Let's Play a Game

Let's Play a Game (39)

“Maxynn, you should change,” Kate called out to me as she chased me through hallways in the hospital as we made our way to the waiting room.

“You have blood on you, too,” I informed her, in case she had somehow forgotten that she had hugged me while I was drenched.

I knew Kate rolled her eyes, even though I couldn’t see her. “But not nearly as much as you! You look like you just walked out of a horror movie!”

“I did just walk out of a horror movie!”

Kate said nothing to this, and no longer tried to stop me from continuing my way into the hospital. I was sure I was going to get stared at, but I didn’t care. I wouldn’t have even been surprised if people assumed that I was hurt, even though I wasn’t. My cut on my cheek was no longer bleeding, so there was really nothing wrong with me any longer.

“Maxynn,” a new voice called out, but now it was Brianna instead of Kate. The rest of Zach’s family was right behind her, along with my father, Johnny, and Logan. We were all breathing heavily, but Kate really looked like she was about to fall over. I assumed it was because of all the lack of exercise she had while she was pregnant. “Maxynn, slow down, honey, please.”

I didn’t want to slow down. I knew they all wanted to know what was going on as much as I did, but I felt completely sick to my stomach because I didn’t know if Zach was going to survive or not. What was I going to do if he didn’t survive? What was I going to do if Todd survived? Zach got stabbed four times while Todd was only stabbed once…

I wanted all this pain I felt to go away. Surely it was nothing like the pain that Zach was going through, but still… I still felt horrible about everything.

I stared down at my mother’s ring, not believing that I actually got it back. I still found it so hard to believe that quiet and sweet Todd was actually the one that had stolen it. I just couldn’t believe that he was the one that had been the one trying to kill me the entire time and I didn’t even realize it.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Maxynn,” Elizabeth sighed to me as she gently rubbed my back as I sat down in one of the seats in the waiting room. “Zach’s a tough guy. He’ll definitely pull through and be able to recover perfectly.”

“Don’t get her hopes up, Elizabeth,” Ethan now grumbled from beside me, and his sister gave him a look that said she would have killed him if we weren’t in a public place. “What? You don’t want to get her all happy and excited when you don’t know what’s going on. We don’t’ know if he’s going to make it or not, so don’t even talk about it and wait until a doctor comes out to talk to us.”

I could tell how much this was hurting Ethan. It was probably killing him inside. After not hanging out with each other for years, something like this happens right when they start to spend time together again.

Elizabeth scoffed and rolled her eyes at her brother, pushing herself up and out of her chair and back toward her boyfriend. I couldn’t help but smile just a little bit at them, happy that Johnny finally found someone for him.

“You know,” I started to Ethan, who was still right beside me, “you don’t have to act so tough all the time. All of us know you’re just a little kid, even though you never act like it.”

Ethan shrugged. “It’s better to act this way.”

I frowned at him. “No, it’s not, Ethan. It’s good to let your emotions out.”

This little boy just had the ability to make me so sad and he didn’t even have to do anything at all. When he used to harass me, that would make me feel bad, but now I felt horrible just because he was obviously depressed over what had happened but just wasn’t showing it.