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When Caroline woke up, Nick was by her side He looked exhausted as he had a drink of his coffee. Her blue eyes scanned the room as she tried to remember what had happened the previous night.
The crash.
She looked at her father who had finally noticed she was awake. "Hey, princess." Nick said straightening his posture. He kissed her on the cheek as she looked around.
"My head hurts." Caroline complained with a low and tired voice. Nick nodded his head, knowing it probably would. She ended up having a grade 2 concussion and she had 14 stitches in her forehead.
"Well it should, You have a grade 2 concussion and 14 stitches in your face." Nick said as he stroked his fingers through her hair. Caroline stared at the wall remembering what happened.
"Is Sam ok?" She asked worrying for her best friend. Nick nodded his head as he looked at the girl with a sympathetic expression.
"She's worried about you." Nick told Caroline as she looked around. "I'm going to get the doctor, just to check you out, then I need a witness report from you, okay?" Nick said standing up. He put a hand on his daughters cheek and she nodded.
"Okay." She answered as Nick to walk out of the room. Caroline laid on side and proved her head on her arm. She stared at the chair Nick was sitting in and looked down.
She thought about the events that happened. She thought about Sam puking blood, and how she was getting whispers. She thought about the image she saw in the rear view mirror. She was scared.
The teenager looked around the dimly lit room with tired eyes. Her eyes had dark circles underneath them as she looked. She looked at her hands, which had a few cuts from falling onto sticks and leaves the night prior.
Minutes later, the doctor walked in with Nick behind him. "Hello, Caroline. I'm Dr. Louis, mind if I check out your eyes real quick?" Dr. Louis asked as he grabbed his small flashlight out. He turned it on and shined it in Caroline's eyes.
"Don't mind at all." Caroline muttered as she squinted at the light.
"Yeah, 100% a concussion." The doctor said putting his flashlight away. Caroline looked up at him as he looked to be contemplating. "I think I want to keep her one more night for observation." The doctor said making Caroline look at Nick with an annoyed expression on her face.
"Thank you, doctor.." Nick trailed off as Dr. Louis walked away quickly. He sighed and looked at his daughter. Nick nodded his head and looked at Caroline.
"You ready?" Nick asked, and Caroline nodded her head. "What happened?" Nick asked. Caroline didn't want to get the Shadysiders into trouble, and she didn't want to get in trouble for being involved with Sunnyvalers who chased after the bus.
"Uh, we were behind the Shadyside bus, and then the car crashed." Caroline lied to him. Nick nodded his head as he stared at her.
"Anyone open the doors?" He asked her. Caroline shook her head, denying what he was saying.
"Nope." Caroline lied again. He slowly nodded and looked her in the eye.
"No cooler was thrown?" He asked her, getting her head shaken in return once again.
"No. The car just crashed, it lost control." Caroline said, she was a good lier.
When you had a father who was constantly interrogating your ever move, you had to know how to lie. Caroline didn't lie often, only when she had to.
Nick stared at his daughter and nodded his head. "Are you lying to me?" Nick asked her. Caroline shook her head, lying once again.
"I'm not lying." Caroline said looking at him. Nick nodded his head.
"Well you lied about who you were going with." Nick said making Caroline roll her eyes.
"Can we please stop talking about this? I knew if I didn't say that you'd make me sit with you and the rest of the family in stage." Caroline said as she closed her eyes. Her head started to pound again as the two spoke. Nick sighed as he nodded his head. "And Peter was driving, and you don't like Peter." Caroline said looking down.
"I get it, alright? My dad was the Sheriff and I always had to go up when he spoke in front of everyone. But I'd rather you tell me how you feel about it than lie. You know how I feel about lying." Nick said to her. Caroline nodded her head in understanding.
Nick was a lot like Caroline. He'd have to lie to get what he wanted. His dad was the sheriff. He would have to tell his dad that he would be driving down himself or with a friend to hang out. That hang out would be with a female in the backseat of his car. So when his dad died, he pulled his act together.
When his dad died, he became the man of the house. Nick handled the responsibility, he took care of his younger brother and his mother.
"I'm sorry." Caroline apologized with sincerity. Nick nodded his head.
"It's ok, just please don't lie anymore. Then I can't trust you." Nick said making her nod. He kissed her cheek as she nodded. "You're also very grounded." Nick told her.
Awhile later, Nick had to go to the station and Caroline also requested for her blanket. So while Nick was gone, Caroline went to Sam's room and hung out with her. She sat in Sam's room with her knees to her chest as she sat on the chair.
"What'd you tell my dad?" Caroline asked looking at the green jello Sam had given her. She put her spoon in it and took a bite.
"That we swerved and crashed. I did not want them to get in trouble." Sam said. Caroline nodded her head, knowing that she said the same thing.
"Our stories match up, I'm gonna guess the Shadysider's said the same." Caroline guessed with a shrug of her shoulders. Sam nodded her head. Caroline put her legs on the bed near Sam's feet.
"Car?" Sam asked and Caroline lifted her head up from the jello to look at Sam.
"What's up?" Caroline asked feeling her headache come back. Sam twirled her hair with her fingers as she started to admit something to her.
"I saw something. I-I don't know what it was but it freaked me out." Sam said scratching her arm. Caroline furrowed her eyebrows together as Sam spoke to her.
"Wanna talk about it?" Caroline asked and Sam nodded again.
"It was um, it was all red. It was a book, a tree, and someone just screaming." Sam said, making Caroline look in concern. "I thought I hit my head, but don't think so." She said sounding fearful. Caroline pursed her lips and nodded as she drummed her fingers on her lap.
"That's...weird." Caroline said in shock.
"Very."
"Hm?" Caroline asked, Sam looked at her confused as she looked around.
"You didn't hear that? It...never mind." Caroline said shaking her head. She cracked her knuckles. "Probably something with the concussion." Caroline said putting a hand through her hair. She sighed and shook her head. She rubbed her eyes as Sam put her head on her pillow.
"Ms. Goode?" Asked a Nurse as she walked in. Caroline looked at her and the Nurse looked out the door. "Your uncles here to see you. He's in your room now."She said, Caroline nodded and stood up.
"I'll be out in a second." Caroline said before turning to Sam. The Nurse walked out of the room.
"I'll see you later." Caroline said. Sam gave her a tight lipped smile as Caroline walked out.
"I'll see you, Car."
Caroline walked to her room to see her Uncle Will and her Aunt Ashlyn. She gave them a fake smile as she walked in.
"You can't get a break, can you?" Will asked as her aunt pulled her into a hug. Caroline smiled as Ashlyn embraced her.
"Hey there, Carolina." Ashlyn said kissing her in the cheek. Carolina was a nickname she'd have since she was little. Anyone who knew her well enough would call her that. "You feeling okay? I brought you a pair of pajama pants and a hoodie." Ashlyn said handing them to her. Caroline grinned when she saw them.
"Thank you, the hospital gown is unflattering." Caroline said as she placed the clothes onto her bed.
Caroline turned to Will and he wrapped her into a hug. "I remember when your dad gave me a concussion." Will sighed thinking back at it. Caroline smiled knowing the story. Nick and him a lot younger, and Nick pushed him down the steps.
Caroline laughed as the two broke from the hug. Will looked around the room with a sigh. "This is...is a hospital room." Will said having not much to say about the room. It was old, and the TV sucked. "How many channels does the TV have?" He asked her.
"I haven't turned it on. I woke up a couple hours ago." Caroline said with a small laugh. She rubbed her eyes and sat on her bed.
"Is your head bothering you, Carolina?" Will asked her. She nodded her head, but still keeping a smile. "Did they give you pain killers?" He asked her, and she shook her head no.
"They haven't asked."
"How about you get changed and we'll see what we can do." Ashlyn suggested to Caroline. Caroline nodded her head.
"I'm good with that." Caroline said and the two adults stood up.
"Be right back." Will said as Caroline stood up. When the two stepped out, they shut the door and she grabbed her pajamas.
She had plaid pajama pants that were cuffed at the bottom, and one of her Sunnyvale sweatshirts. It had Sunnyvale Track on it, it was from Freshman year. But when girls didn't do track, neither did she. She wanted to fit in, that's all she wanted.
When she was dressed she got into her bed and grabbed the remote. She turned on the TV and went through some channels until she could find one she wanted. All the channels were talking about the Shadyside tragedy. So finally, she got to a channel that had a movie on it.
A couple minutes later there was a knock on her door. Caroline looked away from the TV and sat up.
"Come in." She said. The door opened and the nurse came in with a glass of water and a couple of pills.
"This is some acetaminophen for your headache, you can have some every six hours. So if you want any just get me or the Doc. Sound good?" She asked Caroline who only nodded her head.
"Thank you, ma'am." Caroline said as the nurse placed the pills in her hand. Caroline put them in her mouth, then swallowed them down with the water that she was given.
The nurse walked out and her two relatives walked in. Caroline smiled as the two walked in.
"Let's just hope this is the craziest thing that happens for a long time." Ashlyn said as she walked in. She sat down on a nearby chair as Caroline chuckled.
Ashlyn's hopes were wrong. It was very, very wrong. Because things only got worse from there.
a/n:
how are y'all liking this so far?