Falling

Chapter 13: A Painful Reminder

We pulled up to the Hospital at about noon, the texts coming in an hour before. Olivia had grabbed a box of tissues and was shoving them into my face, probably trying to block my only other trigger besides open spaces. Though sweet, her attempts were in vain because every fiber of my being was alert (no matter how sluggish I may have looked) and focused on the building that was in front of me. The building where we first took you. The building where you were taken away.

The receptionist looked at me and must've thought I was the patient because she looked surprised that we were asking where Bailey Oray was located. She gave us the room number and gave me a sideways glance, probably questioning my sanity, not that I blamed her. I was definitely insane to even consider to come back to where it happened.

Thankfully, we turned down a different hallway than I used to have to take whenever I came to visit, and soon we were met with the waiting room for that area. Axel was in a seat all by himself, his parents probably inside with Bailey. Well, saying he was in a seat might be a bit of a stretch as he was actually balanced on the very edge of the seat, staring intensely at the door, looking ready to bolt as soon as physically possible. He looked as bad as I felt, his hair sticking up in places where he had obviously been running his hand over and over it. His scar above his lip glaringly obvious as he kept rubbing it with his finger and a red mark on his knee where he had probably been picking at his skin.

I pushed my problems to the recesses of my mind, reminding myself that I was here for him and not the other way around. This was his sister, no matter how much she looked like mine. I walked over to the seat next to Axel, his vigilant green eye and alert blue eye flicking to mine for a fraction of a second and immediately went back to the door. I watched from the corner of my eye as Hunter, Olivia, and Austin had seated themselves close enough to still seem like part of the same group but far enough to give us our privacy.

I took Axel's hand in mine and placed my head in the crook of his shoulder, shifting a little so my lips were closer to his ear. I whispered into it, confident he would be able to hear me through all the chaos that must've been going on inside of his head. "Are you okay?" I waited for a little, expecting to get a small shake of his head, but instead, he squeezed my hand and opened his lips just enough so only I could hear him.

"I am now that you're here." He twitched his lips into the smallest smile I had ever seen but it was still something, a step-up from how he was before. I shifted back into a more comfortable position on his shoulder and directed my eyes' attention to the same door he was looking at. I recognized his facial expression as it was one I frequently had plastered on my own in that first couple of months. Back when I still had hope.

I had finally calmed myself down enough to convince myself that I was just here as his support system like a normal person and I wasn't getting triggered by every person who passed with a white lab coat on and every monitor that was beeping. Everything had finally gotten better.

And then the doctor came out asking for who was there to see Bailey Oray.

The five of us stood up and made our way over to the door, where the doctor directed us to the correct door and we gave a nod of appreciation. Inside I saw something I never thought I'd see again. Even though my brain knew that this was Bailey Shindle, my heart was convinced that the weak looking girl with the flowing blonde hair, with a cast on her arm, with the hospital gown, draped over her body, and heart monitor beating steadily beside her was my sister, May Chere.

And that was all it took.

I practically flew from the room as I ran out so fast I'm not even sure the Oray's even noticed I was in there at all. I know that Austin had seen me but had smartly let me go to deal with my problem myself. I ran into this closet and started writing this letter.

I've been here for about an hour. (Disclaimer: It took me about 2 hours to get to this point in the letter) Olive has been coming in and giving me updates, not once questioning when I might come out. Axel was confused when I had left, and even a little hurt until Hunter pulled him aside and reminded him about the small part about you that he already knew. Bailey had fallen off the stage at her school and had landed badly on her arm, which is why it was broken. She had been crying for about an hour straight and needed to rest, which is why she was asleep when we came in to see her.

The reason we had to wait outside was because they were giving her an MRI scan to make sure she didn't have any brain damage from the impact of the fall as she had been unconscious when they found her. Turns out, she had just passed out from the pain, which might still be terrible but it calmed my beating heart a little bit.

She is going to be okay. No worries. No reason to be concerned. They weren't going to take her away and give her to another family so she wouldn't relapse from the pain of the memories. So her mind could "rest" and "heal".

It almost doesn't seem fair. I know that I had said that they were an amazing family and don't deserve something like what happened to us, but we didn't deserve it either. It would be nice to have someone to talk to who understands. Mom and Dad don't like to think about the "trouble year" when talking about you; they prefer to remember the good times instead of the bad. And Austin shut himself down from that part of his life. Olivia and Hunter might have thought of you like a sister, but the fact is that you weren't. I was your only sister, and you were mine.

Bailey is going to be okay. And right now, that's all I need to know that one day, you will be too. Don't ask me how I know, not that you'd be able to, seeing as you don't know where I live. Or who I am. Or that I exist. Or that I am even writing these letters. Yes, that's right. I didn't send these immediately. I want to so badly, but they have your address under lock and key so I can't just start randomly visiting you. But I know they have it somewhere in the hospital...in this hospital, in fact.

Hmm...

Your sister, who might be doing something illegal in a minute, just for you.

Autumn

So, this one is on the shorter side, at 1945. But I think that's okay, what with almost month hiatus of writing. Whoops? I don't really think anyone cares though, so it's okay J!

I'm thinking of doing a "Song of the chapter" because it was fun to look up a song that the first few lyrics matched what she's feeling if you think of them in a different way. Yes? No? Please tell me your thoughts...I'm lonely.

Luv Always

allofakind

~Ani-Kehl