Situations Are Irrelevant Now

Liza was frozen in place, presumably from the horror, once I pushed her in the direction of the door. If she doesn’t move now, Ronnie will shoot. I bit my lower lip, feeling the anxiety build up inside of me. Why the hell does everything fall onto my shoulders these days?!

Not believing what I was about to do, I closed my eyes tightly and jumped in front of Liza around the same time that the gun was fired. At first, it felt as if I may have survived this whole bravery thing without a scratch, well that was until I felt the sickening the feeling of a bullet ripping through my leg. It skimmed the skin right above the bone and made a click sound as it hit the ground. And here I really thought I’d be safe.

I tumbled on top of Liza, causing us both to cry out in pain and shock, I guess. My hands, out of instinct, flew to the area of the wound. I cringed as I felt the blood begin to soak my jeans and stick to my skin. It was bleeding pretty fast, which of course wasn’t good.

“Ahh oh my God, Megan are you alright?” Liza gasped through sobs.

For a brief moment, I shook of the agony shooting through my lower leg and turned to face her so that she knew I was being serious. “I’m fine. Listen to me, get the hell out of here now. You’re right by the damn door, get out! There’s not much more I can do to stop him,” I said as firmly as possible, without giving into the pain.

I think I might have actually scared her a little, because she shrunk back in fear. She nodded in response and reached her shaky hand up to the doorknob, wasting no more time in this basement. She was safe, but as for me, I wasn’t so sure.

As the door opened and closed, some light came into the room for a little bit. The look on everyone’s faces was somewhat priceless. “How the hell did she just get out of here like that?! I know I fucking shot someone and I don’t have bad aim!” Ronnie shouted, throwing the gun down onto the floor.

I grabbed a shirt that was laying on the ground nearby and wrapped it around my wound. I clutched the TV stand next to me and struggled to stand up. Blood began pouring out at a much faster rate and I could feel the shirt already sagging under the amount of crimson liquid it has already absorbed.

“Megan, are you alright?” Max asked suddenly, running over to my side. Yes, it took this long for any one of them to notice.

“R-Ronnie shot me,” I cried, clinging onto Max and pointing down to my leg and the shirt now completely and permanently red.

His eyes widened. “Holy shit, Megan we have to get you to a hospital. That’s bleeding way too much!”

Finally, the guys on the couch seemed to be freed of their trance. They jumped off the couch and made themselves useful. “I’ll call an ambulance,” Omar said, wasting no time to whip out his cell phone and dial the three numbers that I never would have thought would apply to me. 911.

Ronnie remained quiet over in the corner, not even bothering to see the damage or even apologize. It was at this time that I began to regain a slight amount of intelligence that I once had. Ronnie Radke is a jerk. If he ‘loved’ me as much as he was claiming when he convinced me to help him with this stupid ransom, then he should have at least said he was sorry for shooting me and see if I was alright. …Maybe Max was right?

An ambulance arrived at the house within the next five minutes. And of course this meant that we needed to think on our feet to come up with a logical excuse for why I would suddenly have a portion of my skin dug outby a bullet. I was hoisted onto a stretcher and wheeled out. Only one person was allowed to come, and to everyone’s surprise…I chose Max.

He held onto my hand the entire ride there as I explained how I had been sliding down the staircase banister down into the basement and failed to see the rather large piece of broken wood sticking out. It gouged me before I could get out of its path. Lame ass excuse, but as long as it works it doesn’t matter. They believed it, luckily.

A hospital room had already been cleared for me by the time we arrived. Nurses surrounded me as they monitored my blood pressure, breathing, and anything else that can be observed from the wires connected to me. Carefully, they poured alcohol onto the wound to clean it up, since it was supposed to be from a piece of wood. It stung like hell and I felt myself gripping the side of the bed for dear life. Then, they tightly wrapped it up with thick strips of gauze.

Max waited on one of the plastic chairs right outside my room the entire time. The minute that they were done, he came inside and asked me a million times if I was alright. I made a note to myself right then and there that no matter what the situation was, I would never get mad at him ever again.

Considering the amount of blood lost, the doctor forced me to spend the rest of the night at the hospital to make sure everything is alright. I couldn’t complain either way, I mean right now I don’t want to be anywhere near that damn house after everything that just happened. Max called the guys and let them know what the situation was.

Throughout the rest of the day, each of them came to visit and tried their best to make me laugh. It was really sweet to see how much they care about me, and I guess you could say that that was practically the only good thing that came from this. As you may or may not have imagined, Ronnie didn’t show up.

*Ronnie’s POV*

The plan I had was completely perfect. No one would know about what happened to Liza and we’d get to keep the cash, plain and simple. But no, of course Megan decided to get a change of heart and feel sorry for the person she was supposed to hate. I swear no matter how long I’m stuck living with her, I will never understand how her mind works. I’ve done so much shit to her over these past few years and yet she still loves me, regardless of what she may say to cover that fact up.

Needless to say, I was shocked to find out that she was the one I shot. Don’t mistake this for love, because it isn’t. Either way, Megan is a friend of mine, so of course I’d be slightly stunned that I was the one who shot her. But, if she’s only a friend, then why do I feel too shocked to speak, or even look at her? I’ve never had this damn problem with any other whore I may have had interest in, so why is Megan any different?

Maybe it’s because I’m starting to feel sorry for her myself. All that she’s done for me, and I haven’t done anything to return the favor. That’s just wrong…it can’t be right. Megan and I just can’t be together. I’ve spent all these years avoiding the idea of us together, and I won’t let that go to waste over a flaw in my master plan.

“Hey, dude, Max just called. The doctor wants Megan to stay there overnight. We’re going to visit her now, you coming?” Bryan asked, poking his head into my room.

I can’t go see her with all the other guys there. I still don’t know what I could even say to her. On one side, she ruined my plan and risked all of our lives by letting the hostage free. On the other hand, I did just put her into a hospital. “No, I’m good. I’ll…just go see her later today.”

“Alright, you’re choice,” he shrugged.

I can’t lose Megan over something so stupid. No, I don’t love her in the way she does me, or in any matter. I just don’t…want her to hate me. The guys spent the rest of the day there while I laid in bed, tossing and turning. I made a few calls before I got out of bed and headed to the car. I can still make all of this right.

By the time I arrived at the hospital, most of the visitors had already left, and that would include the guys. The nurse that was leading me to Megan’s room was undeniably flirting with me, and I found myself doing the same back. But then I had to stop myself…I’m here for Megan, not this incredibly hot, blonde nurse. Damn she better appreciate this, that’s all I have to say.

*Normal POV*

I waved to Max as he, of course, was the last of the guys to leave. It was already 9:45, 15 minutes away from closing time, and still no Ronnie. There was a knock at the door, and I found myself perking up in the bed, hoping it was him. It was just a delivery man. “I’ve got some flowers for Megan,” he informed me as he placed a whole bunch of sunflowers next to my bed. Those were my favorite kind of flowers!

“Do you know who sent them?” I asked.

Just as he was about to respond, another voice answered. “They’re from me…I remember you telling me about how much you liked them.” That was Ronnie’s voice!

He walked into the room, with his hands stuffed into his jeans pockets. He looked like for once in his life, he didn’t know what to say. Already, I felt myself forgiving him for what he did earlier, which further proves how pathetic I really am. Ronnie waited until the delivery dude left us alone.

“For a while there, I really didn’t think that you would show up. But thanks for the flowers, though,” I told him, glancing down at the oh so interesting pattern of the tile floor.

“How could you think that? I’ve already told you multiple times now that I want to go out with you, Megan. I don’t see how you could even say that…”

“Well, c’mon Ronnie, you shot me and didn’t say a word afterwards.”

“I was in shock,” he said, seriously, and somehow I could tell that he just might have been telling the truth. Either that, or I was falling for him all over again.

Why can’t I just find the words I’m looking for? Why can’t my heart listen to my head for once and say no? I can tell that I’m about to make another mistake.