AT THE HOSPITAL
Hurts.
Pain.
A lingering pain.
Dull, not sharp.
What happened?
I heard muffled sounds.
They sound far and angry.
My eyes opened
The light made me close them
Lights?
Where am I?
As I slowly come to,
I was feeling out of sorts and in pain.
Voices floated around me.
My face felt heavy… like it didn't belong to me.
But then—
I felt it.
Hands.
Warm.
Familiar.
The twins.
In my half-conscious state,
I recognize them—
And I felt safe.
I drifted off to sleep.
When I awoke later
I observed my surroundings and found that I am at the hospital, by the pull of the IV drip in my hand.
When I tried to feel my face, it was swollen.
I was calmer than I should have been
Knowing the twins would not have gone too far.
I became aware of the sounds coming from the door.
I concentrated on listening, and that's when I heard my friends talking about Sasha's injury.
How did Sasha get hurt?
I continued listening for the answer.
Her head hit a wall.
Unconscious for two days.
She is awake. Thank God.
Suffering from headaches when her head hit the wall, she was unconscious for two days and is now under 24 hours of observation.
A nurse came in to check on me to ensure all is well.
As she left, I asked her to leave the door open, as my friends are just outside.
She nodded and said, "They have been outside the whole time."
They can come in after the doctor gives the all-clear.
"What exactly happened?" I heard James hoarsely.
"Yeah, a simple party, you guys had said, and because you said you would look after her, we okayed it!" screamed Cutter.
Their voices sound strained, like they haven't slept for days.
Silence.
Then—
A scoff.
"Who knew she couldn't handle herself and cause such a big problem?" snorted Carly.
Something inside me tightened.
"Problem?" Karla's voice rose, disbelief thick in every word. "Problem, Carly?"
Her voice shook.
But not with fear.
With anger.
"She was assaulted!" she continued. "Because you kept giving her drinks! And I—" Her voice broke slightly, "—I helped you."
A pause.
Heavy.
"I thought you were doing it for her," Karla said, quieter now. "To help her loosen up. To enjoy herself. But you didn't care about her at all, did you?"
No answer.
"You kept pushing for us to go to that party," she continued. "Targeting her. I didn't see it before, but now—"
She let out a bitter laugh.
"Demetri wanted her. And you helped him. For what? For a night? For attention?"
Her voice cracked.
"How sick can you be?"
"Sick?" Carly snapped. "You don't understand anything."
Her voice rose, defensive.
Angry.
"I had to change myself around her," she continued. "Watch what I say, how I act. Why? Because she had a bad childhood?"
My breath caught.
"She's the one with problems," Carly went on. "Not me. So why do I have to act like I'm the one broken?"
"Shut up!" voices shouted in unison.
Then—
A new voice.
Weak.
But steady.
"She never asked you to change."
Sasha.
"She never asked any of us to stop being ourselves," she said. "If anything… she encouraged it."
Silence.
Then movement.
"She's right."
Another voice.
Sasha?
No.
Sasha was already speaking.
So who—
"You guys are loud."
My heart stopped.
That voice…
Karla?
Wait—
Footsteps.
Closer.
"She's awake?" someone asked.
"No, that's not—"
"I heard everything," the voice continued.
Confusion spread through the room.
"You were all arguing so loudly… I couldn't help it."
Everyone gathered around Karla, asking if she was alright.
I tried to piece it together.
But my head throbbed.
My thoughts tangled.
Then—
"Carly," Sasha said, her tone sharp now. "Are you really blaming her?"
Silence.
"I got hurt because of your plan," she continued. "Is that my fault too?"
No response.
"If you felt that way," Karla added, her voice breaking, "why didn't you just leave? Why stay and pretend?"
"Why stay when you are being held back? asked Karla. I would have accepted you no longer wanted to be a part of us, rather than the deceit we're swallowing right now," she cried. She lost her footing and was caught by Cutter.
Something shifted in the air.
Then Carly laughed.
Cold.
"You're all putting the blame solely on me? But where's your part? You all wanted to be free of her, not just me."
Silence.
"Karla," she continued, "you were with Jared. Where were you when everything happened?"
A pause.
"You chose him over her."
Karla didn't respond.
"But...?" interjected Sasha.
"Quiet!" screamed Carly. "You don't get to talk, Ms. Holy Righteous. Didn't you leave her also to be with her brother, her twin, Alexander? Did you let her know that you are vying for the position of sister-in-law?"
My chest tightened.
"You left her, too. For her brother."
Everything went still.
My heart dropped.
The words echoed.
Over and over.
Something inside me shattered.
I started hyperventilating.
I remembered what happened.
The pain I felt when he hit me across the face repeatedly,
The disgust when he assaulted and tried to rape me.
This is my fault, mine.
This is what I deserved because I'm a jinx.
I take everyone from my life who loves me, so I don't deserve love, care, and compassion.
Then the twins are with me falsely?
Did they use me, too?
All of them.
Excuses.
Reasons.
Justifications.
I was never a friend.
I was the burden.
The obstacle.
The thing they had to work around.
My breathing quickened.
The room spun.
My chest tightened painfully.
This is my fault.
The thought came fast.
Sharp.
Unforgiving.
I am the problem.
I always have been.
Mom.
Grandpa.
Dad.
Now this.
Everyone gets hurt because of me.
I don't deserve—
My breathing stopped.
The machines beside me began to beep wildly.
Fast.
Loud.
Uncontrolled.
Darkness crept in from the edges of my vision.
I tried to breathe.
I couldn't.
And in that moment…
I wished—
I wouldn't wake up again.
FRIENDS' POINT OF VIEW
We were arguing our points, but the argument stopped the moment the machines started screaming.
Everyone froze.
Then chaos erupted.
Doctors rushed past.
Nurses followed.
"Move!" someone shouted.
We were pushed back.
Forced out of the way.
But we could still see.
The oxygen mask.
The frantic movements.
The urgency.
"She's not breathing properly!"
"Get her stabilized!"
"Pulse dropping—"
Our hearts are pounding.
"What's happening?" Karla whispered.
No one answered.
We just stood there.
Watching.
Helpless.
After what felt like forever…
A doctor stepped out.
"She has a pulse now," he said.
Relief washed over us—
But it didn't last.
"What happened?" a nurse asked firmly.
"We… we don't know," someone stammered.
"We were just talking—"
The doctor's expression hardened.
"She heard you," he said.
Silence.
"What she heard triggered a severe anxiety attack," he continued. "Her body shut down."
Our stomachs dropped.
"She's in a coma."
The words echoed.
"She needs her family," the doctor added. "Who do we contact?"
James stepped forward.
"She lives with her grandmother," he said. "And her twin brother."
"Call him," the doctor replied. "Now."
Before the conversation continued, we saw two officers approaching.
They got a report from the doctor, then turned to us for our statements and our parents' contact information.
The ride to the station was silent.
No one spoke.
No one looked at each other.
We were separated almost immediately.
Taken into different rooms.
Asked the same question.
"What happened?"
AT THE STATION
We are escorted to a long bench.
Our names and parents' information are requested.
Alex's information was also given to inform him about Dria's condition.
We were then taken into different rooms
For questioning leading to Dria and Sasha's hospitalization.
JAMES POINT OF VIEW
The room felt too small.
Too quiet.
"Tell us everything," the officer said.
I swallowed.
"My brother and I weren't there," I began. "We were moving into the dorms."
My hands clenched.
"We told them to go ahead," I continued. "We trusted them."
The word tasted bitter.
"We got a call… saying she was in danger."
My voice tightened.
"So we went."
The memory hit hard.
The room.
The scene.
"She was on the bed," I said quietly. "Her face… swollen. Her clothes… torn."
I paused.
"He was on her."
Silence filled the room.
"She wasn't moving," I added. "She looked… gone."
The officer leaned forward.
"That must have been hard," he said. "You failed to protect her."
The words hit like a punch.
"Yes," I admitted.
"I did."
I looked down.
"She trusts us," I said. "She always has. And we weren't there."
"I failed her; she has never gone anywhere without my brother and me, but we weren't planning to be long, and she was with friends. How am I to face her now? She only heard something, not everything, and is in a coma. How will I manage?"
The silence stretched.
"What about her home?" the officer asked.
I hesitated.
My eyes started shifting from left to right while I continuously held and rubbed my hands.
Then whispered—
"She's being abused."
CUTTER POINT OF VIEW
I sat across from the officer.
Watching him.
Trying to read him.
Would he care?
Or was this just a procedure?
"Anything we should know?" he asked.
I thought about it.
The girls.
The drinks.
The setup.
Everything.
But something stopped me.
A feeling.
That this wasn't as simple as it seemed.
"That's everything," I said finally.
But even as the words left my mouth…
I knew—
It wasn't.