Halo

There was a piercing pain in my head when I opened my eyes. I looked around to see that my Dad was no where in sight. I slowly got to my feet and I got really dizzy so, I grasped onto the door frame with my hand. I walked into the kitchen to see the time. The numbers were all blurry so, I had to concentrate really hard.

5:33am.

I decided to go take a shower before going to School. The pain was not letting up on my head so I took a few aspirin once I was in the bathroom. I looked at my reflection in the mirror to see my black and blue face staring back at me.

A sigh escaped my lips as I started up the shower. I made sure it was hot and took my clothes off. I stepped inside the curtain and let the water soak into my skin. I had to hold the shower wall to hold myself up because for some reason I kept losing my balance.

Once I finished up my shower, I got out and brushed my hair. I threw it up in a pony tail and brushed my teeth real quick. It was really impossible to hide my bruises so I just went into my room. I decided to wear sweat pants and a hoodie. I didn't have much energy to put on anything else. I went downstairs and grabbed my back pack off of the floor. I slung it over my shoulder and headed off to school.

I had to stop a couple times to gain my balance. My head was pounding so bad, I could barely see. There was a low ringing in my ears too. Thankfully, I made it to School without falling or passing out. I felt like puking and it seemed that the pain in my head was only getting worse. I got to my locker and shoved my back pack in it.

"Carson!" Lacey 'screamed' next to me.

I put my hands over my ears, "You don't need to scream!" I said while turning to her confused expression that turned into shock when she saw my face.

She became angry on the spot, "What the fuck happened to you Carson and don't give me that 'he has a drinking problem' shit either."

"He hit me.. repeatedly." I said quietly and tears began to fill up in my eyes. Don't fall. I kept saying in my head. I hated crying, it made me feel weak.

Lacey pulled me into a hug, "Cars." She said in a soothing manner, "I'm so sorry. You need to get out of there." She said gently.

Finally I agreed with her, "I know, I'm moving when I turn 18."

She pulled away from me to look at my face, "You seem kind of out of it, does something else hurt?" She asked carefully.

I shook my head not wanting to worry her. "I'm fine, just have a small headache that's all."

"Did you take some aspirin?" I nodded and she gave me another small hug, "Alright. I'll see you at lunch." I gave her another nod and we walked in separate directions.

Lunch came around and Lacey made me eat even though I wasn't hungry. The pain in my head didn't go away, instead it became worse. I tried my best to ignore it. That's all I needed was to have something seriously wrong with me. The rest of the day went horrible. I tried to lay my head down on the desk each class but, every teacher would yell at me to keep it up, except Mr. Baker.

The bell rang signaling the end of the day. My head rose up but I was tempted to put it back down since I knew I had detention. Just as it was about to hit the desk, Mr. Baker stopped me. "Carson are you okay?"

My eyes met his and everything seemed foggy. It was like we were in a hall and he was trying to talk to me. I nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

He didn't believe me, "What happened to your face?"

"I fell." I said while shrugging my shoulders.

Mr. Baker hummed, "Well, you can just leave if you want."

That made me frown, "I didn't do my homework though?"

"Yeah but, obviously giving you detention every day isn't making you learn shit so, you might as well go." He said kind of irritated.

A sigh escaped my lips and my head felt like it was about to explode. Those damn tears filled up in my eyes again. I bit my lip and took a deep breath through my nose hoping it would stop them from falling. I decided to just leave so, I stood up and grabbed my books. I went to take a step forward but lost my balance this time. Mr. Baker caught me and I couldn't hold it in anymore. The tears just started pouring out of my eyes.

Mr. Baker held my arms so I wouldn't fall, "Carson?" His facial expressions softened, "What's wrong?"

"I didn't fall." I confessed and he tensed up. "What happened?" He asked in a low and somewhat serious voice. I knew I couldn't tell him about my Dad but, I could make up something else.

I took my hand and used the back of it to wipe off the tears on my cheek. "I was attacked yesterday when my Dad wasn't home. He kept kept hitting me and he crashed my head up against the wall. I passed out after that."

"Carson!" He became upset, "You probably have a concussion why didn't you go to the hospital?" Mr. Baker asked while raising his hand up carefully to examine the bruises on my face.

I winced at his touch and shook my head. "I don't like hospitals."

Mr. Baker shrugged, "Well that's too bad because I'm taking you to one." He grabbed my arm gently and tugged on it. My eyes widened and I shook my head, "No way! You are NOT taking me to a hospital!"

"You don't really have a choice. I'm going to call your parents on the way-"

I cut him off, "NO!" That made my head hurt and I shook my head, "Fine, you can take me to the hospital but, please don't call my Dad, please!" I begged and Mr. Baker eyed me.

He sighed, "Fine, let's go."

The whole way to the Hospital Mr. Baker kept asking me questions, they were to make sure I didn't lose my memory. They were getting quite annoying to be honest. Once he was parked, he rushed over to the passenger side and opened the door. I stepped out and he wrapped his arm around my waist.

That made me roll my eyes, "I'm not cripple."

"I don't need you almost passing out like you did in the classroom." He said and I sighed. We got into the hospital and one of the nurses escorted us behind a curtain. She told me to sit on the bed and she did the basic stuff. Once she was finished she gave me a small smile, "The doctor should be right with you."

She left and Mr. Baker was sitting in the chair with a worried expression. I sighed heavily and glared at him. "This is totally unnecessary."

He rolled his eyes, "Carson, you have a concussion."

"No, you think I have a concussion." I said while lowering my gaze on him.

Mr. Baker was about to say something but was cut off by the doctor walking in, "Alright, Miss Wheeler what can I do for you? Ah, who's this?" My Doctor looked at Mr. Baker.

My face went pale because I wasn't sure what to say to him. Mr. Baker stuck his hand out, "I'm her boyfriend, Zack." My face heated up at his choice of words and My doctor shook his hand.

My doctor looked at me, "So what happened?"

"I fell on the ice outside my school and M-.. Zack thinks I have a concussion." I said while biting my lip. My doctor took me to get some tests done on my head while Mr. Baker stayed back.

I was finally back from the tests and we had to wait for the results. Mr. Baker was staring at me and I was avoiding his eye contact. I was still mad that he made me come here.

"Carson-" Mr. Baker got cut off by the doctor again, "Well, Carson. It looks like your boyfriend was right. You do have a concussion. I'm going to give you a prescription for the pain and you should stay out of school for a couple of days. Oh and I don't want you alone during this period. I want someone to wake you up every 6 hours and ask you basic questions to make sure it didn't get worse." He said and handed me my scripts. He said bye to us and I got off of the bed.

Mr. Baker put his arm around me and my heart started to beat faster for some reason. He guided me out of the hospital and helped me get into his car. Once we were in his car, he started it up and turned the heat on. When he didn't put it in gear, I turned to him, "What?"

He was lost in thought and he snapped out of it. "Someone is hurting you."

My face got really pale and I bit my lip, "What are you talking about?" I asked faked confused.

Mr. Baker of course saw right through it, "Carson, every day this past week you came into School with a new bruise on you. You said you got attacked yesterday by some stranger but, I don't believe you. I think it's someone close to you that's hurting you."

"You don't know what you're talking about." I said while looking out the window hoping he would drop it.

He sighed and put the car in gear. He started driving and we stayed in a silence. There was one more thing he said and that was, "All you have do is ask for help." If only it was that easy.