Page 92 of Starstruck

“Finn,” I rushed, catching my breath as I got to my knees. “He’s inthe hospital.”

chapter twenty nine

smile at me like this is real

Both Tristan and I are panting when we get into the elevator, with his handsresting on his hunched knees, and my back flush against the steel wall. I cast my eyes over to him as I sucked in some precious breaths, trying my hardest not to let what happened twenty minutes ago under that tree into my mind.

It was hard though. I’d been trying my best on the way to the hospital toconvince myself that it was just the breeze from the cab's crappy air ventilation that was hitting my lips, and not the everlasting feeling of nearly having his. I didn’t dare look at him either, apart from the times when his head would fall in his hands or he’d ask what I think happened for Finn to even be here.

It broke my heart how much his was breaking for Finn, his friend, our friend.

And if this were any other situation, if it wasn’t nearly as severe as we thought it was, I don’t think either of us would have left the cover of the tree, not even if the rain picked up and the park began to flood.

“C’mon,” Tristan said to me, as the elevator doors slowly glided open, painfully slow, like they were tormenting us with the unknown.

“Which room is he in?” I asked, both our heads bolting from right to left, tryingto make sense of the signs. “Which room, Tristan?” I rushed, earning back his stare, the delicate power they had before replaced by something darker.

He was panicking, but there was something else going on behind his eyes. Thisran deeper. It was obvious.

He shook his head, muttering curse words like that would help him remember,and to my surprise, a second later his head sprung back up. “Twelve Fourteen. It was twelve fourteen.”

We bolted our attention to the signs, and in an instant, I spotted the arrow that told us where he was. “This way,” I called over my shoulder, already in a run.

The dull blue glow that seeped into the hallways didn’t help the fact that theyall looked the same, the only difference being the medical staff doing their jobs and the numbers bolted onto the side of the rooms. I checked over my shoulder to find Tristan, right on my tail and still with just as much panic in his eyes.

He caught me staring after a second, and as he did, he gave me a smile that Iknew wasn’t real. But something told me he was doing it purely for me, to keep me calm. So I did the same to him.

Soon enough, we reached the hallway where we had a good idea Finn was, and when I scanned the hallway and saw Jesse and Cora hanging outside the room, my heart breathed a sigh of relief, and our sprints turned into jogs.

They clocked us as we neared them; their faces were both plagued with a type of sadness I wasn’t sure how to feel about. Quick as anything, Tristan rounded me and rushed out, “What happened? Is he okay? What the fuck happened?”

“Dude, he’s fine. It’s okay.” Jess placed his steady hands onTristan’s arms, hopefully settling him. “We were in the middle of practice, and Ryan thought it would be funny to charge at him and check him; Finn lost his balance, and Adamson ploughed into him because of it.”

“Fuck,” Tristan sighed, raking his hands through his hair andgripping the ends.

“Yeah,” Jess nodded. “He wouldn’t wake up for a solid minute, and…Jesus, I’ve never been so scared in my life.” Jess glanced at Cora, then at me, and then we all looked towards Tristan.

It was still there, that deep panic that I wasn’t sure if everyone else was pickingup on, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what it meant.

I turned back to Jesse and Cora. "Can we see him?"

Cora nodded toward the window of the hospital room, her dark bobswishing slightly as she glanced through the glass, then back at us. “We should be fine to go in now,” she said, her arms wrapping tightly around her waist. She must’ve caught the tension in my furrowed brows, and probably Tristan’s too.

“Rory’s in there with him,” she added quietly.

Tristan shifted uncomfortably beside me. "How did she get here sofast?"

Cora’s gaze dropped for a second before she glanced between thetwo of us. “She was already here, visiting her dad. He was rushed here earlier this afternoon. When I called, she said she’d find Finn for us.” She looked back through the window, and then, after a beat, her stare lifted to Jesse. “We haven’t been in yet.”

Her words hung heavy in the air, sinking into my chest. My heartcracked as I imagined Rory—already in a whirlwind of worry over her dad—only to be hit with the news that one of her friends was being rushed here too. It wasn’t fair. The person who always took the time to doodle little coffee notes for us didn’t deserve so much sadness piling onto her all at once.

Tristan nodded his chin at the pair. “Is it safe to go in now?”

Cora nodded. “I think so.”

I looked at Tristan, and he looked at me, and for whatever reason Inodded at him, silently telling him that whatever was going on in his head was okay.

Jesse pushed the door open for Tristan and me to glide in, where weimmediately found Rory, sitting on the chair beside Finn’s bed, their hands an inch away from one another. They pulled them back as quick as anything when they saw us, but the moment soon passed, as Tristan made headway for Finn.

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