Adopted by Heathers: The Sequel

At Least I'm Not The Only One In The Hospital

"Oh my God." I complained to myself after my first physical therapy session. "Never. Again." I was sweating, exhausted, in pain, and I just wanted to go home. But according to Elle and the nearly 20 doctors who have been shuttling in and out of my room for the past month, I wasn't going home for a while. 

"Sunshine, you have to do this to get better." Elle said for about the fiftieth time. Was she right? Yes. Did I want to believe her? No. Not at all. All I wanted was to go home and have life be normal again. 

"How you feeling?" Elle asked, kneeling on my bed and stroking my hair. "Any better yet?" I shook my head and said, "Everything hurts...I don't feel well." 

"I know, but the doctor says you're getting stronger. I'm so proud of you, Sunshine." Elle said. She kissed my forehead and I smiled, rolling back over to go to sleep for an hour or two.

And that's when it hit me. Red wanted me to call her after my first physical therapy session just to see how it went. I didn't want to break that promise, so I leaned over to grab my phone off of a nearby table.

I smiled and turned towards Elle. "Mom? I'm going to call Red for a few minutes." I said. Elle took this as her cue to step out of the room. I pulled up my contacts and dialed Red's number. 

It took five rings and then someone said in a monotone, "Is this 'Car Care McLemore?'" 

I tried my best to hold in my giggles. I knew Red had a stupid name for me in her phone, I just didn't expect it to be as stupid as it was. "Yeah...um...hi...this is Catlynn McLemore. Who's this?"

"Hello...this is Elizabeth Ashley's doctor...she got hit by a car earlier today and is in critical condition. She's not able to come to the phone right now." the man on the other end said. Then he hung up.

 I started to shriek at the top of my lungs, throwing my phone across the room. Elle ran in and said, "What's wrong? What hurts? Do I need to get a doctor?"

"Mommy...Red's in the hospital..." I said, sobbing. Now time for the hardest part. Pretending that Red was just my best friend and nothing more. It would've been hard if Astrid or any of my actual best friends were the one in the hospital. But Red, my girlfriend, the love of my life, in the hospital? This is a whole another level.

"Oh my God. Cat...I'm so sorry." Elle said, not knowing what to do. I was bed-ridden, so I couldn't see her. It was pretty obvious that Red was bed-ridden too, so she couldn't see me. I didn't know how long it would be until I could see my girlfriend again.

And what if she died? What if the love of my life died and I'd never be able to see her again? She already almost died in a subway crash once, she was declared dead and I thought she was actually dead. And now I may have to deal with that again?

I'm only 16 years old, yet in just three years, I have dealt with more trauma than probably most of the adults I know combined. And even before Elle, I had to deal with my monster of a father and my older brother bullying me.

All I wanted was for the crash and the hospitals to be behind me. I wanted to go home, to see my family again. Even though they still come to visit me nearly every day, it's not the same. 

"Cat? Sunshine?" Elle said, waving her hand in front of my face. I groaned, knowing that whatever comforting thing she had to say wouldn't work. 

Please tell me Red will be okay...

AN: I'm so, so sorry. It'll get fluffy pretty soon. And some good news for everyone! Cat's getting out of the hospital soon! Hope you enjoyed and catch ya later! Love you all!