It was all my fault

Harry stayed by my side for a long time, we didn't even need to say anything because each other's company was enough. I still felt ashamed of the whole situation and of having been exposed like that, noticing the looks of shock and pity on the faces of almost everyone present, as well as Mandy's look of pleasure when she saw how badly she had hit me.

I hated her with all my might.

If I had disliked her before, that bad feeling had only grown and in my deepest core, I wanted her to disappear, to be gone for good, once and for all. No one deserved to have her around, not when she was a miserable bitch.

“Cassy?” I hear the husky voice of the boy next to me calling me and I look into his green eyes.

“Yes.” I say softly

“Ash just texted me,” she says, ”His aunt said that the surgery is over and that she'll be back to give us some news. Do you want to go there?” she asks and I bite my lip, did I want to go there? Did I want to look at everyone or could I go home and lock myself in for a long time?

“If you don't want to go, no problem. I can take you somewhere else.” I look at him again and deny it.

“No, it's fine. I can manage.” I say and he nods.

“Then let's go, I promise I'll hold your hand until then.” My heart warms at his words and I smile in gratitude at him, and accept his outstretched hand.

With every step we took, my heart raced faster and faster. I could feel my hands sweating, and I know Harry was too, because he squeezed them, trying to comfort me. Trying to relieve the tension in my body at that moment. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, every step, every breath... We walked towards the elevator and went up to the floor where our friends were. Every floor number that appeared on the elevator's small screen made me anxious. I squeezed the hand of the boy next to me and felt him release me in the next instant, pressing the elevator's lock button, stopping it and holding my face with both hands. The brunette's eyes sparkled, those green eyes that enchanted me so much and that caused my whole body to react.

“Harry,” I whispered his name and he leaned his forehead against mine, and we closed our eyes at the same moment.

“Try to relax, please,” he says, causing his fresh breath to hit my face, sending shivers down my spine ”I promise I'll be there for you, I'll be your support Cassidy. But try to relax, because it's bad for the baby, all this anxiety isn't nice.” he said, and with my eyes still closed, I shook my head in confirmation. Harry was right, I needed to be calm, after all I wasn't alone anymore, now I had a baby in my womb and he wasn't to blame for anything that had happened. I took a deep breath and clung to Harry's arms, felt him shiver at my touch and then opened my eyes.

“Kiss me,” I said to him, who opened his eyes at that very moment "Don't look at me like that, I know we talked about it, but," I took a deep breath "Just kiss me, okay?" I said and he smiled sideways, kissing me back.

His warm lips pressed against mine for a few seconds, I clasped my hands around his arms and opened my mouth wider, making room for his tongue to invade my mouth, and so he did. I sighed at his touch and the depth to which he could reach me. One of Harry's hands went down to my waist and pulled me against his body, squeezing me tightly, leaving me totally surrendered. Harry pushed me against the walls of the room and I let out a small moan in response, his lips trailing down my neck, making me bite my lips. I was getting more and more aroused by his touch, until I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror behind him, and a shock came over me, bringing me back to reality. Harry sensed my hesitation and pulled away, his pupils were dilated, his lips were red and I believe mine were the same, he smiled sideways and stroked my cheek.

“I got carried away, I beg your pardon,” he says and quickly denies it.

“No, please. I wanted to, but now...” he interrupts me.

“Now is neither the time nor the place for that.” he says.

“Harry, I...” he shuts me up with a quick kiss and then walks away.

“We're back to square one. It's not going to happen again, I did it just to try and calm you down. After all, there are other people involved in this, aren't there? And there's Zac, this really isn't the time,” he says and I end up agreeing.

After getting ready, Harry releases the elevator and we soon arrive in the waiting room. When everyone noticed us, I tried to avoid looking at them. I felt embarrassed by everything, and also by what had happened a few minutes ago. The way those people looked at me made me feel that they knew what Harry and I had done in that blessed elevator. I hated being the center of attention.

“Hello, everyone.” I heard my aunt's voice as she approached us, and I looked at her.

“Doctor, how's my son?” said Hadija as she approached. I soon noticed that Joseph was by her side, as was Zac's sister, whom my ex-father-in-law had gone out to fetch.

“The surgery was a success,” Alicia begins, and I let out a sigh of relief, a sigh I didn't even know I was holding in ”But he's still at risk, there may be after-effects because Zac had a big blow to the head, and he suffered a small hemorrhage, and on top of that, he lost a lot of blood.” When I heard that, my eyes filled with tears, despite everything, Zac didn't deserve that, and now I felt guilty that he was like that.

“My God, have mercy on my son,” said Hadija as she began to cry, while Joseph hugged her.

“Mom, calm down. Let's let the doctor finish talking,” said Aysha, Zac's sister.

“Is he in his room yet, Aunt Alicia?” I asked, my eyes watering again.

“Actually, he's going to stay in the ICU with the other high-risk patients,” she says.

“What?” asks Joseph.

“I'm sorry,” he begins, ”Zac was going to stay in the ICU, but as his case is serious and we need to keep him under surveillance, and also avoid any infections, he will stay alone in another room,” Hadija mumbles a lament, I feel Els' hand on mine, and I look at my friend, smile sideways at her, and we're at my aunt again “Zac is our main focus at the moment, so we need him to stay in a separate room,” she takes a deep breath “Although the surgery was indeed a success, Hadija and Joseph, your son is still intubated, and I'm really sorry to break this news to you. But Zachary is in a coma.” and just then Hadija screams and falls into her husband's arms, my aunt calls for help and two nurses appear and start giving Hadija first aid.

“Will he be all right? Will this coma take long?” asks Liam.

“We're trying everything Liam, but at first it all depends on Zac himself. What we're going to do is continue with the treatment and accompany him throughout this process.” Athalia and Sophie were also by my side, and that's when I started to cry. My friends hugged me, while I burst into tears, feeling an absurd pain in my chest, like I was to blame for everything. If I hadn't fought with him, if I had given him a chance to explain and tried to understand, Zac wouldn't be going through all that, not even his family would be going through such pain.

It was all my fault.