I slowly woke up to someone shaking my shoulders hard.
Ouch, couldn’t they be a little gentler?
I was released from the hospital yesterday and forced on the sleeper sofa in the family room. My parents thought it would be easier for me to stay on the first floor so I wouldn’t have to deal with stairs and whatnot.
I groaned and turned onto my uninjured side. My nose crinkled slightly at the sound of someone muttering quietly.
“Heather, my friends came to give their get well wishes. So get up, for fuck’s sake,” William rumbled loudly.
“William! Let her rest. She is probably in a lot of pain and you aren’t helping,” I heard Jackson whisper-yell in an annoyed tone.
Then, out of nowhere, an unfamiliar voice started shrieking. “The bitch is making us late. Let’s just go.”
“Oh, shut up, Natasha!” I heard Freddy snap.
Ugh, nobody asked you to come. I was perfectly happy dreaming about food and penguins.
I sighed and slowly shuffled around until I was on my back. Groaning quietly to myself, I opened my eyes and made eye contact with William’s angry green ones.
“Ew, she has purple eyes. What’s wrong with her?”
I was starting to really dislike the person with the screechy voice. Seriously? Was she trying to make me angry?
“Is something wrong?” I asked casually, attempting to sit up, but it wasn’t working. The bandages on my legs restricted movement in so many ways. I plopped back down on my back and groaned. I had a pounding headache and my leg was killing me.
Gee, at least he could help me sit up if he wanted me to entertain his guests.
I sighed, turned my head as far as I could, and recognized the woman as William’s date from the last party. She was glaring at me with her light green eyes, and it looked like she was dressed up for another party. I looked around and saw Nathan, Jackson, and Freddy all staring at me with concern.
“Hey, guys, what’s up?” I asked cheerily, although, in reality, I was close to tears from pain.
“Are you all right, Heather?” Jackson asked, concern evident on his face. “You look really pale.”
I whimpered softly and closed my eyes as another wave of pain washed over me.
What was happening? I was fine just an hour ago. The painkillers must have worn off during my nap.
I sighed and opened my eyes once again.
“I’m just in a lot of pain. Haven’t gotten much sleep until now.” I winced softly.
“Do you need anything? I can go get some warm milk or something for you,” Nathan said worriedly.
“It’s okay, but if someone could pass me the bottle of painkillers, that would be great.”
He grabbed the glass of water and pills from the table and handed them to me. I gulped them down and gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks.”
He returned the smile and sat back down.
“So, what bring you guys here? You’re dressed up like you are headed to a party,” I said, nodding at their outfits.
Freddy glared at William pointedly. “This idiot apparently ‘forgot’ to tell us you were stabbed by some psychopath, so we got super pissed at him and decided to come visit you before going to the party.”
“How did you find out I was injured?” I asked warily. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like his answer.
“In the news,” he replied nonchalantly.
I groaned and mentally face-palmed. Since we lived in a somewhat small city where there weren’t that many celebrities, the businessmen made up much of the drama and gossip. That also meant that families like mine and William’s were scrutinized a lot.
“Not again,” I muttered.
“Again? So you tried to get yourself killed before?” the rude girl chimed in.
I bit back the urge to snap at her. “No, I once saved a drowning four-year-old and the media made this stupid fuss about it like they are doing now. Excuse my manners, what’s your name?” I politely asked.
“Natasha,” she said as her lip curled up in disgust at my appearance. To be honest, I didn’t blame her because I knew I looked like I’d gone to hell and back. My hair was a rat’s nest and my eyes were puffy and swollen from the lack of sleep.
“Nice to meet you,” I said as nicely as I could through gritted teeth.
Not.
“Yeah, whatever. We should get going, thanks to you, we are probably late.”
Freddy, Nathan, and Jackson snapped at her immediately. “Natasha!”
“What? We’ve spent, like, more than thirty minutes here,” she exclaimed angrily.
“Wait, what? Seriously?” I asked, slightly shocked.
How did I sleep through most of their talking?
I suddenly felt slightly guilty for making them wait so long.
“Heather, don’t look guilty, it’s not your fault. You need a lot of rest,” Jackson said, patting my head.
“I’m just sorry I made all of you wait so long,” I said softly.
Someone’s eyes burned into the side of my head, and I turned my head to my right to see William staring at me with his lip curled up in disgust.
“I’m sure William agrees with me,” Jackson said, looking at him expectantly.
He smirked. “No, Natasha’s right, Heather made us wait too long.”
I snorted and took another sip of water. Of course he would say that.
“Ow, what the fuck was that for?” William snapped, causing my head to snap up. He was holding his ankle and glaring at Nathan, who had probably kicked him.
Before Nathan could reply, a male voice called my name from the foyer. “Heather!”
All of our heads turned to the entrance of the living room as the voice got closer, and a broad grin formed on my face.
“Hey, Ethan!” I exclaimed, reaching out to hug him.
“Don’t you ‘hey’ me. Totally forgot about your friends, huh?” He feigned a hurt look.
I chuckled as his chestnut-colored eyes narrowed playfully at me.
“Sorry, but I’m pretty much isolated thanks to Alex and Andrew. They took my phone and laptop away so I would concentrate on my recovery.” I gave him an apologetic smile.
He sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I should have known. Chelsea and I have been calling every chance we get, but you don’t pick up. Finally, I told Chelsea I would check if you’re alive or not.”
I shrugged. “You guys saw me at the hospital just yesterday and I’m perfectly fine, minus the fact that I can hardly move, but yeah.”
William suddenly cleared his throat and we turned to face him with curious looks. I realized I hadn’t introduced Ethan yet.
I coughed awkwardly. “Guys, this is Ethan, Chelsea’s fiancé. Ethan, this is—”
Ethan cut me off and gave me a small smile. “I already know them, Hezz. I’m Nathan’s lawyer.”
“You are?” I asked incredulously.
Was I really that clueless or did he never mention this fact to me?
Nathan smiled at my confused look. “Since Ethan’s my company lawyer, he usually attends the same parties and meetings, which is how he knows these guys.”
“Huh, you never told me that,” I accused, slapping his arm lightly.
He shrugged. “You never asked, and I thought you already knew.”
“Oh, well, are you going to the same business dinner today?”
He shook his head. “Nah, Chelsea is going to come by with dinner. We wanted to spend the night here with you guys.”
“Sounds good to me.” I grinned. “We can finally have that Harry Potter movie marathon we’ve been planning for months.”
“I’m cool with that, but Jason is going to be against it. I think he’s scared of the dragons in The Goblet of Fire.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course. Remember Halloween last year?”
Ethan snorted and shook his head. “Who could forget? His scream woke up the whole neighborhood.”
We both broke into laughter, which immediately died down when the others stared at us, bewildered.
William stood up and nodded at Ethan and me. “Well then, if you will excuse us, we’ll be on our way.”
“Take care, Heather. I’ll come back again maybe tomorrow or Monday,” Nathan whispered, giving me a gentle hug.
Jackson and Freddy hugged me as well and followed Nathan out of the room. In that time, Ethan had gone to the kitchen to answer a phone call, which left me with William.
As I opened my mouth to ask him why he was still standing there, he gave me a deadly glare and clenched his jaw.
“Heather, you were very rude to Natasha. I’m disappointed in you,” he said, crossing his arms.
“Excuse me? How was I rude? I said less than ten words to her and all she did was look at me with disgust!”
“Who can blame her, you look like a hobo off the streets in pajamas! Can’t you look even a bit decent?”
“I can’t exactly look like a runway model, William. I’m injured and forced to be in bed.”
“That’s no excuse. Did you know Natasha broke her finger once and still managed to look beautiful?”
“That’s the most pathetic comparison ever! Why are you comparing me to her in the first place, William? Why should I care if she looks good or not?”
He fell silent and just stared at me before shaking his head and taking a few steps toward the entryway.
I stared at the ceiling in frustration.
“Even after everything you did, you still ask me that,” he sneered.
I stared at him, absolutely perplexed by his vague statement.
He narrowed his eyes and shook his head at the confused look on my face. “You ruined Kelly.”
My eyebrows shot up to my hairline. “Your sister? William, I’ve only known your sister for―”
“Stop lying to me!” he yelled, slamming his hand on the coffee table. I flinched and cringed away.
Where was Ethan? I needed him to get rid of William for me. If it weren’t for these stupid stitches, I probably would have tried pushing him out the door already.
“You know exactly what you’re doing, and it disgusts me. You bullied my sister and now pretend you never did anything. Tell me, how did it feel to get her fired from her job?”
My jaw fell open slightly and tears rimmed at the corners of my eyes at his harsh voice. “I never bullied your sister. You must be mistaking me for someone else.”
“That’s what they all say,” he snapped. “Believe me when I say this, I’m going to destroy you for hurting my sister.”
I gulped around the lump in my throat as he walked away and slammed the front door loudly.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Ethan slowly trailing back into the living room. I knew from one look at his face that he had heard everything. Chelsea stood behind him with a grim look on her face.
I had no idea she had even arrived.
“Heather,” she whispered, crouching beside the bed, “it’s not your fault. Nothing is.”
I shook my head and wiped away the tear that threatened to fall. “He won’t believe me, Chelsea. I don’t know what do.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll handle this. You just get better,” Ethan muttered, taking his phone out and dialing someone.
Chelsea wrapped her arms around me as we listened to his conversation. But after a minute or so, my thoughts drifted back to William’s words.
This was going to be a long few weeks.