FSE

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The end

Beeping. That's the first thing I heard as I slowly woke up, my eyes still closed. Slow, but steady, beeping.

"A heart monitor?" I thought. "I'm in the hospital?"

My first thoughts after I finally realized that I was stabbed. It seemed like it was all a dream. I was now thankful to be alive. I slowly gained feeling all around my once numb body. I knew I was alive and breathing, but I felt...week and stiff. I can only imagine what I look like right now. Probably a mess with a whole bunch of needles and tubes in me. The very thought of it kept my eyes closed.

_"For once...I would like to rest."_I thought.

I then heard a door open and footsteps walk around me.

"Damn." I thought.

"He's in here." A voice said.

Then a soft whimper.

"He's lost quite a bit of blood, but he will be fine. It may take a while for him to wake up."

"Are you sure he's gonna be okay?" Another voice said. It was my mom. I'm pretty sure my dad was there too. "How much blood?...how long has he been unconscious?"

"Don't worry hun." Said my dad.

"He was actually very lucky." Said the other voice. I'm guessing it's a nurse. "Those two girls brought him in just in time....I think their names were Sam and Victoria."

"Thank you." Said my dad. "Can we have some time alone here?"

"Of course." The nurse said.

Then the door closed. I heard a few footsteps get closer to me. Then I heard my mom say,

"Look at him...."

"I know." Said my dad. "The police called us. They said they found the kids who did...."

"But Henry,....I just can't look at him like this...." My mom said. Her voice quivering as she spoke.

"He's alive Hun."

"Barely!" My mom said, nearly screaming.

"He was beaten up, and kicked and stabbed and I wasn't there and....and...."

I then heard her crying. Then I heard my dad's footsteps walking towards her.

"This is all my fault....." My mom said in her quivering voice again.

"Shhhhh, Laura." My dad said. "No it's not. It's going to be okay. He's going to be okay."

My mom continued to cry.

"We left New York so nothing like this would happen.......I'm such an idiot." She said.

I finally got the courage to open my eyes and try to look at my parents. The lights blinded me for a few seconds, but the bland white room soon became clear to me. It was day time. A whole night has passed. I looked to my left and saw my parents hugging each other. I used as much energy as possible to finally say,

"You're not an idiot, mom."

They both turned around and looked at me almost like they were scared.

"Eddy!" They both screamed.

Then they leaned over me. My mom petting my head.

"You okay dear?" My mom said as she tried to hide her tears.

"I've been better...but I think I'll be fine." I said.

That answer was good enough to make both of them smile. I then looked down at my body. There was some kind of needle stuck in me, I knew that, but the blanket covered the rest of me. My mom then pushed my head back down on the pillow and said.

"You don't worry about that okay? The doctor said you'd be fine."

I smiled a little and said

"Okay mom."

My dad then held my hand, pretty tight too, and said.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you son.....I mean.....I wish I had all the answers but....."

"Dad." I interrupted. "It's okay. I know you did the best you could....I also now that I can be quite a pain in the tail."

My dad laughed and my mom kissed my cheek.

"But you're still our little pup and we promise that we will never let this happen again."

I smiled, trying to forget the conversation I heard while they thought I was asleep, but even though I tried, I still had to say something.

"I don't want to move." I said.

My parents both had the same confused face.

"You don't have to Hun." My mom said. "The doctors are taking good care of...."

"No, I mean, I don't want to leave Chicago."

The sudden realization in my mom's face showed that she knew I heard them.

"Please......" I said, almost begging. "I just......I just don't want to move again."

My parents looked at each other and sighed. Then my mom finally spoke.

"Well, Eddy." She started, but a knock on the door cut her off.

"Come in." My Dad said.

The door slowly opened and Sam and Victoria both walked in.

"Hello." Sam said as she walked in with Victoria walking behind her. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No, you can come in." My mom said.

As they both walked in I took a quick glance at Victoria and noticed that she had a black eye. Probably from Kevin hitting her. Other than that, she seemed okay. Then I looked at Sam. We both just stared at each other for a while. She looked so depressed, like her soul was just...empty.

"Henry," My mom said. "I think we should leave the kids to talk."

My dad nodded his head, gave my head a little pat, and walked out of the room with my mom. Then it was just us three. The three people that started this whole mess.

"How are you feeling?" Victoria asked.

"I'll be fine." I said. "Just a few stitches." Even I knew that was a lie, but my injury wasn't important right now. I looked at Sam, who was now looking at the floor.

"Sam?" I said. She looked up at me. "I'm so sorry, for everything."

"No." Sam said. I was then confused. "You don't have to apologize anymore.....and not ever again."

"What?" I said.

Sam then looked at Victoria and said.

"I'm sorry Victoria, but could you...."

"No, it's okay." Victoria said with a smile. "You two should talk."

Victoria then walked out of the room.

Sam then turned around and walked towards me.

"You know," she said. "I hated you for a little while, but that was just because I didn't understand what you were going through."

She tried to wipe her eyes and cleared her throat.

"And I was the one who made you feel that Victoria was this awful person.....but she's honestly the nicest and sweetest human I've ever met."

I smiled and said. "I told you."

"Eddy?" She continued. "I'm so sorry....and I promise to never make you feel like that again. You're free to be who you are." She then leaned down close to me and said.

"Because that's the wolf I fell in love with."

We kissed. Her hand caressing the side of my face. I closed my eyes to enjoy the moment. We then stopped and just looked at each other. I still saw some tears in her eyes, so I quickly said.

"Hey, you gotta admit that Ryan killed it in the talent show."

She laughed and smiled big.

"Yea," she said. "Much better than all those other losers."

"Heh, you're always so competitive."

Sam laughed again and said.

"It's in my nature."

Then we both laughed, as if nothing ever happened, as if we weren't in a hospital, as if I wasn't on the verge of dying a few hours ago. No, we just smiled, and laughed, and kissed. We looked towards the future. A better future.

I spent a couple more days in the hospital before I finally got home. I was barely walking. The pain in my abs and my sides were really annoying. The doctor said that it would get better though. Thankfully, while I was home, Sam visited me everyday. Sometimes she would come with some of our other friends too like Jack, Ryan, or Alice, but Sam was the only one who came everyday. She never came empty handed though, due to the amount of homework I still had to do. I mean come on. I got stabbed, but no, still gotta learn history. Although, there were sometimes when Sam gave me a "get well card" and things like that from random people. It started at like six, but soon grew to like 30 cards. I was surprised, but Sam just kept saying the same thing.

"They really miss you there and they're thankful for what you said."

I was thankful for that, but I was most thankful for having Sam back in my life. Some days, we would watch a movie or something and we would both lie on the couch. One day, she accidentally fell asleep on my lap. I tried waking her up, but I knew that she needed the rest for taking care of my lazy butt. I called her dad, told her she was staying for the night and began gently petting her head as she slept. Her tail wagged a little and she made a soft, happy moan as she continued to sleep. Eventually, I fell asleep myself. It was a goodnight. Although, it soon occurred to me that there was someone who never came to visit me: Victoria.

Finally, it was time for me to go back to school. Usually, I would hate the thought of that, but I had to comeback some time. Beats sitting on a couch all day doing homework. My dad drove me to school. Sam was also in the car. She was going to help me carry my stuff. I could walk now, but I'm pretty sure putting my backpack on would kill me. I am taking history you know.

"You sure you want to help me Sam? I mean I can sort of carry it." I asked.

"Does sort of carrying mean falling to the floor like you did this morning?" she said.

I smiled and said.

"Well, I had to see if I could carry it."

"Yea, thanks for the heart attack."

My dad was laughing at the whole conversation.

"Don't worry babe." Said Sam. "Besides, I get to miss some classes now."

"Cool." I said.

Soon, we reached the school. It seemed normal as usual.

"Alright son." My dad said. "You ready?"

I was confused.

"For what? School?" I asked.

"No." My dad said. Then he unlocked the car. "To start over."

I smiled. I was now excited because...he was right. If there was ever a chance to just do this whole thing over again, with Victoria and all, now was my chance. Sam stepped out of the car first and I slowly followed her. She closed the door behind me and held both of our bags. I still felt sorry for her, but there was no way that I could carry my bag now. My dad drove off and I started walking inside.

"Wanna go to your locker?" Asked Sam.

"Yea." I said.

I opened the front door and immediately heard: "Hey! It's Eddy!"

If that wasn't surprising enough, a human said it. He walked over to me along with a big group of people, furries came too. Within seconds, I was surrounded by all of them and the only sound I could make was: "Uuuuh...."

Sam quickly got in front of me and yelled at them.

"Hey! Hey! Back up! Can't you see he's hurt!"

They did not seem to care. The just started crowding and asking questions.

"I heard you got shanked and you kicked his ass. Is that true?"

"No, you got shot right?"

"Do you have a scar now?"

So many questions...and rumors. Maybe I was gone for too long.

"Hey! Guys! Can I at least get to my locker!"

"Come on, man." One guy said. "Tell us what really happened."

Sam was getting annoyed.

"Come on Eddy." She said. "We're gonna be late."

"Hold up." I said. "You guys wanna know what happened?"

Everyone agreed. I was gonna start saying something, but I soon realized the power I had over them. I could say that Kevin was psychotic and then people would hate him. I could say that it was all my fault and people would hate me....I'm beginning to hate high school.

"Come on Eddy!"

"Yea, tell us!"

I took a deep breath, looked at them all, and then I began.

"Well....uh....we all just made...so many mistakes. Me most of all...and, like anything, they catch up with us. I mean....I still feel bad about what happened with Kevin, and I know he's regretting what he did, but all we can do now is...learn from our mistakes and....move on."

Dang, that was corny, but did it work? Everyone was quiet though. Sam finally pulled me out of the crowd. I looked behind me and saw the crowd slowly walk away.

"So?" I asked Sam.

"What?"

"How was...how was that?"

"Oh, you're little speech?"

"Yea."

"Well, it's official."

"What is?"

She then nudged me and said.

"You're an idiot."

I sighed and said.

"Thanks."

Then she kissed my cheek and said.

"But you're not wrong."

All I could do was smile...like an idiot.

Sam helped me through my classes. I know she was a little pissed, but she still got to miss some class. Lucky her, I guess. Then, there was history class. I was anxiously waiting for this class. I needed to see Victoria again. I hope she was okay. Sam even said that she hasn't really seen her lately. Seeing her again, knowing that Sam was okay with it, would really make me happy. We finally got there, the people there almost swarmed me again with questions, but the bell rang just in time. Sam helped me with my bag to my seat. I scanned the whole room for victoria....but she wasn't there.

"No," I said. "This isn't right."

"What's wrong?" Sam asked.

"Victoria...she supposed to be here."

I quickly went over to the teacher. He seemed unhappy to see me.

"Eddy, class has started. Please take your seat." He said with disgust.

"Yea, yea, I will." I said. "But, where did Victoria go? She's in this class right?"

"Oh right, Victoria. Honestly, I haven't seen her. After you left, she soon left too. I don't know why, but she's just not on my schedule anymore."

I felt terrible. I just felt....wrong now.

"But....but she has to..."

Sam nudged me and said.

"I'm gonna go now babe. See you at lunch."

"And you need to take your seat." Demanded the teacher. Sam left the room and I just felt even more distressed.

"Wait, but, don't you..." I tried to say something, but the look my teacher gave me made me change my mind. I gave up and finally sat down....feeling like failure. How was I going to make this right if Victoria was gone?

I didn't pay any attention in that class. Once again, all I could think about was Victoria. It doesn't make sense though. Where did she go? The last time I saw her was....was at the hospital. She visited sometimes, but after I left to go home...that was it. I felt bad now. I mean, Sam accepted my apology, my friends accepted me again, and I feel like I learned my lesson. Isn't this the part where everything gets resolved? Where I apologize to Victoria and we all become friends? I guess only in movies.

It was lunchtime. Sam helped me get my bag to our old table, with my old friend. Jack, Alice, Ryan, they were all there, just having a good time; I should feel happy, right? But still, I saw no sign of Victoria. I feel like I failed her. Like the reason she left was all my fault. I'm not sure where she went, but maybe she thought it was better if she left. So maybe now....I should just forget about her. Yea, maybe I should. It feels wrong, but I have no other choice. I went on line and eventually got my lunch. Got a sandwich. The usual. I walked out into the cafeteria. I saw my friends at our table. I smiled as I walked over to the table....but then, I saw something. Someone. Life just gave me the biggest curveball right there. I saw Victoria outside the window. She was outside, sitting down on the ground on the side of the building. I didn't hesitate. I immediately put my food tray on the table and hurried outside. I'm pretty sure I confused my friends, but I had to see her. I opened the door and called out her name.

"Victoria!" I said.

She looked up at me. She smiled a little.

"Eddy!" She said.

I walked awkwardly to her and eventually sat next to her. I didn't know what to say first.

"Victoria, I thought....I thought you were gone." I said.

"What? No." She said. "I'm sorry, I just decided to change my class schedule a little. I couldn't move my lunch though."

"Wait, why change your schedule?"

In an instant, Victoria's face lost its color. She lost her smile.

"I thought it would stop the bullying." She said. Then she looked away from me and stared at the ground.

"Bullying?" I asked.

"People are blaming me for what happened to you."

"But....it's not you're fault."

Victoria then looked back up at me and said.

"I was the one who talked to you, I was the one who made Sam angry, the one who made Kevin angry....none of this would of happened if I would have just...stayed quiet."

"Yea but...." I tried to think of something to say. Victoria then looked away again. Then, I finally said.

"But...if you didn't talk to me that day....we wouldn't have been friends."

She looked at me again.

"Friends?....were still friends?"

"Of course."

Her smile came back. Her face lit up again.

"And you know what, a girl once told me that...if you make your own choices and your happy with them, then who cares what others think."

She laughed.

"Did I get it right?" I asked

"Close enough." She said. "Thanks Eddy."

"No problem...now."

I slowly got up.

"Let's go see your other friends." I said.

Victoria hesitated a little, but eventually stood up, and followed me. We walked to the door and I took a deep breath.

"Ready to mess things up?" I asked.

Victoria laughed and nodded her head yes.

Then, I opened the door. I walked in with Victoria behind me. Once everyone noticed us, the whole room got kind of quiet. Lots of people stared. Once again, I'm beginning to hate high school.

"What now?" Asked Victoria.

I then grabbed her hand and led her to our table. I sat her done between Jack and Ryan and went to sit next to Sam. Everyone was silent.

"Uh....people are staring." said Ryan.

I started the conversation. I had to say something.

"Victoria, meet Jack, Ryan, Alice, and you already know Sam." I said.

Victoria waved shyly, and we all still remained silent. This was getting...kind of awkward.

"Nice to see you again Victoria." Sam finally said. "I love your dress. What do you think Alice?"

"It's nice. Would look better in black." Said Alice

"I like black." Said Victoria.

"Alright, well if we're gonna do this, then I hope you like fur." Said Jack.

"I don't mind." Said Victoria with a smile.

"I'm beginning to like her." Said Jack.

"Thanks." Said Victoria. "Oh, and I loved your talent show performance...Ryan right?"

Ryan almost blushed a little.

"Really?" He said.

"Even though you almost blew up the whole school." Said Alice.

"I had it under control." Said Ryan.

"Maybe you added too much thermal energy." Said Victoria.

"Wait, how are you at Chemistry?" Asked Sam.

"I have an A plus in the class." Said Victoria.

"Oh thank god, cause Eddy ain't no help."

"Um...I'm standing right here." I said.

Sam froze, then smiled, then quickly kissed my cheek.

"Love you babe." She said.

"Yea, yea." I said.

"But we can talk later Vic...I mean Victoria."

"Hey, no, that's a good name." Said Jack. "Vic."

Alice laughed and said.

"Welcome to the crew, Vic."

"Yea," I said with a big smile on my face. "Welcome to the crew."

"Thanks." Said Victoria. "It's feels....good to be here."

The End