•<Saving Her>•

                Stupid boy makin' me so sad
        Didn't think you could change this fast
         She's got everything that I don't have
        How could I ever compete with that?
                                         •
                               Tate McRae

•<>•

Looking down at Autumn who's lying in the hospital bed motionless and has a tube stuck to her wrist, I can't help but wonder what happened to her.

How did we get here?

It's been a couple of minutes since we got here and even though she's been attended to by a doctor and a nurse, not much information has been given to us other than she's dehydrated and a couple of questions they've hit us with like what her diet is like daily.

I remember Key and me telling him everything we know about her diet including her unhealthy habits and the part where she was throwing up several times. After all, if she's pregnant like Key thought then perhaps he'll tell us but, what does it have to do with her diet? Or maybe, it does have a lot to do with her diet. I mean, pregnant women have a strict diet, right?

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be here when she wakes up," Key darts her eyes to Brandon who's standing by the curtain that's separating us from the reception that's crowded with patients and healthcare workers walking to and fro.

"But I want to see her when she wakes up," he responds, his arms crossed over his chest while leaning against the wall. "I want to make sure that she's alright before I leave."

"We'll inform you over the phone, the least we want is for her to have another breakdown," Key says sounding so exasperated. "You've done enough damage already."

He softly chuckles in disbelief, briefly glancing at the ground before returning his gaze to Keyara, "Look I'm not sure what you all saw, but I can promise you that it's not what you think it is. Aero and I are just friends and nothing else."

"Yeah, I've heard that before," Key responds with a scoff as she rolls her eyes, and shifts her gaze to the other side.

The tension is rising at the speed of light, it's getting heavier with every second that goes by you can cut it with a knife. Unable to stay silent while I watch these two lock horns over this issue, I step in, in an attempt to diffuse the situation.

"I just want to see her wake up, I'm not asking for too much now am I?" He raises his dark eyebrows, anticipating our response.

"I understand where you are coming from but she made it clear that she doesn't want to see you," I respond, trying to convey my empathy. Seeing him look this helpless, and sad, I can't stop my heart from feeling sorry for him. He looks so vulnerable and heartbroken.

Not long after, the doctor walks in alongside the nurse. Standing by the bedside, the nurse starts to write down something on the clipboard including what the doctor is saying to her.

"Now," he says as he turns his focus to us, "Which one of you is her family member?"

"They're not here. We are her closest friends, practically like family," I explain, gesturing between Key and myself to convey this to the doctor.

"Very well, then. Only those closest to her should stay," he says.

Immediately after he says that Key and I turn our eyes to Brandon and signal him to leave but he doesn't.

"We can't let this small space be overcrowded, I only need people close to her that way we can get as much information as we need and also so that we can work efficiently," he says as he looks at us through his rectangular glasses.

"I'm close to her as well, but alright, I-I'll be outside." Brandon surrenders and starts receding.

Shortly after, the doctor starts to address us while examining Autumn, who has just regained consciousness and appears frail and bewildered, "As I said before, your friend was weak and dehydrated, hence the fainting." He points out and proceeds to check her eyes, her waterline, her pinky finger, her wrist, her knuckles, and her skin including her mouth.

Upon exhaling sharply from his nostrils, he adds, "But after giving her normal saline, she seems alright, however, we need to perform a Basic Metabolic Panel to check her electrolytes."

Autumn carefully pulls herself up and immediately, the nurse puts some pillows behind her back for support, "My head aches a little." She presses her palm on her forehead and the doctor reassures her that it's nothing to worry about.

"However," he pauses, "I do need to ask you a few questions." His tone changes.

Creasing her eyebrows, worry dances around her face as her eyes flit from side to side while looking at him, "Is there a problem?"

Silence creeps in for a second before he proceeds to speak, "Miss Anderson," he pauses, "From what we've gathered, we believe you've been forcing yourself to throw up."

"What?" She responds in disbelief, her face showing signs of denial with deep furrows forming on her forehead. "I would never do something like that to myself."

"We've seen a lot of cases like this Miss Anderson and the sooner you tell us what's happening, the better the outcome."

"Are you saying that she has an eating disorder?" Key questions, her face becoming as puzzled as Autumn's and mine.

"An eating disorder?!" Suddenly bursting in, Brandon's angry voice resonates in this small space, "What are you talking about? What is this?!"

This place suddenly turns chaotic with the male nurses trying to kick Brandon out and Autumn becoming hysterical again while we try to calm her down.

After minutes of chaos, the room is finally calm and the doctor proceeds to question Autumn. After denying the accusation for minutes, she breaks down into tears, her hands covering her face as she sobs.

"I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to," She cries repeatedly and Key and I move closer to comfort her.

She then starts telling us everything, from the time she started getting jealous and insecure whenever she saw Brandon and his ex being so close with each other to the time she started doing everything she could to get his attention.

Everything that happened, starving herself and sneaking to the kitchen in the middle of the night or whenever she thought we weren't around only to eat something and force herself to throw up in the end, every single detail is been poured on the table.

Sadness and sympathy are how I can describe the atmosphere in this room. Listening to her talk about how she desperately needed to lose weight so she could look a lot like Aero is heartbreaking.

She sniffles and wipes the tears that are still falling from her eyes. She then starts talking about how losing weight didn't feel enough for her because Brandon was still giving more attention to his ex so, she decided to take a step further and started wearing matte red lipstick just like Aero in hopes of being noticed but that didn't change a thing either.

I shake my head and glance at Keyara whose eyes are now filled with tears; she throws her head back a little and tries to blink the tears away but they only end up rolling down her cheeks.

"I just wanted him to look at me the same way he looks at her." She cries and takes a tissue given to her by the nurse to wipe her nose.

After taking a moment to breathe, she continues to tell us about how she decided to change her hairstyle and dress a little like Aero, hoping he'd look at her if she looked a lot like his ex, but that didn't work either.

Words can't describe how much I'm hating myself hearing my best friend talk about this and I had no clue at all. I've been so self-absorbed, to care about her matters. Everything was right in front of me, I saw it all and I didn't bother to press further and find out why she was acting strangely, why she kept throwing up, or when she changed her unique style.

How did I not see that?!

How did I not see it including the day we saw her pleading with him while Aero pulled him away from her? Sure Keyara questioned her about looking a lot like Brandon's ex but that only led to a fight and we didn't bother to press further.

Gosh, I'm a horrible person, I'm a terrible friend.

"Am I a terrible person?" she questions as she looks up at all of us, "Does loving my boyfriend so much that I'd change myself for him make me a crazy person?" Sobs follow.

"Miss Anderson," The doctor pauses. With sympathy in his voice and downcast eyes, he appears to be just as downhearted as the rest of us, "You're not a terrible or a crazy person, don't ever change yourself for a man or say awful things about yourself. Do you understand?"

As I gently squeeze her shoulder, she looks up at me with a tight-lipped smile though her eyes are still reflecting sadness.

"I've talked to Dr. Charles and he'll be coming shortly so he can talk to you, and find a way to help you."

"You're bringing me a shrink?" her forehead furrows almost as if she's in disapproval.

"Let us help you, Miss Anderson, please. It's important that you're seen by him before you leave this hospital," he replies and she slumps back and heaves a sigh of defeat.

"What about the bill?" she questions as she slightly raises her head.

"That is all covered in the insurance," he replies right away.

After glancing at us for approval, she darts her eyes back to him and agrees to see the shrink.

Shortly after, they all walk out, leaving the girls and me alone to talk and process what just happened.

As we gently squeeze her hand in solace, we tell her over and over again that she's not a terrible person and that she should never change who she is for a man. She nods repeatedly as she bites her bottom lip while staring at the curtain in front of us, her eyes are now free from tears, and at least she's calmer than before.

Thinking about Brandon and how sad and helpless he was looking, I quietly walk out of the room to find him. I think there's more to his story than what's on the surface so, I might as well hear him out.

When I notice that he's in the waiting room seated quietly with his face turned to the floor and hands intertwined between his legs looking like he's lost deep in thought, I take a deep breath before approaching him. Immediately he looks up at me, my heart aches when I see that grief-stricken look in his eyes. He looks so lost, vulnerable, helpless, and hopeless.

As I take a seat beside him, he remains silent, redirecting his gaze to the marble floor and continuing to absentmindedly fiddle with his fingers.

Gosh, what do I say? Where do I start?

"How is she?" he questions though his eyes are still glued to the floor.

Clearing my throat, I reply, "She-" (Clears throat again) "She's better now."

He doesn't say a word and silence between us creeps in for another few minutes even though our surrounding is not. I thought I had it in me to talk to him, but apparently, I don't. He looks so defeated and lost. I don't think anything I'll say will make a difference but either way, I have to try, I've got to help him.

"I-" I say, my voice tinged with nervousness, "I'm sorry for what happened in there, and," I swallow hard, "For how we treated you."

He is unmoved by what I just said; his eyes are still fixated on the floor, and his lips are still sealed, however, this doesn't stop me from talking.

"I believe that there's more to the story than what we're seeing. I think that you deserve to be heard, and-" Tears start to sting my eyes but I blink them back right away, "I would be so wounded if-if nothing was done about it, if you left this place without talking to her or, or seeing her."

Gradually, he shifts his gaze towards me. His eyes dart back and forth between mine, his forehead creased with furrows, and his eyebrows tightly knit.

"Why are you telling me this all of a sudden?" He looks at me doubtfully.

After heaving a breath, I reply, "Because I believe communication is very important."

His eyes narrow into a slit, and I can only imagine how insane he must be thinking I am. Truth is, I don't care whether I'm sounding insane or not. All I want is for them to communicate and resolve their issue. Whether they'll end up together or not is up to them as long as they've ironed out whatever is going on between them.

Thinking about my past relationship with Jordan, I now know better just how communication is very important. It's so easy to misjudge someone based on a glimpse of a moment and we easily absorb ourselves in a pool of bitter emotions.

"Watching you two together, including what happened today, I can tell that what you have is sincere and-and beautiful." I chuckle softly as I avert my gaze before reverting it to him, "Brandon,"

I pull his attention back to me at the mention of his name, "Go, see her, talk to her."

As his eyes wander all over my face, he responds, "But she doesn't want to see me, hell your overly protective friend won't even let me be near her."

"Don't worry about Keyara, I'll handle it," I reassure him.

Upon rising to my feet, I gesture in the direction of her room with a nod of my head, "C'mon."

Reluctantly, he stands up and trails behind me. Our steps are so slow, and cautious especially when we slide the curtain and make our way in.

"What is he doing here?" Keyara seethes.

"I brought him here so they can talk," I say firmly.

"Talk?" Autumn pulls herself up slightly with some effort, "I don't want to talk to him."

"See?!" Key highlights Autumn's request right away.

"Keyara, please," I say firmly as I fix my eyes on the mama bear, and instantly, her tensed body loosens up. She knows that whenever I call her by her full name I'm dead serious, and so, without putting up a fight, she heaves a sigh and takes a step back — surrendering.

Shifting my eyes back to Autumn, I add, "Autumn, I get that you're hurt and you don't want to see him but, at least hear him out. Listen to what he has to say before you jump to conclusions, and I promise that whatever your decision will be after this, I won't butt in. I promise you I'll stay out of it."

Slumping her shoulders in defeat and heaving a sharp breath from her slightly parted lips, she nods in acceptance, and right away, Key and I leave them to talk. Hopefully, this goes well.

                                             AN

                                        ❤️❤️❤️