Ivey's POV
When I arrived at the hospital my shoes squeaked against the tile as I rushed down the hallway, Kayla waiting.
"Where are they?" I asked, barely stopping.
"Lucas is in room 108. Josh is next door."
She didn't try to sugarcoat anything.
"They're both okay?" I asked, my throat tight.
Kayla nodded slowly. "Mostly bruised. Some cuts. They're both getting tests, but Lucas hit his head when they fell. Josh might have fractured a rib."
The room spun for a second, the words he hit his head anchoring too deep.
"Ivey," Kayla said softly, touching my arm, "you should see him."
I didn't hesitate.
The door to Lucas's room was right in front of me. I pushed it open gently.
The room was dim when I stepped inside. Cold light spilled across the bed, where Lucas lay still, too still, an oxygen cannula looped under his nose. His face was pale beneath the bruises, one eye already purple, hair messy, a bandage over his eyebrow. His arm was strapped in a sling.
I froze. My breath caught. All the words I'd planned to say evaporated.
Because seeing someone like that, someone who stayed when no one else did, who held you when you cried in your sleep, it does something to you.
I took a step closer, then another. The chair beside the bed was cold when I sat, but his hand wasn't. His hand was warm.
"Lucas," I whispered, barely a breath.
His chest rose and fell with steady breaths, but there was no flicker of eyelids, no twitch of fingers.
"You weren't supposed to get hurt," I said, brushing the hair gently off his forehead. "You were just supposed to… be okay."
A tear slid down my cheek before I could stop it.
I held his hand tighter.
"You don't have to fight for me like that," I murmured. "I can fight for myself. I just… I didn't know anyone else would want to."
Silence answered me.
I stayed there, tracing slow circles on the back of his hand with my thumb, until Kayla gently pushed the door open.
"Ivey…" she said hesitantly. "Josh is asking for you."
I didn't turn.
"Tell him that I don't want to see him." I said "It's his fault that Lucas got into this mess, and even if it wasn't his fault… I am not leaving Lucas like this… not after the way he cared for me the way he did."
I stayed.
Hours slipped by in silence. Nurses came and went, checking machines, adjusting his IV. I barely noticed. I didn't even move much, afraid that if I looked away, even for a second, he might slip further away from me.
The rain had started again outside the window. It blurred the glass, casting soft shadows across Lucas's face. He still hadn't stirred.
I leaned forward, my elbows on the edge of the bed. "I should have stopped it. I should've known Josh would do something. He was angry… but Lucas, you didn't deserve this."
My voice cracked.
I let it.
Minutes passed. Maybe hours. At one point, Kayla brought me water and something to eat. I took a few bites just to stop her from worrying.
But I couldn't leave.
I rested my head gently on the edge of the mattress, still holding his hand, not even realizing I'd started to drift off.
Then I felt it.
A shift.
The lightest squeeze.
I jerked up, blinking fast. His fingers were moving.
"Lucas?" I whispered.
His eyebrows twitched slightly, then his lips parted. His voice came out rough, cracked, almost inaudible. "Ivey…?"
Tears immediately sprang to my eyes. "I'm here."
His eyes opened slowly, wincing against the light. His gaze met mine, glassy but focused. "Did I… die? Because if this is heaven, you're really blurry."
I let out a laugh. "You're an idiot."
He gave the faintest grin. "Still alive, then."
"You scared me," I said, reaching up to brush the hair from his forehead again. "Like, actually terrified me."
"Sorry," he murmured. "Didn't mean to be so dramatic."
I laughed again, even though it hurt. "You got into a fight in front of the entire school, hit your head on concrete, and passed out cold, and your takeaway is that you were being dramatic?"
His eyes fluttered closed for a second, then opened again, slower this time. "Did we win?"
I hesitated. "You definitely got the last punch."
He gave a small hum, content. "Then worth it."
"Lucas—"
"No," he said gently, trying to lift his hand again, but failing. "If I had to choose between watching Josh hurt you again or getting hurt myself… I'd pick this. Every time."
There were a thousand things I could've said. But instead, I just leaned forward and pressed my forehead gently to his.
"Thank you," I whispered.
I stared at Lucas for a moment, unsure whether I should be worried or just… laugh. It was hard to tell with him. The way he spoke, so casual, like he wasn't lying in a hospital bed with a broken arm and bruises all over his body, made me feel like maybe he wasn't as broken as he seemed.
I frowned, trying to keep my voice steady, despite the emotions still swirling inside me. "Lucas… don't joke about things like that." I leaned forward, brushing my fingers lightly over his arm, feeling the subtle tremors of his muscles beneath the bandage. "You're not invincible, you know."
He gave me a small grin, the one that always made my heart skip a beat. "I know." He paused, wincing slightly as he shifted his position, trying to find a more comfortable way to lie. "But who wants to be a superhero if they don't get to make a dramatic recovery, right?"
I couldn't stop the small laugh that slipped out, shaking my head at him. Despite everything, the way he was trying to make light of it all, to reassure me in his usual Lucas way made me realize just how much I… cared.
I rubbed my forehead, trying to hold myself together. "I don't know, Lucas. You're too stubborn for your own good. You're lucky you're not worse."
He shifted again, looking at me with that quiet intensity that had always drawn me in. His eyes softened, his expression a little more serious now. "You're not wrong. I just… I don't like feeling helpless. Especially when it's because of something I did."
My heart started hammering in my chest. "What do you mean? You didn't do anything wrong."
"Yeah, I did. I let it get out of hand. I could've just walked away from Josh, you know? I didn't need to make it worse."
I bit my lip, trying to process what he was saying. But I knew that Lucas wasn't the type to back down when someone he cared about was in trouble, even if it meant putting himself in harm's way.
"Why does it matter?" I asked softly. "You did what you thought was right. You stood up for me."
He gave a slight shake of his head, like he wasn't entirely convinced. "I guess."
We both fell silent, the soft beeping of the monitors around us filling the space between our words. It was strange, the way we were just sitting there, like it was normal for him to be hurt and for me to be by his side. Like it was supposed to be this way.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Kayla stepped in, her expression unreadable. "Ivey, you should go see Josh. He's been asking for you."
My heart sank again, the ache in my chest returning. I didn't want to leave him. Not now, not when everything felt so raw.
"I… I'll stay a bit longer," I said, my voice quieter than I intended. I glanced at Lucas, feeling the weight of the moment between us. "I'm not ready to leave yet."
Kayla seemed to understand. She gave me a small, reassuring nod before stepping back out of the room, leaving me alone with Lucas once again.
Lucas, still lying there, met my gaze with something softer, something I hadn't seen in him before. "It's okay, Ivey. Go talk to him. But… you know where I am if you need me."
I nodded, the lump in my throat making it hard to speak. I wanted to tell him how much this all meant to me, how much he meant to me, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, I gave him a shaky smile and stood, reluctantly walking toward the door.
Before I left, I paused, looking back over my shoulder at him. "I'll be back."
He nodded, his voice faint but earnest. "Take your time."
The door clicked shut behind me, and I felt the weight of what was waiting for me on the other side.
The hallway outside Lucas's room was quiet. Too quiet. Every step I took toward Josh's room made my stomach tighten. I needed closure. No more maybes, no more confusion, no more pretending.
Josh's door was cracked open.
He was sitting up in bed when I stepped in, shirt off, bruises scattered across his chest. A bandage wrapped around his ribs. He looked at me like I was the one who had broken his heart.
"Ivey," he said quickly, like he'd been rehearsing my name. "I didn't think you'd come."
I didn't move closer. "Kayla said you were asking for me."
He nodded, then winced. "Yeah. I just wanted to explain."
"You cheated on me," I said, flat. No room for argument. "You don't need to explain anything. You made a choice."
Josh leaned forward, wincing again. "It wasn't like that. I was drunk. She kissed me first. I didn't even—"
"You kissed her back," I interrupted. "I saw it, Josh. I was there."
His face twisted like that truth hurt him more than it hurt me. "Ivey, I messed up. But you don't get it. Everyone was talking about you and Lucas. The looks, the whispers. You weren't even around anymore. You've changed."
I felt something in me snap.
"Yeah, I have," I said, voice shaking. "Because I'm finally realizing I deserve more than being someone's second choice or backup plan. I deserve someone who sees me when things fall apart. Not someone who blames me when they cheat."
Josh opened his mouth, but I wasn't done.
"And don't even try to blame Lucas," I said. "He didn't make you do anything. You hit him because you were angry, not because he hurt you. And now he's lying unconscious in a hospital bed with a concussion, and you think I'm the one who changed?"
His expression flickered a mix of guilt and pride.
I stepped back toward the door. "We're done, Josh. For real this time."
He looked away. "So that's it? You pick him?"
I paused. "I'm picking me."
I walked out before he could say another word.
The second the door closed behind me, I leaned against the wall, trying to catch my breath. My hands were shaking, but I didn't regret a single thing I said.
Not anymore.
My legs carried me before I even had time to think. Back down the hallway, back to the room where the only person who hadn't asked anything of me was still lying in that hospital bed, waiting.
I didn't knock this time.
Lucas turned his head slowly as I entered, the corners of his mouth lifting in a soft smile. "Back already?"
"I shouldn't have left."
"You needed to," he said. "I get it."
I sat down in the chair again, closer this time, like being near him grounded something in me. "I said everything I needed to say."
Lucas studied me. "You okay?"
I shook my head, but I was smiling through it. "Not really. But better. Lighter, somehow."
He nodded like he understood, like he'd been carrying weight too.
There was a long silence between us. Not awkward, just… quiet. Like we were both trying to figure out what came next.
Finally, I looked at him and asked the question that had been pressing at me since he woke up. "Why did you fight him?"
Lucas's eyes didn't flinch. "Because he hurt you. And maybe that wasn't my place, but I couldn't stand there and do nothing."
"You didn't have to protect me."
"I know," he said, voice low. "But I wanted to."
I swallowed hard, my throat tightening. "You could've died."
"But I didn't."
"That's not the point," I whispered. "You got hurt. Because of me."
He shook his head, then winced at the motion. "Not because of you. Because Josh is an idiot. You… you were the only part that was worth it."
I didn't know what to say to that. So I didn't. I just reached out and laced my fingers through his gently and carefully.
"I was scared," I admitted quietly. "When I saw you here, when I thought… Lucas, you were so still."
"I'm okay," he said, but the way he looked at me, seriously making it clear he understood what I wasn't saying.
"No, you're not," I whispered. "Not completely. But you're here. And that's enough."
He didn't respond right away. Then: "You're kind of amazing, you know that?"
I smiled, tears threatening again. "I think you hit your head harder than they thought."
He chuckled, then winced and groaned. "Okay. No laughing. That's banned."
I leaned forward, resting my forehead gently against his arm, our hands still tangled together.
"I'm here," I said again, softer this time. "And I'm not going anywhere."