Nothing But Each Other (book 2. of Nothing But Trouble)

1) Reunions

All around me were bright irritating lights. They were almost blinding. Groaning in annoyance I went to sit up only to find a sharp pain in my shoulder. I hissed as I put my hand on it only to find a thick gauze covering my collarbone. At this the memory of getting shot came back, but I don't recall getting bandaged up. Confused, I looked down to see completely new clothes. They smelt faintly of lavender.

Glancing around I saw I was in some kind of lab or doctors office. It was hard to properly tell.

"You're up. How are you feeling?"A male voice asked. I looked up to see a man with white hair and straight teeth grinning at me.

"Who are you?"I asked.

"My name is Janson. My job is to help kids like you. It looks like you were more high maintenance than the rest,"He commented.

"I got shot. I wouldn't call that high maintenance at all."

"Of course. My apologies. While I'm here would you like a mirror? Some kids get quite a shock seeing their face for this first time,"He offered.

I shook my head no. I wasn't sure if I was ready to see it yet. "The scar isn't that noticable. Take a look,"He pushed.

A sick sense of false hope and curiosity took over as I glanced at my face. No wonder the Blondie's stare. It was obviously from a knife or something else sharp. It stood out more than anything else on my face.

"Don't cry. I didn't mean to upset you,"Janson attempted to comfort. I hadn't even realized I had tears running down my cheeks. The more I tried to stop them the more they came. "If you'd like we can fix it. All you have to do is ask."

"How?"I questioned.

"I can't tell you. Only our doctors know, but they are amazing at what they do. They can make it look like nothing ever happened. Would you like that?"He asked. I stared at my reflection as I went over it. An unknown thing that sounded too good to be true could get rid of my scars forever? The answer was obvious.

At least, on the surface it was. I didn't know these people, and he didn't even know what they did. It could go wrong or even make them worse. At the same time I saw how deep they were. They were a good reason to hate how I look.

"I don't know,"I admitted.

"The offer will always stand while you're here. Are you ready to get some dinner? You've been out all day. I'm sure you're hungry."

Just the thought of food made me realize I was starving. I'd take anything I could get.

"Lead the way."

He only nodded his head and gestured for me to follow him. As we walked out I saw several other kids lined up and getting checked. Blood was being drawn and a few of them were running on a treadmill.

"We like to make sure they're in good health. Only the ones that look like they can or volunteer though. There's no need to push you guys after going through so much,"He explained.

"I'm sure they appreciate that."

"They do. It's such a shame there are so many kids though. We've been having to make exceptions for some of the rooms."

"What kind of exceptions?"I asked.

"You'll be one of the ones who see,"He remarked.

He didn't talk, and I didn't ask any more questions as we kept walking.

As we were right by the door something slipped out of his pocket. I picked it up to reveal a small red journal. It was held together by metal wires and was closed by a small button on the other side. It was beautiful. I wish I still had mine.

"You dropped this,"I mumbled, handing it to him.

"I forgot about this. Can I see it?"

"That's why I was handing it to you,"I pointed out. He was unbothered by my attitude. He just unbuttoned it and flipped through the pages. Did he write his story in there?

"I have far to many blank ones. I should probably throw this out."

"Why throw out a perfectly good journal?"I asked, absolutely horrified.

"You do have a good point. We found a pen in your things. Did you have one?"

"I did. I had to destroy it,"I muttered.

"Would you like this one? I can even give you a pen,"He said, pulling one out of his shirt pocket.

"What's the catch?"I asked skeptically.

"No catch,"He promised, still holding out the journal and pen.

My fingers were itching for the feel of the cold metal back in my hands, and hearing the sound of the pages turning sounded like a dream. I accepted them and tucked them under my arms.

"It's good to have something to vent to in here. Go join your friends now. They should be in there."

"My friends? All of them?"I asked, almost bouncing on my toes.

"Yes. At least the ones that made it out."

He put his badge up to the door, and it opened. No longer worried about food I looked around for my friends. Sure enough, they were sitting in the very back.

Without caring about anything else I ran straight towards them. Sonya was the first to spot me. She stood up and threw her arms around me. I didn't even push her off when he hands brushed across the bandage.

"Don't you ever do that again,"She scolded.

"Do what? Get shot against me will?"I asked, smiling.

"You're such an idiot sometimes."

"I know, but you love me."

"There you are you dumb stick. You're always playing hero,"Minnie said, practically shoving Sonya off to hug me.

"You have no room to talk,"I reminded her.

"Hey. What about me?"Harriet asked. Minnie rolled her eyes but let her hug me to. "I'm so glad you're okay. Especially, since Aris hasn't said a word since we got here. We were worried he'd go mute."

I pulled away but noticed he wasn't there. I gave her a questioning look. "He went to get water. He should be back soon."

Accepting her answer I took a seat in-between her and Sonya and set the journal on the table.

"Don't you want any food? You know, the entire reason we're here?"Minnie asked.

"Oh right. I'll be right back."

"Don't get shot,"She yelled, attracting some stares. I could practically see Sonya smacking her on the back of the head.

Not even looking at the food I grabbed the first tray and practically sprinted back to the table.

Once I was there time seemed to freeze. Standing before me was Aris. Shoving the tray in Minnie's arms I pulled him into a tight embrace. It was almost impossible to believe anything that was happening. So much so that it almost made me want to cry all over again. We were all okay now. Everything was finally going to be okay.