But this? This was different. This was so much worse.
Kelsey was like stone, even as I pulled into the hospital’s parking lot, even as I grabbed her hand as we walked to the big red sign that read Emergency Room. Her hand was sweaty, but I had an iron grip on her. I wasn’t going to let her go. This wasn’t something anyone should have to deal with alone. I knew Mel was just her roommate, but Kelsey had been willing to give me up for her. They were friends, too.
We walked up to the front desk, where a nurse sat, filling out some kind of form. She glanced up, looking between the both of us. “Can I help you? One of you here to check in?” I assumed she must see a lot of college kids here; SCC wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of good behavior, especially where its students were concerned.
“Her roommate was just brought in,” I spoke when it was obvious Kelsey wasn’t going to. “Anything we need to do for her?” I squeezed harder on Kelsey’s hand as I watched the recognition dawn in the nurse’s eyes.
“Yes,” she said, reaching for a few empty forms and attaching them to a see-through clipboard. “If you could answer what you know to the best of your abilities. If you’re not sure about something, leave it blank.” She set a blue pen on top of the clipboard and handed it to me.
I gave her a smile as I took it, leading Kelsey to the seating area, where a few other people sat. Most of the other chairs were empty, so I sat Kelsey down in one of the corner seats, sitting on her other side.
Tearing the cap off the pen, I said, “I might need your help to fill some of this out.” The first line I knew, and that was the patient’s full name. Her sex was obvious, and her birthday…I was pretty sure I remembered it correctly. Allergies, health problems, a bunch of random questions that I honestly didn’t know the answer to…
Jeez. So many fucking forms, you’d think we were applying to buy a house or something.
Once I ran through the papers, I offered the clipboard to Kelsey. “Here. Double check these. If you can think of anything else to put down, or if I was wrong on something, fix it.”
She made no moves to take the clipboard. Her eyes were open, but I could tell she was out of it, somewhere far off. Maybe thinking of a better place. She looked miserable, and I hated seeing her like this. I hated knowing that this was partially my fault.
It was, after all. What I did to Mel last year for the fucking fraternity had pushed her off the edge. What I did combined with what Dean did—I didn’t doubt that if both of us had just left her alone, she never would’ve tried to hurt herself.
This year it was deja fucking vu. Me again, only this time I was with Kelsey. And fucking Dean. Fucking Dean and his fucking video. He probably figured out a way for her to see it. He wanted Mel to suffer, because he was the world’s biggest dick.
Somehow, after tonight, the revenge I’d been planning just felt so petty.
No, whatever revenge was gotten on Dean had to be more than just petty humiliation. It had to be real. It had to be the kind of stunt that Dean would never forget, maybe even the kind that would make his entire future shitty.
Finally, after a minute of me offering her the clipboard, Kelsey took it. Her dark eyes scanned the papers, line by line, and she was slow to hand it back to me, muttering, “I think everything’s right. But who fucking knows for sure. It isn’t like Mel and I stayed up all night gossiping about our health history.” She let out an explosive sigh, leaning forward, digging her hands into her face to cover her eyes from the bright, fluorescent lighting overhead. “Fuck. What about her parents?”
I thought on it. “We’ll call them when we get back to campus.” Mel’s phone was probably somewhere in the room, or at least I assumed. If not, then there was nothing we could do about notifying her parents. Mel was legally an adult herself, so…
“I’m not going back.”
My jaw set. “You can’t stay here all night, Kelsey. I know you want to be there for her, but sitting out here isn’t going to help her.” I was trying to convince her that sleeping in the ER wouldn’t do either of them any good, but I kind of sounded like a dick.
I kind of sounded like a dick more often than not.
“Well, what else can I do?” Kelsey asked, turning those dark eyes onto me.
I let out a sound that was mixed with frustration and empathy; I didn’t want Kelsey to feel bad about this, but at the same time, I wished I could shake some sense into her. “Let me return these,” I said, getting to my feet. I walked over to the desk and handed the nurse the clipboard and her pen, along with the somewhat-filled-out papers. “We did our best,” I told her, and she thanked me.
“I’ll let you know once she’s stable enough to have visitors,” she said, giving me a smile. She was an older woman, tired, by the looks of her. Couldn’t blame her. Working here must drain the life out of her bit by bit.
After thanking her, I returned to my seat beside Kelsey. Kelsey nibbled on her bottom lip absentmindedly, and just by looking at her, I knew what
