Misunderstood (A Neighbor from Hell YA #1) - R.L. Mathewson Page 0,92

for observation though,” came the words that had Sebastian staring helplessly down at his hands.

He did this.

It wasn’t bad enough that he’d screwed up his life and his brother’s life, he had to drag Mikey down with him. He knew this was going to happen, Sebastian thought as he rubbed his hands roughly down his face. He never should have talked to her, never should have gone with her that day, and he sure as hell never should have crawled through her window that night and now…

She was paying for his mistakes.

“Who’s Sebastian?” the doctor asked Aunt Kasey and Uncle Reese.

“Her best friend,” Aunt Kasey said hollowly as Uncle Reese pulled her into his arms.

“She’s been asking for him. I think it might help her calm down if she could see him,” the doctor quietly explained.

When Sebastian moved to stand up, his father grabbed his arm to stop him. Without a word, he pulled his arm free and headed for her room, absently wondering when this was going to start feeling real. He ignored his parents calling his name, telling him to stop and kept moving until he saw Mikey, laying on a hospital bed with an oxygen mask over her mouth and wires attached to her small body.

Feeling his heart break, Sebastian walked over to her only pausing long enough to put the siderails down before he carefully climbed onto the bed next to her and pulled her into his arms.

“Sebastian?” came the mumbled question.

“Yeah?” he said, holding her tight.

“I think we’re in trouble,” she said, surprising a weak chuckle out of him.

“Yeah, I think we are too,” he told her as he pressed his lips against her forehead.

“Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?” Mikey asked, already sounding like she was halfway there.

“Yes,” Sebastian said as he watched his mother and father walk into the room.

They didn’t say a word, but then again, they didn’t need to. He watched as they sat down in the chairs against the wall and waited. When Mikey finally fell asleep, they stood up and waited. Sebastian forced himself to let go of Mikey and climb out of that bed. He looked at her one last time before he walked toward the door. When he saw Aunt Kasey and Uncle Reese sitting in the chairs across the hallway, looking like they’d been to hell and back, he forced himself to walk over to them and say the only thing that he could think of to make this better.

“You don’t have to worry. I’ll leave her alone.”

Chapter 38

“I think she stood you up,” Joshua said as he shoved the rest of the hot dog in his mouth.

“She didn’t stand me up, because it’s not a date,” Cole said as he found himself glancing at the trees separating their properties and wondering where she was.

She should have been here an hour ago, he thought, biting back a sigh as he shifted his attention back to his birthday party and–

“She can do better,” Joshua said, looking thoughtful as he focused his attention on his burger.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Elizabeth said, nodding in agreement while Cole stood there, glaring down at his siblings.

“She didn’t stand me up,” he found himself saying, again, when it should have been more than obvious that Chloe enjoyed spending time with him. Granted, she never invited him over to her house, but then again, she didn’t need to since he invited himself over to save her the trouble of doing it.

“Really?” his cousin Mathew said, blinking innocently up at him. “Then where is she?”

Narrowing his eyes, Cole said, “I hate you all,” as he decided to find someone more worthy of his company. With that, he headed toward the food only to end up biting back a groan when he saw his mother’s family standing off to the side, taking turns watching Grandma. He didn’t like the way they looked at her.

He wished his mother hadn’t invited them, but she was determined to give them a second chance and for her, he was willing to keep his mouth shut and smile politely when they reluctantly acknowledged his existence, but other than that…

He didn’t trust them.

He looked away only to find himself watching his cousin Sebastian. He’d never seen him like that before. He looked…

Destroyed.

Sighing, Cole looked over to where he’d spotted Mikey earlier only to find her sitting in the same spot, sitting off by herself, staring down at the ball in her hands. She looked so lost. He