Was he Never Real?

Chapter 5

The thoughts flooded my brain and I had to snap out of it before he got back and saw me freaking out. I was nearly hyperventilating. If Mason saw me like this, he would know I had gone in his bag and he wouldn’t be happy. As if she knew I was freaking out, Ari came into the room and rushed over once she saw me on the floor. They had unhooked me from the monitors since I was responsive and stable, so I was able to move freely about my room. They also said I should get released within the next two to three days!

Ari came over and gently grabbed my shoulder. “Emma, what’s wrong? Do you need anything? What can I do to help?”

She was trying to help me stand and get back to my bed. I was really shaky, so it took a minute, but we got there eventually.

After a few more minutes of her helping me get back to my normal breathing, I finally calmed down.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I saw my phone in Mason’s bag, but he told me it was broken — it wasn’t. I don’t get why he’s acting so weird towards me. He’s lying to me, he’s hiding something. I think it’s about my boyfriend, Lucas. I don’t know. I mean I know Mason didn’t like him but what could he be hiding from me?”

As soon as I mentioned Lucas, Ari froze.

She knows something.

I didn’t want to accuse her of anything, so I asked, “You wouldn’t happen to know what he’s hiding, would you?”

“W-What? No, I don’t — I have no idea what he’s hiding. Are you sure he’s hiding something? Maybe he’s just being weird since he was so scared you wouldn’t wake up?” She stuttered way too much.

She definitely knows whatever he’s trying to hide from me.

I didn’t push it though, I had a more urgent question for her.

“Do you have a boyfriend, Ari?” I asked sweetly, completely changing the subject. She looked confused at the sudden switch of mood and subject.

“No, I do have my eye on someone though.” She replied shyly.

It’s Mason. I just know it.

“It’s my brother, isn’t it?” She looked up from the ground and her face turned beet red.

“What? Why would you think that?” She was as red as a tomato at that point.

“I saw the glances earlier, the way your face turned bright red when you looked at him and even more when he smirked at you. On top of that, your reaction to me asking gave me my confirmation.”

She looked scared, like she thought I was mad at her. I wasn’t. If anything, I was praying they would work out.

“Ari, if you like my brother, I’m happy for you. I know I don’t know you well, but I can tell you’re a sweet girl and my brother seems to like you too. If you guys like each other, I hope you guys work out. I really like you for him.” Ari immediately relaxed, which made me happy.

“Thank you Em. I just hope he makes a move because I’m too scared to.” She was laughing by the end of her sentence, but I made a note in my head to get Mason to ask her out.

I told Ari that I was sure he would ask her out by the time I went home, and we talked for a few more minutes before she left for the night. She was supposed to leave at nine, but she stayed a little late because my new nurse had some sort of problem and couldn’t make it in, so Ari stayed until somebody else could make it to the hospital to take over. She said she wanted to come check on me one more time before she left.

About five minutes later, Mason came back and when he walked in he looked like he was debating on telling me something.

“If there’s something you want to say, just say it, Mason. You don’t need to walk on eggshells around me just because I’m in a hospital bed.” I tried not to sound rude, but I’m not sure if it worked because I’m not happy with him right now.

“What do you mean?” he asked, but I could tell by his face that he knew what I meant.

“I mean you walked in here like you wanted to say something, but you’re scared to. I mean every time I’ve asked you about the accident, you’ve tried to avoid talking about it. I mean you’re trying to act like my boyfriend never existed. And I mean you hid my phone from me and told me it was broken even though it’s still perfectly usable.” I didn’t mean to snap on him, but all the stress and aggravation of the day just poured out.

Mason stood still for what felt like an hour, it was only about a minute. After staring at the ground for oh so long, he finally looked at me but couldn’t manage to hold eye contact. He seemed mad, but I couldn’t tell if it was at me or himself.

“I’m not trying to hide anything from you, Emma. You just woke up today and I don’t want you to stress over insignificant things.” He didn’t seem sure of his answer, but I already felt bad for snapping at him, so I just left it.

“Okay, Mason, whatever you say. But I do have one more question for you.”

“What’s up?” He didn’t seem too enthusiastic about me having any more questions for him, but he wouldn’t tell me I couldn’t ask him.

“When are you going to ask Ari out?”

Giving me an exasperated look and sighing, he sat down.

“You’re still on this? I told you, she’s just your nurse. I’m not asking her out.”

“Mason. I’m not blind. She likes you. She seems like she’d be good for you. You like her — and don’t try to tell me you don’t because I know you do. Ask her out.” He tried cutting me off, but I spoke over him. “By the time I leave this hospital, you better have a date planned with her.”

He looked at the floor again, shaking his head like he was in disbelief at what I said.

“Alright, fine. I’ll ask her out before you leave the hospital. Is there anything else that needs to be spoken of right now?”

“Nope! Everything else can be talked about tomorrow,” I responded, not wanting to cause him anymore stress for the night.

“Alrighty then, how about you get some rest? It’s practically midnight.” I think he was just tired of dealing with me in all honesty.

“Okay, goodnight.”