Shock Waves | Complete | (First Draft)

Chapter Eight

"It i-is, though. P-people are i-in pain b-because of me. Gosh, I h-hate myself. I can't do a-anything right." Blake lightly pulled her hands away from her eyes to get her to look at him.

"Mia, I'm going to tell you this one more time. This is not your fault. You can't let yourself think that," he told her sternly.

She knew that it would take a while for her to believe that but if she could make him think that she agreed with him, maybe he would leave her alone about it. "I k-know," she lied, her voice still a little wobbly.

He relaxed a bit. "I'm going to get the doctor and tell him that you're awake," he told her, standing up again. This time, she let him leave, watching as the door shut behind him.

She was still in that same guest room she had been in for the past week. Under normal circumstance she would have been in the hospital but Blake and Mr. Payson decided to keep her in their home along with a private doctor. Dr. Clarkson had told her that she would get to return to school in about two weeks but that even then she shouldn't exert herself and that she would even get a pass from P.E.

She had seen her family a few times. They were happy that she was there rather than a hospital and had come to know that she had become close with the Paysons and that they were "just being kind." Apparently, they also thought that she was just there when it happened and got caught up in the lightning created by someone else entirely. She let them believe it. It was a far better version of the story than the truth.

"You ready to get your bandages replaced, Miss Patterson?" Dr. Clarkson asked.

"Yep," Mia responded. She wasn't happy or excited that she was getting her bandages replaced because most of the time it hurt. A lot. But Dr. Clarkson was just too sweet and cheerful for anyone to ever be upset when she was around.

"Let's get right to it," Dr. Clarkson said with a bright smile.

"Okay," Mia responded with a smile. It was small but at least she was smiling.

The next few minutes were torture. She tried not to show too much pain for Dr. Clarkson's sake but a few whimpers and grunts of pain managed to slip out. When she was done, Mia let out a sigh of relief that it was over.

She realized that she was already tired and went to rest her head against the pillow once more. Although her injuries were mostly just burns she did manage to get a concussion as well. Basically, she was just one big mess.

When she got into her bed she grabbed a book, intending to read until she was able to fall asleep. For some reason, although exhausted physically, she had been unable to sleep for the past few days and even when she could her nights were flooded with nightmares. The only thing that could comfort her, it seemed, was Blake.

It was starting to get late when Blake opened her door. He peeked his head inside rather than just coming all the way in.

"Seriously, Blake," she told him with a small chuckle. "You can come in."

"I'm just making sure," he told her, opening the door wider and walking in fully. He walked over to her bed and crawled in beside her as he had done the past few nights. Ever since Blake heard her screams the first night he had been staying with her to help her get past the nightmares.

At first she had protested.

"What about your sleep?" she had asked.

"I couldn't sleep knowing you were having nightmares anyway," he told her.

She tried again. "You can't do this for me. These dreams are mine and I should be the one to deal with them!"

"You are my best friend, don't tell Bella or Drew that I said that, and I'm not going to let you deal with this on your own, no matter how hard you protest."