New Girl In Town

Chapter 25

I woke up in an unfamiliar room, but it somehow still seemed known to me. I looked around the room that I was in to try to figure out where I was. The bed that I was laying in was relatively large, and it was covered with a dark gray duvet and multiple pillows. The bed however, took up a majority of the tiny room. Other than that, the only other piece of furniture was a small dresser that stood beside the door. The small window above the bed allowed some moonlight to pour in, illuminating the walls and allowing me to survey the room more carefully. There were posters of motorcycles and cars plastered on the walls, a small mirror above the dresser, and a large pair of work boots rested on the ground beside the bed I was on. Then it all clicked; this must be Sweet Pea's room.

I started to get out of the bed, but intense pains shot through my body the moment I moved. The pain was so bad that it nearly took the breath out of me. What was going on? What happened. Moving more slowly and carefully than before, I reluctantly pushed myself out of the bed. Once I was standing, I realized how groggy I felt; my head was pounding, my body was aching, and I felt like I could faint at any moment.

I looked down and realized that the clothes I was wearing were not mine; my body was cloaked in a large, black t-shirt that nearly came down to my knees and what seemed to be a pair of plaid boxer shorts. Despite the pain I was in, I couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Sweet Pea scavenging through his clothes in an attempt to find some that would fit my much smaller frame.

My laughter subsided, however, when I noticed small cuts scattered around my arms and legs, and the pain in my head returned quickly and forcefully. I scurried to the mirror to examine myself more closely, but what I saw made me nauseous. A square patch of gauges were attached to my forehead with medical tape, and small, dried blood stains had soaked through; multiple bruises also littered that same side of my face. The sight of my broken features made me lightheaded, so I sat back down on the bed in an attempt to regain my energy. The memories suddenly came flooding back in. My dad, the fight, Sweet Pea holding me. I took a deep breath before slowly standing up, regaining my balance, and exiting the room.

I slowly made my way down the small corridor towards the familiar living space. I could hear Sweet Peas soft, low voice, but I didn't know who he was talking to. When I reached the end of the short hall, I immediately saw his tall, broad frame, but his back was facing me. I quickly realized that the person he was talking to was not in the small trailer, but he was speaking with someone on the phone. I didn't move, not wanting to interrupt the conversation he was having.

"No, she's not awake yet, but I think she's going to be okay. I've been changing her bandages every few hours, and the bleeding has finally slowed down," he said. He changed them every few hours? How long had I been out? "I've been so worried about her. There's no way I'm letting her step foot in that house again, not with that jackass there," he growled. He was getting more angry as he spoke with whoever was on the other line. "I swear to God, I'm going to—" he cut his sentence short as turned around and spotted me leaning against the wall a few feet away from him. "Hey, I'll call you back," he muttered before ending the call and quickly striding towards me with a look of both anxiousness and gratefulness. "Hey baby, how are you feeling?" he asked gently pulling me into a small embrace.

"I'm alright," I replied, pulling back. "Do you have any aspirin? My head is pounding". He quickly departed and rummaged around in the bathroom before going into the kitchen to grab a glass of water and returning with the little pills. "Thanks," I said as I swallowed the pill and chugged the rest of the water. My throat was scratchy and dry, so the water felt like a blessing as it went down my throat. "What time is it?" I asked.

"Almost four," Sweet Pea replied after a quick look down at his phone.

"In the morning?" I exclaimed, still slightly disoriented from everything that happened. He nodded. "Jesus," I muttered, "how long have I been out for?"