Finally Awake (Cam tag or no tag)

[Cameron Whitlock III]

His head pounded. All he heard was a steady beeping. Cameron slowly opened one eye and then the other. Everything was white...he was in a bed....what was going on. He turned his head to the side to see the machines he was hooked up to. It didn't take him long to figure out he was in the hospital...but why...

And that's when it hit him...the gun shot...trying to save Haley... "Haley..." he murmured, his voice was weak. "Haley," she said louder...but no one was in the room. He started to panic. He couldn't remember what happened. Was Haley okay. "Haley! Where's Haley!" he moaned...why wasn't anyone here?

The machine started to beep more as his heart rate quickened, "Haley!" he said loudly, almost yelling now. "I need to know if Haley's okay!"

A nurse came in suddenly, "Calm down...." she said, clearly disturbed by the boy with messy brown hair. "You're awake, but you've been out for awhile...you need to rest. I can bring your family in if you'd like. They only just stepped out."

"How long was I out for?" Cam asked.

"A few hours," the nurse said.

"I need to know if my girlfriend is okay...can you...can you find out if she's been admitted..."

"What's her name...I can't guarantee anything...but I can try...."

"Haley Rowan," Cam said. She had to be okay...she just had to... The nurse nodded and told him she'd get his parents. It wasn't long after she left that his parents came in. Cam didn't really feel like talking. He perked up a little when the nurse reentered but she didn't look very happy.

"What is it?" he asked instantly. "Is she okay."

"She was shot, but she is fine," the nurse assured him, but all Cam heard were the words, she was shot. He slumped back down in his hospital bed. "Can I be left alone please..." he requested.

He waited until both the nurse and his parents were gone and blinked his eyes which were filled with tears letting them roll down his cheeks. He'd failed to protect Haley....


Tag or No Tag, whatever

[Wynn Sumner]

Wynn was pacing the floors, both Cam and Haley in the hospital. He felt like his world was falling apart right in front of him, there was no way things could get worse.

He stopped in front of a coffee machine then dug around for change in his pockets. For some reason his mom drank coffee when she was stressed. He plunked the coins in one by one and pressed the buttons for extra cream and sugar.

The pouring process seemed to last forever. Once it finished he took the cup out and sniffed the foul smelling liquid, oh well. He took a drink and winced horribly!! How anyone could drink this was beyond him.

He spit what he could into a nearby drinking fountain and rinsed his mouth. He could still taste it! The horrid flavor wouldn't leave his mouth!

He wandered till he found the gift shop, at least there were mints there! He bought a couple of a chocolaty Andes goodness and gobbled them down, at least they covered the taste. As he browsed he found the had a few Batman comics. He browsed them and thought of Cam in the bed, he needed something to make the time pass and not worry about Haley the whole time.

He purchased the books and started to head back to the waiting room. He saw Cam's folks leaving Cam's room and the young man shouting for Haley.

He had to face it sometime. He went up to the door and knocked gently. "Hey I...I got a little something for you." A wave of guilt started to fill Wynn.

[Cameron Whitlock III]

Cam wasn't in a good mood. At least his family had left....wouldn't see his tears over his failure... But then...Wynn appeared at his door. Cam wiped away the tears with the back of his hand. Why was Wynn here? Cam could think of two possible reasons: he was either putting their fight behind him after today's events or wanted to gloat about how he would have saved Haley and how Cam had failed.

Not being in a very good mood to begin with...Cam went with the ladder. "Are you here to gloat?" he asked, not hiding the upset tone in his voice at all. "I failed to save Haley...there is no way she'll want me now...right?" he said, shaking his head. "I tried...I really did...I tried to push her out of the way...but I can't remember...they said...that I hit my head on the locker..." He reached up and touched his forehead. There was indeed a bruise there...he didn't have a mirror so he didn't know if it was visible although it probably was, but needless to say, he could feel the sore spot.

"Pathetic...I know what you're thinking," Cam went on shaking his hid. "But go on then...gloat...I am pathetic...I couldn't save her...I deserve it..." He sounded already defeated when he spoke as if it had already been said and done and Haley had already broken up with him over. She might as well have done it anyway, because Cam had already convinced himself that there was no way she'd want to stay with him now...not if he couldn't even keep her safe.

[Wynn Sumner]

Tears.

The one thing Wynn hadn't planned on, it made him feel even worse than he was. "I didn't come to gloat. I came to see how you were." The partial truth anyway.

"You did save her, sure it wasn't what people would want to see or hear on the news but you saved her from getting hurt even worse." He had to bite the bullet. "In fact you were braver than I was."

He pulled up a chair to the side of the bed. "I was hiding when everything happened. I saw her talking to some other guy and wanted to give you a rude awakening but you see where that lead." He rolled his eyes. "When I saw what you did, I knew you really do have feeling for her, and she deserves you guess thats why I got you to the ambulance this morning. You two need to be happy together."

He scratched his face slightly. "I have whats coming to me, I'll be the cowardly loser for the rest of my life. Congrats, you won."

The sack he had the comics is rustled slightly. "Oh, I got some comics for you while you recover thought they might help pass the time."

[Cameron Whitlock III]

Wynn's words although meant to help, made Cam feel worse. Did he really mean that...that he was the one supposed to be with Haley? Because it didn't feel like it. He hadn't been brave, at least Cam didn't think so. If he had been braver he would have been able to save her. He had tried though which really should have been the point but Cam was too upset to see it that way.

"There's nothing wrong with hiding," Cam said. "There were gunshots. You're supposed to hide. That's what I wanted to do," he said. And he would have. He would have taken Haley with him and hid somewhere safe, but he supposed he got knocked out first. In the end, that probably saved him. He probably looked dead lying there on the floor so no one bothered to shoot at him.

Cam didn't believe that he saved Haley at all. In his mind she'd gotten hurt and that was the worst thing that could possibly happen. "Do you know how she is?" he asked, figuring the other boy would have tried to visit her. Cam knew that there was no way the doctors were going to let him visit her...if Haley even wanted him to...she probably didn't.

"I didn't win," Cam said shaking his head. "I didn't save her and now she won't want me anymore. And I lost all my friends because of her to begin with...how is that winning?" he asked. "But...but thanks for the comics...I appreciate that. You really didn't have to so...thank you," he said, feeling a little awkward. It had been so long since he'd had a real conversation with Wynn. The past few months since Haley had come between them, they had mostly ignored each other, or when they had talked it had just been one big fight. This felt weird, almost like old times when they used to be friends, but Cam wasn't going to push his luck. Even once Haley dumped him, he doubted his old friends would take him back.

[Wynn Sumner]

"You did what you could Cam. Thats all anybody would have asked of you. You just reacted to save her, if that bullet had gotten anywhere else, who knows how she'd be doing right now."

It was tough cheering up someone depressed like Cam was. Not knowing what was going on made things worse. "I wish I had news to give you but I don't. You just have to hang in there right now." He did offer however, "I can go check on her in a few if you want."

"Cam if I wasn't a friend I wouldn't have come here or brought the comic uhh graphic novels." Was it time for the old cliched pep speech. "So you already know Haley wants nothing to do with you? Your mind is all set that way? She is probably worried sick right now wondering how you are. She could careless about me, after all she slapped me the other night, but I did have it coming." There was humility in his words.

"I didn't mind getting these for you, I figured it beats trying to watch TV all day and these are probably more educational too." He injected with some humor.

[Cameron Whitlock III]

Cam sighed...it was hard to think about what happened, partly because he couldn't remember and partly because he knew that he had screwed up. It was almost worse that Wynn had witnessed the whole thing...although Wynn was being uncharacteristically nice since their last talk, which had ended up in a screaming match. Was it because he knew that Haley would be done with Cam now or because he was actually being nice. Cam wanted to think that he was getting his friend back but after all the drama between them the past few months, it was hard to be sure.

"Yeah...if you could...that would be great," Cam said. He didn't like that Wynn could go see Haley and he couldn't but right now, it was the only way that Cam knew that he could find out the news. He wasn't sure if any of the nurses would tell him. After all...he wasn't family. A lot of times they would just tell people's families what was going on with them...but maybe Wynn could find Haley's dad. Cam was sure her father must be at the hospital.

As Wynn gave Cam the 'I'm still your friend' speech, Cam felt even worse. After everything that happened, Wynn as still there for him when he needed someone. Would Cam had showed up for Wynn if it was the other way around? Cam wanted to think that he would have tried to see the other boy if he'd been the one hurt, but it was hard to say because things hadn't played out that way. "Thank you," he said. "I'm sorry for doubting you...its just been...a long day," Cam said with another sigh. "She slapped you? She never told me that..." he said trailing off. "I guess I don't always know what she does when I'm not with her..." he said thoughtfully, "but...we slept together...that means she cares about me...right?" Cam blurted, quickly biting his lip after the words came out of his mouth. "Sorry...you probably don't want to hear about that...its just that...I don't really have anyone else to talk to..." he admitted.

"Yeah...thanks. I will definitely read them," he said, forcing a smile for the other boy. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful for the comics, because he was, it was just hard to smile about anything at the moment...