Now it was just a matter of time until he woke up, though I had been warned that because he had been close to having a panic attack and wouldn’t stay still for the paramedics, he had been given a tranquilizer that perhaps hadn’t completely worn off yet.

“I’m going to get some coffee from the cafeteria downstairs,”

Mrs. Whitworth said, offering me a tired smile as she got to her feet. “Can I get you anything?”

“No, thank you,” I quietly answered.

Mrs. Whitworth nodded and turned around, her heels clicking on the linoleum floor as she walked out of the room. Then, silence fell once again.

I leaned forward and reached for Jasper’s hand. Earlier, I had taken off each of his rings. They were lying on his bedside table now; the sight of the silver, stained with blood in places, made my stomach twist.

I was just examining the way his nail polish had chipped off when Jasper’s fingers suddenly twitched in my grasp. With a start, I looked up, just in time to see his eyes fluttering open.

They blinked into the bright light for a moment before they slowly took in the room. Finally, they landed on me.

“Seth?” Jasper rasped. “What happened?”

“You’re in the hospital,” I said, my throat a little tight. “Kyle cut you with his knife, remember?”

It took a few seconds for Jasper to fully comprehend my words. “Oh.” He looked down at his chest. The hand that I wasn’t holding came up to lightly touch the bandage, but he dropped it immediately, grimacing slightly in pain. Then, he suddenly jolted and scrambled to sit up. “What about Noelle and Evelyn?

Are they . . . are they all right?”

I gently pushed him down onto the mattress again. “They’re fine. They’re just at the police department giving their statements.”

He nodded, slowly. Due to the sedative, all of his movements seemed a little delayed, his gaze a little spaced out. Then, suddenly, his eyes became focused again, fixing me intently. “I’m so sorry, Seth. I saw the rest of the video. I never wanted to—”

“Shh, it’s okay,” I said, squeezing his hand. “We don’t have to talk about it right now.”

“No, I . . . I want to.” He tried to prop himself up on his elbows but immediately fell back against the pillows, wincing in pain.

“I should’ve known you wouldn’t kiss her. I should’ve known.”

“It was bad timing,” I objected. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had been in your place.”

“You probably wouldn’t have broken up right away.”

“No, probably not,” I said, only sounding a little bit like I was holding back tears. “But it doesn’t matter now. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Me too.” He gulped. “Will you forgive me?”

“I already have,” I softly said. “And I’m sorry too. For leaving right away and not trying harder to explain everything to you.”

“It’s oka—”

“Wait, I’m not finished,” I cut him off, my eyes trained on where our fingers lay intertwined on the coarse hospital sheets.