Here and There

Chapter 13

Every day this week, all of my friends had visited me. They all had something important they wanted to talk to me about.

 

Colton came and he was crying hysterically and he kept apologizing for some reason. It reminded me of the time his Aunt died and I desperately wanted to hold him tight and comfort him. It broke my heart having to watch him fall apart right beside me. Unfortunately, I was stuck in a hospital bed, unable to move freely.

 

Rosie also came, except she had a totally different problem. Her and Ty were in the middle of a huge fight. She was starting to think he was going to end things with her soon since Ty had said to her that he needed some space. It’s a little dramatic, I know, but isn’t everything dramatic with Rosie? She talked to me about how school was going for her and how much she hated gym class. She told me how much she loved Ty and how heartbroken she would be if she were to lose him, which I made a mental note to tell Ty about whenever I woke the heck up.

 

Ty came for the same reason, basically. He just told me exactly how this fight went down and what was said and everything. I was pretty caught up even though I was technically half alive. He said to me that he really needed to think about some things and he isn’t capable of doing that when Rosie is around. This got me suspicious; however, I left it go and didn’t think much of it afterwards.

 

Alea usually came with Dad and very seldom, she asked to be alone with me. When she did, she told me what the most recent fights were about and how bad they were. Recently, she said they were extremely bad. She looked so helpless when she told me what had happened. I absolutely hated not being there to rescue her from everything. To me, she was still the tiny baby who started crawling at five months old. Though, she seemed all grown-up and mature about it, I could tell she was dying inside. I really wished I could be there for her.

 

Kayla came, too. Her dilemma was most likely the worst out of all of them, though. Now, as you know, Kayla is a total rebel and is pretty much the perfect image of the stereotypical teenager. Bright, colorful hair, piercings in places other than the ears, unusual clothing, etc. etc. I believe she always had some problems at home. She never met her real dad because he left before she was even born. So, all her life, she was constantly being introduced to casual dirtbags that her ‘classy’ mother brought home. Most of her mom’s relationships lasted a month at the most, but this one guy was already sticking around for about 6 months. Kayla had told us plenty of times how much she despised this guy. She never told us what was so bad about him, though. She just said that she got a bad vibe from him and didn’t like the way he acted around her. So, she came into my room one day and plopped down onto the floppy cushioned chair beside the bed. She threw her head in her hands as fast as she sat down and sighed heavily. She tore them away from her face after a while and stared at me.

 

“Damn, Nina. Why can’t you wake up yet? I really need to talk to you, babe,” she said shaking her head in distress.  

 

You can still talk to me, Kayla, I said out loud regardless of who was able to hear.

 

She sighed again. “Ted and I broke up last week. But that’s not what’s gotten me shaken. My mom’s boyfriend, you know, Ash, he, uhm,” she drew small circles with her finger in her hand, something she always did when she got nervous “He tried to touch me,” she said quietly.  “Not in a, uhm, sexual way or anything,” she added.

 

“I accidentally dropped a plate after dinner and apparently that’s considered fucking murdering someone in that house because he literally screamed at me and told me how inconsiderate of a child I was and that I was of no use in the family anymore. I swear to you, his whole face was bright red, Nina. He looked like a tomato, no joke. I kind of think I saw steam rising from him, too, but not sure,” she laughed lightly.

 

“Anyway, he had no right to fucking tell me I was unuseful to the family when all he did every day was sit on the couch sucking lips with my mom or a beer bottle. So, I told him off with some very unladylike words that I don’t think is appropriate to say in a hospital and he got very offensive. He slammed down the pieces of glass he was holding into the sink and started screaming even louder. I was getting sick of listening to him bitch at me about useless things so I walked upstairs but he started running after me holding a fucking knife, Nina!” she spoke viciously. “Not some skimpy little butter knife either, a sharp, steak knife! Good thing is, Ian was waiting in my room because he had snuck in before dinner and he was waiting for me to finish. Well, once I burst through the door followed by a chubby man with a knife aimed at me, my first reaction was to jump on my bed and try to get out my window. Ash got to me first, though. He held the knife dangerously close to my throat and spit words at me telling me never to walk away when he was speaking again and some other stuff I can’t remember. Ian immediately lunged at him and removed him from me. He had him pinned down and he spoke harshly through clenched teeth. I don’t remember exactly what Ian said to him but I do know that after he said it and let the guy go, Ash had an annoyed look on his face as he walked out of my room.” She stopped and took a deep breath.

 

“My mom was asleep this entire time so, she had no idea of what happened. When she did wake up, I told her everything when we were alone and you know what her reaction was? She shrugged and told me I probably deserved it. What fucking mother does that, Nina?!” she was nearly yelling at me and a few strangers that were passing my room gave her strange looks which she was completely oblivious to.

 

She shook her head again. “Ian and I talked after that and he said that he wanted me to come live with him because he didn’t want me living in that house and risking the possibility of it happening again. So, after some persuading, I agreed and I packed a couple of bags with some necessities and clothes and we snuck out. I’ve been living in his apartment ever since. The problem is my mom has been constantly trying to contact me through every possible way and sooner or later, she’;s going to find me.”

 

“I have no idea what to do, Nina. You gotta wake up soon. Please! I need your silly advice and courage you always manage to hand off to me.”