Chapter 91

                                    

                                          
A few days had gone by with not much change at all. Clay's friends could almost always be found at the hospital, and they dreaded leaving him when they had to head home for the night, leave for any work shifts, or go to school for what seemed to be an excruciatingly long eight hours per day on the weekdays. One person that was pretty effected by what happened to the 19-year-old was Ani Achola. The girl felt like the situation practically hit home for her - she felt like she could potentially end up losing someone else in her life that she deeply cared about and who understood her like no one else really and truely could. Though it was hard, Ani looked on the bright side of things as much as she could, holding onto the hope that Clay Jensen would eventually pull through this ordeal and wake up from his coma. 
                          
Hannah couldn't help but feel three emotions during this whole unfortunate situation. Sure, she felt devastated about what happened to her boyfriend, but she also felt angry about it. The Baker teen couldn't help but think that the universe wanted anything and everything bad to happen to such an innocent, kind, and decent human being like Clay Jensen. And it seemed that the world took every chance it got to let any remotely bad thing happen to the caring, loving, and selfless teenager. On top of that, Bryce Walker was back, and the young woman felt a bit conflicted on how to feel about that situation by itself. I mean, had Bryce not been doing what he was doing at the time, would things have gone differently for Clay Jensen that night? If the former Liberty High student hadn't been the one to find the Jensen boy, would he have even been found at all that night? Or would he have ended up slowly bleeding out and dying all alone out there at Navy Pier? These questions are what caused Hannah Baker to be on the fence when it came to Bryce Walker right now. 
                          
Much like Hannah, Jessica was on the fence about the whole Bryce Walker situation as well. After all, he did sexually assault her, along with Hannah and who knows who else. But, the former Liberty High student did save her friend by showing up at Navy Pier when he did. Maybe Jessica Davis wishes that her rapist wasn't back here in the town of Crestmont at all right now. But then again, if he hadn't been where he was that horrific Halloween night, the Butterfly Effect possibly could have taken place, and Clay Jensen might have ended up being found dead in a puddle of his own blood. A lot of mixed emotions were swimming around Jessica's mind right now, but, at the end of the day, she's grateful that one of her best friends didn't end up geting killed that dreadful, quite possibly unforgettable night.
                          
It was a completely different story for Justin Foley, since the victim was his own brother. The football player never thought he'd ever feel the amount of pain that he was feeling right now. The teenager never wanted to leave his comatose brother's side, usually being strongly recommended by Matt, Lainie, or even Amara to leave for school, work, or just to get a break and head home for a little while. Whenever the teenager did end up going home for the night to attempt to get some much needed rest, Justin would usually get caught up in his thoughts or emotions, and he couldn't help but break down as he brokenly stared at his brother's untouched and still-made bed. Nowadays, the Foley teen spent almost all of his time by Clay's side, never wanting to leave the hospitalized boy alone for even a second. 
                          
Meanwhile, after having received a call about finding a dead body, Sheriff Daughtry, Deputy Estrada, Deputy Collins, Deputy Standall, and a few other officers had driven out to the location provided by the caller, only to find the corps of Montgomery de la Cruz there. After investigating the area, as well as the body, a little bit, it was suspected that the cause of death was a gunshot to the deceased boy's abdomen, and it was also ruled as a homicide. With this happening, the Evergreen County Police began digging deeper in the investigation to get a list of suspects and soon find out who had killed Montgomery de la Cruz. Right now, Alex Standall was patiently waiting in his dad's squad car as he was currently on a ride along. Usually the Standall teen didn't like sitting in on things like this with his dad because it was usually boring, but this particular ride along was quite the opposite. When Alex learned that Monty's body was found, the gears in his mind immediately started turning as theories and ideas came to him, especially given the location of where Monty had been found. 
                          
As days slowly went by, the investigation continued on, and Clay Jensen sadly still remained in his coma. While a few people were down in the hospital's cafeteria getting some food, Skye Miller and Tyler Down remained in the small room with their comatose friend. As they sat there in the quietness the room provided, with the exception of the heart monitor's continuous beeping, the two teens couldn't help but get lost in their own thoughts. Tyler was currently keeping what he knew to himself, though he did tell Skye about finding Monty's corps and reporting it to the police. With Skye being the only person to know this specific information, no one else knew about the Down boy being the one to discover a dead Montgomery de la Cruz. Knowing the information and recalling certain incidents Clay and Monty shared in the past, Skye couldn't help but wonder if her best friend could have actually killed him, breaking the promise he made to her and Tyler in the process. Though, remembering that Clay never breaks any promises he makes, Skye silently scolded herself for even thinking that her best friend could go as far as killing a human being.
                          
Later that night, at the Baker's household, Hannah lied in her bed alone, staring up at the ceiling as she found it incredibly hard to fall asleep. Her mind was just too preoccupied with thoughts to simply "shut down" for a few hours. As she stayed in her bed, the young woman tightened her grip on the stuffed animal she found herself sleeping with every night these days. It wasn't just any stuffed animal, though. It was Kenny - the bunny she had recieved back when Clay took her on a date to Build-a-Bear Workshop during their lunch break. The girl had found that sleeping  with Kenny nearby helped her to some degree, because the bunny reminded her of memories she shared with her boyfriend that she always looked back on and cherished deeply. Along with spending her nights with Kenny nowadays, the Baker teen also usually slept in one of Clay's t-shirts and wore his letterman jacket during the days - simply because these two clothing items held her boyfriend's comforting scent deep within them. 
                          
After nearly two and a half weeks went by, there was still no sign of the hospitalized boy waking up from his coma. After practically living in the small, stuffy hospital room for that amount of time, Matt and Lainie decided to give themselves a short break to clear their minds. While the two adults left the hospital for a short while, Justin and Ani came by to stay with their friend, neither wanting him to be left alone just incase he did wake up at any time. Hannah was torn about it when Justin asked if she wanted to come with them - the Baker teen did want to see her boyfriend whenever she could, but it always broke her heart whenever she came by, only for Clay to still be in a coma with nothing new to report. 
                          
Entering the room, each teen took a vacant chair, sitting across from each other with the small, uncomfortable-looking hospital bed seperating them. Sitting in the comfortable silence with the exception of the heart monitor beeping in the background, Ani and Justin kept their eyes on their hospitalized friend. Both teens couldn't help the tears that came to their eyes in the moment. It was indeed a truely heartbreaking situation, not knowing when - or even if - Clay Jensen would wake up. Justin usually found himself staring at the boy's unmoving hands, hoping for the slightest twitch or anything to indicate that he would wake up soon. The Foley teen wanted nothing more than to see his brother open his eyes again. He wanted to be able to hear his brother's voice again. He wanted to be able to hug his brother again. That's one thing Justin longed for the most - to be able to simply hug his brother and hold him close in his arms. Most of the time, whether anyone else was in the room with him or not, Justin found himself holding onto one of Clay's limp hands for at least some kind of comfort. Ani smiled as she watched the boy across from her reach for the comatose teen's hand. She knew how much the two brothers meant to each other as well as cared about one another, and the fact that Justin tried his best to be with the 19-year-old any chance he got solidifies how much he cares about and wants to be there for his brother. These two boys are practically inseparable and would do anything for one another. They'd always be there for each other through thick and thin, no matter what they needed.
                          
Justin Foley never really openly shared his thoughts with anyone else. He usually kept to himself. But, as his thoughts raced, he couldn't help but get some sort of feeling, like he knew something was going to happen to his brother. That unsettling feeling made Justin subconsciously tighten his hold on his brother's hand as he softly stared down at him, silently making a promise to himself that he'd never leave the boy's side once he woke up from his coma. Justin Foley was going to do a better job at being a brother and protecting or defending Clay, no matter what. Even though he knew that the 19-year-old would tell him that he's already a great brother to him, Justin wanted to do better and prove to himself that he was a good brother. And he'd do anything in his power to be the best brother he could possibly be to Clay Jensen.