My car had never moved slower.

I cursed under my breath as the traffic light turned determinedly red, forcing me to push the brakes violently. I glanced helplessly at the many cars around me; the metal reflecting the shimmering lights. The silent chaos of engines humming during the peak office hours. The windows of my car vibrating as a sleek red one on my right blasted loud music I had never been unfortunate enough to hear before. When would I finally get used to the ruckus of the city?

"Yes honey, we are almost there," my aunt said from the passenger seat. I could recognise the quiver in her voice way too well and my stomach knotted in despair. I glanced at her, my nervousness mounting at the sight of her colourless skin, wide eyes and her knuckles pale from gripping the phone so tightly to her ear. "I'll call you when we reach," she spoke into it before leaning back and taking deep breaths, clutching the phone close to her chest.

"How...how did it actually-?" my aunt began, trailing off as the red light mercifully turned green. I didn't answer, pressing my foot down on the accelerator as we sped up. I trained my eyes on the road in front, my heart skipping to my throat when the massive white building of the central hospital floated into view a few minutes later. I took shuddering breaths, replaying the horrifying conversation in my head and wishing for the millionth time that I hadn't answered my aunt's phone.

"Oh god," she whispered, sniffling. "Oh god, I hope he's okay."

Once again, I didn't answer, preferring silence over hollow assurances. We entered through the double gates and I turned right into the empty lot reserved for parking. We climbed down after I haphazardly parked the car, making my way towards the short flight of stairs that led inside the hospital. A few ambulances were parked near the gate, above which the word 'Emergency' was painted in bold red letters.

My aunt broke into a run and I didn't have the heart to stop her, opting to rush after her as we made our way to the long wooden counter at the very end of the sprawling ground floor. A few people sat in the waiting chairs lining the drab white walls, whispers of conversations reaching my ears. Medical staff rushing about in a hurry, giving me a mounting sense of anxiety.

"Hi, I'm here because I received a call about Aziel LaCroix? Nineteen-year-old from Esquence?"

A middle-aged woman with a sharp nose and hair bound in a bun sat on the other side of the counter. She nodded at my aunt, a dark shadow passing in her eyes that instantly made my insides turn icy cold. "He is with Dr Neuman."

We waited as she waved to someone behind us and a young man in the nurse uniform turned up. "Seth, they're with the Lacroix kid. See to them."

The man nodded at her and then turned to address us, "Please, after me."

We followed him through the compulsively neat hallway and into the narrow corridor to the east. We stood in front of an elevator, waiting for it as he asked, "You guys his family?"

"I'm his mother's friend," my aunt explained, nodding at me. "This is my nephew. Meredith is out of town right now and will take a while to reach here. So I'm here on her behalf."

The man chewed on his bottom lip as if thinking before he sighed. He had something to say, I could see it in his very expressive eyes. He didn't elaborate, however, and we soon found ourselves on the second floor of the building. I felt embarrassed at how intimidating the hospital was for me. The massive open spaces, the people running about, the strange scents.

He led us into a narrow corridor, stopping a few feet away from a double door. On top of it the letters 'ICU' was printed in a similar fashion as the 'Emergency' outside. Seth turned to nod at us, "Please have a seat, the doctor will arrive shortly."

I nodded as my aunt slowly collapsed on one of the chairs situated in a neat line along the wall of the corridor. I sighed, raking a hand through my hair and surprised to find it wet.

"What..what exactly happened to him?" my aunt spoke in a strangled whisper, shaking her head in disbelief.

I sighed, "I told you. They...told me he...fell," I gulped, struggling not to picture the ghastly incidence as I continued, "From the...the roof. The...gardener found him."

My aunt let out a stifled gasp, her face ghostly pale. "Oh my god..."

I bit my lip, taking deep breaths and trying to count in my head in an attempt to calm me down. The numbers seemed to tumble into each other however as the mounting dread in my chest threatened to engulf me. The seconds ticked into torturous minutes and seemingly hours as we waited in silence. I let out a rattled breath as the doctor finally emerged from the double doors, her eyes immediately falling on both of us.

My aunt rose to her feet as a few more nurses emerged along with the doctor, one of them wheeling a cart from which I got a whiff of strong chemicals. The doctor glanced first at my aunt and then at me, "Lacroix?"

"We are here for him, yes," my aunt responded. "H-how is he, doctor?"

The doctor sighed, pushing her square-framed spectacles more securely onto the bridge of her nose. "Stable."

I let out a sharp breath, a tiny warmth of relief flooding through me.

"He has a fracture on his arm, and he scraped his leg on something....which may not have been from the fall itself but after he tried to get up. He lost a lot of blood. But...thankfully, that was all. He got incredibly lucky to fall on his side."

"Can we see him?" my aunt asked, her eyes darting again and again to the double doors.

"As soon as he gains consciousness," the doctor said. "I assume it'll be a few hours. You'll be informed when he does."

My aunt nodded and thanked the doctor as I finally sat on a chair, benumbed. I sighed and leaned back against the icy wall, resting my head on it as image after image flicked through the eye of my mind. The colours in them distorted, the sounds nonexistent. Scattered memories of the skinny, nerdy kid I had seen a handful of times.

If someone had told me yesterday that something happening to Aziel would've affected me this way, I wouldn't have believed them. But there was something so surreal about this happening that I couldn't quite wrap my head around it. Moreover, I couldn't shake off the suspicion that something was wrong.

The next few hours were a blur in my brain, excruciating seconds trickled like single grains of sand through an hourglass. Time was reluctant to pass. After an eternity, a woman in nurse's clothing appeared from the ICU and I rose to my feet.

"You're here for Aziel Lacroix?" she asked her eyes shifting between me and my aunt who had woken up with a jolt as she quickly straightened in her chair and nodded. "He has been moved to the general ward. Follow me."

I thanked her and gestured at my aunt who rose to her feet, her face still ghostly white. We followed the nurse as she led us through the hallway and back into the elevator which this time led to the ground floor. We crossed another long hallway and I soon realized we were in the adjacent building to the main hospital. This was where the wards were located, I assumed.

After walking for another five minutes, we stood on what looked like a dormitory floor. Rows of doors on either side of us, some slightly ajar inside which I could see patients in varied states of drowsiness lying on their respective beds. I gulped, afraid of how Aziel would look like. But I didn't have much time to prepare myself as the nurse stopped in front of a door. On top of it, the number plate read 'two hundred and thirteen.'

We stepped inside and the smell of strong antiseptic immediately entered my nose, making me dizzy for a split second as the shock slowly died down. I stood in the narrow corridor, towards my left was a door that I assumed led to the bathroom. Up ahead, a single bed stood against the wall with its horrifyingly familiar occupant.

"The doctor will be doing his rounds soon," the nurse informed as we slowly made our way towards Aziel. I couldn't see his face from my angle. Before I could come up with anything to say, my aunt called his name.

A few seconds passed before a soft hum sounded as Aziel adjusted the bed he was laying on, tilting it upwards so he was reclining instead. "Oh," he said softly, his eyes widening in recognition.

"Aziel..what...how-?" my aunt stuttered, slowly walking towards him. I held my breath as I studied him, realizing that he looked thinner than I remembered. One of his hands was in a cast, a drip attached to his other forearm. He wore the striped hospital gown which somehow looked even larger on him. His body below his waist was covered by a white blanket. But thankfully, he didn't look as bad as I had feared.

He didn't answer right away, his eyes falling on me and widening even further in alarm.

"Uh...hi," I said, shuffling my feet and slowly walking closer to him. "How are you feeling?"

He gazed at me so intensely that it made me want to run back the way I had come. I couldn't imagine him to be very happy about the fact that two people unrelated to him had to be the ones who had come to see him. But Aunt Meredith had always been very close with his family, owing to their former college friendship.

My aunt sighed and gently stroked the dark strands away from his forehead revealing the pale skin underneath. "Honey, what happened?"

He didn't answer again, instead reaching for the panel on the side of his bed. The machine hummed again as the bed tilted more, pushing him into a seating position.

"I assume they told you already," he answered in a croaky voice, flinching. As if it was causing him agony just to speak. He fixed his gaze somewhere two feet away from my aunt's face. "I fell."

"Yes, they did," she sighed, shaking her head. "But..." she bit her lip, shaking her head some more. "I'm...I'm glad to see you're better now."

Aziel remained quiet, still avoiding eye contact. His fingers twisting and untwisting the edge of his bedsheet which had come undone. His face was still unnaturally pale. I assumed it was due to the blood loss. Or maybe the drip inserted in his arm.

"Did you...tell her?" he asked softly.

"Oh," my aunt exclaimed, biting her lip. She and I exchanged glances as I realized what he meant. "Yes. She should be here soon honey. David too."

He bit his lip, his shoulders drooping ever so slightly. Things between him and his parents weren't always the best, but how bad had it gotten that he was upset at the prospect of meeting them altogether?

My aunt opened her mouth to say something but before she could, the nurse re-entered the room.

"Excuse me miss," she began, addressing my aunt. "There are some medicines he needs. You need to get them from the pharmacy."

"I'll go," I offered immediately, reaching for the prescription she was handing to my aunt.

"No honey, it'll be faster if I do," my aunt said, shaking her head as she took the prescription, her eyes quickly scanning it. "I know where the pharmacy is. You stay here. I'll be back soon."

Before I could say anything, she left the room, the nurse following in tow. I sighed, shoving my hands in my pockets and sitting on the long reclining chair kept for visitors near the opposite wall. I reached for my phone and unlocked it, just for something to do. I hadn't ever been alone with Aziel and the awkward thickness in the air was suffocating. Moreover, I was extremely aware of his eyes fixed on me, making my neck hotter. Would it be too weird if I got up and left?

"I didn't know you were here," he said unexpectedly, the raspiness in his voice again taking me by surprise. He cleared his throat and tried again, "Vacation?"

"Serving as an intern at my aunt's," I answered, looking at him.

"Oh," he knitted his eyebrows. "Are you in your final year then?"

"Yep," I answered, shoving the phone back into my pocket. "Graduating in summer."

He nodded and soon after the small exchange of words, the awkward silence was back. I rose to my feet and walked near his bed, taking a deep breath. "Hey, is it okay if I ask you something?"

He glanced at me once before nodding slowly, I could see the dark shadow in his hazel eyes. He was reluctant. But I had to know. His hesitance, his lies, his silence.

I cleared my throat, steeling myself. "Aziel, did you jump?"

He gulped, the remaining colour in his face draining rapidly. He was quiet for so long that I realized he would perhaps not answer, but his silence was all the confirmation I needed.