It took me a while,but I've finally come to a decision...not gonna say which one,though :P

CHAPTER 35 - YOU BETTER SHAPE UP

Emily's eyes were puffy, but she didn't care, they were bloodshot, but she didn't care, her chest hurt, but she didn't care. She cared about nothing, nothing except for that petrified body lying in a hospital bed, and no matter how her eyes hurt for the too many tears, she still cried, endlessly, painfully, pleadingly, gripping her best friend's hand.

It had been hours since that call, a whole day maybe, she didn't even bother. The sole sight she'd witnessed once she'd gotten to the Hastings' would haunt her forever. Vanessa had been lying, unconscious, in a puddle of her own blood, completely naked, on bed, her ripped clothes on the floor, the sheets glistening with a white liquid that barely mingled with the girl's blood.

Emily's stomach had threatened to throw up everything she'd eaten in days, and she probably would have vomited, hadn't she been too busy sprinting to her friend's beaten up body and hastily covering it with her own along with sheets. Tears had swiftly streamed her cheeks, inevitably, and for once not silently.

Because while Riley had been rational enough to call 911 immediately, all Emily had seen was that body covered in blood, her friend unconscious, and she'd immediately thought of the worst, her heart shattering to a thousand different pieces that had clattered to the floor, the ringing noise echoing in her ears even while not being real.

Emily had bawled her sorrow, screeching painfully to every ear that was in the range, especially her boyfriend's, who'd been too frozen in his spot to do anything but call police. Every silence that had been trailing behind Emily's calm and posed nature, every single sound she'd never dared let out, had suddenly broken the sound barrier like a jet flying at full speed, her wails had been so loud and so desperate that everyone in the neighborhood had heard them, they'd sounded like the laments of a puppy that had just lost his mom.

Heart-shattering and core-wrenching, to the very least, coming from a silent girl like Emily even, those frantic, despairing, hopeless, wretched weeps had held an even stronger meaning and power, wrecking her boyfriend to the core, because he'd never seen her so completely out of herself. It was a such a heartbreaking sight that it would have torn apart even the bravest and coldest person, imagine what it did to someone like Riley that loved Emily so deeply.

He'd only been able to move once the paramedics had arrived and he'd had to yank Emily back so that they could do their job, but that hadn't been easy either, because she kept stirring, fighting him, even kicking him to be freed, as she cried her sorrow while the paramedics took Vanessa away.

And now, now that it had been almost a whole day, Emily was still there, beside her friend, she hadn't left her a single moment, the sole ones she'd been away had been during those exhausting, never-ending hours during which Vanessa had been under surgery.

Throughout those hours, Riley had tried to stay close to his girlfriend, reassure her in some way, but none of that had helped, it seemed like after all that bawling, Emily had lost her voice, and she'd spent those hours sitting against the wall just outside the surgery room, waiting for anybody to come out, she hadn't wanted to hear reasons, she'd stayed put, unmoving, she'd rejected even Riley going to sit with her, claiming she needed time alone – she didn't exactly say it out loud, her mouth was clamped shut, but he'd sensed it judging the way she either turned her head to the opposite side when he talked, or how she slipped away from him every time he tried to touch her.

The sole contact she'd allowed was Dean's hug, and not because he wanted to comfort her, but because she wanted to comfort him. The boy was a mess as much as her, both their faces reverberated the sorrow, the angst, the fear, the despair they were living, and if Emily had let herself hug Dean, it was only because he radiated off the same halo of misery that had been enveloping her whole for those hours.

They'd remained there, all the time, beside that door, while Dean and Vanessa's mother was crying out her own sorrow in her fiancé's arms in the waiting room, Emily's mother trying to comfort the woman as well, while wondering if it were the case to tell Jason. Riley had been pretty much a top spinning around from side to side, swallowing jealousy for the sake of the greater good, trying to be useful to everybody, especially Emily, but winding up swallowing his own hurt every time she rejected him in favor of Dean's hug.

Riley had called the prison out of instinct, thinking that Jason needed to know what happened to his girlfriend, but, on second thought, he realized it wasn't a great idea. Vanessa had been beaten to a pulp, before, during and after having been raped by her ex boyfriend, it was a miracle she was still alive, but not so much of a miracle it would be if Jason came to know about it.

Only knowing Chad had dared hit Vanessa had caused for Jason to lose it and kick the boy's ass, if he got to know that the girl was now fighting between life and death because of that same boy, who knew what Jason could be capable of ... as far as Riley knew him, the guy could even escape prison, embrace a rifle, and ruthlessly murder Chad. He was even, technically, a doctor, he could think of thousands different ways to end the boy's life very painfully. Hence, there was no reason to tell him just yet.

Vanessa had come out of surgery since a few hours now, and she'd been brought to her room, but, while surgery had gone fairly well, the wounds were too many, the traumas were multiple inside and out, therefore they had caused for the girl to slip into a coma that the doctor feared might be irreversible.

That's why right now Emily was sitting there, beside her friend's bed, uncaring of how much her bloodshot eyes hurt, crying out her sorrow, no matter how many times she was told to get some rest. Dean and his mom had gone home to do just that, the boy had screamed and shouted his refusal, but in the end his soon to be stepfather had been able to drag him out while Sybil supported his mother.

Only Emily remained now, she'd already shown the most unexpected fury towards anyone that tried to have her leave her friend's side, and Riley didn't even dream of suggesting it for the umpteenth time, therefore all he could do was stand by the door and watch over her, his heart achingly clenching at her miserable state.

Emily hadn't been moving, nor would she now, a single inch, her whole body had frozen, even her most basic needs had been shut up, she might as well become one with that chair, because she wouldn't move a single muscle till Vanessa awoke, which, according to the doctor, might never happen.

The unnerving beep of the machines her best friend was attached to kept resonating in her ears, but, to the very least, they were comforting, because they at least meant Vanessa was still here, even if unconscious.

Emily gripped her hand tightly, entwining their fingers, tears scorching her cheeks as they fell, warm and endless, as she kept her eyes fixated on that heart-shaped face seemingly asleep. Days, weeks, months, even years could pass, but till those big grey eyes fluttered open again, Emily would not move.

***

Jason kept fidgeting, frantically, his feet walking miles in his narrow cell, his teeth chattering as they bit down on his nails, no matter how much his cuticles were bleeding already, the sole moments when he would quit was when he cracked his knuckles noisily, having his cellmate's eye twitch every time in annoyance, but because the last time he'd dared argue with that frantic behavior he'd been slammed against the wall, causing his back to ache, the man didn't dare utter a single word about it.

It had been a total of five days since he'd last seen Vanessa, and Jason was already champing at the bit, nervous, worried, anguished, because in five days anything could have happened, and because she'd been being so regular, so punctual in her daily visits, he was sure something was wrong.

He'd used the one call he had per day to talk to her, but she'd never picked up, making him only more anxious, to the point that he'd induced his cellmate to give up his own call to him so that he could try talking to Riley, but neither he responded. What the hell was happening? Why was he suddenly cut out of the outside world? His mother called every day, why hadn't he heard from her since five days already?

Something had happened to Vanessa, he was sure of that, and the sole thought had him dig his cracked nails into his palms, his eye twitching in fury, his jaw clenching tightly, Chad's appearing in front of his eyes, making his blood boil at the sole idea that that piece of crap had gotten to his Ness and possibly hurt her.

If he had, then Chad may as well recite his final prayers, because, if, any minute now, as expected, Renée showed up to tell him that the judge had granted him parole, then the boy would not get to see the new year, no matter how many years Jason would have to rot in prison.

Finally, Jason heard footsteps nearing, and judging by the whistles of other inmates, he presumed it was a woman coming their way. He sprinted to the bars, clinging to them in exasperation, and as soon as Renée's blonde curls that mimicked her brother's came in sight, Jason didn't even wait for her greeting, just cut straight to the chase: "Just yes or no."

She sighed, nervous. She knew what happened to Vanessa, and she wasn't quite sure it was a good idea letting him have parole, already prefiguring what might happen, her fears enforced by her brother's ones. Hence, she'd spent a couple of hours in the judge's office, pleading the opposite case she had been since a couple of weeks now: the old man had finally decided to agree, therefore he'd been surprised to have the lawyer change her mind and ask that he denied parole to the inmate Jason Robinson.

Shaking her head, Renée started lowly: "I'm ... sorry, Jason, but ..."

"What?! Why?!"

She shrugged, squinting her eyes at his enraged rant. Something had been changing in him, even she could see it, and it wasn't for the better. Better said, the change he'd been submitting to had indeed been for the better, the way he'd accepted his fate quietly wasn't of Jason, but the month he'd spent in there seemed to have only enhanced a calm side that possibly only Vanessa had been able to bring out.

Yet, only five days of enduring jail without being able to see his girlfriend, and Jason had already been feeding his worst side, violence in there getting to him, rubbing off him like a poisonous germ would infect a whole river, and while he'd been being so calm, not seeing Vanessa – and most certainly the worries, anxieties and fears that sole fact carried – had been turning him into a whole different man.

Having had to do with inmates already, Renée would bet on Vanessa being the sole thing that had kept prison from changing Jason for the worst, but those five days had counted like eternity, especially in a place like that, and while only a week before he'd been a man living on cloud nine despite the predicament, now he was like a wild animal constricted in a too little cage.

Perhaps Vanessa was truthfully the sole person that had been able to descend deeply into his soul and read through it, capturing it and molding it to make of him a whole new man. Riley certainly knew his best friend better than the back of his own hand, but it was Vanessa to have captured the deepest traits of his spirit.

Without her, Renée was sure, Jason would get lost, and who knew what this wild beast could become once his cage was opened to let him free? It wasn't being mean, it was foreshadowing. He still had five months to serve, by then Vanessa would hopefully be okay, and she could keep the wild beast from coming out to the world.

Heavens would quiver under the blows of his fury if things went south and the girl didn't wake up at all, though.

***

Finally asleep, Riley thought. It was something. She wouldn't move, but, to the very least, Emily was sort of resting. He retrieved a blanket from one of the nurses, and carefully wrapped it around his girlfriend, tucking her in enough so she wouldn't be cold. She was still sitting on that chair, her fingers were still tangled in Vanessa's, but now her head was resting on the girl's lap, towards her face, to see her once she opened her eyes.

It had been five days, and there was still no sign of an improvement, the doctor was getting firmer on his belief that the coma was irreversible, which Riley feared truly, because there was more than one life at stake here. It wasn't just about Vanessa, it was about the people that loved her the most, two in particular.

He'd talked to his sister, and Renée's response hadn't been very comforting: Jason wasn't holding up that well, being kept in the dark only fueled his rage mixed with anxiety, because he might not know the truth, but he could sense it.

After all, Riley thought, it was normal, he knew Vanessa had been very punctual with her daily visits, missing one was already alarming, but missing five altogether? It was a miracle Jason hadn't already thrown a fit. Riley knew his best friend wasn't at all good at keeping his temper, and when fear mixed up with fury, then the result wasn't one you'd like to see. Riley's thoughts were with his friend, the uncertainty must be killing him, he knew that, but he also knew that certainly Jason would want him to stick beside Emily instead.

The girl was so vulnerable these days, she looked like a flower that had been losing its petals and vitality day by day, she was withering, like the delicate flower she was, and it pained him that he had no idea how to help her this time.

In the past, anything she'd needed, he'd been able to give, now all he could do was just watch out for her, from afar even, because she wasn't accepting anyone beside her, not even Dean anymore, she was just secluded in her bubble of sorrow, and what worried Riley the most was the certainty that she would come out of it only if Vanessa awoke, which was getting less and less likely day by day, according to the doctor. The girl was a vegetable by now.

Riley glanced over at the machines surrounding her, and sighed. Last time he'd seen them, it had been when his father passed away years ago, he'd really hoped he wouldn't have to face such trouble again, especially not now that he was old enough to remember it.

Vanessa looked peaceful in her profound sleep, it didn't seem like a coma, it just looked like she was resting. The bandages covering her head and cheeks and almost all her body were the only things, along with those beeping machines, that would give away her comatose state, if one didn't know about it.

Her room had been like a busy dock, with people coming in and out, visiting, wearing sad faces as soon as they spotted her on bed, but because what attracted them the most – especially the kids – seemed to be Emily's miserable state instead, it had been decided that only few people could enter that room, those being strict family, plus Riley and the Robinsons, Emily being counted as family already.

And indeed the two girls were like sisters, Riley had come to see that in the short amount of time he'd known Vanessa. He hadn't had much to do with her, but with the vast recounts from those two members of the family Robinson that loved her so deeply, he'd been able to piece everything together.

Jason had spent countless hours talking about her even while not noticing, all those times when they'd talk, his friend trying to cheer him up, and, taking advantage of Gwen not being there, Jason had unburdened his heart, letting every single thought about Vanessa out, in a way that Riley had been able to come to the obvious conclusion before Jason was ready to face it: that he was deeply in love with Vanessa, and there wasn't a moment of his day when she wouldn't cross his mind.

And Emily? It was probably out of nervousness, or to change subject, to make things less awkward, but, after their declaration, she'd spent half date naming anecdotes that involved her best friend. Those two parts added to the few times he'd talked to the girl in person, he could say now he knew Vanessa pretty well. Standing beside the bed, Riley cracked a small smile as he recalled the phone call he'd received a few days back, before deciding that, no matter what, he wouldn't give up on his Honeybee.

DECEMBER 18TH

Riley was working, his new job suited him pretty well, and they paid enough, the month of trouble seemed gone, Lydia couldn't bother him anymore, and his new boss seemed much better than the old one even, probably because he was young and had strong and innovative ideas. Riley liked him.

He was so dipped into work that he barely heard his phone ringing, he only noticed it when his colleague in the nearby booth made him. Frowning, Riley grabbed the Smartphone and unlocked it, only to see an unfamiliar number flashing on the screen. Worried it was the prison, that something might have happened to Jason in there, or worse, he swiftly took the call: "Yes? Who's this?"

There was silence for a moment, then a girly sigh resonated through the device. "I'm the one who's gonna stick some common sense into that thick skull of yours, you dumbass."

Riley furrowed his eyebrows, puzzled, and a little offended at the harsh tone and words, but the voice sounded familiar. "Vanessa?"

"No, Santa." The girl snorted, making him chuckle the slightest.

He relaxed a little, leaning back against his chair. "To what the honor? And how did you get my number?"

"Doesn't matter. Just listen to every word I say."

He chuckled at her antics, but her resolute tone as she repeated herself made him freeze and obey dutifully, without interrupting her a single time: "You've waited even too much. All of this is ridiculous. You guys love each other, why is it so hard to go along with it? No, don't even answer. I know why. It's because you two are a couple of stubborn morons that won't admit reality even when it's stuffed right beneath their noses."

She groaned. "I can't believe I'm the one to have to tell you this, Riley, I thought you were better than that, smarter. Gee, if even that thick skulled-bull that is my boyfriend was able to come to terms with his feelings and act upon them, why can't you? I mean, gee, Jason freaking dumped his fiancée for me! He exposed himself to people's judgment, why can't you do the same for your Honeybee? You love her, then go freaking get her, you moron! What are you waiting for? A smoke signal?"

Riley's mouth opened to argue, but she seemingly sensed it, because she went on rambling yet answering to his unspoken phrase: "Don't be fooled by her attitude, Riley. You and I know her better than anyone else, and you should read through her escapes. You should know she's only scared."

Vanessa sighed, her frustrations seeping through the phone, straight to him. "She loves you, Riley. I know she does. She won't say it out loud, she hasn't confessed it to me either, but I know her. She's only afraid."

Another heavy sigh, this time sort of afraid, and he would have sworn her voice had faltered a little: "Don't give up on her, alright? I've spent years trying to bring her back to life, but I'm afraid you're the only