Disclaimer: I still don't own Hannah Montana. I got a hole in my cozy purple socks when I was sliding around on the hard wood floor and my pretzels are all finished and there isn't any more at 7-11! I don't own anything anymore. Ugh!
Chapter 6: Hospital Blues
Her head was spinning when she came back into consciousness. She could clearly hear voices around her, even though she was half-asleep. Her hair was matted across her forehead, and she was covered in cold sweat. Her head was killing her, and she felt exhausted. As she lied there, where ever she was, eyes still shut; she continued to hear voices around her, but no movement. She assumed that who ever was in the room with her was either seated or standing still.
She didn't want to open her eyes. She didn't want to face reality. Miley Stewart was a strong girl, she lost her mother at a young age, and still managed to grow up to become a beautiful young women. Many people thought that Miley was amazing. Lilly always admired Miley's courage and bravery, her ability to go against what everyone else was doing just to do the right thing. Her ability to not be scared, to stand alone, on the other side, her capability to be strong no matter the situation; but right now, Miley felt anything but strong.
She felt weak, not only physically but emotionally as well. With her eyes shut tight, the images of Jake and Noelle on the danced floor was playing over and over again in her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter and clenched her fists, trying to remove the pictures from her mind but she couldn't. No matter how hard she tried. She felt ashamed too. Ashamed that she believed Jake when he told her he really loved her, that he couldn't dream of hurting her again. She felt ashamed that she let him take advantage of her.
But she had let him, she believed him when he told he that whenever she hurt he hurt. She fell right back into his trap, just like he had expected her too. She hated that she let him do that to her, that she let him play with her like a puppet. But, Miley knew that if Jake told her he loved her right now, if he wrapped his arms around her one more time, asking her to forgive him; she knew she'd give in again. She wasn't strong at all, no matter what Lilly thought.
Miley didn't know what but there was something about Jake that would continue to draw her back to him. He was after all, perfect in almost everyway. He was the boy that every young girl dreamed of; their prince charming. With his shaggy golden hair, the way it fell neatly into his sea-green pools. The way he would always flash her that brilliant smile that made her knees turn to jelly. The way he would wrap his strong arms around her, pull her against him and whisper sweet nothings into her ear; the way that even the smallest of his kisses would set her body on fire. The way she got butterflies when ever he was around her, how her heart fluttered every time he touched her. She didn't know what it was, but she just couldn't let him go.
Just like how she couldn't let those images of Jake and Noelle on the dance floor go. The way Jake was looking at her and holding her, the way his arms were wrapped around her scrawny waist rather than hers. She could feel the tears slipping out of her closed lids, but fortunately, the people around her didn't notice. She didn't want to see anyone right now. All she wanted to do was curl up into a ball under her covers and never come out again. Not see anyone's face. But she knew she couldn't, she knew it. She wasn't just Miley but she was also Hannah Montana. Would people get suspicious is Hannah and Miley vanished from the face of the earth at the same time? She thought it over and finally decided that yes, people would notice. Her friends at school would simply put two and two together. But, it wouldn't matter if they all found out? It wasn't like she was going to show her face to the public ever again.
She felt a small sigh escape from her lips. After it had left her mouth, she remained still, expecting the people in the room to ask if she was awake, but neither of them did, instead they maintained the conversation they were having in hushed whispers. Miley knew that no matter how much she wanted to run from her problem, her family and her friends would not let her. They'd tell her to be strong, to not let Jake know he'd caused her to fall. But no matter what they said, no matter how much convincing, Miley knew she wouldn't be able to survive knowing Jake was off screwing another girl, right after he broke her heart.
Miley unclenched her fist, and held her breath, as the voices around her were raised. She quickly identified them as Lilly, Oliver, Nick, her father and Joe Jonas. Where ever she was Jackson wasn't there. Then it came flooding back to her, the reason she fell wasn't because of what she saw, even though it may have been caused a small portion of her exhaustion, she remember what Lilly had told her before she fell.
Suddenly her eyes snapped open. She immediately regretted doing so; the room was bright with light. She squinted as she raised her hand to brush her hair off her face. She concluded that she still in her wig since the two Jonas boys were in the room. She moaned slightly as she moved her body, it was stiff from lying on the firm bed. As the sound left her, her friend's finally realized that she had woken.
"Mi—Hannah! You're awake!" Lola cried, rushing forward to grab her friend's hand. "How are you feeling?"
"Hannah, sweetheart, are you alright?" Her dad stood at her other side, her hand in his as well. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Hannah croaked. Her voice seemed hoarse and her throat was dry. "I need water."
"Yes, of course. Ol—Mike grab her some water from that pitcher over there, would you?" Lola said as she pointed to the table near Oliver. He nodded, turned around and filled the cup with water. He slowly moved forward and handed Hannah the cup, giving her an uncertain smile, "Here you are." He said softly, looking at her blankets rather than her face.
"Thanks." She whispered as she gratefully took the water. She sighed in relief at the cold water rolled down her throat. She drained the cup in two gulps, before handing it to her dad, who placed it back on the table. "That was much better."
They all gave a nervous laugh, even though Hannah wasn't trying to be funny. She assumed they were trying to lighten the tense air the vacated the room.
"Where am I?" Hannah finally asked. Everyone around her exchanged worried glances. She knew they were afraid to tell her something.
"Hannah, honey, do you remember anything at all from last night?" Lola asked gently. Hannah felt her breath hitch in her throat. Last night? How long had she been out? She gradually nodded; troubled by the look everyone was giving her.
"Yes, I do. We were at the party. I was out on the dance floor, when Li—Lola rushed up to me telling me that Jackson—" She abruptly sat up, ripped the blanket off herm flung her legs over the side of the bed and moved to stand up.
"Hannah! Where do you think you're going?" Her father demanded as he lightly grabbed her shoulders.
Hannah rolled her shoulders back, causing his calloused hands to slip off her. She turned her head to glare at him. "Jackson was just in an accident. And you think I'm going to sit around here? I need to see him." She cried as she moved to stand up again.
Nick, for the first time since she awoken, stepped forward and softly pushed her backwards. Hannah fell back into the bed. Nick moved forward again and picked up the blanket and placed it above her, before he finally spoke; "He's fine, just a few stitches and a broken arm; nothing serious. He'll be in a cast for a few weeks, and the stitches will be out soon." He said quietly. The whole time since he made his presence known he hadn't taken his eyes off her. They stayed attached to hers, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to look away. He knew something, and he was hurt by her. She could tell.
"Really?" She asked feebly. "He's really fine?"
Joe nodded, "Yeah. Lucky guy, the truck that hit him just missed his ribs. If the car hadn't swerved, he would have had surgery done. Thank god though, he's fine Hannah. No need to worry. How are you feeling? You had us scared."
"Sorry," Hannah said, overcome by an unexpected embarrassment. Her face flushed and she started to but her lower lip. "I didn't mean it. I don't know what happened really. One minute I'm standing there with Lola holding my arms, I saw Nick and Mike running towards me, and everything just went black."
"You fainted," Lola supplied from where she was perched on the edge of the bed, hands on her lap. "I was trying to get you…Out of there, I grabbed your hands, but you started screaming and struggling. Then Mike called your name and he and Nick were coming towards us, and you just fell. Fainted right there on the spot. Luckily, Nick ran forward and caught you."
Hannah glanced up at Nick, who quickly looked away, his eyes suddenly taking interested on the tiles patterns. She watched him for a few seconds longer, but turned back to Lola when she realized he wasn't going to look back.
"I don't know how I fainted, though. I'm sorry for scaring you guys," Hannah replied honestly. "I was scared. Everything happened so fast. I just couldn't' move, it was—It was like everything froze. Then I got really dizzy and everything started spinning, my knees went kind of weak and I fell. What happened after that?"
"Mike called for an ambulance," Lola continued. "Nick was still holding you. After you fainted you went all cold and you started sweating. We though something was wrong. Kevin, who went home to tell bring his parents, checked your heartbeat and it was weak. After Mike called, we waited for the ambulance. We had to leave to another room since everyone was trying to see what was going on.
"Nick moved you the couch. Once he let go, you starting thrashing around. Screaming and crying. You were saying you didn't want someone to leave. You kept screaming 'Don't leave me. You promised.' Then you started apologizing like crazy. You were bawling. We tried to get you to calm down but nothing worked. Then, Nick had to pick you up again, and you stopped after a while. The ambulance arrived and they brought you here." She finished.
Hannah was staring at her in disbelief. She couldn't remember screaming and crying at all. She didn't seem to remember having any nightmare while she was asleep. Lilly glanced at her and their eyes locked. Miley knew that Lilly was thinking the same thing she was. She was obviously dreaming about Jake, why else would she apologizing and asking him not to leave. She also knew that Lilly knew she didn't want anyone to bring up Jake. Hannah looked away after a while.
"Okay." She yawned and stretched. She was suddenly overcome by a sudden fatigue.
"Are you tired, darling?" Robbie Ray asked as he jumped up. "We'll leave you alone; you need to catch up on your sleep."
Hannah laughed. "I was out cold the whole night, for almost 14 hours. How much more sleep do you want me to get?" She joked.
He smiled. "You can't get better if you don't rest, sweetheart. Come on boys…and Lola. We'll leave Hannah for some peace and quiet."
The boys nodded and shuffled towards the door. But Lola remained in her spot on the bed. She looked at Hannah and Hannah nodded. "Daddy, Lola and I are going to talk for a little bit. I promise I'll try to get some sleep when were done." Hannah said, looking up her dad with pleading eyes.
"Hannah, you need your rest. You and Lola can talk later." Robbie Ray stated, stopping to look at his daughter.
Hannah sighed. "Daddy, I need to talk to her now. It's important. Besides, we all know there won't be any time later. Please Daddy?" She pouted.
"Fine." Robbie ray gave in. "You girl's can talk, but you'll get sleep right after you're done, you hear, darling?" Robbie Ray warned as he walked to the door.
"Yeah. Thanks Daddy. Love you." Hannah blew him a kiss as he opened the door.
"Love you too," He said as he shut the door behind him.
Hannah turned to Lola. "Do they know?" She asked hurriedly.
Lola knew right away he was referring to the Jonas brothers. "No. We had them leave the room when they were cleaning you up. I stayed behind to make sure your wig never slipped of. When they were coming back in I double checked to make sure that it was secure. Although, I have a feeling that Nick might have a glitch. He seemed to be giving me and you suspicious looks the whole time."
Hannah nodded. Taking in everything Lola had just said. "Okay." She said, she then paused, hesitant about asking the next question. "Lola, did Jake come at all—while I was here?"
Lola quickly looked at her, reading her expression. "Yes. He did come. Twice actually. Once, he came into the room at the party that we moved you too, but I kicked him out. I almost threw something at him, he just wouldn't listen. The boy is much too stubborn for his own good. Then, he came to the hospital, once he came into the room, Joe and Kevin told him to leave. They, apparently, noticed he did something that caused a bit of this. He told them to back off but they wouldn't. Eventually he left, after they threatened to call Robbie Ray and security.
"He kept trying to get a look at you, but I wouldn't let him. Miley, he looked horrible. I went outside to talk to him, with Oliver, and he looked terrible, and he felt even worse. He…He cried, Miles. Right out, he just started sobbing. Not caring if paparazzi were surrounding him, he was blaming himself. He thought he's the reason you're hurt. I know he played a part in it, but it wasn't entirely his fault, I tried to tell him that. But, he's too stubborn. Miles, it was horrible. I haven't ever seen Jake Ryan like that."
Hannah sat there; still, she was pretty shaken up. She couldn't believe Jake cried openly. He was never one to show people his true emotions. Miley always felt fortune that he told her how he was feeling, that he could trust her. Jake didn't like to seem weak, and he thought showing everyone how he felt all the time would make him seem as though he was. The only true emotion he ever shared with the world was his love for Miley.
"What did he say?" She asked her voice raspy. Lola looked at her, worry etched across her pretty face. She wore a look as to say 'Are you sure you want me too?'
Hannah nodded, so she started again: "He said he was sorry. He wouldn't even look at us—me and Oliver—the whole time he had his face in his hands. He was sitting there, crying, and apologizing to us. It was scary, Miley. I was scared to let him go, we had his older sister some pick him up. I thought he'd hurt himself is he left alone. He thought you were dead. He thought he killed you. He kept telling us how he should have listened to Oliver, that he was a horrible person. That he'd broken his promise, that he'd hurt you and for that he didn't deserve to live.
"He kept saying he didn't really ever deserve you that you were much too good for him, and he thought that you would find someone better for you and leave him. Now he thinks you're going to leave him for sure. But he seems to agree with that, that someone else would bring you more happiness. He doesn't get how much you love him, how broken you are without him—Wait. Miles, you aren't going to break up with him are you?"
Hannah looked up at Lilly. She shrugged. "I honestly don't know what to do, Lils. He seriously hurt me, after he promised not to. He hurt me bad. But I can't break up at him, no matter how mad I am at him or what he did. Once I see his face, I'll forget everything. Once he holds me, I know I'll give in. It doesn't matter, once he says my name, I'll be forgiving him. I can't live without him; I know that, I can't. No matter how hard I try, I'll always need him."
"But remember, you broke a promise too, Miles. You promised the 'thing' with Hannah and Nick would stop. I know that you were telling Nick to stop, but things ended not how it wasn't planned too." Lola replied. "But, it's good to hear you're not going to let him go."
"I just can't though. Even if I tried, no matter how hard I try, I won't be able to do it. Just the thought of having to go through life without his hugs and kisses, without his love, with out his arms around me, without him there at all is unbearable." Hannah stated simply, shuddering at the idea of him not being there.
Lilly nodded. "I guess I understand. Sometimes, I think of my how my life would be without Oliver. Even though we aren't going out, I still like him a lot. And he is my best friend too; life without him would seem just plain miserable."
"Exactly," Hannah agreed. "It feels as though there is no point of living without him, right?"
Lilly smiled. "I don't think my feelings are that strong for Oliver."
Hannah laughed. "Well, it'll only be a matter of time. Trust me."
Lilly giggles too. "I'm sure," She said sarcastically, even though he eyes were twinkling and she was smiling brightly.
"Speaking of which, how come Oliver came? He made it very clear this week he wanted nothing to do with me?" Hannah asked. She did want to ruin the playful mood in the room, but she just had to ask. She needed to know.
"He—He explained everything. He was upset with you; you admitted to us that you promised Jake you'd stop then the whole Nick fiasco came up and he was upset that you hurt his friend—" Lilly said, but Miley interrupted her.
"—I hurt his friend? So, what am I a piece of meat?" Hannah exclaimed angrily. "I can not believe that boy—"
"No, Miley, it's not like that. He was upset, you made a promise not to do it anymore, and even though you weren't, he didn't know that, and it seemed like you were." Lily said quickly trying to calm Miley's temper.
"He didn't even come and ask if that was what really happened. He of all people should know about situations where things don't always look like they do. Seriously, and he couldn't even suggest to Jake that I might not have done something wrong?" Hannah huffed as she crossed her arms around her chest.
"He's sorry, though. He did tell Jake not to follow through on the plan, but Jake ignored him. He tried to help you, Miles. You should forgive him." Lilly said compassionately.
Hannah nodded. "I guess." She sighed. "But he's going to have to apologize to me first."
Lola laughed. "I knew you'd say that. How about after? We promised your dad we wouldn't take that long. I'll leave now. You need your sleep Miles." She said firmly as Miley began to protest.
"Fine, fine. Be a party-pooper," Miley grumbled as she squirmed in her bed.
"I'll see you when you wake up." Lola bent down and gave Hannah a long hug. "Don't worry," she whispered in her ear. "Everything will work out."
"I know." Miley whispered back as she squeezed Lilly back. Lilly pulled away, and straightened up. "I'll see you soon? Okay?" Lilly said as she walked towards the door.
"Yeah," Miley said quietly. Lilly was half way across the room, when Miley spoke up again. "Lilly, I—I want to say thanks before you go. For everything you've done for me, you've truly been the bestest friend any girl could ever ask for. I love you."
Lilly turned around and smiled at Miley. "I'm being the friend you are to me. I love you too Miles," Lilly grinned. "Now get some sleep."
"Okay," Miley laughed as she slipped under the covers and laid her head on the pillow checking to make sure the wig was in place.
Just then the door swung open. There stood a dishevelled Jake Ryan. His face flushed, hair sticking up, dark bags under his eyes. He looked like a zombie—no pun intended. Both Mile and Lilly jumped at the sight of him. Miley tensed up and Lilly stood still, shock evident on her face.
Jake looked right past Lilly as if she wasn't even there. He looked right at Miley. "We need to talk." He stated softly. "I'm so sorry, Miles." His voice cracked.
"We do," Miley nodded in agreement. "We need to talk about a lot of things."
--HMHMHM—
AN: I am sorry this chapter isn't that long. It's really a filler, I guess. In the next chapter, Jake and Miley sit and talk about things. Also, Nick and the rest of the Jonas's will be there. It will take place at the hospital, I think, or at least most of it will. I updated quickly. Thank you everyone who reviewed the last chapter and do forget to do the same for this one!
-Caramel161