car door and carried me to his porch. He walked up the steps carefully. He went up to the front door and knocked.
          Within ten seconds, the door opened.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Ahhhh the ship is sailing again! They kissed! I hope you guys are still liking this, not many people are actually reading it anymore but I hope the people that do like it. Thank you so much!