Monster in Hiding

Matts POV

Grabbing my towel off of the bench sitting against the wall, I used it to wipe the sweat away from my forehead and the back of my neck. Looking down at my phone, a wave of worry washed over me. Twelve texts and eight missed calls.

Elle:
Matt, I’m scared....theres someone trying to get into my dorm. I’m gonna call the police. Matt he’s gonna get in.

What the hell had been going on while I was working out??

Jimmy:
Dude where the fuck are you?

Jimmy:
Seriously, answer your phone. 9-1-1

Zack:
9-1-1 call Anna

Anna:
Matt? Matt where are you. Please answer me.

Brian:
You’re at the gym aren’t you? Anna’s freaking out trying to get ahold of you man.

Justin: Man I fucked up, I need to talk to you

Anna: Matt, I didn’t want to do this through a text but you won’t answer.....Elle’s been hit by a car. She’s in the icu at the hospital, they aren’t sure if she’s going to make it.

My heart all but stopped beating in my chest. My grip on the cell phones me tightened until I could hear the plastic device begin to crack. My towel fell to the floor from around my shoulders as I quickly ran out of the gym. People looked at me like I had gone crazy as I ran past them.

I didn’t stop running until I reached the sidewalk, and was able to flag down a taxi. My mind was racing by time I reached the hospital.

Everyone was still in the waiting room. Jimmy was the one to flag me down when I first walked into the building. They were all crowded around Anna trying to comfort the older woman. She had been crying, leaving trails of mascara running down her cheeks.

I almost felt numb as I walked up to her. When she saw me approaching, she jumped to her feet and threw her arms around my shoulders. I could feel her tears landing on my bare shoulder briefly before she whipped her head back to look up at me. “Where the hell where you? Why didn’t you answer your phone!!” She shouted, reaching out and smacking my arm.

I was at a loss for words, I didn’t even know what had really happened. The words ‘I was at the gym’ sounded stupid when I said them in my head, I couldn’t imagine what they would sound like out loud.

“I didn’t have my phone on me. What happened? Have they said anything about how she’s doing?” I questioned, my heart heavy with worry. I didn’t know what I would do if they told us she wasn’t going to pull through. Would any of this have even happened if I wasn’t at the gym? I would’ve had my phone and would have seen her text. I could have done something, couldn’t I?

Seeing a woman walking in our direction, I feel worry weighing my down even more. Was she the surgeon, a doctor, or just a nurse? Was she going to tell us anything useful, or something that could bring our entire world to a screeching halt.

“Are you the family of Elle Sutton?” She questioned in a tiny voice. She herself was tiny, but the weight of the news she was carrying made her seem like the biggest person in the world.

“Yes, yes I’m her mother. What’s going on, is she okay?” Anna was very obviously out of breath from crying as she looked at the girl. She had her hair pulled to the side and braided and what looked like a medical chart grasped in her hands. I couldn’t tell what she was say based off of her body language. Stepping forward, I placed my hand on Anna’s shoulder.

“Elle’s body has been through a lot tonight. There was a lot internal bleeding, but we were able to fix it. However she does have three cracked ribs, a broken femur, and shatter her wrist. She is currently stable and resting, however you will not be allowed to see her when she’s moved out of recovery and into her own room in the morning. There is also something I would like to discuss with you in private. Her eyes flashed over to where I was standing next to Anna. The look she gave me definitely wasn’t a good one.

“Whatever you have to say to her, you can say in front of the rest of us.” I growled, feeling suddenly very territorial over my family. Anna was my family. “No, actually, it’s actaully very private.” The woman was very hesitant towards me now, obviously unsure how to really react.

“No, Matt’s right. Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of all of us.” Anna was quick to defend my words. Swaying back and forth, the woman shifted her weight between her feet. Trying to figure out whatever it was she needed to say to Anna. “We, uh, also saw some very fresh bruises forming on Elle. One on her stomach, and another on her cheek, that looked more like a hand than from the impact of the car.” She had lowered her voice.

Was this woman implying that someone was beating Elle?

Anna’s eyes flashed over to me almost questioningly, but part of me knew that she wouldn’t never think I would ever hit Elle. That’s because I would never do such a thing.

“She sent me a text earlier....someone was trying to break into her dorm.” I choked out. The worst entering my mind suddenly. Whoever had been trying to get in their dorm, had they succeeded? If they had, what they he’ll had they done to Elle.

The woman let out a breath that almost sounded like she was disappointed with my response. “Someone will come by and let you know when you can see her. There is some paper work that needs your signature, so when you finish with these just drop them off at the nurses station. Also the police will more than likely be by to ask you a few questions concerning your daughters situation.” The woman handed Anna a clipboard over flowing with papers before walking away.

Didn’t even give Anna a chance to say anything before walking away. My eyes found Anna’s face, and the poor woman looked like she was about to collapse. Taking the clipboard from her hands, I quickly wrapped my arms around her shoulders before leading her over to a chair to sit down.

“You don’t have to worry about this right now.” I mumbled, setting the giant stack of papers in the abandoned chair to my left. That was the moment that Anna finally let everything come crashing down. Her hands came up to her face, and tears began freely rolling down her cheeks. The woman had nearly lost her daughter, I couldn’t imagine what she was feeling right now.

“How the hell did this happen?” Jimmy mumbled, his hands shoved down into his pockets as he stood in front of me. Looking up, saw that all of the guys had circled around in front of Anna and I.

“Someone was trying to break into her dorm. She texted me while I was at the gym, saying someone was trying to get in and she was going to call the cops.” I explained the text I received earlier. Each of the guys had their own exclamations of shock or disgust towards whoever it was that had attacked Elle. “So she was trying to get away, and ended up getting hit by a car?” Zacky scoffed as if not believing it.

To be completely honest neither could. What are the odds in that kind of situation?

Bringing my hands together in front of me, I couldn’t believe that this was happening. The small voice in the back of my mind wouldn’t stop saying how much this was my fault. How this would have never happened if I would’ve just answered my phone.