Wow guys, thanks for such a positive response for this story, I really appreciate it!
So, here is the next chapter, a little earlier than planned and a little rushed, but it's here!
Right, some people have PM'd me over responses to your reviews like in my last story and people have commented on how for some people I would give longer responses than others when they give me long reviews. That's not because I don't love you as much! It's because a lot of people who expect a long response from me basically narrate at what happened in the chapter and I can't really respond to that while others ask a lot of questions and stuff.
So, do you want just a list of all of you lovely reviewers?
A response (which would take longer to upload)
or nothing at all?
It's up to you guys : )
Even though you're gone and far away I feel you all around
I think about it every single day, you got away somehow
I can't sleep, it's hard to breathe and I still feel you next to me
Now I can see
The first one is the worst one
When it comes to a broken heart
Your first love, yeah, your soul's gone
And you feel like a falling star
There's a fire in the city that's burning out tonight
And you're breathing but you're buried alive
The first one is the worst one when it comes
When it comes to a broken heart
The First One- Boys Like Girls
October
"Echo, Echo, wake up." Asha's voice called lightly. I squinted as my eyes opened, getting used to the degree of light in the room.
Asha and Griffin were standing at the bottom of my bed with big grins on their faces.
"HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY!" Asha celebrated. It was then that I noticed all the wrapped boxed around me and on the bed.
It was October.
More precisely, the 10th of October, my 18th birthday and two weeks until Lisa would return.
I had stopped crying completely since the day Jett came round. From then on I've just been a living plank of wood, void of any emotion.
And when I do show emotion it's painfully obvious that it's fake.
Asha and Griffin go at whatever cost to try and hide what's going on outside the walls of the house and the speculation on me, though, earlier this month I had heard Griffin speaking on his phone heatedly in his room.
1 week ago.
"Gustavo, do you have something to tell me? Yes, I figured that... so you thought making a bet on my daughter is acceptable? I could fire you for this... yes that does include all of your deals... yes and Big Time Rush... I don't care what he's feeling... no she won't talk... completely... I don't even know who she is... well you made her life a lie! Of course I'm angry... you better pull something big for this tour... it's up to her whether you're all fired or not... fair? You don't think that's fair? What's not fair when you're messing with a vulnerable teenage girl's life... you have 7 months to make something happen otherwise you're fired."
"Are you going to open your presents?" Griffin asked. "I'll go make you some breakfast." He said before walking out the room and closing the door quietly behind him.
"Here, open this one. It's from me." Asha said with a light smile, moving all of the boxes out of the way to come and sit next to me, a square box wrapped in red wrapping that said 'happy birthday' all over it.
I took it gently from her, slowly peeling away the wrapping paper. As I saw the content I looked up at her with an attempted smile.
"Wow, uh thank you." I said, she had brought me a black and gold bracelet that was so unique, I had never seen anything like it. It had a few spikes coming out of one part of it but the spikes weren't long and they were a mixture of grey and black.
"Do you like it?" She asked with bated breath.
"I love it." I assured her, picking it up and putting it on my wrist to show my appreciation for the gift, her face light up instantly.
"I got you more stuff too! Open this one." She said, passing me another small one. I nodded, opening it just the same as I did before.
It was a long silver necklace hat had a fairly large solid silver key hanging from it.
"It's the key to your heart." Asha said hesitantly as I picked up the necklace. "That way you have it so no one else can hurt you again."
The way she said it... it was so thoughtful and kind.
This just makes me realize how much Asha has actually grown up in the past few months its untrue, it's like she's a different person. A better person.
"Asha, this is so thoughtful and kind of you." I said voicing my thoughts, little emotion seeped into my words. The whole thing of it would normally insult me but because it was from Asha and because I know this is one of her ways to help me in getting over Kendall and everything else. I picked it up and pulled it over my head, it hung just at my bust and the bigger smile on her face said everything.
"Here's breakfast." Griffin said re-entering the room. He had a cup of coffee and an omelet on the plate as he placed it on the bed and sat down near the foot of it.
"This is another one of mine." Asha said happily as she put a large box shape in my hand.
They turned out to be a pair of pretty good looking military boots with a heel on them.
Asha also got me some new dresses and jeans while Griffin got me some t-shirts, a new cell and a PDA –which he had to explain to me how to use-
I had two gifts left, both from Griffin.
"This one is only a little one." Griffin said.
When I opened it he spoke again.
"Well, you are so attached to that black comb; I thought you'd at least want a brush." Griffin said.
"Thanks." I said to him offering a weak smile.
If he only knew why…
"Ah, here's the last one!" Asha explained passing me a small box shaped present. As I began to tear through the present gently, Asha had a face of apprehension and Griffin had a face of anxiousness.
...Keys?
"You didn't," I said with wide eyes as I picked up the keys in my hand.
"I did, "Griffin said with a smile.
"Wanna see it?" Asha asked with an eager grin. I nodded hesitantly, allowing Asha to pull me up out of bed and haul me down the hallway in a rush, Griffin walk calmly behind us. She pulled me down the stairs and around the back of the living room, into the garage.
It was a Cadillac, red convertible, parked proudly in the garage with a white ribbon tied around it.
"Happy birthday." Griffin said proudly as I stared at awe at the car, I ran my hands over the smooth bonnet, unable to form a sentence to show my thanks or happiness towards the car. "How about you go for a spin?" Griffin asked.
A sudden sort of fear gripped me, I hadn't been outside in 2 months, a painful two months. A part of me wanted to run outside and shout to people that I was just a normal girl who had feelings too and yet there was another part of me who just wanted to stay and hide upstairs. The latter of the two feelings was the stronger one.
"Maybe tomorrow, I have a really bad stomach ache." It was true, I had been having cramps in my stomach since I had gotten up but I had just figured they were the usual period pains.
"You've got your birthday party tomorrow." Griffin said to me as they both followed me back into the house.
"Dad, I don't want a party." I sighed, mentally drained already.
"C'mon, it's your 18th, you've got to have a-"
"Just leave it, okay!" I shouted angrily at him, turning from the two of them and storming upstairs, throwing all of the presents on the floor next to my bed before jumping on it, and cocooning my body from the world.
I awoke again around about 8pm, the cramps were still there and I wasn't surprised, yet the pain seemed to bother me more I decided to go downstairs and get some medicine. As I walked downstairs, I heard the TV that had quickly become my enemy over the few months.
"And a big happy birthday to Echo Kimberleigh who's 18 today, yet there is still no show of her, after nearly two months. It's like she's disappeared of the face of the Earth. In other news, Big Time Rush are on the rocks after building pressure from their manager, Gustavo Rocque who may be in the line to be fired from his job, this is because-"
"Oh, hey Echo." Asha said innocently as she saw me coming down the stairs, I ignored her, I couldn't answer her, I was in partial shock from the fact that Gustavo may be fired, that meant Big Time Rush would be over and I knew exactly why.
I stormed into the kitchen. "Dad, we need to talk." I said seriously to Griffin who was drinking a mug of coffee while rapidly typing things up on his laptop.
"What do you want to talk about?" He asked, not looking up from the laptop.
"You're going to fire Gustavo." It wasn't a question.
Griffin sighed and shut the lid of his laptop down, turning to look at me. "It's undecided."
"But I know why, because of what he did to me with the bet."
"Echo, you've got to understand that what he did is a serious invasion in your life."
"Dad, don't fire him."
"What? Why not? Look what he's done to you."
"No." I shook my head. "He only did it because he loves his job and he wants to continue to be the manager of Big Time Rush, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Echo, I don't want you to be saying this because of Kendall-"
"Dad, I don't care about Kendall anymore, but I do care about Logan, Carlos and James. They were my...friends and they, too were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't see why they have to suffer when they just wanted to prove their loyalty to Gustavo and Kendall. Don't fire any of them, please."
Griffin looked slightly bewildered. "You've changed so much in these past few weeks..." He trailed off. "You've matured, you speak the truth. I'll think about it." He said with finality in his tone, but we both already knew what I had said was the truth and firing someone over the ties to your family, no matter how much it hurts, they should still be allowed to be doing their job.
"Thank you." I nodded to him before turning around and walking back up to my bed, completely forgetting why I had come down to begin with.
I woke up for the third time today, though this time darkness surrounded me and yet, through my bewildered state, all I could feel was pain. Searing pain. Unexplainable ripping pain, in my abdomen.
The pain was so intense, so horrifying I literally thought my heart had broke, or I was dying. My breaths came out as shallow pants as I clambered out of my bed. I was sweating profusely and I stumbled across my room, outside to the hallway, tears began to stream down my face as the pain suddenly gripped me and I couldn't keep quiet anymore.
I began to shout and cry loudly, the cramps from earlier getting worse and worse in my stomach, I began to get hysterical as lights flicked on in the hallway and Griffin came rushing out of his room, Asha seconds later.
"Echo, what's wrong?" Griffin asked with worry as he ran over to me and I collapsed on the floor, I felt wetness around me.
"Daddy, why is Echo sitting in her own blood?"
Who said anything about blood?
"Asha, stay with your sister, I'm calling an ambulance." Griffin said with such a serious tone I began to cry harder, I didn't know what was happening to me and I was getting more worried by the possibilities of what was wrong with me more by the second.
Asha ran over to me and knelt beside me, trying to calm me down as I shouted and yelped painfully.
Minutes later Griffin was back. "They're on their way, Echo can you make it downstairs?" He asked, trying to be strong yet, inside, seeing his daughter in a pool of his own blood, he was as scared as she was.
I didn't answer yet Griffin came over to my side and pulled me up, both of them supporting me as I howled and doubled over in pain, limping towards the stairs and eventually, after 5 minutes of getting down them, leaving a trail of blood behind me.
Just as we got downstairs, the paramedics burst through the door, both male. One signaled for another to go outside and get something from the ambulance as he hurried over to me.
The first thing he did was put a mask over my face and let me collapse on the floor.
"Echo, my name is Matt, I've put an oxygen mask on your face, I want you to take deep breaths and try to calm down."
"Is she okay?" My sister asked worriedly.
"I don't know where the blood is coming from, she's had a dramatic amount of blood loss, a worrying amount. Judging from the amount on the floor and on the stairs she should be unconscious right now." As Matt spoke the other paramedic came back inside with a stretcher.
"What's going to happen?" Griffin asked.
"We're going to take her to hospital right now and hand her over to the nurses, though we'll see if there's anything we can do in the van." Matt said. "Right, now Echo I want you to continue to take deep breaths as Joe and I put you on the stretcher, okay?" Matt asked in a clear, slow voice. I nodded, breathing shallowly and still whimpering loudly from the pain.
Before I knew it they had lifted me up onto the stretcher and I was being rolled outside.
"I'm afraid only one person is allowed in the back of the van, how about you follow us to the hospital?" Joe asked as Griffin went to follow us. Griffin seemed torn, but nodded nonetheless, instantly running into the kitchen to grab his keys and ushering Asha into the garage.
"It hurts." I gasped out as I was loaded into the van and Joe got into the front to drive.
"I know, sweetie, it's going to be okay, I promise." Matt said as he began to work around in the van. "Okay, you're going to feel a sharp prick in your arm, I'm inserting a drip." Matt said, I barely even felt the prick, too preoccupied with the pain I was already feeling. "Where's the pain coming from?" Matt asked once I was hooked up to the drip.
"My stomach." I groaned out with pain. I instantly felt my top being lifted and bunched up at my waist, but I didn't complain, I just wanted the pain to go away.
"Okay, tell me where it hurts." Matt said as he started to feel around my stomach, I screamed in pain at every place he touched. "It hurts all over your stomach?" He asked and I nodded.
"Where's the blood coming from?" Joe asked at the front of the ambulance.
"I don't know." Matt admitted. "Well, not from her stomach at least...wait...Echo, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to take your pants off." Matt said, but I didn't question what he was doing, he pulled my pajama bottoms down to my shins and I heard him take a sharp intake of breath almost instantly. "I've found where the blood is coming from." He said, though his next words were slurred and fuzzy to me, black spots appeared in my vision and I cried loudly as I slipped into unconsciousness.
"Female, 18, complaining of pain in the abdomen, caused by..." I drifted in and out of consciousness as I was rolled into the hospital and Matt spoke with authority to the nurses.
"Okay, I've got it from here, Echo, can you hear me? I'm Doctor Stevens, everything is going to..." My vision went black again.
I heard around me more and more people, nurses and doctors coming over to help me once my stretcher bed thing had been stabilized in a room.
"Report." One of them said.
"18, female, complaining of..." I strained to hear what was going on.
"Blood loss caused by?" another one asked, even though I couldn't see anything and my vision stayed black, I was interested to know why I was blacking out.
"...She's in labour..."
I floated in what felt like a tranquil sea of darkness for what seemed like an eternity. Nothing changed; I just floated, not knowing what to do...
I couldn't remember what had happened to me, all that I could remember was the unbelievable pain and then it was just darkness...
"Daddy...is she going to be okay?" I heard a voice, a child like, broken voice far off into the distance. It was Asha's voice.
"I think so, pumpkin, the worst of it is over." My father's voice echoed in my head, I tried to open my eyes or move my body but it was like I was dislocated to them, like I had no control.
"Why is she still asleep then? It's been 5 days." I heard a sob, and I felt alarmed. I had been out for 5 days?
"She'll be coming back around soon, the doctors say they thought she was a goner." Griffin said with heavy laced words, thick of emotion.
"Why?" Asha questioned exactly what I wanted to know.
I nearly died, me? Me out of all people?
"Mostly because of malnutrition, she hadn't been eating and her organs had slowly began to shut down but..." I tried to hear the rest of it, but a massive wave of fatigued rushed over me and then, I couldn't hear what they were saying anymore.
"Guys, guys, seriously get the fuck up!" Carlos shouted loudly from the main room of their apartment that they had been staying in for the night.
"What? Carlos, please say this is something important." Logan groaned, the only one who had woken up to see what was going on, Kendall and James were either awake and ignoring the Latino or just still asleep. Both could be possible.
The four had been arguing more than ever recently, to the point that James walked out and nearly missed one of their concerts.
The guys were becoming dysfunctional, they had arguments for no reason, they didn't want to be in the same room as each other anymore, let alone perform together.
"Look!" Was all that Carlos said, he pointed to the TV at the early time of 4am in the morning, he couldn't get to sleep and none of them had turned a TV on, or looked at a magazine in days yet James and Kendall had been more muted as of late as Echo's birthday had passed so they made sure to dodge any media items.
"Paramedics were called to Arthur 'Griffin' Kimberleigh's home in the early hours of the morning a few days ago, the reason was unknown why an ambulance rushed to hospital until it was revealed a few hours ago. Echo Kimberleigh had suffered massive abdominal cramps and a huge blood loss, she was put in the intensive care unit at the Florida hospital, the reason to what happened is still unknown, but what we do know is she is still unconscious and whether she may make a recovery is questionable. What happened? Did Echo purposely hurt herself? What will Kendall and Big Time Rush do now? Our thoughts are with her friends and family at this difficult time, this is Marie Ann for Gossip news, signing off." The two males stared at the TV in awe, unable to say a word for a few minutes.
Both Carlos and Logan felt worried, they had known Echo as an irrational risk taker and many reasons to why she could have done this ran through each of their heads, but the main question was, do they tell James and Kendall or do they leave it, they were struggling emotionally enough as it is.
"Don't tell James or Kendall today, wait till after the show, then we'll tell them." Logan said logically, secretly praying in his head that Echo would be okay.
After the show that night, Logan couldn't bear to tell his fellow band members what had happened to Echo. Even though he wasn't as close to her as James or Kendall was he did still care deeply for her and thought of her as a positive in both James' and Kendall's life.
But the next day, Carlos couldn't take it anymore and as noon passed, he started talking.
"Kendall, James we need to talk." He said to them both, the two of them sitting as far away from each other as possible in the small box-shaped room.
"I think we've done enough talking." James said pointedly as Kendall glared at them, the two seeming like bitter enemies rather than the best friends they once were.
"No, this is serious." Carlos urged
"It's always serious." Kendall said with an eye roll. "Fucking hell Carlos, you talk shit."
"Fine, I was just going to tell you about how Echo nearly fucking died a few days ago, but none of you seem to care, Camille's right, you've changed, both of you have." Carlos yelled at the two before storming out the room but not before turning the TV on for both to watch.
As the same report as yesterday was shown on the screen James and Kendall became more interested to find out what had happened.
"Rumors are spreading around that Echo had self harmed, yet doctors have suggested that it was down to a malnutrition factor, will the truth of what happened to Echo ever come out? According to doctors, she is still in the critical health unit and may be for the next few days. This is Marie Ann signing of for Gossip TV."
The two males sat, staring at the TV, each feeling mutual emotions of hysteria, worry, anxiety, anger yet it was questionable if they both felt love.
"I'm sorry, Camille, I can't let you in there." I had been in the darkness again, I didn't know for how long, what the date was or anything, but as my hearing returned to me, it returned sharply.
I could also feel my body, I couldn't move it, but I could feel it.
And then, then my eyes opened.
"Griffin, come on! Please let me see, Echo. I've been so worried about her. And I know the real reason of why she's in here."
I looked around the room, it was blindingly white, everywhere I looked, it was clean and sterile. And then, next to my bed were balloons, cards, teddy bears all get well gifts.
My eyes watered, even though there was a dull pain in my stomach and I felt groggy, I was alive.
And I was so thankful.
"There is no real reason, we haven't released the reason to why she's in here."
"Let her in." My raspy voice called out, silenced echoed outside or a few moments before the door burst open and Camille ran in.
"Echo, oh my God, you're alive!" She took one look at me and burst into tears, a beam on her face as she cried. "I'm so sorry about what happened! Everything! I just-"
"Sit." I said simply, gesturing to one of the chairs that were near my bed.
"Echo, I just, I'm so-"I shook my head and brought a finger up to my lips and she stopped talking, tears rolled down her face silently.
"You know, I really hated you, for what you did to me." She tried to speak but I just shook my head again. "But then I realized, you were in it before you met me and while I was unconscious, I thought it all over. You agreed to the bet before you knew me and even though that is completely fucking stupid, it's you all over. I know how much acting means to you, so in a way, I understand why you did it, but it doesn't justify why you did it. Camille, like it or not you're still my best friend and you always will be." I said, smiling slightly at the end of my speech.
Camille's eyes widened and her jaw opened, and then she grinned and jumped up, pulling me into a hug.
"Oh, God! Thank you so much, Echo! You don't know how much this means to me!" She said, the tears returning, rolling down her face once again.
"But I swear to God, if you do it again I'll kill you." I joked, but we both knew it had some seriousness in it.
When she sat back down she spoke again. "Oh, God, Echo. You've changed so much in such a little amount of time. You've matured so much, you've become a woman." She said admirably. "And what's this about I hear that you're hardly eating anything?" She suddenly turned into a mother. "Look how skinny you are!"
"Shut up, Camille, I've just been getting fatter and fatter."
"Oh shut the fuck up, woman! Everyone's been so worried about you, even fucking Jennifer! You know, Blondie? She actually asked me if you were okay!"
"What even happened?"
"Look, everyone got you card and everything!"
"Camille, what happened?" I asked louder this time.
"Do you not know?"
"Well, all I know is I nearly bled to death and I don't recall I've ever had a period like that." I said sarcastically.
"Same old Echo." Camille gave me a sad smile. "Echo... I don't know how to tell you this..."
"Use your words." I said with a smile.
"You were pregnant." The smile I had on my face slipped straight off my face.
"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, dumbfounded.
"You were pregnant; you had a baby inside of you." Camille repeated and I paled.
"...What?" I whispered out fragilely.
"You had a miscarriage, Echo." Camille informed me sadly, tears welling up in both of our eyes.
I can't sleep, it's hard to breathe and I still feel you next to me
And I can see, yeah
There's a fire in the city that's burning out tonight
And you're breathing but you're buried alive
The first one is the worst one when it comes
When it comes to a broken heart
The First One- Boys Like Girls
Okay, I know it's a little messy and choppy again, but I'm trying to get into some detail!
There was such a divide to the people who still loved Camille and to the people who hated her, I hope this seems realistic enough and not too farfetched.
Review what you think, I would appreciate it!