Chapter 134: Discharge day
Chapter ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE**
**OLIVER WEST**
It’d been another week, and I was still confined to this bed. Each day that passed made me hate Amanda more and more. Not just for hitting me, but for stealing my freedom, my normalcy, my ability to do simple things like walk to the bathroom without getting dizzy.
My room looked like a mini flower shop because William and Heath visited with flowers every day, and I was surprised when Raya visited with a large "Get Well Soon" sign.
Every instinct told me she just wanted to confirm if my beloved boyfriend was taking care of me.
"You’re looking much healthier these days," Mom said, tidying up the scattered books and comics around my bed.
’Yay! At least, I’ve gotten all the comics she seized from me!’
"Who knows, you might be ready to return to school by next week." She was saying. I didn’t like school, but it was much better than staying in this bed.
The moment Mom’s back was turned, my brain started to work. It was the opportunity I’d been waiting for all along. I quickly shoved the pills under my pillow and gulped down the entire glass of water she’d brought me.
"I’m done! Urgh, so bitter!" I exclaimed, making an exaggerated disgusted face and stretching my arm out to hand her the empty cup.
"I feel like vomiting, it’s too bitter, Mom," I clutched my stomach.
The performance was Oscar-worthy in my opinion.
She took the glass, shaking her head with an amused smile. "Just bear with it, you’re already done with your drugs for today,"
"No, you are not done!"
The familiar voice came from the doorway, I looked up to see Kieran entering the room, and there was something in his expression that made my stomach drop.
What did he mean by those words?!
I met his cool stare, which held a hint of mischief that I definitely didn’t like. Please tell me he hadn’t seen me hide those pills!!
Please tell me he wasn’t about to ruin my perfectly executed plan!
"Good afternoon, Mom," he said to my mom before walking toward me. His fingers moved toward my pillows with deliberate intent.
No, no, no! My brain screamed in panic. I shot him the most pleading expression I could muster, silently begging him not to betray me. We were supposed to be on the same team!
Kieran completely ignored my desperate look and lifted my pillow with a determined yank.
The sound that came from my mom could have shattered the hospital windows. "Oliver West!"
Six small white pills rolled across the hospital blanket like evidence at a crime scene.
I stared at it as though I had no idea where it came from.
"What are you, six years old? You can’t keep doing this every time," Kieran scolded, his voice carrying that particular tone that made me feel like a caught toddler.
"Wait..." Mom’s voice was dangerously quiet in a way that spread chills and goosebumps down my skin.
"He’s been skipping pills before?"
She turned to stare at me, her lips pressed together in that way that meant I was in serious trouble. The kind of trouble that involved disappointed lectures and extra monitoring.
How could Kieran do this to me? From childhood, he was the only one who fully understood how much I hated taking pills.
They were chalky and bitter and made me feel queasy.
He used to help me hide my peas, for crying out loud! How could he play traitor now?
"No! It was only tonight, and that’s because I really am fine!" I protested, but even I could hear how weak my defence sounded. The six pills were brutal evidence that it wasn’t just tonight.
"I don’t want to hear another word from you, young man," Mom cut me off, her voice rising. "Are you trying to tell me that you know better than the doctor who prescribed these for you?"
She turned to Kieran with something that looked suspiciously like gratitude. "If not for him, I wouldn’t have found out what you’ve been doing! No wonder you’ve been looking pale and unhealthy these days!"
My jaw practically hit the floor. "But you just said I looked healthier!"
"That was before I knew you were sabotaging your own recovery!" she shot back.
I couldn’t really blame her for being upset.
She was just being Mom, after all. But Kieran... I turned my attention to him, hating the way he was looking down at me with that stern, disapproving expression that made me feel like a child who’d been caught stealing cookies.
The thought suddenly struck me that he and my mom made quite the team when it came to bullying every aspect of my life.
They should just get married. . . No way!
I couldn’t have Kieran as a step-dad! The mental image was so ridiculous that I couldn’t help but giggle.
Both my Mom and Kieran stared at me like I’d lost my mind.
"I’ll go get you another bottle of water," Mom announced, marching toward the door. But not before shooting me another one of her patented death glares.
"And this time, you’re taking those pills if I have to hold you down. Or better yet, I’ll give you an injection myself, and it will be on your butt Oliver!"
I flinched at the evil dripping from her voice.
No way!
What grown man would want their mom to see their butt?!
"What a bully," I muttered the moment the door closed behind her. Then I jabbed my index finger into Kieran’s chest who was still beside me.
"How could you! You backstabber! You traitor! You betrayed me!" My voice came out as an indignant screech as I grasped his neck.
"I’m so mad I could practically squeeze the life out of you!"
"You need to get better," Kieran said calmly, prying off my finger and holding my gaze.
"I miss you at home, and you won’t get better if you keep skipping your medication. You don’t blame me for caring about you, do you?"
Those silver eyes were doing that thing again, the thing where they made my brain go fuzzy and my anger start to dissolve. The way he was looking at me, so sincere and worried, made my heart do stupid little flips.
No! I wouldn’t let him sweet-talk his way out of this one!
"You still shouldn’t have told on me!" I whisper-yelled, trying to keep my voice down. "You’re my boyfriend! Since when did you become best friends with my mom? I’m beginning to think you should just date her instead of me. Traitor!" I turned my head away from him.
A chuckle escaped his mouth, and when I peeked from the corner of my eyes, he actually seemed to be considering my suggestion.
"That’s not a bad idea. She’s young, beautiful, and we clearly agree on important things. We’d make a good match, don’t you think?"
My mouth fell open. I turned away from him and crossed my arms, putting on my best sulking pose.
"Fine! Go ahead then! But she won’t like you the way I do!"
I waited for his response, expecting him to laugh or apologize or something. But when a voice finally came, it wasn’t his.
"And who says I won’t like him?"
I whirled around to see Mom standing in the doorway with a bottle of water in one hand and a completely amused expression on her face. She looked like she was trying very hard not to burst out laughing.
"Mom! That’s gross!" I shrieked, my face burning with embarrassment.
Mom was laughing, and Kieran joined in the evil laughter, while I sat there mortified.
"Come on, Ollie," Kieran said, sitting on the edge of my bed and picking up the pills. "Take your medicine like a good boy, and I’ll consider staying faithful to you instead of running off with your mother."
"Don’t call me a good boy in front of my Mom!" I hissed but he just laughed.
*
*
It was finally discharge day, Mom had gone to handle the paperwork, and Kieran was sitting in the chair beside my bed, while I flipped through a comic book, the new one Kieran had bought as an apology gift for telling on me.
We sat in comfortable silence, waiting for Mom to return, and I was actually starting to get absorbed in the story when there was a soft knock on the door.
"Come in," I called, not looking up from my comic.
"Hey, Oliver."
I glanced up to see Xander standing in the doorway, holding a small bouquet of daisies.
A small gasp of surprise left my mouth and he looked nervous too.
"I wanted to see how you were doing," he said, stepping into the room. "I brought these for you."
Even though I disliked that he’d tried to plot me against Kieran and had been ignoring me and our tutoring session over heaven knows what, I still recalled that he’d been there trying to help me on that day of the accident, plus he had also stopped Kieran from doing something that we would have all regretted.
"Thank yo–" Before I could even finish, Kieran was on his feet and snatching the flowers from Xander’s hands.
"He’s allergic," Kieran said curtly, not even looking at me for confirmation.
I stared at him, with my eyebrows raised. The display of possessiveness was so over-the-top that I actually felt embarrassed for him.
"How are you feeling?" Xander said, seeming unbothered by Kieran’s hostility, "I wanted to visit earlier, after that day I was so worried."
"He’s fine," Kieran answered again before I could open my mouth. "Recovering well. Doctor says he needs rest."
I shot Kieran a look that clearly said ’I can speak for myself,’ but he was too busy glaring at Xander to notice.
"That’s... good to hear," Xander said awkwardly, glancing between us. "I’m really sorry about what happened. Amanda never should have—"
"If you’re done checking in," Kieran cut him off, "Ollie really does need to rest. Maybe you could leave now?"
The rudeness in his tone made me wince. Whatever the issue was with Kieran, this wasn’t the way to handle it.
"Kieran," I started to protest, but before I could say more, the door opened again.
"Ollie, sweetie, we can now leav—" Mom stopped mid-sentence when she saw Xander.
Her expression shifted to something I couldn’t quite read.
"Hello, Mrs. West," Xander said quietly, but there was something formal about the way he said it. Like he was being carefully polite.
"I didn’t expect to see you here." Mom spoke, but there was a trace of something in her voice.
"Oh, Oliver and I go to the same school, that’s how I know him, what a small world, isn’t it?"
I looked back and forth between them, my confusion growing by the second.
"Wait," I said slowly. "You two know each other?"