Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 70
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The Waiting Area
Ariana couldn’t bring herself to sit. She’d sunk to the floor instead, weeping, Aiden and Isabella crouched on either side of her, offering what comfort they could, though nothing seemed to reach her.
Haley remained unconscious in a separate room.
“BJ’s already gone,” Ariana sobbed, rocking slightly. “And now Evan too. Please — I can’t do this without him. I SWEAR I can’t leave without him—”
Isabella and Aiden exchanged a helpless glance, both of them fighting their own tears, unable to find words strong enough to actually help.
Derek and Megan arrived next, nurses bowing slightly as they passed. Derek grabbed the nearest one by the arm.
“Tell me this is fake,” he demanded. “Tell me this isn’t real.”
The nurse only shook her head, apologetic and silent.
Megan’s eyes found Ariana across the room, something sharp and venomous flickering behind her composed expression — but Ariana wasn’t looking her way at all.
Ariana pushed herself upright on shaking legs.
“You’re too weak,” Isabella said gently, reaching for her. “Please, sit back down—”
“I need to see my friend,” Ariana said, voice hoarse.
They followed, holding her steady on either side, guiding her into Haley’s room. Ariana sank to her knees beside the bed, taking her friend’s limp hand in both of her own, sobbing openly now, tears and snot mixing freely down her face.
“Why is everything happening at once,” she choked out. “Haley, please. Please wake up. You have to wake up.”
She thought of every memory they’d shared — Haley teasing her relentlessly about Evan, Haley standing up for her back in high school when no one else would, Haley staying up through every single storm-induced panic attack, never once complaining, never once leaving her alone in the dark.
“You’re too good a person for this,” Ariana sobbed. “Not you too. Please, not you too—”
Haley’s finger twitched.
Ariana’s breath caught, and she gripped her hand tighter, leaning in. “Haley? Haley, can you hear me?”
Haley’s eyes fluttered open weakly, scanning the room in slow, disoriented sweeps.
No BJ.
“Is he really gone like that,” she whispered, voice barely audible. “He told me he wouldn’t leave.” Her eyes found Ariana’s face. “Ariana — BJ didn’t — the doctor was lying, right? He was LYING—”
Ariana shook her head, sobbing harder, unable to form the words.
Isabella stepped closer. “Haley, please. BJ wouldn’t want you hurting yourself like this—”
Haley’s eyes rolled back before she could finish, and she went limp again, the weight of the truth too much for her body to hold onto consciousness through.
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Night
Ariana had been admitted as well by that point, her fever having spiked dangerously high. She’d fought the nurses when they tried to sedate her — insisting, through chattering teeth and streaming tears, that she was fine, that she needed to be out there, needed to know — until they finally had no choice but to sedate her properly, settling her into the bed beside Haley’s, both young women unconscious now in the same quiet room.
Justin arrived not long after, having heard the news, and took a seat between the two beds, saying nothing, simply staying.
In the surgical wing, the operation on Evan continued, the doors remaining shut since noon with no update at all.
In the waiting area, the group had grown — Aiden, the White couple, Isabella, Devin, and now Jen and Jenna, who’d rushed over the moment they’d heard. Everyone sat in heavy, suffocating silence, every face etched with the strain of holding back tears that threatened to spill at the slightest provocation.
The surgical doors finally opened.
They were all on their feet instantly, rushing toward the doctor as he emerged, his expression unreadable, exhaustion carved deep into every line of his face.
—
Schwartz Residence
Vanessa had left that morning. Mr. Schwartz sat alone now, mourning his daughter in total silence, the funeral already arranged for the following day.
His phone rang. An investigator.
He answered, expecting nothing — the same dead end they’d hit all day.
“Sir,” the investigator said carefully, “we managed to capture footage. Neck to toe, clear as day. But the head — the face — it’s completely obscured in every single frame. Like whoever did this knew exactly where every camera in that mall was positioned.”
Schwartz shot upright, phone pressed hard against his ear, something cold crawling up his spine.
—
Torres Mansion
The family sat in heavy silence, dinner barely touched, Devin’s seat conspicuously empty — he hadn’t left Evan’s side since the accident.
Juan stared at his own plate, thinking of Jenna, of how she’d take the news if the worst happened. She’s going to be devastated, he thought. Please don’t let him die. Please.
“Any progress,” he asked his father quietly, “on the girl? The one Devin thinks might be connected to us?”
Mr. Torres set down his fork. “I’ve got people gathering everything they can find on her backgroung.” He paused, something hopeful and fragile crossing his face. “I really hope she’s her. I hope she’s our daughter.”
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Anastasia’s Residence
Anastasia sat curled on her couch, scrolling through the crash headlines with a wide, wicked smile spreadinhslowly across her face.
He won’t survive this, she thought, satisfaction curling warm through her chest. How DARE he try to take her from me. How dare he give her happiness that wasn’t mine to give.
She laughed, low and dark, tipping her head back against the cushion.
I should have rammed him from the front, she thought idly. He’d have died instantly that way. But either way — he’s still going to die.
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The Hospital
The group surged forward the moment the doors opened.
Ariana appeared at the same instant, having woken from the sedation, barefoot, IV line still trailing from her arm, Justin, Hurried after her, unable to stop her in time.
“Talk,” she said, voice raw.
The doctor’s eyes swept across every face gathered in front of him, exhaustion and something heavier weighing down his expression.
“I’m sorry,” he said slowly, “but…”
Every single person in that hallway stopped breathing.
“Talk!” Ariana’s scream tore through the silence, desperate and shaking. “PLEASE. TALK.”
The doctor drew a slow breath.
“I’m sorry, We tried..but he—”
TBC
