Untold scars

Chapter 34

I look around the foreign room. Where am I? I start to get up but a pounding headache stops me. Panic starts to set in, I try to remember what happened.

The last thing I remember is throwing up in the bathroom. I wipe my sweaty forehead. Who turned up the heat?

"Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling dear?" A lady asks from the door way. Who the hell is that? "What happened?" I ask, holding the right side of my head.

"You fainted and hit your head on the way down, good thing your boyfriend was there to help you." She says giving me a bag filled with ice before sitting down in her rolling chair.

I look at her confused. "Boyfriend?" I ask while trying to get up. "Ah, Ah, Ah. Don't get up, it's best to rest after a fall like that." She says coming over to me.

I sigh as she gently pushes me back down. I put the bag on my pounding head "Where am I?" I ask looking at a skeleton standing in the corner.

"You are in the nurse's office. I'm nurse Hadley." She says smiling at me. She's pretty with her ginger hair and brown eyes. She looks middle aged with wrinkles around her eyes. I hum as I try to think about what happened.

I start to get nauseous as I remember Daniel is transferring here. I need to leave, I can't stay here with him, but where will I go? Grandma and grandpa are the only relatives I have that are actually stable enough to care for me.

I put my hands on the side of my head as the room begins to dance. "I-I don't feel good." I stutter.

I feel like i'm going to throw up again. "Hold on honey, let me get you a garbage can." Nurse Hadley says. She pushes her feet onto the ground and rolls over to the garbage next to the door before rolling back over to me.

"We called your grandparent's, they should be here any minute." She says while checking my head. She hums, sitting back down on her chair.

"How long was I out?" I ask leaning my head over the bed. "About half hour, your boyfriend had to get to class but i'll let him know you're fine." She says rolling over to her desk.

I scrunch my eyebrows together. "I don't have a boyfriend." I say confused. She looks at me through her bangs. "Huh, well you need to get on that because honey that boy is IN LOVE." She says clicking her pen at me.

"What do you mean? Who helped me?" I ask sitting up. She stops smiling and looks at me sideways, pointing her pen at the pillow.

I roll my eyes as I lay back down and put the bag of ice back on my head. Her lips gently curl at the corner as she fills out a piece of paper.

"What I mean is, he was running around with his head cut off while caring you in his arms, it took fifteen minutes of me reassuring him you were okay before he left. I can't remember his name... Stetson I think." She says tapping the pen on her mouth.

"Stetson? I don't know a Stetson." I say. Does a Stetson even go to this school? "No, that's not right. Ah, Brayden." She says, proudly. I don't know a Brayden either.

I hum, tired of this conversation. I hear a soft knock at the door before grandpa's head peaks through.

"Amore mio, come ti senti?" (My love, how do you feel?) He asks, sitting down on the bed. Grandma follows him and starts stroking my forehead. "Stanca e Confuso, voglio andare a casa." (Tired and Confused, I want to go home.) I say, getting up. Grandpa get's off the bed and help's me.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Woods, would I be able to have a word with you?" Nurse Hadley asks them. They look at her with concern.

"Is she alright? Do we need to take her to the hospital? Who are you and what kind of nurse are you?" Grandma hounds on her.

She continues to smile and points to the door. "Please, let's talk outside." She says. Grandpa sighs before walking to the door. Grandma turns to me, patting my hand before following after him. I look at the closed door for a minute before putting my shoes on.

My mind starts to wonder about the mystery boy that helped me. Have I met him before? Was he the one that helped me in the bathroom? I'll have to find him and thank him. I walk over to the mirror that the skeleton is holding. My hand fly's to my mouth as I look at my appearance.

I have black bags under my eyes showing you how drained and tired I am. My face is pale, with beads of sweat coating my hair line. A bruise next to my temple catches my eye. That's where I must have hit my head.

I sit back down and rub my tired eyes. I grab my phone from my pocket and read through the hundreds of texts Nora and Kristina sent me in the past hour.

I text them back, telling them i'm fine and to stop worrying. I continue to play on my phone, waiting for them to get done talking so we can go home.

~

I wake up from a knock at my door. I rub my tired eyes as I tell them to come in. "Ehi assonnato, come ti senti?" (Hey sleepy, how do you feel?) Grandpa asks as he sits on my bed. I shrug, not wanting to talk.

"Io e la nonna abbiamo deciso che una guardia ti accompagnerà da e per la scuola." (Grandma and I have decided that a guard will escort you to and from school.) He says folding his legs. I look at him, my eyes widening. "Why?" I ask. People are really going to be talking now.

"Non voglio che ti succeda niente. Ho bisogno che tu non discuta su questo. Non sarà per sempre, solo finché non avrò capito le cose." (I don't want anything to happen to you. I need you not to argue about this. It won't be forever, just until I figure things out.) He says tapping my hands.

"Ciò che mi accingo a fare?" (What am I going to do?) I ask more to myself. I don't know if I can go to school with Daniel. "Riguardo a cosa? Riguardo Grayson o Daniel?" (About what? About Grayson or Daniel?) He asks. I sigh while massaging my temples as a headache forms.

"Entrambi." (Both.) I say. "mettiti dei vestiti caldi, andiamo a fare una passeggiata." (put on some warm clothes, let's go for a walk.) He says patting my leg before getting up and leaving my room. I groan, not wanting to go outside.

I reluctantly get up and put on some leggings and shoes before going downstairs to put on my coat.

I follow grandpa to the trail in our backyard. He stays silent as he looks out into the sunset, the sun peaking through the trees.

"When I first met your grandma I immediately knew I was going to marry her. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her, everything she did, said, made me fall for her even harder. My dad was a bad man, always in and out of prison. He would beat me and your great grandmother for the silliest things. I didn't want your grandma around that so I broke things off, telling her I didn't love her anymore." He says kicking the dirt with his feet.

I frown as he tells me his story. This isn't making me feel any better. "I broke her heart so my dad couldn't touch her. I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping her away but watching her hate me... I realized that was the biggest mistake I've ever made." He says looking at me.

I try to think if there's a reason why he is telling me this. We get to the lake that's at the end of the trail.

We sit down on the bench and watch the birds splashing in the water. "What i'm trying to say is, maybe Grayson broke your heart to protect you or him from something. Daniel and his dad are very evil people, I won't be surprised if he threatened him if he didn't back off of you." He says before sniffling.

Then why wouldn't he just tell me instead of shutting me out? "Don't be mad at him for too long, he's not the enemy here. Okay?" He says putting his hand on my knee. I look at him for a second before nodding.

"So, who will be my new bodyguard?" I ask trying to lighten the mood. He chuckles while fixing his glove.

"His name is Teddy Bear, Teddy for short. He is quite the character." He says wiping his nose with his tissue.

Huh, I wonder if that's his actual name.

He sounds nice.