An Unexpected Fate

Back to School

By Sunday night, Ellie was cleared to go home. She was given some crutches to help her with her knee and advised to take it easy whilst everything healed. The nurses taught her mum how to remove and apply the bandages around her ribs and helped Ellie learn how to keep her casts waterproof so she could still shower.

When all of the paperwork was sorted and everything was organised, her dad and Freya helped Ellie into the car, whilst her mum and Abbie packed up everything else. Ellie was helped into the front seat whilst Freya, Abbie, and her dad got in the back. Once everyone was in, they set off. When they pulled up outside of their home, they started trying to help Ellie in, but she wanted to try the crutches instead. It took a bit of adjusting and changing the heights of the crutches to get them right, but eventually Ellie was ready.

She wasn't sure at first how to walk with them, she tried moving one forward at first, but nearly fell. It took a little bit of figuring out, but she managed to hobble her way into the living room and onto the couch. The rest of the family piled in behind her, bringing in the things they had taken back from the hospital. Once everyone was in and unpacked, they sat for a moment in silence.

It was broken by Ellie's dad. "I suppose now that Ellie is out of the hospital, we should take you home, Freya."

The look on Freya's face said she didn't want to leave, but she knew she had to. "Yeah, I guess."

Ellie took her hand and smiled. "Thank you, for staying with me. I'll see you in school tomorrow."

Freya pulled her in for a gentle hug and kissed her on the cheek. "Of course. I'll see you tomorrow."

They hugged for a little bit longer. Ellie didn't want her to go either, but she knew that she had to. They eventually split and Freya followed Ellie's mum out to the car. Ellie craned her neck to watch out the window as the car drove away.

***

The following morning, Ellie found it difficult to get dressed. Her mum had offered to let her stay off a little bit longer, but Ellie didn't want to sit around and feel sorry for herself. Her mum came in just after she woke up to help her change her bandages on her chest. Her mum gently wrapped the bandages around Ellie's chest. It felt a little tighter than it had the past few days. Ellie initially thought it was just because it was her mum's first time doing it, but then she noticed two little lumps on her chest. She could barely believe her eyes.

"I have boobs!" She squealed as her mum wrapped the bandage around.

Her mum chuckled. "Congrats. Welcome to the back-breaker club."

Excited by her new discovery, Ellie was fuelled by excitement as she continued to struggle getting dressed. She ended up needing her mum's help to actually get properly dressed, because trying to put clothes on with a broken knee and one hand is a very, very hard task. In the end, though, she managed to finish getting dressed and her mum helped her downstairs. She had breakfast and was helped back upstairs to finish getting ready before her mum dropped her and Abbie off at school.

Using her crutches, she slowly limped into the carpark, looking around for her friends. There were lots of people staring at her with looks of sympathy as she passed by. A few of them even came up to offer help, but she turned them away. Eventually, she found Freya and the girls, all of whom took turns hugging her.

"Why is everyone staring at me?" She asked after Maple let her go.

"After what happened, the police spoke to everyone in our year. So everyone knows what happened." Gwen said.

"Oh, great." Ellie sighed. The last thing she needed was more attention. People were bound to start thinking she was attention seeking. Then she suddenly remembered something. "What about Charlie, Harvey, and Molly?"

Gwen looked confused. "What about them?"

"Was it them who did it?" Maple asked, looking shocked.

Ellie nodded. Gwen exploded. "I'll fucking kill them! When I get my hands on them, they'll be the ones in the hospital!" She roared.

"Gwen, relax. The police already know. Maybe they've been arrested or something." Freya said, trying to calm the group down. Before anyone else could say anything, Miss Wilcox came out the front doors of the school and towards the girls.

"Ellie, there you are. How are you?" She asked.

"I've been better." Ellie laughed. It still hurt to laugh, but she did it anyway.

"At least you're up and about, that's the main thing. Do you think you'd be able to manage stairs?" She asked.

Ellie shrugged. "With a bit of help, yeah."

"Okay. If not, I've made arrangements with your teachers for you to take your classes downstairs and connect to the classroom virtually. You can pick someone from your classes to keep you company so you aren't completely alone." She said.

"Thanks. I'll try go to class, but we'll see." Ellie smiled, trying to remain somewhat positive.

"The police also told me about who you think might've... done this." She said, looking awkwardly towards the other girls.

"I already told them." Ellie said.

"Oh, okay. Well, in any case, the police are going to speak with them today and they've been asked not to come in. But, for your own safety, you shouldn't be alone." Miss Wilcox continued.

"She won't be." Freya said. The other girls nodded.

"Yeah, we'll be with her always." Annabeth said.

Miss Wilcox let out a tired smile. "A good group of friends goes a long way. The bell is about to ring, so I suggest you go and try get a headstart. The whole school already knows what happened, but I'll tell your teachers to let you and your friends out of class a little bit earlier so you can try and get to class on time."

"Thank you, Miss." Ellie said. It was a relief that she didn't need to deal with her attackers. She looked at her friends, truly appreciating them. She'd be lost without them.