A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews, guys! This chapter's gonna be a little short. Enjoy!

~~~Riley's Point Of View~~~ Chapter 8: A Bitter-Sweet Reunion

"Honey, you can't keep doing this," Mom said, pushing the plate of spaghetti closer to me. "We know you're worried about Maya, but sweetie, you need to eat."

I sighed, scowling at her and taking a bite of the spaghetti. "There. I ate. Happy now?" I asked, pushing the plate away from me and trying not to gag.

The past two weeks had been rough. Really rough. Do you know how hard it is to go through your daily life without your best friend? In case you've been fortunate not to have to experience something like this, I'll tell you this- it definitely wasn't easy.

"Riley, look at me," Dad stared me in the eye. There were dark circles around his eyes. He hadn't been taking this well. None of us had. (Except for Auggie, who we told that Maya had gotten a 'very bad boo-boo.') I knew I was just making things even more difficult for him, but I couldn't help it. How was I supposed to eat when the just the thought of food made me want to throw up? "Eat your dinner."

"But I'm not hungry," I protested, slamming my head down on the table and narrowly missing the plate.

"Riley," Mom said, but I didn't listen to her. I stood up and left the table.

"I'm going to bed," I announced.

"Riley, it's only six o'clock," Dad pointed out.

"I don't care," I said, walking away. "I'm tired."

"What's wrong with her?" I heard Auggie ask.

"Nothing, Auggie," Mom told. I didn't hear the rest of the conversation. I walked into my room, slamming the door behind me. Afraid of my parents or Auggie coming in, I locked it, even though I wasn't supposed to.

I went and sat by the window and pulled out my laptop. I started looking through the pictures I had uploaded from my phone. there were so many of them, just Maya and I. Ridiculous selfies, pictures from Coney Island, even some pictures from when we were little. In each and every one of them, we were smiling, happy, having fun. We were together.

Things might never be like that again.

Tears rolled down my face. I couldn't look at these anymore. I snapped the laptop shut and placed it off to the side. Turning around, I looked out the window. Maya was supposed to be coming in through here. She was supposed to be okay.

But she wasn't, and it killed me.

There was a knock on the door. "Riley?" Auggie asked. Shoot, I thought. he'll rat me out for locking the door.

I quickly unlocked the door and went back to the window, yelling 'Come on in!" as I opened up the laptop again to make it look like I'd been on it all along.

The little boy cracked the door, sliding in. he closed it behind him and walked over to me , climbing onto the seat and plopping himself next to me.

"Riley?" he asked. "What's wrong with Maya?"

I sighed. "We already told you, Aug, she got a.. a very big boo-boo." I choked out.

Auggie placed his hands on his hips. "I'm not stupid! There's got to be something else. I miss the old, Smiley Riley."

"Yeah, well, I miss my best friend," I said, sounding harsher than I meant to. The little guy's face fell, and he ran out of the room, screaming 'MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!'

I sighed. Now Mom would be coming in. Just great.

There was a vibration tickling my leg. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I entered my password. There was a '1' above the text symbol. I tapped it. It was from Farkle.

Come 2 hospital NOW. Get here ASAP. It's about Maya.

I mind began to spin. This could either be really good news, or really bad news. Either way, I knew it was important. And so I stood up from my seat and yelled at the top of my lungs.

"MOM! DAD! WE NEED TO GET TO THE HOSPITAL, QUICK!"

...

We rushed into the section of the hospital Maya was in. After signing in, we all sped walked down the hall. It was just me and my parents- Ava's mom had agreed to watch Auggie. We stopped outside of Maya's room.

"Hey guys, wait up!" a familiar voice called, echoing down the corridor. Lucas was jogging over to us. There was a worried look in his green eyes. We were all worried.

"H-hey," I stammered. "Should we go in?" I didn't wait for an answer. I turned the doorknob, taking a deep breath, bracing myself for the worst...

And receiving the best.

Farkle was sitting by the bed, holding her hand, with a big, dorky smile on his face.

Yeah, she was still covered from head to toe in bandages and casts. Sure, there were tire marks on her arms. But her eyes were open, and there was a grin on her face.

"Hey, Riles," was all she said.

"Maya!" I squealed, quickly running to her side and enveloping her in a hug. She let out an agonized groan. I quickly pulled away. "Maya I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"N-no," Maya hissed, as if she were still in pain. "It's not your fault... I'm still recovering."

"Farkle, you made it seem like she was dead!" Lucas cried, glaring playfully at his best friend, who smiled sheepishly.

"Oops." he said. "I was just so excited. Didn't mean to make it come off that way."

Lucas rolled his eyes. He turned to Maya and grinned. "You had me scared, there, Maya. Don't ever do something stupid like that again, kay?"

"Oh, right, Ranger Rick, 'cause I totally wanted to get run over by a truck," Maya said dryly. "Come on, now, use some common sense, cowboy."

"We were all worried," Mom pointed out, walking over to her bed. She held her other hand. "You doing okay, Maya?" she asked. Maya nodded.

"So when will you be out?" Dad asked.

"I don't know. But at this point, I'm just glad to be alive. It'll be a while before I'm completely better, I know that." she let looked down. "My legs were crushed... there's a chance I might never walk again."

"Don't think about that," Dad told her. "We know you, Maya. Whatever happens, we know you can handle it. You'll get through this."

Maya nodded slowly. I-I know," she whispered. "Thanks, Mr. Matthews."

Dad smiled. "No problem."

Tears welled up in Maya's eyes. I could see her grip on my mother's hand tighten as the teardrops streamed down her cheeks.

"I thought I was going to die," she said softly.

"Maya, you don't have to talk about it," I told her. "Not if you're not ready."

"No." she said firmly. I have to feel comfortable talking about this with you guys."

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked.

Maya nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure." she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "It was the most terrifying thing ever. A-and it hurt... a lot. It still does. I thought I was going to die... and I didn't want to go without saying goodbye..."

"You don't have to, Maya," Dad told her. "You're going to be okay, okay? You're not going to die."

She nodded. "I know... I was just so scared..."

"You're not the only one," Lucas said, glancing at me.

"Seriously, Maya, you don't know how terrified I was," I told her honestly, staring her in the eyes. "I thought that you were going to die. I didn't want that to happen."

"Farkle already told me," Maya said softly. "You... you weren't eating because of me?"

I suddenly became very interested in the ground.

Maya sighed and decided to change the subject. "So you threw up on Missy?" she asked, grinning. "Man, wish I could have seen that!"

"Oh, yeah, you should have!" Lucas said, nudging me playfully. "It was the best."

I felt my face get hot. "No it wasn't," I told them, laughing.

"Yeah, it was, Riley. Stop doubting yourself. It was hilarious!"

I finally gave in. "Fine... I guess it was kind of funny."

Maya pretended to pout. "None of you got it on video for me?"

"Hey, we didn't know it was going to happen!" Farkle protested. "I don't think Riley knew it was going to happen!"

I laughed. "I honestly didn't! I was going to say something to her, and then it just...happened!

We talked and laughed together for a while. Yet it seemed like barely any time had passed before we left.

I didn't want to go. But when Maya's mother showed up, it was mutually agreed upon by all of us that they needed to be alone when they reunited.

"Where's my mom?" Maya asked, breaking an awkward silence that had settled in around us. Mom and Dad shared a glance.

"Um.." Dad began, but as if on que, the door creaked open, and a nurse peered in.

"Maya, your mother is here. Should we let her up?"

Maya nodded. Y-yes," she stammered. "I would like that." she turned to us. "Would you mind letting me see her alone?"

"No, of course not, sweetie," Mom said, stroking her hair before standing up. "I think it's about time we left, anyways."

"Okay," Maya said softly. "Bye, you guys."

"Bye," Lucas, Farkle and I said in unison.

"We'll come see you tomorrow, Kay?" I told her. She nodded.

And so we left to give Maya and her mother some privacy for th e it reunion.

To Be Continued