True or False?

Chapter Nine

Chelsea had bitten her fingernails until they bled. Styrofoam cups littered the ground around her, some dripping cold coffee on the sterile white floor of the hospital. Everyone besides herself and Don's mother had left hours ago. Neither of the two said a word to each other while they waited for a report from the nurses, and the quiet bustle of the hospital was eerie.

"I can't take this anymore, why haven't they said anything?" Chelsea suddenly whimpered, half to herself. Mrs. McGriffin slowly raised her head to meet Chelsea's wide eyes.

"I think," she began after a moment, "That all hospitals enjoy taking their sweet time in getting information—good or bad—to the people here, in the waiting room. You might think they see enough suffering, what with working around sick people all day. I've probably spent more time in hospitals than sleeping, to tell you the truth. You must be Donald's girlfriend. I'm his mother, you can call me Tris."

" I—yeah, I am. My name's C-Chelsea." Chelsea wondered about Mrs. McGriffin's comment about spending so much time in hospitals, but she was too wrung out to ask. Tris seemed nice enough. Her blonde hair was a shade lighter than Don's, and she looked too young to be a mom. She was dressed in what probably used to be a very clean, expensive looking pant-suit, but now it was wrinkled and worn out looking. Her makeup was smearing and her hair, which was pencil straight and smoothed down when she first arrived at the hospital, was now frizzy and curling slightly at the ends. Although, Chelsea had to admit, even in her tired, stressed state she still managed to look gorgeous. There was no question where Don's looks came from.

Tris smiled at Chelsea. "It's very nice to meet you, Chelsea. Donald has been so much happier since he started dating you, and he hasn't ever had a real girlfriend, you know. You're special," she paused to yawn loudly. "I'm in terrible need of another Macchiato, would you like to come with?"

"Uh," Chelsea said smartly, glancing at the doors behind which Don and Jake lay.

"Oh don't worry hon, I'm sure they'll keep us waiting a good couple of hours." She said and stood up, brushing uselessly at her wrinkled pants. "Coming?" She asked as she stooped down to pick up her purse. Chelsea took one last look at the doors and timidly nodded at Tris, following her out of the hospital.

xx

"I have no idea what could have caused this," Tris mused, stirring her coffee with a long, skinny straw. Chelsea bit her lip guiltily and looked down, but Tris didn't seem to notice. "Donald and Jacob have been best friends for so long, and they've never come to blows before. It's just so unusual."

Chelsea briefly considered telling Tris why exactly they were fighting, but a loud voice screamed bad idea, bad idea! in her head, and she simply mumbled, "Yeah, weird."

Tris looked up at her then, and pursed her lips. Chelsea seemed like a nice girl, but she was nothing like any of the girls Donald had brought home. She was quiet and sweet, and she didn't strike Tris as someone who would be hanging out with her son. She acted as though she had more to say, and Tris waited, but she didn't say anything.

"Well I suppose we should go, don't you think? They may have news for us." She finally said. Chelsea nodded and gathered her things quickly, standing up so fast she knocked a chair down.

Chelsea immediately flushed and bent to pick the chair up. "I'm so sorry," she said, "I'm just so anxious.

Do you think they're okay?" A small smile lifted the corners of Tris' lips.

"Yes," she said gently, "I'm sure they're fine."

The car ride back to the hospital was quiet and terse. Mrs. McGriffin didn't turn on the radio, nor did she say anything to Chelsea, who in turn kept quiet. As soon as the car was parked, Chelsea practically sprinted inside, running up the three flights of stairs rather than waiting for the elevator. She burst inside the waiting room and asked the nurse at the desk—who, she noted, wasn't there when they left—if there was any news on Don McGriffin or Jake Walton.

"Sorry dear, you'll have to wait a few more minutes." She responded kindly.

"They said that five hours ago," Chelsea muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" The nurse asked. Chelsea just shook her head and walked over to the couch, dropping on to it and curling into a ball.

Tris walked in shortly after, took in Chelsea's state, and planted herself right next to her. "Don't worry hon," She murmured, rubbing the girl's arm soothingly, "They'll let us know soon."

Chelsea squeezed her eyes shut. How had everything come to this? I won't cry, I can't cry. She thought furiously to herself, biting her tongue to keep from screaming out loud. When she first came to this school, Chelsea had been content with sitting alone every day, and being the new kid; it didn't matter that she had no friends, nor had she hardly even talked to boys, let alone kiss any. Now she'd had two boyfriends at once, and to make matters worse they were best friends. Going behind Don's back like she had was a horrible, horrible idea. In fact, "dating" Don in the first place was a horrible idea. He had never actually liked her, yet she had actually grown accustomed to his sarcastic humor, his insane flirting and immaturity, liked it even.

Then there was Jake, who was nothing but good to her. He was the ideal boyfriend, and deserved someone much, much better than Chelsea. She had been too selfish to break it off with him though, or maybe she was a little scared. They had grown so close, and she truly did enjoy his company. Somehow she had ruined everything with him and Don though. Tris had said they never fought before, and now they were…because of her? It was completely unprecedented, and totally unfair to the both of them.

"Ms McGriffin?" A nurse poked her head out the doors and called expectantly. Tris stood up so fast she got a little light headed.

"Is my son alright?" She asked.

Chelsea stood up, too, glancing anxiously between Tris and the nurse, whose nametag read Peggy. Peggy nodded with an encouraging smile, and beckoned Tris inside.

Without a word, Tris followed Peggy inside, leaving Chelsea to trail after. "Donald is responding positively to the pain medication we're giving him, and he's only suffered a few bruised ribs and a broken nose, along with some minor cuts and bruises we've cleaned and covered. He'll be fine within a couple of weeks, although I'm afraid I can't say as much for the other boy.

"Jacob has asthma, as you may have been aware, which is a high risk factor of aspergillosis, which we believe he may have. Unfortunately, this infection is very hard to trace and even harder to diagnose, so we'll be keeping him overnight so the doctor can perform some tests in the morning." She said all of this as they were walking down a series of halls, passing innumerable doors on left and right. Finally she stopped at door 314. "You can speak with Donald now, and I'll bring you all the paperwork to be signed before we can release him to you." She smiled kindly at Tris – who didn't seem to notice – and Chelsea before walking away briskly.

Tris stood silently staring at the little black numbers above the door for a moment.

"Is it bad?" She asked quietly. She hadn't seen Don after the fight, she only received a call to come to the hospital ASAP. Chelsea didn't answer, instead walking forward and taking Tris' hand in hers, before opening the door.

Once, when Chelsea was twelve, her father had to go to Afghanistan on deployment for eight months. Her mother worried constantly about him, and often told Chelsea how dangerous it was out there, and how he could be killed and they wouldn't know for days after. It terrified her, and every time the phone rang the two of them raced to answer it, dreading hearing any bad news, eager to hear from their soldier.

After only four months he returned early, sporting a broken leg, ribs, arm, and plenty of cuts and bruises on the side. Anna burst into tears at seeing her husband covered in casts and gauze, but still proudly wearing his uniform. He had been run over by a motorcycle, and then beat up by a street gang who hated American soldiers. Chelsea could only stare at him as if he were a stranger, wondering how a person could be hurt in so many places and still be smiling.

That was how she felt when she saw Don lying on the clean, white hospital bed. His nose was crooked, even under the heavy gauze and tape. A dark, purplish bruise was forming around his left eye, leaving it swollen shut, and another bruise was turning yellow on the side of his jaw. His lip was split in two places, and when he smiled it cracked and started bleeding a little. His usually light hair was dark with mud and matted to his head messily. His bare shoulders peeked above the white sheet, and they looked pale, with a few light scratches already beginning to heal.

"My baby," Tris whispered under her breath, covering her mouth with her hands and staring at Don.

"Hey, Mom," Don said with a weak smile, "I see you've met the girlfriend." Tris made a strangled sound and dropped Chelsea's hand so she could run over to Don and crouch beside the bed.

"My baby," She crooned again, stroking his cheek carefully. "I'm so glad you're okay." She brought her other hand up to tousle his hair and then continued to fuss with his bandages, despite his reassurance that he was fine and she didn't need to worry and ouch, be careful with my nose please.

Don rolled his open eye and gazed at Chelsea around his mother for the first time. "Chels, you're here." He remarked with some surprise.

"I-I had to make sure you were alright," She muttered quickly, looking down and fidgeting with her fingers. When she looked up again, he was still looking at her, a half smile gracing his bleeding lips.

"I didn't expect anyone besides my mom to be here," He said, not taking his eyes off of her. Chelsea blinked several times and bit her lip. How could she not be here? "Not," he added hastily, "That I'm disappointed. I'm really glad you're here, actually. Mom, could you give us a minute?" Don pointedly asked his mom, glancing away from Chelsea for just a second.

Tris looked back at Chelsea in surprise as if she had forgotten she was there. "Of course honey," she said, standing up and kissing Don lightly on the forehead before walking out and closing the door.

Chelsea stood silently assessing him, wondering why he just did that. Her throat was suddenly too dry, and she didn't know what to say.

Don didn't say anything, either, just watched Chelsea fidget and look around nervously, looking everywhere but at him. "Chelsea," he finally said.

She looked at him then, chewing the insides of her cheeks as she tried to think of something, anything to say. "Let me guess, I should see the other guy?" She tried for a joke, before remembering the other guy happened to be her boyfriend and his best friend and realizing that was a horrible thing to say. "Oh gosh, uh—"

Don laughed and waved her worries aside. "It's okay," he said simply. He patted the bed, gesturing for her to come sit with him. After a moment's hesitation, Chelsea walked over and sat of the very edge of the bed, conscious of the fact that beneath the thin sheets, Don was shirtless, and hurting very badly! she chided herself.

"Lay down with me," he said, pushing himself to the side of the bed and opening his arm to the new empty spot beside him. "Please," he added when she looked away, her cheeks heating with embarrassment.

Feeling as though she could hardly say no to him now, Chelsea began the careful, tedious process of lying down beside Don, scooting closer to avoid falling off. When she brushed his hip he sucked in a breath and stiffened, clenching his teeth and closing his eyes for a second before letting his breath out easily. They lay together quietly for a moment, Chelsea feeling very uncomfortable and Don looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"I know you're really only here for Jake, but I'm glad you're here now, because I want to tell you something." Don finally spoke, watching her face intently for a reaction.

Chelsea kept her expression carefully neutral and stared at the ceiling. When she was sure her face wouldn't give any of her feelings away, she turned her head and looked at Don expectantly.

"I know—that is—well, you are with Jake, aren't you?" He asked. Chelsea nodded slowly. "And, and it isn't like our whole, fake dating thing, right?" Again, she nodded. Don looked up at the ceiling and took a breath before meeting her eyes again. "You like him?" Chelsea looked down, nodding again and looked up at him, searching his eyes.

Don looked up at the ceiling again, taking a few deep breaths before nodding to himself. "Okay," he said so low Chelsea didn't know if she was meant to hear it. Finally he looked at her. "Then I'm letting you go."

"W-what?" Chelsea stammered.

"I mean, we don't have to do this "fake dating" thing anymore. I don't want to hurt you, and I don't want to hurt him any more than I have already, and I figure, I'm the only one standing between the two of you. I know he really likes you, and I can tell you like him, too. So don't worry about me anymore, I'll figure out how to get Stacy another way, or maybe I won't, who knows? But I don't want to be the middle guy anymore. You guys are both such amazing people, you deserve each other."

Before Chelsea could even process everything Don had just said, a light rap came at the door, followed by Tris opening it a crack and peeking in. Chelsea was still lying next to Don, but was so stunned she didn't even have the ability to act a little embarrassed at having just been caught lying with him, chaste as it was.

"Do you need a ride home, dear?" Tris asked, stepping in fully to address Chelsea. "They said Jacob can't have visitors yet, and that when he does it can only be family for the first little while."

Chelsea glanced at Don one last time; he was facing the ceiling again with his eyes closed, not having reacted to his mother's entrance or announcement. She sighed inwardly and carefully sat up, careful not to bump Don in the process.

"Yes please, if you don't mind." She said to Tris, squeezing Don's hand. "I'm glad you're okay," she said to him, bending down to kiss him one last time. "Thank you," She whispered before joining Tris out in the hall.

xx

The ride home was peacefully quiet, and thankfully Tris didn't ask what Chelsea and Don had been talking about when she was out in the hall. When she pulled up to Chelsea's house, she cut the engine and turned to face Chelsea.

"Thank you for being there today, Chelsea." She said sincerely. "I could tell it meant a lot to Donald to have you there for him as well as it did to me. I'm thankful my son has found such a great girl, finally. Every other girl he has ever brought home was disrespectful and inappropriate, yet he has never brought you home, the one girl who is actually good enough for him. I think he mostly likes to distract himself with all these girls, he's had a very hard life, you know. He is constantly putting up a front, and so everyone thinks he's happy, but I can tell when he isn't, and when he truly is. And ever since he's been with you, dear, he is." Tris finished, looking at Chelsea with so much kindness and gratitude that she couldn't bear to tell her they had just broken up, minutes before.

So she simply smiled and nodded. "You're very kind, Ms McGriffin, thank you for everything. I'm really sorry." She said.

"Please, don't be." Said Tris, "It isn't as though you had anything to do with this. Boys will be boys, I suppose."

Chelsea just nodded, and got out of the car.

xx

Okay you guys, I am SO SORRY.

I hope you like this but also please please tell me if you don't because I'm not even sure if I do...

Also, if you've read Divergent, you know that I kinda stole the name Tris, but whatever I just really love it so(:

Anyway, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH bye(: