Remember this Face, Baby.

THIRD POINT OF VIEW

Kayla stared at her best friend, mournfully, running her eyes from her bruised and scarred face, to her covered body. Kayla covered her mouth, instantly, hoping it would stop her from crying, but tears leaked down her eyes and a sob escaped her lips.

A hospital was the last place Kayla wanted to see Karissa in. She couldn’t believe she was sitting in a hospital room, with her best friend lying on a bed being monitored by a machine and connected to an IV monitor. Every time she looked at Karissa, she couldn’t stop feeling like she wanted to return to school and strangle Whitney. What Kayla had done to her, hadn’t even been half as bad as what Whitney had done to Karissa.

Kayla looked away from Karissa, glancing over at the door. Caleb stood at the door, staring at Karissa with eyes filled with a great amount of sorrow. He averted his eyes from Karissa and walked towards Kayla, setting two coffees and a paper bag on a table beside her. He sat down at her side and reached for her hand, pressing a warm kiss on top of her skin.

“I brought you a coffee and a chicken sandwich,” Caleb said, gently.

“Thanks, but I’m not really hungry,” Kayla commented, her voice barely audible. She turned to look at her best friend and wished Karissa was sitting beside her, eating instead of lying on a hospital bed in critical condition.

Caleb sighed, heavily and clutched her jaw, tenderly, pulling her face in his direction. Tears welled around her eyes and avoiding his gaze, she stared at the floor, letting a tear roll down her pink cheek. He wiped the tear away and kissed her cheek. He placed his hand on her cheek and he smiled, when she leaned into it, placing her own hand on his.

“You need to eat, Kayla. I know you haven’t eaten anything,” Caleb mumbled, and she shook her head, raising her eyes to his.

“I can’t eat knowing Karissa’s not okay. Look at her, Caleb. She’s not supposed to be here, lying there looking dead. We’re supposed to be in class right now, not sitting here in a hospital waiting for my best friend to wake up,” Kayla claimed, trying to hold back the sobs, but no matter how she tried, her voice shook.

“I know, Kayla, but Karissa would want you to eat and not starve yourself. I’m not asking you to eat the whole thing; just a few bites,” Caleb stated, and reached across her, grabbing the paper bag. He removed his hand from her cheek and opened the bag, reaching inside and pulling out a plastic box with a sandwich inside. He opened it, quietly and grabbed one half, handing it to Kayla. She looked at it, blankly and Caleb nudged her arm, mouthing, “Bite it.” Kayla shook her head, with a faint smile on her lips and lifted the sandwich, biting into it.

“How did that feel?” Caleb asked, teasingly.

“Shut up,” Kayla mumbled against the bread and took another large bite from it. Caleb smiled and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into him and laying his head on top of hers. She laid her head on his shoulder, sighing, as she watched her best friend.

It seemed like hours had passed by, but in reality only a few minutes had, when Kayla heard Karissa’s mother. Kayla glanced up and stood up from Caleb’s side, walking towards the door. Alexis was in her grandmother’s arms, covered in a big pink blanket, sleeping on her shoulder. Kayla glanced at her second mother and clenched her jaw, hating the fact that her eyes were red from crying.

“How is she?” Mrs. Montanni asked, shakily.

Kayla sighed, heavily and glanced over her shoulder at Karissa, “The same. All the time I’ve been here, she’s just laid there. She hasn’t even moved an inch,” Kayla told her, and ran her fingers through her hair, frustratingly.

“I don’t want Alexis to see her mother like this. Last time we were in the hospital, Karissa didn’t look bruised or wounded like this. Alexis is too young to see something like this, especially her mother,” Mrs. Montanni commented, and Kayla nodded.

“There’s an extra bed behind that curtain. I can sit there with her while she sleeps. I’ll make sure she doesn’t see Karissa,” Kayla said and Mrs. Montanni nodded, handing the sleeping baby to Kayla. She moved back into the room, cradling the baby against her body and walked to the other side of the curtain further into the room, setting the baby down. Kayla lied down beside the baby, kissing her forehead and holding her close. Caleb sat at the end of the bed, rubbing Kayla’s leg. He leaned back on his arms and sighed, heavily.

Mrs. Montanni walked to Karissa’s side and grabbed her hand, as she began crying, softly. She couldn’t believe her daughter was back in the hospital and this time, she was in critical condition. She couldn’t erase the scenes earlier. Kayla had called her around one fifteen, crying on the telephone and explaining how Karissa had gotten badly injured. Kayla and a boy named Deryk had rushed her to the hospital right after the incident.

When she heard the news, her heart nearly stopped. She had gotten into her car and rushed to the hospital. She was frantic when she had arrived, sobbing for Karissa and two nurses led her to Karissa’s room, where she laid wounded in a hospital bed.

The nurses had explained to Mrs. Montanni that Karissa had fractured three ribs on her right side and had one broken rib on her left side. Fortunately, her nose hadn’t been broken, but it was fractured in two places and her leg was sprained from when Whitney had stomped on her. But they had said that there was a possibility Karissa was internally bleeding from being kicked multiple times in the back and that her spine was broken. Bruises stained her body, painting her skin with colours such as blue, green, yellow and black.

Watching her daughter now, she couldn’t imagine her daughter was that damaged. Doctors still needed to run more tests on her and in a few hours, they would be taken her to receive X-rays. That would determine whether or not her spine was broken and if she was really bleeding internally.

“Please, baby girl, wake up,” Mrs. Montanni whimpered, and her hand shook as she covered her lips, holding onto her daughter’s warm hand. She sat down beside her daughter, running her fingers through her Karissa’s hair, hoping she would open her eyes and stare at her.

Deryk stepped into the hospital room where Karissa laid, while her mother sat beside her, caressing her hair and holding onto her hand. He spotted Caleb sitting on the bed behind the curtain, with Kayla and Karissa’s daughter, Alexis. He didn’t want to disturb Karissa’s mother and quietly, he began crossing the room, but Mrs. Montanni glanced up.

“Deryk, is that you, sweetheart?” she asked, tiredly and he stopped, turning to face Karissa’s mother. He walked towards her side and smiled down at her, trying to avoid looking at how terrible Karissa looked.

“Yes, it’s me, Mrs. Montanni. How are you? Do you need anything?” Deryk asked, politely and she shook her head, turning to stare at her daughter for a moment. She turned back to Deryk and smiled, sadly, sighing, quietly.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking. But, I want to thank you. I don’t know where my daughter would be, if that girl had continued. I’m sure she wouldn’t be in this condition, even if it isn’t the best, but she could be much worse,” she answered.

“It wasn’t just me, though, Mrs. Montanni. Kayla helped as much as I did, if not, much more. She was the one who found me and told me about what was happening. I’m glad we made it in time to stop her before she did anymore damage,” Deryk replied, and Mrs. Montanni smiled, glancing over at Caleb and Kayla.

“Yes, Kayla has always been there for Karissa. She was the one person who didn’t turn her back on my daughter when she found out she was pregnant. But honestly, I don’t know what I would do without her. She’s been such a help with Alexis and keeping Karissa smiling everyday. It’s hard enough having to worry about my daughter and with Kayla, it took some worry off. But today, nothing could have prepared me for this. I don’t know what to do anymore,” Mrs. Montanni explained to raven-haired boy, and he nodded, watching her with an understanding expression.

“Karissa’s very fortunate. I do agree about Kayla, though. She’s a very nice girl and even if she can be a little wild, she seems to make Karissa glow. And Mrs. Montanni, if you ever need anything, I’m here to help. Even if I’ve only known Karissa a little over a few weeks, I consider her a friend and I would do anything to keep her from harm’s way,” Deryk said, kindly and Mrs. Montanni grabbed his hand, patting it, affectionately.

“Thank you so much, Deryk,” she stated and he nodded, squeezing her hand, gently.

“It’s my pleasure to help, Misses,” he smiled and added, gently, “but, I’ll leave you with your daughter. I’m going to sit with Kayla and Caleb.” Mrs. Montanni nodded, and smiled, dismissing him. When she turned to stare at Karissa, Deryk walked towards Karissa’s friends, stepping around the curtained area.

“Hey, man. What’s up?” Caleb asked, sitting up to greet Deryk with a handshake. Deryk nodded at him, returning his handshake, before he dropped his hand at his side.

“One of the teachers had called the hospital and the Principal even came to see what happened with Karissa earlier. The receptionist explained the condition Karissa was in and I was just coming back from going home, when he saw me. He wanted the whole story from start to finish and I told him what I could. He wants to speak to you, Kayla. He has already spoken to Whitney and apparently, he’s suspending her and the Board is discussing if they should issue expulsion,” Deryk explained and Kayla rolled her eyes, running her fingers through Alexis’ bed hair.

“Whitney should be expelled, not suspended. They shouldn’t be talking about that shit; they should know. How long are they going to suspend her for; a month? That’s not going to do anything. Do they think Whitney just fucking slapped her across the face?” Kayla said, angrily and watched both boys, intently.

“Babe, we can’t decide that, though. At least the school board’s talking about it. Whitney isn’t going out without haven’t something done to her. Even if she tries to lie about what happened they have you two as witnesses and I can say as much as I can,” Caleb told Kayla, reaching out to grab her hand, but she moved her hand from his reach and pulled Alexis into her arms. The baby girl snuggled closer to her chest, laying her head on Kayla’s collarbone.

“And what are you going to say, Caleb? You weren’t there.You can’t say you witnessed anything, because you were off doing whatever you were doing. Your words aren’t going to help shit,” Kayla said, viciously and tears welled at the rims of her blue eyes.

Caleb looked truly hurt at her sudden words and he sighed, nodding. As much as he wanted to walk out of that room and leave her swallowing her own hurtful words, he stayed in his seat on the bed, and reached across Kayla’s lap, grabbing her hand and laying a kiss on her palm. Caleb knew Kayla was going through a hard time and she needed him. No matter how hurtful Kayla’s words became, he wasn’t going to abandon her.

“You’re right, Kayla. I won’t be able to say anything about what happened earlier, but I can tell them Karissa isn’t the kind of person to start fights. I can tell them what David has been saying to the guys and me since Karissa got pregnant two years ago. The school needs to know who started all this hate towards Karissa and its David. I can be a witness for that,” Caleb declared.

Tears descended down Kayla’s red cheeks and she nodded, wiping them away, quickly. “I’m sorry. I’m just so mad about Whitney and how all those kids just surrounded her. They wouldn’t let me in and as much as I screamed and tried pushing my way threw, I couldn’t do anything and that makes me madder. I didn’t do anything to help her,” Kayla frustratingly, ran her fingers threw her hair, clenching her jaw. She wiped another tear with the back of her hand and let out a shaky breathe.

“There’s no one to blame. You can’t say you didn’t try, because you did and it was impossible to get through that crowd,” Deryk stated, honestly and Kayla shook her head, rubbing Alexis’ back.

“I hope I broke that bitch’s nose. I hope she needs to get a nose job after the work I did on her fucking nasty face. I swear, if I ever see her on the streets, I’ll fucking kill her,” Kayla snarled.

Caleb couldn’t help chuckling, as he watched the girl who made his heart melt, grid her teeth and shake her head, angrily. It amazed him, no matter how wild she looked; she would always remain so incredibly beautiful. He squeezed her hand, affectionately and kissed the top of her hand, hoping she knew how much he liked her.

Deryk didn’t want to impose on Kayla’s and Caleb’s time. He walked towards an empty seat at the far corner of the room and sat down, laying his head back against the cushioned chair. He placed his arms on top of the chair’s arm rests and sighed, quietly, watching Karissa’s mother speaking to her.

Deryk had attended a private school for most of his life. It wasn’t until he turned the age of sixteen, when his father, Robert Madison, decided to take his family on his business trips with him. Deryk had lost count how many school his two younger siblings and himself, had attended at in the past two years. It was frustrating moving to city to city, never knowing where they would finally end. The Madison family never stayed in an area a little over than three months and again, they would be packing their suitcases and traveling to a new city.

Deryk’s family had just moved to this little town and his father had already told them, they were moving back to Chicago, just as they were starting to get settled into their new house. Deryk was never the one to complain, but ever since he had laid his eyes on Karissa and known her story, leaving seemed like a far concept. He didn’t understand why he wanted to stay in such a small town and not move back to his original home, but the only real reason he found was because of Karissa.

Deryk had gotten into a large argument with his father, because of the great need to stay. Deryk was legally an adult and he would be turning nineteen in early February. He didn’t need his father’s permission, but unfortunately, Deryk respected his father too much to disobey him. His father had given Deryk his final word and he wanted his son to come home, if he wanted it or not.

It had been a few days since Deryk had spoken to his father. He couldn’t stand why his father couldn’t reason with him. Deryk wasn’t asking for his entire family to stay; just him. He would stay for a small amount of time, or as much time as it took to help Karissa out of the situation she was in. Once he felt his deed was done, he would return home to Chicago in just a few short months.

Deryk clenched his jaw, pushing his father to the back of his mind. Ever since his father had refused his offer, Deryk had been trying to think of plan. He needed to find the right words to tell his father, and then, hopefully, they could negotiate something. But when Kayla had come running to him for help, her face tear stained; Deryk hadn’t thought about negotiating with his father. He had only thought about Karissa’s well-being and her recovering from her horrible injuries. He just needed some time to think and some time to plan something he could tell his father. Once his father saw his reasoning, Deryk knew he would be able to help Karissa and his daughter.