Chapter 28

Rachel was sitting in a dimly lighted room, hands cuffed behind her back. A camera was filming her, probably framing all of her doings, which were very limited upon the restraints. In hindsight, she probably shouldn't have put up so much resistance against the policemen that had taken her and Lucy into custody after they got spotted riding the cargo train.

Now she was stuck at a police station in some backwater town between Grant Pass and Eugene, and it was as good as certain that the authorities had already informed her mom and dad about her location and misdeeds.

Trespassing, property damage, travel without paying, drug possession… The list was pretty long for a teenage girl that would normally be considered from healthy living circumstances, unlike Lucy, who had taken the whole situation way more relaxed.

Lucy...her new friend. A cool girl with a lot of bad luck in her life, who yet managed to stay positive. As far as Rachel knew, she was already on her way back to Texas, and would probably bail again as soon as she would arrive. Who knows, maybe she won't even reach Texas, but instead change direction right away.

But as much as the thought about this wild girl was clearing the dark clouds in her mind at least a bit, it wasn't of most importance right now. Evident, as the door opened and a policeman entered, who uncuffed her, saying "Parole has been paid. You're free to go, Miss Amber."

She hadn't even finished questioning herself who had paid the money as her mom appeared in the door, arms crossed and scowling at her.

"Mom…" said the young girl with a bowed head as all her rebellious behavior turned into guilt. But Sera obviously wasn't in the mood for excuses.

"Just get in the car, Rachel!"

Sighing in defeat, Rachel averted her mother's glare as she walked past her. And after picking up her belongings she left the station, heading straight for her mom's car. She hadn't even fastened her seatbelt as Sera slumped down on the driver's seat, slammed the door shut and yelled "Fuck, Rachel! Why the hell did you do that, huh?"

"Mom…" she tried to say again, the brim of her eyes getting damp, but was once more interrupted as Sera embraced her tightly, relieving a shaky breath into her shoulder.

"Damn, I was worried sick about you!" the older woman whispered, before reinitiating deep eye contact. "Don't ever do this again, you hear me! Never, ever!"

Now Rachel couldn't hold back her tears anymore, which also stopped her from saying anything. Instead, she simply nodded and once more wrapped her arms tightly around her mother, pressing her even closer.

She had missed her so much and was now simply glad to feel her warmth and smell her unique odor.

The drive back to Arcadia Bay had been long and included a stay at a motel as Sera didn't want to drive the whole way in one row and Rachel wasn't allowed to drive for another three months.

All-in-all, her mom sometimes appeared weak and pale, yet whenever Rachel brought it up, she always blamed it on her upcoming menopause.

Eventually, they reached the outer limits of Arcadia Bay in the early afternoon and before anything else, they headed straight for the hospital.

Truth be told, Rachel had been giddy for the last few hours to finally see her boyfriend again, may he be in a coma or not. So, the young girl became even more nervous the closer they came to their destination.

"Just head on, I need to use the loo," Sera told her daughter as they were walking through the halls of the hospital. And while she turned right, into a different corridor, Rachel kept on going.

"Room 406," she mumbled to herself repeatedly as she was checking every room number she was passing by, until she finally found it. And though the young girl didn't want to do anything else than push down the handle and overcome this last barrier, she somehow couldn't manage to do so.

She was afraid. Simply afraid to find something behind this door that she didn't want to see. To actually see the consequences of her doings.

But in the end, the door got opened by someone else, namely Chloe, who was then standing right in front of her.

At first, the lanky girl with the strawberry-blond hair was just staring at Rachel in surprise with wide open eyes, yet this demeanor faltered instantly in only a few seconds into an angry glare.

"What the fuck are you doin' here?!" she said with a threatening voice, her hands balling into fists.

Normally, Rachel wasn't the type of getting intimidated by people who weren't any authorities, but this time it was somehow different. She knew what she had done. How much misery she had caused to Max's family, which kind of put her into a vulnerable position?

Her head bowed and her voice low, she answered "I-I just wanna see how Max is doing."

As an answer, she received a hard push against her chest that let her stumble backwards a few steps, followed by Chloe's whisper-yelled, angry words.

"You wanna know how he's doin'?! He's in a coma, bitch, thanks to you!"

"I-I never wanted this. I…" Rachel tried to defend herself, tears developing at the brim of her eyes, but got interrupted by a smack on her right cheek.

"You were the one, who stole my fuckin' truck and drove it against this fuckin' tree. Now don't tell me that you never wanted this. YOU did this! YOU! YOU alone! YOU almost killed him, you fuckin' cunt!"

Being taken on this guilt-trip and once more faced with the consequences of her actions, Rachel wrapped her arms around her body and started to cry, whimpering "I'm so sorry!"

But Chloe didn't care about this as she released this, over time, pent up hate towards the person who was responsible for her emotional pain. Violently, she grabbed Rachel by her shirt and shoved her against the wall, followed by another hard punch that sent the poor blonde to the ground.

"You're sorry?! Fuck you! Fuck! You!"

Then a kick against her stomach followed, which let her groan and squirm in pain, and it was only thanks to Steph that nothing more happened as she pushed Chloe away from her victim.

"Chloe, what the fuck are you doing?! Are you insane?!" she intervened, positioning between them. Sadly, this action put her in the line of fire.

"What does it look like, huh? This bitch finally gets what she deserves."

Now it was Steph who got furious as she closed in on her girlfriend without any fear or hesitation. "And you really think, beating her up helps? Have you ever considered what she's going through? That - maybe - she's already punished enough?"

But Chloe stood her ground, tapping with her finger on Steph's chest as she answered "I don't fuckin' care and you shouldn't either, 'cause we both know how much Max means to you, too."

Steph didn't know what to answer anymore. She was right in this point that she indeed had deep feelings for Max as well. Feelings that sometimes were beyond seeing him as a brother. But this whole situation wasn't just about Max. Before all this had happened, she used to be fond of Chloe, but now? It hurt her how her girlfriend had changed. How she had gotten consumed by her hate and despair. Yet, she somehow didn't want to break up with her.

"Chloe," she eventually said, gazing deeply into her girlfriend's blue eyes while cupping her left cheek with her hand. "Please, go home! You haven't slept well in days and need some chill."

"What?!" she returned angrily. "And leave her alone with Max?"

"She just wants to see him, Chloe. Let her. Maybe it'll help him."

"Help with what?" Chloe then scoffed cynically, breaking the contact. "You think she'll saunter in there, give Max a kiss and that he'll then wake up like Sleepin' fuckin' Beauty?"

"I'll go," suddenly chimed Rachel's voice, causing Chloe and Steph to look at her, as she was struggling to get up again. "You're right. I don't deserve to be close to him. Just… If he wakes up, just tell him that I'm sorry for what I did."

Both watched how Rachel, holding one side of her body with one hand, was about to walk away, her head bowed and leaving a trail of tears behind. Once again, Steph looked deeply into Chloe's eyes, but instead of another comment, the nerdy brunette only received an angry scoff with a headshake.

Now having gotten the unspoken permission, Steph ran after Rachel and led her back to Max's room, one arm flung soothingly around her shoulders while Chloe walked past them without giving one of them even one bit of attention.

"Go in there! He needs you," said Steph with a warm voice to Rachel, softly pushing her into the room before closing the door.

There she was: the place she had wished to be for months now. And now that she was here, faced with the full awareness of her doings and saw how Max was lying in this bed, asleep and hooked up to a few machines, she eventually broke down into tears.

"I'm so, so sorry, Max!" she sobbed as she closed in on the bed with slow, insecure steps.

Hesitantly, she grabbed his limp hand. Just feeling her love after such a long time, sent another wave of sadness through the young girl. What had she done? How could she have been so selfish? How much misery had she caused with her stupid ideas? Chloe, Steph, Will, Vanessa, her mom...all of them were hurting just because she had to be selfish. She deserved to be alone. Maybe this was her destiny: being alone until the very end. Just drifting through life like Lucy, without any destination or goals. Just living from one day to another, not knowing what the future might uphold.

"I'm so sorry, Max!" she whispered, after she had calmed down enough. "But I have to go. I need to get as far away as possible. I hope you wake up soon. And once you do, go on with your life. Get someone better than me and live a better life. Goodbye, Max. I'll always love you!"

Her last word had barely left her mouth as she leaned over Max and kissed him softly onto his dry lips. A kiss that lasted for a long moment and that she only broke, because she had felt a twitch.

Astonished and with furrowed eyebrows, Rachel backed away a bit and stared at Max, weighing if this had just been her imagination or reality.

Wanting to figure that out, the teenage girl softly squeezed his hand, and again she felt a twitch, but this time it was even stronger. Once more she squeezed and this time it got returned by a strong squeeze as well, plus that there was also some movement on Max's face.

"Oh my god!" gasped Rachel, covering her mouth with her hand. And as Max also slowly opened his eyes, she couldn't hold back to cry out of joy.