Betrayal Of A Best Friend
Chapter 6
Dawn P.O.V.
It had been four weeks since I'd left the house. My own mother had barely seen me, only being able to coax me out of my bedroom for a small meal, much of which would promptly find its way out of my stomach anyway.
I'd heard back from Barry's mum only half an hour after the first call ended, and it had arguably been more frightening than the first.
Barry was alive, but only barely.
He'd taken a mixture of paracetamol and vodka, enough for ten doses of the first. Long before the time he'd texted me, he'd already taken it all. His mother had been unbelievably calm throughout it all, despite the fact that her son was potentially dying in her arms.
It had been four entire weeks, and yet I still couldn't bring myself to visit him. He said he'd hurt me, and he said he'd hurt him. If he really was the person I thought it was then I'd never be able to understand what he meant.
I just wanted my old life back...
When I finally managed to drag myself out of the house and down to the shops, I hadn't anticipated that people would be so happy to see me. I wondered why they cared, why they would bother, it was only me.
'The girl who can't even confirm whether her fiancé's alive... The girl whose, supposed, best friend almost drove himself to suicide...'
The thoughts still haunted me, even if they were less prevalent, but I was going to have to come to terms with what was happening. I had to, or else I'd lose both Kenny and Barry.
"Dawn! Oh, thank Arceus, I was so worried!"
I looked up from the shelves of the Poké Mart and smiled at the shop assistant.
"If," the woman started, seemingly unsure of what to say. "If you need someone to talk to, I can listen. I'm glad to see you out and about again but you really look like you need some help. I'm sorry to hear about what happened to that friend of yours."
She'd really only strung a few random sentences together, but it was the closest thing to a conversation I'd had in a month. I couldn't even tell which friend she meant at this point, it could be either of them, or any of the others; I really wouldn't know.
I just nodded gently, picking up a magazine from the rack and turning to the fashion pages.
"And... That boy of yours has been in here every day asking if I've seen you," she continued, prompting me gently.
Wait, boy of mine? She couldn't be referring to Barry this time, so she must have meant... Kenny.
"Wait," I stopped her. "Are you talking about Kenny?"
"Of course, that boy really worries about you. He was here a few minutes ago; you might be able to catch him..."
I was already out the door before she finished speaking, dropping the magazine on the floor in my scramble.
I must have looked insane, an undernourished teenager running through the street frantically, looking back and forth before deciding to turn around and run in the other direction.
I ran faster, taking hurried turns down each row of shops, feeling dizzy as my legs began to burn.
I fell to my knees.
I was at least two streets away from the Poké Mart by this point, crouching on the road side, staring, and ignoring the couple of strangers that would try and check my wellbeing.
My head was beginning to throb, and my mind was spinning in circles. Was I even breathing? I honestly couldn't tell anymore.
One, two, three, four...
The cars sped past.
Five, six, seven, eight...
I thought I could make out a head of brunet hair across the road, running towards me, saying something, maybe shouting.
Nine, ten, eleven...
The twelfth never passed me. It had stopped. Briefly, I thought I'd heard a screech of tires, I thought I'd heard...
My name.
My vision focused, but I could only wish it hadn't.
There were other people around me screaming, but all I could see was the body, the boy lying in the road. I couldn't move; my knees were locked against the concrete pavement.
The paramedics arrived before I even realised time had passed. One of them put a blanket over my shoulders and tried to lead me away, but I was still staring. One of my hands outstretched to the figure as he was lifted into the ambulance. My knees unlocked in that moment and I flung myself at the closing doors, screaming finally, as Kenny was to be driven away. I was pulled back hurriedly, being practically lifted out of the road as the police arrived to corner it off.
"Come with us, Miss, we'll make sure he's alright."
I allowed the man to lead me to one of the police cars; I felt numb.
"We're going to need you to breath, Miss."
I couldn't concentrate on anything.
"Miss, please, I need you to look at me."
I couldn't even tell where I was anymore.
"Miss!"
Everything faded away.
Emily's P.O.V.
It's been a month since we've spoken to Dawn. Mum says something bad happened to her friend, and that she needs time to herself. Emma has probably taken it the worst, after all, Mum found her phone; she was furious that Dad had given it to her!
I hadn't known that Mum didn't know about Emma's phone (I just thought it was the favouritism again), and so Mum forgave me quickly for not telling her. I'm still not allowed to know what happened though, or why we're not allowed to talk to Dawn. Aunt Johanna swears that it'll be over soon, but I'm already tired of this! Why do they think we're too young? Whatever happened to her friend, we can take it. We're not babies!
That's what Mum called us, anyway; she told Dad that Dawn must have already been in a really bad place if she was telling her eight year old cousins about her potentially dead boyfriend. Actually, that's the only thing we have been told in the past month; that Kenny is alive.
Emma and I were right!
Barry had been lying.
But somehow we were still seen as basically toddlers, and it was so unfair!
Dawn P.O.V.
When I woke up I was lying on the floor in a hospital waiting room, with my legs hoisted in the air. I coughed a few times to clear my airways, alerting the staff to my consciousness.
"Here," one whispered, handing me a plastic cup of water.
I gratefully took it and sat upright to drink it.
The memories of what had happened took a moment to return, but made my breath hitch with a start, and I almost choked on the water.
"Easy, easy," I heard one nurse saying, while helping me to stop spluttering on the water.
They probably had more important things to be doing than helping a shocked 15 year old, but I was thankful for the company, and even more thankful that they hadn't wasted a bed on me.
"You're name's Dawn, right?" one of them asked me.
I nodded.
"Kenny's going to be fine – he wanted us to tell you immediately – but he has suffered a couple of fractures on the left side of his body, likely from where he fell after the car hit him.
"He wants you to come see him, but only once we know that you're stable."
I was tempted to tell them that I was perfectly stable, but I figured that they knew best in these scenarios.
It felt strange... I'd spent more than month wondering if I'd ever be able to find out what was happening with Barry, but now it was all in front of me, laid bare.
"I think I'm ready," I told them boldly.
