The Distance Between Us (Book Two ✓)

twenty-four

(Trigger warning: substance abuse)

BEAU

I hate hospitals.

The sickly white walls glare at me as the hazardous smell of cleaning products stings my nostrils. And then there's the noise - the incessant beeping and whirring of the machines, the cries of loved ones lining the hallways, the mundane chatter of the nurses at their station.

I hate being here.

I scowl at Rey, her eyes still closed, as she lays in the hospital bed in front of me. Angry as I am for being here, I'm even more furious that Rey could be so stupid in the first place. I've done a lot of stupid shit, but never have I mixed drugs with my alcohol.

No, my subconscious reminds me, You just drank yourself into a stupor every other night, how much nicer.

I feel my face tighten in a deeper scowl.

Rey twitches but doesn't open her eyes. Where did she get the molly to begin with?

It would be easy enough to find some, and much harder to track down the guy who sold it to her. Still, I have the sinking suspicion that the drugs were leftover from her little rendezvous with Jace.

My fists clench against the denim of my jeans as all the ways I could beat Jace senseless run through my mind. He had no problem encouraging my bad habits before, so I guess I can't be surprised that he'd take something like Rey and her chance to make something of herself and destroy it.

The ER nurse returns, pulling the curtain from around Rey's bed.

"She should be up soon," She murmurs quietly, checking the machines at Rey's bedside. "This can happen when you mix the two together - the side effects are worsened."

I squint my eyes at her warning, wondering if she thinks I don't know that already. I look to Rey and then back to my feet, and I'm sure that if she doesn't already know who we are, she probably assumes we're just a couple of young kids on our way to a rave.

I don't respond, letting her leave quietly with her stupid clipboard and know-it-all tone.

The minutes tick by as I text Rocco to let him know that she should be okay. I send a second message to set a time to discuss what's happened. Stuff like this, it can't happen again.

Finally, when Rey wakes, her eyes are wide and disoriented. Pulling at the IV in her arm, her worried eyes find me and she calms instantly. Weird.

"Beau," Her voice cracks, raspier than normal.

I stare at her in frustration, wondering what I can say to make this all clear to her. So clear that she can't possibly make a mistake like this again.

Before I can find the words, she croaks again. "I'm sorry," Her head hangs in shame.

Part of me wants to tell her that she should be, but the other part is, admittedly, worried that Rey might have a problem, if left unchecked.

Struggling again to find the right words, I offer a half smile. "You're gonna be okay,"

I remember the night when it was me in the hospital bed, Emma by my side. How many times had I pushed her away? And yet, she always came back.