'till death do us part

three

I woke up in a hospital bed with no one around me. My eyes scanned the area and I slowly reached for the folder at the end of my bed, until I was interrupted by a nurse.

"Good mornin' hon." She greeted. "You feeling alright?"

"Yeah. Um... What happened?" I asked, pushing some of my hair back.

"According to a statement from ya friend that brought ya in, your mom had ya on the floor and was hitting ya, until ya blacked out and he took ya away." She crossed her arms and I sighed, looking away. "Well?"

"Statement?" I questioned. "As in police statement?"

"No. Just what he told me." She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. That's what happened. But I'm not pressing charges, and I'm not in danger, so can it just stay between us?" I begged. "Please. Please."

She sighed, then mumbled an 'alright.' I smiled gratefully and sat up. She quickly walked off and I wondered what happened to the boy from earlier. Leonardo, I think. And then, as if he'd telepathically tuned into my thoughts, he walked in and smiled at me.

"You feeling alright?" He asked, and I nodded. "Good. The nurse tells me you're not pressing charges."

"No. I can't afford a good enough lawyer anyway, and I'm not going through everything again. Pete will fax money across to someone somewhere, and they'll both get bail. It will just make them angrier." I sighed as he grabbed my hand.

"Well, I'm not gonna force you..." He breathed. "Nurse says you should be out of here by tonight, they just wanna get some more observation. I brought you some food, but I think it might be cold." He laughed as he held out a McDonald's bag for me. I grinned and grabbed it eagerly, excited to have some proper food for once.

"Thank you," I exclaimed in between bites. I bet I looked attractive...

"I've got some work to do soon, so I'm going back to California earlier than expected. Tomorrow, actually." He looked expectantly at me. "Will that be OK?"

"I... I don't know. Martha at the diner will want me to work a little more... I haven't paid my debts yet." I ran my hands through my hair and looked out of the window.

"I'll pay it for you." I began to protest but he shushed me, "No. I have plenty of money, please, let me pay."

The next morning, I was discharged, a few cuts on my face and the cut on my lip stitched, but apart from that, I was fine. I walked into the diner with $150 and went to say my goodbyes to Martha.

"Mornin' Becky." Martha greeted, "You got yourself a little beat up, huh hon? Street fightin' again?" I smiled and asked if we could talk for a moment. It was early, so no one was in yet. Martha turned the door sign to closed and we sat at a booth with a drink.

"I didn't know what I was doing when I robbed you. Fuck, I didn't know anything. I learnt from you. I'm grateful for you. But I gotta leave, you know? I gotta leave. I'm sorry." I placed the $150 on the table and walked out before she could say another word. Leonardo had picked up his car from wherever it was, and was waiting for me outside. I hopped in and asked him to go quickly before I changed my mind. In the back, a rucksack with my only belongings in the world was gently placed.

"You alright with flying?" He asked as I stared out of the window.

"Never been on a plane." I said, "We getting a plane there?"

"Yeah. That's the plan." He smiled. I took my money from my bag and counted it. I'd only learnt to count properly since working at the diner, when Martha taught me. $50. Great.

"OK." I nodded and shut my eyes briefly. "Your name is really long. Can I call you Leo?"

"Yeah," He laughed, "Yeah, sure."

As we pulled up into some more secluded part of the airport, a man took his car somewhere, presumably to look after it until he got back. We walked in and I heard girls screaming closeby. I turned around to see a mob of girls behind glass, being held back by security. Leo turned to wave at them, and they screamed even louder. I looked at him, confused, and frowned. He smiled awkwardly and took my hand, leading me to the plane. I kept turning around to look at them, to look at the flashing cameras taking pictures of Leo. We went outside and got onto the plane - or was it a jet?

"Leo, what the fuck?" I questioned. He sighed and looked out the window.

"You ever seen Growing Pains?" He asked, turning to face me. I nodded.

"My mom loved-" Then it kicked in that he was the little kid from it. "Oh my god. Leonardo DiCaprio. Of course! Jesus. Fuck, you didn't think to tell me you're a celebrity?"

"I'm not a celebrity Becky... I've been in a couple of stuff, that's all. I didn't want you to think differently of me." He shrugged. I sighed.

"Fucking hotshot." I joked, playfully punching him in the arm. He laughed and we just talked for the full journey, about everything and anything. We got off and kept talking as we got a cab to his apartment.