My Last Year

I sacrificed My Life

Bella, not now,” Conrad said sharply, his voice cutting through the silence of the room like a blade.

But Bella only smirked at him as if his words were a joke meant for her amusement. She ignored his warning completely, her heels clicking softly against the hospital floor as she moved closer to the bed where I lay.

“Honestly, Lily,” she said, her tone dripping with mockery, “I underestimated you. I never thought you had the guts to play hero.” Her lips curved into a smile, but her eyes glinted with the same sharp cruelty I had always known her for.

“Bella,” Conrad snapped again, more forcefully this time, his patience thinning.

She rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed by his tone, before turning her attention back to me. “Relax. I didn’t come here to cause trouble. I came to say thank you.” She paused, folding her arms across her chest. “You saved my brother’s life. Jake might be the most annoying human alive, but he’s still my brother, still my blood. So… thank you.”

Her words surprised me. Beneath the sarcasm and eye-rolls, I sensed a flicker of something real sincerity hidden under layers of pride and attitude. For once, she didn’t sound like the bossy queen of the school. She almost sounded… human.

But just as quickly, she leaned down closer to me, her voice dropping into a cold whisper that only I could hear. “But don’t think this means we’re friends now. You saved Jake, not me. Don’t forget that.”

Her perfume lingered in the air, heavy and suffocating. I forced myself not to flinch, not to look away from her sharp gaze. Instead, I whispered back, steady and calm, “I’d rather be bitten by a snake.”

Conrad, who had been standing beside me, let out an unexpected chuckle. The sound broke through the tension, and for a second, even Bella’s confident mask seemed to falter. She straightened up, smoothing her hair over her shoulder like she hadn’t just been rattled.

Without another word, Bella turned on her heel and walked out, her posture tall and regal, like she was still the queen she always claimed to be.

“That was a good reply,” Conrad said after a beat, his voice warm. I felt his fingers slide gently over mine, and when I looked down, I realized he was holding my hand.

I blinked at our entwined hands, my heartbeat quickening. “Why are you holding my hand?” I asked, my voice trembling slightly despite how hard I tried to sound casual.

“Because I’m scared,” Conrad admitted softly. His thumb brushed against my skin, almost absentmindedly, but the touch sent a shiver down my arm. “I don’t want you out of my sight again.”

The sincerity in his tone knocked the air out of me. My chest tightened, and my heart did that strange fluttering thing, like it was stumbling over itself just to keep up.

“And… about Bella?” I asked carefully, needing to hear him say something—anything—that would ease the storm she had just left behind.

He looked at me, his eyes steady. “I don’t want to talk about her.”

Relief washed over me. I turned my head away slightly. “Good. I don’t want to either.”

The silence that followed was heavier than before, but not unbearable. It was the kind of silence that made every little sound, the ticking clock on the wall, the faint beeping of machines, even the rustle of Conrad’s shirt when he shifted, echo louder than they should.

I forced a small smile. “Is she not your girlfriend?” I asked, trying to make my tone playful, though I could hear the insecurity creeping in beneath the words.

Conrad shook his head. “You mean my ex, right?” he said softly.

I froze for a second, absorbing that. His ex. Not his girlfriend. Still, the word felt heavy, pressing down on my chest.

The room fell quiet again. I turned my gaze toward the ceiling, tracing the cracks in the plaster, as though they could untangle the knot in my heart. Conrad. Jake. Bella. Their names swirled in my mind like pieces of a puzzle I couldn’t put together. My heart felt restless, confused, pulled in too many directions at once.

But somewhere inside me, I knew something had shifted. Today I had saved someone’s life. Today I had run toward danger instead of away from it. In saving Jake, I felt like I had saved a piece of myself too the part of me that had always shrunk back, always avoided confrontation, always let fear decide for me. Maybe that version of me was gone. Maybe the new version was ready to stay. Ready to fight.

“Let me go look for your mom,” Conrad said suddenly, breaking into my thoughts. “She’s been gone too long.”

I nodded, my lips parting to answer, but no words came out. He gave my hand one last gentle squeeze before letting go, then stood and made his way to the door. The soft creak of the hinges followed him as he stepped out.

The room grew still again, and I lay there, staring at the ceiling, the faint smell of antiseptic filling my nose. My thoughts raced endlessly—Conrad’s hand in mine, Bella’s mocking smile, Jake’s obliviousness, the flash of the truck in my memory, the moment I had pushed him out of the way. My heart couldn’t decide whether to calm down or beat faster.

Then, a few seconds later, the silence was broken.

The door creaked again, slower this time. A voice drifted in, soft but familiar.

“Connie, have you seen her?”

I sat up straighter, my pulse quickening.

But the voice that answered wasn’t Conrad’s.

“It’s not Conrad,” the voice said.

The sound of it hit me like a wave. Recognition struck instantly, chilling me to my core.

That voice.

I knew it.

Too well.

And it froze me in place, my breath caught in my throat.

That voice sounded familiar.