I Bet I Can Make You Speak

Chapter Five

(Riley's P.O.V.)

I walk outside and see Micheal's car. I roll my eyes when I see all of his friends in it. I slowly walk to the car and get in the back with Nathan, Marcus, and Kyle. Jackson is in the front. "Hey, Michael," I say. Michael glances at me in the mirror, but doesn't say anything. I guess he still hates me. I honestly feel like crying. Maybe I deserve him hating me. I mean, we're always fighting and calling each other names, but he shouldn't hate me, right? I sigh and look down at my lap. I'm not buckled because there isn't enough room, so when Michael comes to a sudden stop I go flying and hit my head on the seat in front of me. I groan in pain and feel my head. I look at my hand and see blood on it. Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my god. . .I'm bleeding and my head hurts really bad. I look up and see a deer running into the woods. Okay, now I really feel like crying and this time I don't hold back. At least I have an excuse as to why I'm crying. I sniffle and some tears run down my cheeks. Micheal turns around in his seat and his eyes widen. Kyle, who is right next to me, turns to me and his eyes go wide, too. I start sobbing because of the pain and Michael hating me.

I hold my head and Micheal says, "s**t, Riley, are you okay?"

"Does it look like I'm okay?" It comes out more as sobs than it does words, but I'm sure he gets the point.

"Kyle, do something!" Michael says.

"Why me? He's your brother!"

"Yeah, but you actually like him." Okay, that really hurt. Kyle glares at Michael before he goes into his book bag and gets a tissue out of a package.

"Move your hand." I move my hand and Kyle holds the napkin on it. I start to cry harder because of all the blood on my hand. Michael pulls into our driveway and everyone gets out except Kyle and me. I feel dizzy, I don't think I can even walk to get out of the car. Kyle gets out the other door and opens my side door to carry me out. Michael opens the door and Kyle takes me into the kitchen and sets me on the counter. He takes the bloody tissue off and replaces it with another one.

"It hurts," I cry.

"Shhh, I know." Mom and dad are at work, so they can't help me. I suddenly feel really tired.

"I want to go to sleep."

Kyle's eyes widened again and he says, "No, you can't go to sleep. If you go to sleep you might not wake up. We should get you to the hospital. The bleeding isn't stopping." I start sobbing again. I don't want to die! "Michael!"

"What?" Michael asks.

"We need to get him to the hospital," Kyle says. Michael rolls his eyes and grabs his keys.

"Damn, can't even invite my friends over without you ruining it," he mumbles.I feel my heart break again. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean for me to hear him, but it still hurts. He cares more about his stupid friends than his own brother bleeding to death! Okay, maybe I'm not bleeding to death, but it's still a lot of blood.

He tells his friends to wait at the house except for Kyle who goes with us. Michael pulls into the hospital parking lot and we go into the emergency room. Kyle is holding my hand to keep me steady because of my dizziness. When the lady at the desk looks up and sees me, she puts her hand over her mouth.

"Oh my goodness! What happened?!" she asks.

"Erm, he wasn't wearing his seatbelt and I had to stop for a deer, so he hit his head on the front seat," Michael says.

"Why wasn't he wearing his seat belt?" she asks. Before I can say anything Michael answers for me.

"I don't know, he just doesn't listen." I stare at Michael with my mouth hung open in shock. Did he really just lie so he won't get in trouble? He gives me a warning look when I open my mouth to tell her the truth. I shut my mouth and sigh. The lady behind the desk picks up the phone and calls for someone to take care me. I don't know why? I guess if you have a head injury it's urgent to take care of it. A doctor leads us into a room and I sit down on the bed.

"You'll need to get stitches. I don't think you have a concussion, but we'll check," he says. I nod and the doctor leaves to get things ready.

"Way to ruin another day, we'll probably be here for hours," Michael says and walks out of the room. I sigh and look down at my hands. Am I really that bad of a brother?

"Riley?" Kyle says. I look up at him and he sits down next to me.

"Yes?" I ask. I feel like crying again so my voice cracks.

"You weren't crying because of the pain, were you?"

"I was. . . just not the whole time," I say.

He sighs and says, "Michael doesn't mean that stuff."

"Yes, he does. He hates me," I say and feel tears running down my cheeks.

"He's just. . .I don't really have an excuse for him, but I know he loves you." I try to calm myself down to the point where I'm just sniffling and hiccuping.

"No, he doesn't. I'm the worst person ever. Why wouldn't he hate me?" I say.

Kyle sighs and says, "Actually, you're the best person I've ever met. You have so many good things about you. Now, I'm going to go get Michael and you two are going to talk."

As he said that the doctor comes in and says, "Before you do that we're going to do the stitches." I nod and he sets everything up. After I get eight stitches in my head, the doctor runs some tests to make sure my head is okay. All he needs to do now is fill out some paperwork and then we can leave. I sigh and sit on the bed and think about how I'm going to explain this to Mom. As I was thinking, Kyle comes back in and smiles at me.

"Hey, we can leave now," Kyle says. I get up and Kyle walks me out to the car where Michael is. I get in the back and Kyle says, "See? That wasn't so bad, was it? We got out of there in less than two hours."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Michael grumbles.

Kyle glares at him and says, "You can't blame Riley for this. This is your fault." Michael slams on the breaks and thank god I'm wearing my seat belt. He turns to Kyle and they both glare at each other.

"How the f**k is it my fault?!" Michael said. I shrunk back a little in my seat because of how loud he was.

Kyle crosses his arms and says, "You didn't need to bring all of us. Jackson could've taken his car. But no, you let him come and Riley couldn't buckle up. So, now he has eight stitches in his head and your parents are probably going to kill you!"

"Whatever, I don't know why you're taking up for the little brat," Michael says. I look down at my lap and sigh. Yep, there he goes again with hating me. Michael starts driving again and he pulls into our driveway. We see Mom's car and Dad's truck.

"The guys went home. They just texted me," Kyle says.

"Whatever," Michael says.

"I'm walking home. Bye, Riley," Kyle says and gets out. I smile at him and we all get out of the car. Michael grabs my arm before I go in the house.

"Let me do the talking," he says. I nod and we go inside. Mom and dad are in the kitchen talking and I follow Michael in. Mom and Dad smile at us, but it's quickly replaced with worry.

"Honey, what happened?!" She asks.

"He wasn't wearing his seatbelt and a deer ran across the street causing me to stop and his head to hit the seat in front of him." Mom comes running over to me and puts my face in her hands.

"Why weren't you wearing a seat belt?" Mom asks.

"I don't know," Michael says. That's it! I'm so done with him!

"You liar! He invited his friends over and there wasn't enough room for me to buckle," I say. Michael glares at me and I shrink back a little.

Dad glares at Michael and says, "You're grounded! I will not tolerate lying in this house! You put your little brother in danger and you're not even owning up to it." Dad shakes his head and Michael glares at me again.

"I f*****g hate you," he says to me.

"Go!" Mom yells and points to the stairs. He stomps up the stairs and I sigh. Yep, this has been one hell of a day.