Was he Never Real?

Chapter 2

*Present day*

I froze, not knowing what to do or say because I knew Mason knew about Lucas, we just didn’t mention him often because Mason didn’t like him. I started crying, absolutely hysterical.

What happened to Lucas? Where is he? Is he alright? Am I going crazy?

Nurses rushed in yelling, but I couldn’t hear or see them very well — everything was getting fuzzy. I don’t know how long they’re there for, but next thing I know I’m waking up again, still in the hospital and still clueless as to why I’m here.

I look at Mason who is on the phone in the corner of the room. He’s whispering so I can’t tell what he’s saying but he looks stressed. I’m just now noticing the dark circles under his eyes

When was the last time he got a good night of sleep? I think to myself as he notices I’m awake and quickly ends his phone call. He walks over to me, sits on the edge of my bed, and puts a shaky hand on my shoulder.

We sit silently like this for a few minutes before I break the silence.

“How long has it been?” I croak out, my throat suddenly feeling extremely dry and sore.

Mason gets up and grabs a cup of water. “Just a couple of hours, nothing serious.”

“No. How long have I been here? How long was I out for?”

He hands me the cup of water, “About two and a half weeks.”

He says it quietly, almost as if he didn’t want to tell me. That seems weird, it’s only been a couple of weeks. Why wouldn’t he want me to know? I thought to myself as we sat in silence. Lucas popped into my head again, but I didn’t want to say anything and stress Mason out more right now.

After around ten minutes, I broke the silence. “Why don’t you get some rest? You look like you haven’t gotten a good night of sleep in weeks, Mase.”

His head snapped up to me, and he looked weary, but he was too exhausted to fight it. That much was obvious. He got up and gave me a light hug, walked over to the couch in the far corner of the room and laid down. The couch looks super uncomfortable — Mason has to curl his legs up and twist his torso. There’s no way he’ll get any sleep on that.

“Mason, go home and get some rest. You won’t get any real sleep on that couch.”

He looked at me like I’ve lost my mind and said, “No Emma, I’m not leaving you here. You just woke up earlier today and had to be sedated. I have to be here for you.”

“Mase I’ll be okay. I’m up and, aside from the broken arm and bruised ribs, I feel fine. If anything happens, I’ll call you. Speaking of, where’s my phone?” I try looking around the room from my spot on the bed, but I don’t see any sign of my phone.

Mason stiffens and freezes in his spot for a quick second, almost unnoticeable, but knowing my brother's habits, that is one I’ve always noticed he does when he tries to stall answering a question.

“It broke in the accident.” He sounded unsure of his answer, but I brushed it off as his exhaustion and stress.

I just nodded and left the topic there, not wanting to ask him about the accident yet. I decided I'd wait until tomorrow to ask. That way he'd get some rest and relaxation before getting into it. I watch as he stands and looks around the room for a second, probably debating on whether he’s going to go home to get some sleep or not.

My assumption is proven right when he sighs and says, “I’ll be back by sunset. If you need absolutely anything, ask a nurse to call me.” I nod in understanding, and he comes back to the side of my bed, leaning down to give me another light hug and kiss on the top of my head.

As he reaches for the doorknob, he turns back to look at me again. “Like I said—you need anything at all—you call me.”

“I know Mason, I will. Pinky swear!” I respond with a small smile on my face, holding my left pinky finger up in the air.

Mason finally turns and walks out of the room, leaving me all by myself. I turn and, for the first time, notice a small clock next to my bed that reads 1:13 P.M.

Mason will be back by 7 P.M. at the latest, meaning I have almost six hours to myself if he does manage to sleep that long.

I let my eyes wander the room for what felt like hours but when I looked back

at the clock, it said 1:19 P.M.

I sighed and laid back in my bed. This is going to be a long six hours.