Chapter 10

                                    

                                          
A few days later, Mr. And Mrs. Baker were back in their daughter's hospital room again as the two each sat in a chair on either side of the small hospital bed. 
                          
Over the last few days, nothing had really happened. Clay would stop by each day after school and even sometimes after work to see if anything had changed, but each time, things stayed the same as before with Hannah not waking up yet. Clay's parents would even stop by occationally to see how Hannah's parents were doing, because Clay had sat down with his mom one night after getting home a lot later than the time that was agreed upon, and he told her about what his friend had tried to do. But Clay was careful not to mention what caused the girl to want to do it - even if he had a small idea of a reason, because he felt like there was more than just the one reason he suspected that he didn't know about - because he knew it wasn't his place to talk  about what a certain high school senior had done to her.
                          
Finally, just as Clay was gathering his things from his locker to go home after what felt like an extremely long day of school, he felt his phone start to vibrate in his jean pocket. Slinging his backpack over his shoulder and closing his locker, Clay fished his phone out of his pocket to see who could be wanting to get ahold of him. As soon as he saw the caller ID displayed on the screen, his eyes slightly widened as he instantly hit the "answer" button and placed the phone against his ear. 
                          
Before Clay even ended the call from Mrs. Baker, he had already walked out of the school, freed his bike from the bike rack, mounted it, and started making a b-line for the hospital. As he hurriedly made his way to the hospital, Clay ignored all of the honks and angry gestures he received from all the cars and pedestrians he passed by. Ignoring everything around him, Clay's primary mission was to get to the hospital and see his best friend, who - according to Mrs. Baker - had woken up not too long ago and wanted to see him. 
                          
Finally arriving at the hospital, Clay left his bike at the bike rack before entering the building and going straight to the elevators that would take him to the designated floor to see his friend, Hannah Baker. As he waited alone in the slow elevator, Clay began to become impatient as he wanted to get to the girl's room as soon as humanly possible - and it seemed like the only thing slowing him down was the dang elevator. 
                          
Once the elevator finally reached the requested floor, Clay roamed the halls as he scanned the number of each room he passed, looking for one specific number that labeled the room his friend occupied. 
                          
When Clay finally reached the room with the specific number he was in search of, he paused and took a deep breathe. The boy glanced down at himself and smoothed out his shirt as he took a minute to slow his now-racing heart. 
                          
Instead of just barging into the room, Clay's politeness overcame him as he gently knocked on the large wooden door. Hearing a faint "come in" from Mr. Baker, Clay slowly opened the door, peering around it as he took a few steps into the room before closing the door behind him. "Hey, Clay." Mrs. Baker greeted with a warm smile as soon as she saw the nice boy her daughter was friends with. "Hi, Mrs. Baker." Clay said in response as he returned a soft smile. The two adults then shared a look before standing up from their chairs. "We're just going to go see what they have in the cafeteria downstairs." Mrs. Baker said as she passed Clay and joined her husband at the door. 
                          
After watching Hannah's parents leave the room with the door closing behind them, Clay slowly turned back around until he was facing the girl who was now sitting up in the hospital bed. The two stayed silent as Clay placed his bookbag on the floor against the wall before slowly making his way to a chair beside the bed and sitting down. "Why did you do it?" A voice sounded suddenly, breaking the silence that had filled the room. At the sound, Clay looked at his friend, only to see her glancing down at her lap. "I did it because I care about you, Hannah." He said softly. "No one cares about me. You should have just left me to die like I wanted to in the first place." She said, still not looking up from her lap. Hearing this statement broke Clay's heart. "But I do really care about you, Hannah. I would even go as far to say that I love you. In fact, I've loved you ever sense we first met. I loved you then, and I'm still in love you now. So don't tell me that I don't care about you. Because I do." He said, feeling that it was the right time - and the best time - to confess about how he felt about her. Upon hearing his words, Hannah was stunned into silence as she thought that no one could or would ever love her. Staying silent, she slowly looked up to see Clay as he was still looking at her. When Hannah finally looked at the boy, the look she saw in his eyes only made his statement mean so much more as his eyes showed nothing but love and concern. 
                          
"You love me?" Hannah asked after a few seconds. Clay gave a small, warm smile. "I do." He replied, gently reaching his hand out and firmly grasping her hand in his. "Out of all the girls at Liberty High, why would you want to love me?" Hannah asked, still not being able to believe that Clay Jensen loved her. Clay thought about his answer for a few seconds. "Because you're the only girl at Liberty High who gave me a fresh start that I desperately needed." He said, being completely honest. "You needed a fresh start?" Hannah asked, confused yet slightly curious. Clay nodded. "Believe it or not, I did. But I don't really want to talk about that right now." Clay said. "The main gist of it, though, is that I know what it's like to have untrue rumors being spread around the school about you." He added. 
                          
A little while later, Clay had received a couple calls and texts from his parents - which he didn't answer because he had been too busy talking to Hannah. When Clay finally did check his phone and reply to the multiple text messages, his mom had replied by requesting him to come home. So after putting his phone away again, Clay walked back over to the bed and sat on the edge of it as he looked at his friend. "My parents want me home." He said softly as he gently held Hannah's hand in both of his. "Do you really have to go, Helmet?" Hannah asked him, sounding like a toddler not wanting its parents to leave. Clay smiled a little at her response. "I'm afraid I do have to go. But, trust me. If it were completely up to me, I'd stay here with you 24/7 until they let you out of here." He said, sounding completely serious. Hannah smiled at him. 
                          
"Thanks, Clay." She said, lightly squeezing his hand. "For what?" Clay asked, his obliviousness taking over. "For everything. For being my best friend. For being there for me that night I needed you. For saving my life. For loving me." She said, looking directly into his eyes at the last two parts. Clay smiled and glanced down before looking directly into her eyes again. "You don't have to thank me for anything. I'm just glad I got to you when I did." Clay said. "Me too." Hannah replied, leaning forward a little and planting a soft kiss on Clay's cheek, making him blush a little bit. 
                          
For a few minutes, the two teens just sat there, being content in each other's company and the comfortable silence that fell over them. Eventually, Clay reluctantly stood up from the edge of the bed, looking down at his friend with a sad smile before leaning down and gently kissing her cheek. "I love you." He said quietly, making Hannah smile with a noticable blush. Clay then slowly let go of her hand and gathered his things before saying goodbye to his friend and reassuring her that he'd come back the next day before opening the wooden door and leaving the small hospital room to head home to his awaiting parents.
                          
After Clay left the room, Hannah was left alone. Almost instantly, thoughts swirled around her mind about what her mother had told her earlier. She was pregnant. And Bryce was the reason for that. Hannah knew she would have to tell Clay - sooner rather than later. But she didn't know how to tell him, or how he would react to her being pregnant. Would he still be her friend after he found out? Would he still be there for her? Would he still want to be seen hanging out with her? Or even the one question that frightened Hannah the most - would he still love her? 
                          
That single question about if Clay would still love her after he found out that she was pregnant made Hannah want to avoid him so she wouldn't have to face her fears and tell him. But, remembering how she had already pushed him away and avoided him so many times, Hannah decided that avoiding him wasn't the answer. Avoiding him again wouldn't make things any better than they aleady were. 
                          
So Hannah came to the choice that she wouldn't avoid Clay again. Rather, she would eventually tell him about being pregnant with Bryce's child. She would tell him, and just hope that it wouldn't scare him off. Because, deep down, Hannah felt like she couldn't get through it without him being by her side through the next nine months.
                          
Clay was her rock. He was the single bright light in her dark, crappy world. He was her friend - really her only friend, besides Kat. Clay was the one person in this town that Hannah knew she could count on. He was the one person she knew she could trust with anything and everything. Clay Jensen was the best thing that had ever happened to her. He was her knight in shining armor. He was the only genuinly nice guy at Liberty High who truely cared about her and ignored the rumors around the school. Clay was good, and decent, and kind. He was her Helmet. 
                          
Hannah knew that no matter how many times she yelled at him to leave her alone, no matter how many times she tried desperately to avoid him, he would always be there for her in the end when she needed him the most, no matter the cost.