Make sure you've read 49 first xo

"I'm okay. I swear."

Despite the mass amount of water that had to be drained from my lungs, and the seven stitches I have across my forehead, I didn't drown. I am very much alive and thriving in a hospital bed, which has been the case for the past two nights.

"I'm glad to hear your voice," dad speaks through the phone line, sighing. "When they told me the news—"

"Dad," I interrupt, "don't go there. I'm okay, seriously. Nothing terrible happened. I just slipped, that's all."

Slipped and rendered myself unconscious. If Rhys hadn't found me when he did, I probably wouldn't be talking to my father at all.

"Cora, I hope you're being safe. Just because I'm not there to pull you in line, doesn't mean you can run rampant around town," he teases, but I notice the slight edge of concern in his tone.

"I promise I've been on my best behaviour for the Baker's," I smile. "I miss you, though."

"I miss you too, Corrie," he sighs. "As soon as they let me have visitors, you'll be the first to know."

"Good. I promise not to almost drown again."

"Thank you," he speaks, softly. "I don't know what I'd do without—"

"Dad," I warn. "Don't think about that, alright?"

The door to my room opens, revealing Teagan and Cameron. They're chatting quietly to each other, two styrofoam cups of coffee in their hands. Ryan walks in behind them, carrying a tray of more cups. I notice one has my name written across it.

"I have to go, kiddo," the line crackles slightly as he moves. I picture him standing against the wall of a recreation room, hand plastered to the phone as he stares over his shoulder, a small line of people waiting to use it next. "I'm being hassled to stop talking."

I laugh lightly, despite the headache raging throughout my skull. "I love you. Talk again soon. Bye."

"Bye, Corrie."

"How is he?" Teagan asks, softly, reaching past Cameron to grab the coffee Ryan is holding. She places it down on the bedside table for me and I smile, appreciatively.

"He seems happy," I nod.

Tea squeezes my hand, practically collapsing into the chair beside my bed. Despite telling her countless times to go home and get some sleep, Teagan has barely left my side the entire two days that I've been here.

"So the doctors say I can finally go home tomorrow," I tell them, just as Dory and Wesley walk through the door.

No one says anything and I sigh, ready for their onslaught again. When I'd been brought into the hospital, I had barely been coherent. I'd been able to remember that Rhys was with me the entire time, and that Abby had come after, but I blacked out for a while. By the time I'd woken up the next day, all my friends were going out of their minds. They'd tried to piece together why I had been at the pier at all when I was supposed to be having dinner with Kevin and Lucas Winter.

I'd anxiously told them I was there because of Rhys. Ryan had left the room to spare me his wrath, Dory and Wesley following soon after. It had been easier to explain to Teagan and Cam why I was with him. After all, they are the only two who know the truth.

"I think it's too soon," Ryan grunts, leaning over by the window.

"Do you now, doctor Taylor?" I retort.

"I know I said I wouldn't start anymore fights with that—that jackass, but seriously, Cora, this is really pushing it for me," he pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes.

"Just because I was with him that night, doesn't mean—"

"It was his fault. Blah, blah," Dory mimics, rolling his eyes. "You've already said that."

"Guys—" I start, exhaling.

"He's bad news. First, you get a concussion on Lucas Winter's boat. Now this? What's next?" Ryan snaps, standing stoic as he strides towards my bed.

"Ryan—"

"I'll tell you what's next, Cora. Death. Death is next."

"That's dramatic, don't you think?" I remark, trying to ease the situation with a smile.

"No, Cora," he whispers. "It's just the truth."

"I've got to agree with Ryan here, Cora," Wesley shakes his head, leaning his arms against the railing to the left of my bed. "Rhys has always been bad news, but now he's just interfering with you plans. Your summer. His mother is literally a suspect in Zeila's case now, yet you're still defending him?"

I look over to Teagan for some moral support, but she isn't meeting my gaze. She focuses on Cameron instead, who rubs slow circles across the smooth skin of her arm.

"I couldn't just leave him there," I say, sternly.

"That's the problem here, CeCe!" Ryan snaps. "It shouldn't be up to you! He isn't your boyfriend, he isn't even your friend. So why the fuck—"

"He was," I whisper. "He was my boyfriend."

The room quietens instantly and I watch as Teagan stills beside to me, grasping Cameron's hand. I meet Ryan's flaming eyes and I don't look away, unafraid of his wrath.

"What?" he says, calmly. Too calmly.

"Rhys was my boyfriend. This summer. For a while. He also... wrote the note. Found in mum's file," I say, quietly. I try my best to keep my voice even, knowing that anything I say may cause an outburst.

No more secrets. No more lies. I can't stand it anymore. Ryan and I are supposed to be starting over on a clean slate. It wouldn't be fair to keep lying to him.

I know that he's made progress; I know that we've forgiven each other and have finally regained the friendship we lost, but this is different. This is the one thing that may be unforgivable to him.

"CeCe," Dory begins, frowning at me. "Are you fucking playing right now? That's a joke, right?"

I don't answer him. My eyes stay focused on Ryan as realisation slowly dawns across his face.

"Ryan," Cameron starts, but he's too late.

Without another word, Ry stalks from the room, slamming the door closed behind him. The glass vibrates and I flinch, preparing for it to shatter.

"I'm going to go after him," Wesley states, unable to look at me as he leaves.

"I don't think I can be in here, either," Dory grimaces. "Not with the knowledge you've just put in my head."

"Dor—"

"No, Cora," he says, serious. I rarely see him like this. He's the one who always has a joke, who always has something to say. Now, he just looks disappointed.

"I can't think about this right now. I'm glad you're okay, but—but he's Rhys Laderman."

"I know, okay?" I sigh. "I never wanted it to happen. It just did. But it's—it's over now."

"It still happened, though," he shakes his head. "It feels like betrayal, honestly. And if I feel this way, imagine how Ryan feels."

"Dory—"

"I'll talk to you later," he mumbles, nodding at Tea and Cameron before exiting.

"Well," Cameron clears his throat. "It could have been worse, right?"

I raise an eyebrow at him, my expression deadpan. "It could have gone better, too."

"You must have expected that, though, right?" Tea sighs. "Ryan was always going to react that way. Honestly, Cam's right. It could have been a lot worse."

"Yeah," I sigh, inching up to bed. "I guess so."

A knock sounds from the door. All eyes move to Rhys as he clears his throat, scratching the back of his neck.

"If now isn't a good time—"

"It's okay," I indicate for him to come in, and he steps through the doorway. He stands away from Cameron and Tea as they eye him suspiciously.

"We'll wait outside then," Teagan declares, grasping Cam's hand. She gives Rhys one last hard glance before the door shut softly behind her.

"Hey," he says, tenderly.

"Hey," I swing my legs over the bed, patting the spot next to me.

He falters slightly, but comes to sit beside me with his hand tucked between his thighs. "I'm sorry."

"I wasn't your fault," I shake my head. "I slipped."

"Your friends are right," he rakes a hand through his hair.

"You heard all that?" I sigh.

"Wasn't hard when Ryan was really working that voice box of his," he remarks. "I could practically hear him from the waiting room."

"Rhys—"

"There are a lot of things I shouldn't have done this summer, one of them being the fact I dragged you into my mess," he shakes his head. "That this isn't the first time I have hurt you."

"Yes, you did some stupid things. Even some really fucking hurtful things," I state. "But both times I have been physically hurt aren't your fault."

He quietens, and I turn to watch him closely. "Don't blame yourself for this, too. Just like you aren't to blame for your sister's death, you couldn't have stopped me from falling."

"You wouldn't have even been out there if it wasn't for me. Don't you see that?" he snaps. "Why are you even defending me right now? I've fucked up everything."

"Something Lucas said made me realise that I'm over holding grudges. Mostly."

He stands suddenly, and I watch as he turns away from me, shoulders tensed. "I just want you to know that I won't stand in the way anymore. No more fucking around. No more ruining your chances of finding your mum.

"And I'm sorry," he whispers, "about my mother. I never thought she..."

Admitting his mother's involvement whilst sober isn't something I thought I'd hear from him.

"She is one person I won't be able to forgive," I admit. "I don't think it's possible. Not for a long time, anyway."

"I understand."

"Why didn't she ever say anything?" I say, suddenly hoarse. "Why didn't she speak up when she could have?"

"Because, despite mum's tangible efforts to be good, she was selfish that night. She saw what would happen if the story got out and she suppressed it. She involved Xavier and Dylan and ruined more than her own life instead."

My hands fist the sheets beneath me, fingernails digging into the material. Despite the anger rising, I know yelling at Rhys won't fix anything.

"Your mum isn't going to be charged, is she? Because they have no proof, and mum is still missing," I say, stoic.

"No," he agrees, delicately. "They don't—there isn't enough evidence, except for Xavier's word. Dad was suspended for a bit, but they've allowed him back now. It seems pretty... final."

I nod, numbly. Life is full of disappointments, and this is something I will have to live with. First Marcus, now Rebecca. Both people who aren't so innocent in this town. Both people who are privileged enough to escape the system.

"You've changed," Rhys observes. "Where's the Cora who argues back at the first sign of a fight?"

"Anger can only get you so far. Look how far it's gotten me," I mumble, sarcastically.

"Don't give up on your mum, Cora," Rhys speaks, crouching down in front of me. He tentatively places his hand down against my knee, gripping softly. "I strongly believe that she could still be out there."

"I won't, Rhys," I nod. "It's all I have that's keeping me going."

He leaves shortly after that, barely looking back to watch me. I feel the finality hanging in the air, like it's the last time I'll ever speak to him. I can't imagine going back to how we were before this summer, because despite knowing that it will be hard to trust him again, I know, someday, that I will. Because Rhys Laderman will always have a part of me.