To Go From There

I sat in the hospital bed, wincing as the nurse whispered soft reassuring words. She gripped my nose and I squeezed my eyes. She snapped it back into place and I let out a severely loud yell. It hurt. And because they didn’t know how bad my injuries were yet, they couldn’t exactly give me an anesthetic. I wished they would though. They’d already popped my shoulder back into place and I was wearing a sling. They’d cleaned up my face and I’d caught my reflection in the glass. I was a mess. Blood and bruises covered my face. They was dirt all over my body and my hair was pulled out of it’s ponytail, leaving it limp and lifeless around my face and shoulders. I was pale and shaky.

A woman had driven by and her headlights flashing over me. I was barely conscious when she helped me into her car and drove me to the hospital. They kept asking me what happened, but I couldn’t tell them. It hurt to even breath, let alone talk. The nurse gave up on asking me questions but kept talking to me, comforting me as she worked. The doctor would be with me soon, apparently. Or that’s what they kept informing. But of the two and a half hours I’d been in the hospital, no doctor came.

I just wanted to go home.

Finally, about another hour later, and all my cuts cleaned up, a doctor came in, wiping his hands on his scrubs. He was ruggedly handsome, with a full head of dusty blonde hair and bright blue eyes. The nurse, a small brown-haired mousy woman named Belle, light up as soon as he walked in. He was tall, close to six feet and well built. But I still didn’t see the appeal.

“Hi Kiernan. I’m Doctor Fuller. How are you feeling?” he asked. His voice was cocky, full of himself. I didn’t like him.

When I didn’t respond, Nurse Belle answered for me, “She’s got a few broken ribs. I fixed her shoulder and nose, plus the scrapes on her cheeks and arms. All she needs is you to give her a pain killer and okay her to go home. She’s been here long enough. The poor girl needs to go home.”

I nodded weakly, using my uninjured arm to pull my hair back away from my face. He looked at me, inspecting the damage down to my face.

“Well, it seems I’m hardly needed here. Let me just see how bad your ribs are. Lay down on your good side and just breath normally,” he instructed. I did as he said. He lifted my shirt up and gently pressed his fingertips against my side. I hissed as he hit the cracked rib. I whimpered louder as he continued.

“What’s the damage?” Nurse Belle asked for me.

“She has 2 broken ribs but they’re not in any danger of puncturing her lung. Kiernan, I’m going to prescribe you bed rest and a painkiller if it gets too bad. Don’t do anything that could injure you further. Just be careful, alright?”

I nodded and sat up, hissing slightly.

***

Rhys walked towards me, my arm in a sling to help my shoulder heal and my face all bandaged up. He looked scared.

“Are you okay? God, what happened?” he asked, grabbing my hand. I laced our fingers together. I could talk. I had to when I called him but it hurt still. I’d cried too hard, making my throat raw. Plus I swallowed about a cup of my own blood when Kellen broke my nose.

“Rhys…” I pulled him closer and hugged him as well as I could. He held onto me but when he squeezed my sides, I whimpered. He drew back.

“What did he do to you?” he asked gently.

“He jumped me, basically. I was going for a run and he was following me. He pushed me down and kicked me and broke my nose, dislocated my shoulder and broke two of my ribs. He dragged me down the road and left me to die behind a bush. Everything hurt. And you were there, for awhile. But you didn’t hear me. And it was so scary,” I began to cry. I hated that I was crying again. I wasn’t a crier normally. I wasn’t like this.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright now. I’m here. No one’s gonna hurt you. I’ll do everything to make sure I keep that promise. Let’s get you home, alright?”

I grabbed onto him again and pulled him in. I buried myself into his arms. He hugged me around the shoulders, which didn’t hurt since they’d given me my prescription. My ribs still hurt, but not quite as much as before. I’d been relaxing in the exam room for awhile. They wanted to admit me but I refused. I told them to just patch me up and send me on my way.

“I can’t do it anymore, Rhys. Kellen beat the hell out of me and Mom is sick, getting sicker by the day and Gen is constantly in and out of my life, because I‘m not important enough. My dad probably hates me because I’m so fucking ordinary. I need some consistency and I know I’m not going to get it. Because my life sucks. And,” he stopped me, his lips pressed into mine suddenly. I gasped but kissed back. He held my hips and rubbed circles with his thumbs into my skin.

“Hey, you know that passionate kissing lowers stress, right?” he mumbled, pulling away a few inches. I could see his brown eyes perfectly. He was smiling.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, kissing also relieves pain, it’s good for the heart and dentists say for your teeth as well.”

“So… what you’re saying is that a kiss is better at keeping the doctor away than an apple?” I asked.

“Yeah. Basically.”

He leaned in and kissed me again, his hands sliding up my neck and into my dirty hair. I needed a shower.

“Hey Rhys?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you take me home? I need to shower and rest and just… not be here anymore.”

He smiled.

“Of course. Whatever you want, my love.”

I couldn’t stop smiling, not as I filled out some paperwork and not as we drove home. He laid me in my bed and let me snuggle up to him. I fell asleep with a smile on. I didn’t wake up with one, though. Rhys was gone.