I'm so sorry for the late arrival of this chapter

I'm so sorry for the late arrival of this chapter. You all know how it is, days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months. I've been so busy with our school musical for the past few months. We're working overtime cause we missed so many rehearsals because of snow. Enjoy the chapter.--


Chapter 9- I know the truth

"No change?" Nathan asked as he came back from the snack machine.

"No. She's still out of it." Daley moved over on the couch so that Nathan could sit down. They had all been in the waiting room for hours. There were too many of them to wait in her room, especially because Melissa's parents were in it with her. The doctors said they weren't able to tell them much when they got there, so they had just been waiting for when she woke up.

Jackson had been staring out of the window for a while now.

"Hey, Jackson. Are you alright? You haven't said anything since we've been here." Daley moved over to where Jackson was sitting by the window.

"I should have gone with her. I shouldn't have let her go by herself. It was the first day, people were asking questions. After what happened with Amelia in class I should have stayed with her."

"No one knew anything bad was going to happen. You can't blame yourself." Daley placed her hand on his shoulder and he looked back at her.

"I'll stop blaming myself when she wakes up." He turned his head back towards the window.

One of the doctors that had been treating Melissa came out of her room. He addressed everyone in the waiting room.

"Now that her parents have been informed I can tell you the extent of Melissa's injuries. Melissa received what seem to be stab wounds on her arms and in her abdomen. She lost a decent amount of blood which is why she's unconscious, but we're giving her more so she should wake up in a bit."

Nathan spoke up. "Wait, stab wounds? How did that happen?"

"We wont know until she wakes up unfortunately. But she'll be alright. Soon you may all go in to see her."

He left the waiting room and headed back down the hall.


After a few hours Melissa's parents walked out of her room.

"She woke up a little bit ago. She wants to see you guys." Melissa's mother said as she and Melissa's father left the waiting room to get something to eat.

"Jackson do you want to go in first, we could come in later." Nathan asked him.

"No, I think we should all go in. I'll stay later after you guys leave." Jackson stood up and everyone followed his lead. Together they walked into her room to see her.

"Mel." They all took a seat somewhere in her room. "How are you feeling?" Jackson had asked as he pulled a chair next to her bed.

"I feel like I've been stabbed." She joked with them.

"Mel. Do you remember what happened at all?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah I remember. Although it doesn't seem real, it seems like I dreamed it all. But it must be real. I have stab wounds to prove it." She looked at everyone in the room. "I guess you want to hear the story."

Jackson spoke up. "You don't have to tell us now if you don't want to."

"No. It's okay. I'll tell you."


Flashback

Melissa walked out of the stall in the east wing bathroom, and quickly walked over to wash her hands. Amelia's words were still eating away at her. How could she think that crashing on that island wasn't a horrifying experience for all of them, and that they would rather not talk about it. How could she be so cruel? Melissa couldn't understand how anyone could be that heartless.

"Hello, Melissa." Melissa looked up into the mirror. There was Amelia and her two friends.

"Amelia, I just want to apologize for how I snapped at you this morning. I shouldn't have. I'm sorry." Better to take the high road, right?

"Gee, that sure is nice of you. Apology accepted."

Melissa waited for Amelia to go into the stall or wash her hands but she didn't. She kept on staring at Melissa. "Did you need something?" She reached over and grabbed some paper towels and dried off her hands.

Amelia walked over closer to her. "Not exactly."

"Then why are you here?" Melissa threw her paper towels away.

"It's not fair."

"What's not fair?" Melissa didn't know what she meant.

"That just because you and your friends survived a plane crash you get special treatment. Everyone treats you differently. Your lockers are together, and your classes are together. Face it, this school treats you like royalty."

Melissa couldn't believe it. Amelia was attacking her again. "Are you kidding me? What do you think it was like out on that island? Do you think we were partying and sleeping the day away? We were working hard to survive and to get off of that island. And we all nearly died multiple times. It was a lot more work than you've probably ever done in your life."

"Oh, boo hoo. Little Melissa almost died. What a tragedy." She snapped her fingers and instantly Stacey and Cassandra grabbed an arm on Melissa and put her up against the wall.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Maybe it's time we teach you all a lesson." Amelia reached into her back pocket and pulled out a knife. "This will remind you guys to stay in your place."

"Amelia, you can't just stab me." Melissa didn't think she could possibly be that evil.

"Oh, I think I can. And," She looked around the bathroom. "Look, there's no one around to save you. What a shame."

As Amelia plunged the knife into Melissa's arm, she gave a painful cry. Stab after stab Melissa started to go numb. After one final stab in Melissa's stomach, Amelia wiped off the knife and stuck it back in her pocket. "Let's go girls."

The girls let go of Melissa and she slid to the ground in pain.

Amelia and the girls reached the door, but before they left Amelia turned around. "Oh, and Melissa." Melissa raised her head to listen. "Between you and me, I kind of have a thing for your boyfriend."

Melissa watched as Amelia, Stacey and Cassandra left the bathroom. It was the last thing she saw before she slipped into unconsciousness.


"Then I woke up here. They told me that Jackson and Daley found me in the bathroom and the ambulance brought me to the hospital."

"That girl is pure evil." Taylor said from her spot on Eric's lap due to the lack of chairs in the room. "I can't believe she could stab somebody without feeling guilty."

Jackson squeezed her hand. "I should have gone with you. If I were, this wouldn't have happened."

"Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. I'm fine."

"And I couldn't be more thankful that you're alright, but this could have been a lot worse Melissa. She could have killed you."

"Yeah." Nathan agreed. "And over what? Jealousy on her part."

"That's not the only reason she stabbed her." They all looked at Daley as she spoke. "Remember the story. When she left she told Melissa that she had a thing for Jackson. And at lunch, she was flirting with him." She looked at Jackson. "She wants Mel out of the way so she can have you."

"Well she can't have me." He looked towards Melissa.

She looked back at him. "What was that about lunch?"

Eric spoke. "Oh, it was Macaroni and Cheese. It wasn't bad either, and I went back for a second lunch..."

"I meant with Amelia, but thanks for that Eric." Melissa stopped him.

Jackson told her what had happened. "She found us at lunch. She sat down next to me. I told her what she did in class was wrong, she fake apologized, flirted with me by offering to help me with school then left."

"When was that? What time?"

"Um, I think about 12:25. Why?"

"She found me in the bathroom at 12:10. I know because I had to move my watch out of the way to wash my hands." Melissa looked at Jackson as he made the connection.

"That means she had already hurt you by the time she came to talk to us. She was talking to us about you while knowing perfectly well that you could have been lying in the bathroom dying." Jackson stood up. "That bitch!"

"Jackson calm down." Nathan stood up next to him and tried to keep him calm. "We're going to tell the police what happened and they will deal with her, okay?"

"Okay, but she better keep her distance or I'm going to put a restraining order on her ass." He sat back down.

"It's getting late. We better get going guys." Daley said and they all stood up. They all said their goodbyes to Jackson and Melissa and left the hospital.

Jackson looked back at Melissa when she spoke. "Some first day huh?"

"Yeah, it's been quite a day."

"I'm sorry. I know your vision of your first day back didn't include a stabbing and a trip to the hospital."

Jackson reached out to hold her hand. "Definitely not how I would want to picture any day.

"When can I leave the hospital?" She looked at him as he shifted a little in his chair.

"Well, you have to stay for at least a few days so they can run tests and make sure you're holding the blood they gave you. After that we'll see." He picked up her hand in his.

"I've never been in a hospital before. Not as a patient at least. It's really creepy. I don't much care for it."

He gave her hand a squeeze. "I don't much care for it either."

They were silent for a while until Melissa looked him in the eyes. "What about Amelia?"

"Tomorrow we will call the police and tell them what happened. After what she did, I doubt we'll be seeing her for a long time."

"How do you know that? What if they don't believe us? What if she lies and tells them a different story?"

"It's all of us against her, they're bound to believe us. And if she tries to lie about it, you've got the stab wounds to prove it." He got up and moved himself to sit down on the bed with her. "I promise you Melissa, that girl is never going to lay a hand on you ever again."

"Okay. Do you want to lay down?"

"The couch is a little small, I can't really lay down on it."

She laughed at him. "I don't mean on the couch, I meant with me."

"If you want me to." He got up off of her bed.

"I do want you to. Can you help me move over?"

He reached down to help her move to one side of the bed. "Yes, I can." Together she made it to one side of the bed with just a bit of pain flowing through Melissa. "Are you alright? Did that hurt too much?"

"A bit, but it's going away." She padded the spot next to her. "Come lay down."

He lay down on the bed next to her and she shifted a little to snuggle into his side.

"Thank You." She said to him.

He looked over at her. "There's no need to thank me. It was my fault this happened to you. After what happened in class today, I should have gone with you. And if you're thanking me for finding you and saving your life, well, there's still no need to thank me. There was no way I wasn't going to help you. But, you're welcome all the same." Jackson was starting to ramble.

"Thank you for saving my life. But, I wasn't talking about that."

"Then what were you talking about?" He asked.

"Thank you, for coming on the trip with us."

He knew what she was talking about. That was what changed there lives forever. If Melissa hadn't convinced him to go to Palau with them, he would have never become friends with them all. He would have never gotten to know Melissa and wouldn't be dating her this very day. He would never regret his decision to go.

He pulled her in closer to him. "You're welcome." And with that they both fell asleep on the hospital bed. Tomorrow would be hard enough for Melissa to relive the memories as she tells the police. They were both happy to be getting some much-needed sleep.


Now you all know what happened to Melissa. Aren't you happy? Review and tell me what you thought about this chapter. Please and Thank You.