That ride was horrific, every time we passed a small field I just felt like jumping out and running. As soon as we got to the dumpy apartment he pointed me to the chair. I sat without question. As I sit there with anxiety and nerves Troy is slowly pulling his phone out and scrolling through something. Suddenly he throws his phone onto my lab
" Look at my score"
He sounded cold and empty. Callahan posted the scores on his door before he left, from highest to lowest. On top of the list is me and about 5 other kids who got 100s and at the bottom was Troy and the kid who just puts his name on the paper and gives it in. Troy somehow failed with a 27. Fuck.
My hands started to shake and I could feel my heart drop. As I was giving his phone back he grabbed my hand. Held it so tightly that I thought he going to break the phone. I held back my urge to cry as I felt his grip get tighter and tighter and as I felt my bones bend more and more. He pulled me to the floor with one swift motion. The suddenness of it brought me to my knees. After my knees crash on the ground he takes his phone and throws my numb hand back to me. He then pulled me to my feet with my hair.
" listen here you cunt. I'm going to beat you until I get every last bit of anger out. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME"
" yes Troy," I whimper softly
" good, now get on the fucking ground "
He throws me to the ground and I get on my knees. He kicks the back of my head, that send me in and out of consciousness. As I start to see stars he kicks me again and sends me in to a complete blackout. All I can hear is a faint little voice
" Luna please! You have to get up! You need to stop him! Please Luna. Don't let this happen again"
I tried to reply to Violet but all that comes out is gibberish. Even thought I couldn't mentally comprehend what was happening I felt my breathing slow and get worse. My head was vibrating. My body felt like I was a can getting crushed. It was a numb pain. As soon as it started it stopped. Moments went by. I couldn't tell if it was seconds or days, times just felt slow. My brain slowly just slowly got weaker and my thoughts stopped. My only memories were the pain and violet. It's was like a void.
Suddenly my eyes opened. My vision was heavily blurred and I could only hear the sounds of machines. As my vision adjusted I realized where I was. The Greensville emergency room. My face was covered by an oxygen mas and was slowly pushing the gas into my nose and mouth. My head felt horrible, like a permanent migraine. I couldn't move my body without being in pain.
" Doctor Shore, the patient is awake!"
" Holy shit! Nurse Belle get 6 milligrams of morphine and a blood test stat! Nurse Carol, get the portable chest X-ray and set her up for an ekg"
The nurses and doctors sounded surprised and rushed. I just laid there helpless. I mustered enough strength to just turn my head. No one was with me, not even Troy. I pushed that fact off and looked at the calendar, October 3rd. The time that felt like seconds was 4 days that flew by. I put my head back where it was on the pillow. I fought the urge to cry but it was hopeless. I felt the tears rolling down the side of my face and into my ears. My nose felt like it was running but nothing came out. Depressed wasn't even the word to describe myself. I started to hear the quick footsteps of people and machinery approaching me. I try to compose myself before they came in but it was too late. As the footsteps got louder they slowed down and I heard a voice.
" hi Luna. I'm doctor Gene Shore. From what your boyfriend told us, a masked man broke into your house. He said that he found you home alone and on the floor knocked unconscious. You definitely look like you were beaten up. Luckily he got you here in time. You've been unconscious since September 31st. "
As he goes on about what happened, what test they planned on doing I just laid there. I was in absolute shock from the pain and the story. Another excuse that worked. I tried to go speak but all I felt was shattered bones. I yelped loudly.
" Oh sweetheart don't move your mouth. Whoever hurt you fractured your jaw. From the examinations and the safety checks we got, we've made a list of injuries. From your head to your feet. A bruised nose, a fractured jaw, a cracked rib, a slight muscle rupture in your ankle, oh and a broken toe. Considering the state you came in, the fact you're not dead is beyond me. Your bones must be strong huh?"
I shake my head softly. His words didn't phase me to be honest. They were just more injuries to add to my list. He gave me a small smile and a hand on my shoulder.
" We have to run some more tests to see if you're going to heal alright. We'll give you some medicine so you can move without too much pain."
I slowly raised my hand and made the ok symbol with my thumb. With that the doctor brought in the nurses and their equipment. I see one of the nurses add a liquid to my iv. The other nurse slowly pulled my dress down to reveal my chest. I could hear flinching from just the sight of the bruises. She carefully stuck each pads onto my bare chest, making sure the gown wouldn't reveal my boobs. She had a very general touch that somehow made me calm down a bit. As she took the ekg I slowly felt the medicine kicking in and my wounded body felt mobile again.
" Hi my name nurse Belle. I know this hurts so I'll make it quick"... " looks like your heart is workin' just fine sweetheart. Now Carol is just gonna take a big X-ray of your chest. And after she's finished I'm just gonna take some blood and I'll leave you be darlin. You don't need to be worried about us pokin and proddin you anymore"
Her accent was sweet and southern. If I could have smiled at her I would have. Carol comes over with the portable X-ray. It looked like a mini ct scan. She placed it over my chest and gave me directions. It went very smoothly in my opinion. Finally nurse Belle took some blood and took all the equipment out with her. I was alone finally. I managed to sit myself with excruciating pain. It was the first time I got a full view of the room. I saw my phone sitting on the small table next to me and a nice Bouquet of pastel flowers sitting on the windowsill. Below that were empty seating chairs. It was all closed off by one this paper like wall. After gazing at the small room I picked up my phone to see if anyone messaged me. I got 5 text messages from Troy, an email from Adler, and a strange email from a person I didn't know. I read the message from Troy.
" Your ass was took weak to take it again so I'm leaving at the hospital. Your paying the bill"
Great I thought quietly
" I told the school and your job the same story so this time your safe"
I was getting sadder by the message
" text me when you need to get picked up and I'll think about showing up"
" oh I won't be visiting, just a waste of time. "
Tears began to well up in my eyes
" I should have kept you home, this is such a fucking hassel. "
His messages cut me like a knife of hate. I didn't even respond and moved to the email from Adler to try and brighten my mood.
" Hey Luna! I heard from Calix you weren't in school. I assumed you were not ok and I wanted to check up on you. By the way the baby is doing good!"
It felt so nice that she reached out. I missed her so much that even that email was getting me emotional. I decided to open the last email out of curiosity.
" Hey Luna, it's Calix. The school said you got into an accident. I got worried when you missed so many days. I emailed Mrs Adler because she knows how to help. I hope you get better soon!"
The email shocked me! I don't think he'd care so much about a person he'd just met. I replied to his email saying I was ok and that I would explain what happened when I was back in school. I explained the same to Adler but I told her what happened. I still haven't returned Troy's text. And this time I'm not going to. As I put my phone down I looked up to see the doctor had come back.
" Looks like that morphine is kicking in! That's good! Now our plan is just to keep you one more night just to make sure you can walk, talk, eat, go to the bathroom. You know the normal things. "
I gave him a thumbs up and he had me sign some paperwork. He left within five minutes and I took the rest of my time doing the thing he said I needed to do to get out. I got up to use the restroom and decided to check the flowers. They had a tag with just a scribble on it, like they were trying to cross the name out. Other than that they were just flowers. They were nice. The rest of my day was pretty tame until dinner. They gave me this horrible mix of what looked like mystery meat and gravy smoothie. And the drink I had was water but it had pills crushed in it so I can take it. Just gross. But what we was in that water got me sleepy, so I just went to sleep and prayed for a better tomorrow.