The Paper Crown

~*Chapter Fourteen*~

(I apologize that this chapter took so long, I have taken a very important test, and have been trying to work non-stop on this book. This chapter is very important to the actual plot of the story, so yes it did take a while. Also, this may end shorter than I had expected, but it will probably be a decent length at the least when finished. Thank you for the support!)

I awoke to the sound of chairs scraping against the floor. Opening my eyes slowly, I saw that both the natural and artificial light was bouncing off of the white interior. I expected this to happen.

I expected to be in the hospital. I expected the erratic heartbeat. I expected to be nervous beyond belief. I expected Seth and Lukas to be in the room. I expected Mother and Father to be absent. I expected a doctor to tell me I had visitors. I expected to feel the dull thudding against my body from my parents beating.

But what I didn't expect, was Seth and Lukas to not be there. I didn't expect to see police in their places. I didn't expect the surprising serenity across my being as I realized they must have upped my pain killers.

I calmed myself down when I first saw the officers. It's okay, I told myself, they won't hurt you. They will believe you when you tell them. They have to.

I took a few breaths and calmed myself down, telling the nurse in the room that I was just surprised to see the officers in the room. She started to calm down once my heartbeat began to sink to regular levels.

Soon enough, Dr. Johnspn came over to introduce me to the three policemen and woman in the room. "Raven, this is Detective Dollock-" she pointed to the woman "-Detective Verind-" she pointed to the man sitting next to the first woman "-and Deputy Oliver."

I gave the four adults in the room a small wave along with a smile, one that was almost completely genuine. I wanted to make this the first day of my life, my real one, the better one, so it was going to start off with a smile.

"Hello," I told them, "Thank you, Dr. Johnson."

The doctor smiled back at me as she then looked to Detective Dollock, whom of which gave her a small nod which encouraged her to leave the room. All of Dollock and Verind's attention was put onto me then, the deputy was looking at a clipboard in his hands.

"Good morning, Raven-" Detective Verind started before I interrupted with.

"Sorry to, um, interrupt-" I stopped to clear my throat a bit. Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as I thought, "-ahem, sorry. Uhm, please, call me Blakely. Blakely Forrester."

The two gave me a glance before Verind started again saying, "But it says here that your name is Raven Foreen."

"Aha," What do I say, what do I say, "yes about that... I, uh, changed my name last spring. Yeah, I'm really into names with meaning. Blakely could mean either light or dark meadow. I thought it was cool..."

Why did I just do that? I just fucking lied. Like I have been lying my entire life.

"Okay," Verind stated, "maybe they just haven't updated it yet. Anyway, Blakely, it doesn't matter too much I guess. I hipe we haven't bothered you by coming this early and unannounced."

I waved my hand and smiled a bit, "It's fine, I understand. I don't have much else to do in this hospital room anyway."

The three visibly smiled and Dollock even gave a small laugh, releasing some unwanted tension in the room. "You're a funny one, Ms. Forrester. I apologize by getting right down to business, but we need to learn about what had happened to you. The past two days have not been productive on our end."

I nodded, "I'm sorry, I ju-"

"Oh don't apologize," the deputy said, stepping in, "you could have died, to be frank, we are glad you took those days to rest."

I smiled thankfully in his direction before slowly allowing it to fade, looking back to the detectives who wanted to help.

That's right Blakely, they want to help, I thought to myself, calm down. You can do it, it won't ever happen again once you get them out of your life. DON'T LIE TO THEM.

"So," Verind says looking directly into my eyes, "tell us, Ms. Forrester. What event occurred on Friday caused you to end up in the hospital in such a terrible state?"

All eyes were on me again.

"I- Uhm..."

My breathing started to quicken and my heart monitor started to beep a bit faster.

"Uhm-"

I shakily scratched the back of my neck and cleared my throat again.

"Yes, Blakely?"

"I-I..."

JUST TELL THEM ALREADY BLAKELY. IT'S NOW OR NEVER. WOULD YOU LIKE A NORMAL LIFE OR NOT!?

"W-what happened was... Uhm..."

But what if they don't believe me? What if they don't think I am telling the truth. They have to know about my parents at the least, they won't believe me...

"Ms. Forrester, you can take your time don't worry."

Time around me seemed to stop. I heard the heart monitor started to beep even faster and my breathing ceased for the moment. I looked over the faces of each individual in the room. Deputy Oliver looked pained and concerned, as if he knew something very bad had really happened. Detective Verind looked hard but open, like the look a parent would give a child who was supposed to be in trouble but they had hurt themselves. And finally, Detective Dollock, who looked like a caring mother that just wanted the best for her child.

That was where I broke.

"I can't do it," I muttered almost completely silently.

"What was that," Verind questioned me.

Exhaling slowly, I calmly stated, "I said... that I had fallen. I was wrestling with my cousin and we had gotten too close to the staircase where I fell down the two flights roughly. I got up to go look for my cousin again, adrenaline causing the lack of pain.

"When I found him, we continued to horse around. I had been trying to run away from him when I ran into a wall, becoming very hazy and light-headed. I remember my cousin saying he would go to get a tissue for my bloody nose when I walked outside.

"I had heard my parents' car door open and decided to tell them what had happened before they yelled at my cousin. Before I got to their car, I had fallen face first down the stairs because my head was pounding and the pain was just starting to kick in. I passed out right there in the lawn."

Huh, I thought to myself, even after the second time they almost killed you. Even after you had finally gained enough courage to tell someone about the truth. Even after you have gained friends and people you know wouldn't leave you and say you were just looking for attention after you told them. Even after you acknowledged the fact that they wanted to help you, you still.

Fucking.

Lied.

"Funny," Detective Dollock said knocking me right out of my thoughts.

"What is," Verind slightly whispered to his colleague.

"Well," she started, "It's funny for two reasons. One being the fact that this is almost the same thing Ms. Foreen told the doctors when she was admitted into the hospital room six years ago."

There was a pause while Verind looked to me shortly and then asked what the second.

"The second reason I find this funny," Dollock stated simply while staring deeply into my eyeballs, "is that Ms. Forrester's idea of what happened is completely different than her parent's."

(Alright, so this chapter was originally supposed to be a lot longer, but something had caused me to kind of rush through it a tiny bit. The next update, whenever that is, will be longer for you guys. Anyways, I think I'm going to pass out, good night!)