BREAKAWAY

Chapter Eighteen

Sang's POV:

Waking up felt like wading through treacle.

It was hard to push through the haze of sleep, completely unlike normal.

Was I dying? The bed felt too soft. Where was I?

Then I remembered.

I heard yelling, and flinched, my eyes snapping open. The beeping in my ears got faster and then it was quiet.

I could see nine pairs of eyes looking at me.

"Hey Pookie, deep breaths, calm down, you're okay."

Oh thank god. I sighed in relief and sunk down onto the pillows. I was exhausted, and my back stung like hell.

"Are you in any pain?" Dr Green asked, rifling through some cabinets in search of something.

"A little." I said, not wanting to seem weak in front of the boys. "Hi, guys."

They all started talking at once as Dr Green injected something into my IV, a cold feeling spreading through my veins, making me shiver.

"Are you cold Baby?" North asked, a crease between his eyebrows. They all looked worried and I felt guilty for inconveniencing them.

"No, I'm okay." I said. He didn't look convinced, but nodded anyway. I turned to Mr Blackbourne, who was sitting on a chair next to the end of my bed, hands folded in his lap.

"What's going to happen to me now?" I asked. "Do I have to go back?" My heart thudded at the prospect of going back. I didn't want her to kill me, but she would after knowing I'd called for help.

"No." Mr Blackbourne said, looking right at me. "You don't have to go back."

"Then-" I started to ask a question, but Kota cut me off.

"Alright, everybody out, let Mr B and Sang have a conversation." He said.

"Thank you, Mr Lee." Mr Blackbourne said as the boys all filed out. I took the opportunity to take in the room. It was white. The floor, the ceiling, the walls. All white, and it smelt like hand sanitizer that tickled my nose. I'd never been to a hospital before, but I was quite sure that this was one.

"You won't be going back, your mother has been arrested for child abuse." Mr Blackbourne said.

My mouth dropped open and tears welled up in my eyes.

"A- arrest- ted?" I asked, hope rising within me at the idea that she wouldn't hurt me again.

"Yes, Miss Sorenson, she won't hurt you again." He said, a small smile on his face. I'd learnt that his smiles didn't really get bigger than that, so this was an achievement.

I smiled. "Thank you." I said, and he nodded, maybe sort of bashfully.

"It was my pleasure." He said, with a wicked glint in his eye, and I had no doubt that he had actually had a lot of fun with my mother's arrest.

My smile dropped when I remembered something.

"Where will I go now? I haven't got any other family." I asked. I didn't want to go into foster care, I'd heard all the stories, and with my luck I'd be put in a home even worse than my old one.

"Yes, you have."

I was confused. No, I didn't. My mother told me that she was my last living relative, what did he mean? My confusion must have shown on my face, because he elaborated.

"You have us." Now the tears actually spilled over, and I buried my face in my hands as I cried in relief.

"Really? I can stay with you?" I asked, barely daring to believe it, but I knew that Mr Blackbourne wouldn't lie.

"Yes, I'm going to adopt you." He said. "If that's alright with you." I couldn't nod my head fast enough as he approached me and enveloped me in a hug.

"Thank you." I said again. "You don't know what this means to me."

"I think I understand." He said, but I didn't have time to dwell on what he meant, because North barged in, being restrained by Nathan.

"She's crying? What the fuck did you do to her, Mr B?" He said loudly, close to yelling but sounding strained, like he was stopping himself from exploding.

Either that or he was constipated.

"I adopted her." Said Mr Blackbourne calmly, and North relaxed as the others came barging in after him, huddling round me in one massive group hug.

It was very hot and I felt squished, but also quite comforting. The boys didn't seem like they were letting go any time soon.

"I love you guys too, but you're squishing me." I said, amusement coating my voice as they backed away and sat themselves down in various chairs scattered throughout the room.

"Let's do something calm, because Pookie's about to get really sleepy soon." Dr Green said, and I looked at him, surprised.

"What are you, a hypnotist?" I asked him. I read a book once with those exact words in, and it was about hypnotism. It was actually quite fascinating, but I didn't ever want to try it.

Everyone laughed, including Dr Green who shook his head.

"No, I'm a doctor who's just given you medicine." He said. "It'll make you drowsy soon, and when it does, please fall asleep." He grinned. "I'm giving you another ten minutes."

"I say twenty." North countered. "Baby is stubborn as fuck."

I looked around open mouthed, were they seriously betting on me right now? I was 100% going to prove them all wrong.

Mr Blackbourne surveyed me and then studied the amount of medicine left in my IV drip.

"I give her fifteen." He calculated. I glared at him but he simply turned to Luke, who was about to slip out of the door.

"Put a movie on while you're up." He said. Luke picked up the remote and scrolled through the hospital selection, grinning in delight as he clicked on one, to groans from everyone else.

"I'm going to get snacks." He called, bouncing out of the door and down the corridor.

"Something healthy!" North called, following him at the last minute. We could hear him calling Luke's name as he chased him.

I giggled quietly, earning a look from Dr Green.

"Not Charlie and the Chocolate Factory again." Gabriel groaned, dramatically throwing his head backwards and reaching up towards the sky. "Give me strength." He said as the opening song began.

I watched, entranced as the story began to unfold. I'd read the book, but I'd never been allowed to watch television, let alone an entire movie.

Charlie had just found the Golden ticket when my eyes closed and my head looked to the side.

Mr Blackbourne came over and pulled up the covers, brushing a lock of hair out of my face as the world faded away.

"Fifteen minutes exactly." He whispered.