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This is the longest chapter yet and I really, really hope y’all like it. Remember to comment, vote, fan and share. :D
Chapter Thirteen.
Madeline’s Point of View.
My eyes fluttered open, my head feeling slightly fuzzy and dazed. Black spots danced in front of my eyes for a few moments before my vision cleared. I was still for several moments before I glanced around the plain, sterile, white room. A hospital room? I turned my head to the side, coming face to face with a worried looking Kyle. His brow was furrowed and his eyes were filled with concern.
“Hey.”
The voice that came from my lips didn’t sound like my own. It was hoarse and my throat was painfully sore and dry. There was a thumping within my head, and it caused my temples and forehead to throb uncomfortably. I shut my eyes for a few moments and yawned before I opened my eyes again.
“You scared me back at school.”
I cracked a small smile at Kyle’s words, touched that he would be concerned about my wellbeing.
“What happened?”
I asked. Kyle shrugged his shoulders and shook his head as his mouth opened to answer.
“You just passed out when we got to the nurse’s office. The doctor hasn’t told me anything, and you were out cold so I guess he’ll come back soon to tell you what’s going on.”
I lifted my head slowly up and down in a cautious nod, pressing my sharp teeth into my lower lip and chewing on it for a moment. I swallowed, realising just how parched I was.
“Is there any water?”
Kyle nodded his head and stood up. My gaze followed him as he walked around to the other side of the bed. He courteously poured me a glass of water and popped a straw into the glass. My lips twitched into a smile as he held the straw to my lips.
I sipped thirstily at the water, instantly pacified as the cool liquid soothed my hot throat. When I was no longer parched, Kyle placed the glass back onto the wooden table and returned to his chair. The both of us turned our heads to stare at the door as it was opened.
I identified the first entrant as a doctor, and the second as my mother. Behind her stood a small William. My breath caught in my throat and I silently curled my fingers around the thin sheet that had been placed over me.
“Ahh good, you’re awake. Your school called your mother at her workplace so she’s here to see you. Before I leave you to it, I am going to inform you of your situation.”
The doctor spoke, looking in my direction with a smile. My jaw tightened as I clenched my teeth together, and I forced myself to nod my head.
“Firstly, you were extremely dehydrated, hence the drip. Secondly, your right kidney is very inflamed and we discovered some internal bleeding, which we have managed to stabilise. We will need to keep you in for the next few days for observation, and if your condition improves then you may be discharged.”
After speaking, the doctor quickly excused himself from the room. As soon as the door had clicked closed behind him, I spoke.
“Come here William.”
My jaw softened as I looked at him. A bright grin lit up his angelic face as he ran over to the bed and hurried to climb up. He jumped onto my lap, and my stomach clenched in pain. I snapped my teeth down onto my tongue to prevent a cry falling from my lips.
My arms moved to protectively wrap around William and he leaned his head against my chest. Mother took a sharp step forward and I flinched back against my pillows, my arms constricting around William. Less than a second later, Kyle had situated himself between my mother and me, blocking my view of her. My heart rate began to speed up alarmingly, my breaths becoming quick and shallow.
“I think you should go. You’re scaring Madeline.”
I thanked my lucky stars that Kyle was here right now. His deep, authoritative voice made me feel safer. I knew that mother wouldn’t dare to hurt me or William while I was ‘sick’. No, she was much cleverer than that. However, she was an expert at inflicting emotional damage as well and physical, so I was scared of what she would say to me if Kyle did leave.
I could clearly see mother’s expression in my mind as she spoke. I knew that her thin lips would be curled upward into an unattractive sneer.
“And who the fuck are you?”
“That’s none of your business. Just leave.”
I was insanely thankful that Kyle clearly was not backing down. The thought gave me a slightly bigger sense of security.
“Listen, kid. I want to speak to my daughter. Alone.”
I heard a snort from Kyle as he heard my mother’s words.
“I’m not going anywhere. It’s you who needs to be leaving right now.”
I breathed a gigantic sigh of relief as my mother seemed to think the better of facing up to Kyle. She would never be a match for him. She stormed out of the room, roughly pulling the door shut behind her. I let out a breath that I hadn’t realised I had been holding it. As the breath left my body so did all of the tension and I relaxed slightly.
I looked down at William, noticing that his breathing had evened out and he had fallen asleep. At least someone hadn’t been affected by the obvious strain that had been in the room. I looked up as Kyle spun around to face me. He opened his mouth to say something before closing it again, almost resembling a fish as he did so. Eventually, he broke the silence, filling the room with his deep voice.
“What’s going on Madeline?”
My cheeks began to heat up and I knew that they were changing into a light pink colour. I shook my head at him, struggling for something to say but coming up with absolutely nothing. I sighed at my inability to lie convincingly.
“N-nothing.”
I mentally cursed myself as I stumbled over the simple word. Nice going Madeline, way to seem like you’re telling the truth. I cursed my inability to tell lies, and my eyes filled with anger that was directed at myself and at my mother for putting me in this position. Kyle’s green eyes narrowed and he flopped down onto the chair by my bed, his fingertips drumming against the arm of the chair for a couple of long seconds before he spoke.
“You’re lying to me- again. Why do you feel the need to lie to me?!”
I could see from Kyle’s expression that he was getting worked up. His brows rose, his lips pulled down at the corners, forming a frown. He pressed his lips together into a thin line, his eyes hardening slightly. I had to admit that the sudden change frightened me some. I steeled myself, forcing my body not to flinch backward in fear. I couldn’t keep on allowing myself to seem weak. The only thing that calmed me right now was the fact that William’s sleeping form was settled comfortably on my lap. I took a breath to reign in my emotions.
“Look...Kyle. I-I can’t...”
I shook my head, the words barely forming in my mouth. I squeezed my eyes shut, leaning my head down and gently pressing my forehead against William’s silky hair. Silence washed over the room- the only sound came from our breathing. Once again, I became overwhelmed by a feeling of weakness. I wasn’t as strong as some people, and after years of abuse I could feel myself beginning to crumble. I was feeling lost and out of control. I flinched as a hand touched my shoulder, startled. I lifted my head, my eyes shooting over to look at Kyle. His face held an unreadable expression, and there was a tender glint in his eyes as he watched me.
“Okay, I understand. But when you’re ready to talk, I’ll be around to listen.”
His words touched me, and I lifted one of my arms from around William so that I could place my hand on top of the one that he had placed on my shoulder. I gave it a gentle squeeze, feeling a small smile appearing on my face.
“Thank you.”
I said softly before dropping my hand back to its previous position around William. I felt strangely comforted by Kyle’s words, and another smile slipped onto my face. He was a strange one. One minute he was pressing me to tell him what was wrong, and the next he was being all sweet and understanding. It confused me somewhat, but I had to admit that I was grateful. I didn’t think that I would have been able to deny him for very long if he had continued to ask questions.
Kyle nodded his head, leaning back on his chair. He lifted a hand and ran it over his face and backward into his dark hair, unknowingly tousling it in an attractive manner. I felt my cheeks begin to heat up, a fiery blush making its way onto my face. I knew that Kyle saw it from the way that his eyebrows rose incredulously as he looked at me.
Curse my pale skin! If I wasn’t so pale then maybe my blush wouldn’t show so easily. I looked down at the translucent skin of my hands, my bright blue veins clearly visible just underneath the thin layer of skin I knew that my face looked worse. Creamy white skin with a dusting of annoying freckles, though I was thankful that at least my skin was clear so that I didn’t have to worry about spots.
I shifted uncomfortably on the hospital bed, William’s weight pressing against my sore stomach. I slowly shuffled closer to the edge and slowly tried to move William to the other side of me. I winced in pain as my torso twisted to the side, and my face scrunched into a strained expression. Kyle jumped to his feet, rushing closer to the bed. He carefully lifted William from my lap and into his own arms. I was about to protest, but Kyle shook his head as though he had known what I had been about to say.
He moved around to the other side of the bed, walking slowly so that he didn’t jostle William. He then proceeded to lay him gently beside me, tucking one side of the white blanket around him. I looked at Kyle, surprised. He didn’t seem like the kind of boy who would be so...nice. With a face and a body like that one could only assume that he would be conceited and stuck up. I shook my head at myself- no, the conceited and stuck up person was Jenny. Kyle had been nothing but nice to me so far, so I had no right to think such things.
I blew out my cheeks, a sigh falling from my lips as I pressed my palm to my forehead. I was surprised to find that my face was clammy. I moved my hair back slightly into my hairline and grimaced as I realised that I had been sweating enough to make my hair slightly greasy. How could Kyle stand being around me when I looked so...so...disgusting? I was tempted to ask him, but my timid nature took over and I decided against it, not wanting to embarrass myself.
There was an incredibly awkward silence, Kyle tapping his foot restlessly and me staring at one of the white walls. The small room made me feel claustrophobic and I felt my breathing begin to quicken. I clenched my fists around the blanket, bunching the material into my hands so that it acted as a sort of stress reliever. I clenched and unclenched my hands until my heart rate returned to normal.
“Madeline!”
A hand waved in front of my face and my heart shot through the roof in shock. I placed a hand over my chest, over my erratically beating heart that I had only just managed to calm down. I narrowed my eyes, glaring hotly at Kyle as I dropped my hand from my heart and onto the bed. I sucked in a deep breath before slowly letting it out.
“What?”
I asked Kyle, annoyed that he had managed to startle me so easily.
“Nothing, you just looked really spaced out is all. What were you thinking about?”
I lifted my shoulders in a sheepish shrug before dropping them again. My face heated once more, another blush rising to my cheeks as I looked down. No way was I going to tell him what I had been thinking about. I didn’t want to embarrass myself anymore than I already had when I had collapsed in front of him. I shook my head in answer, staring intently down at the blanket that covered William and I. I was staring at it so hard that I my eyes began to go fuzzy. I blinked rapidly and my vision returned to normal.
“I wasn’t thinking about anything in particular.”
I mumbled quietly, my eyes flickering over to Kyle for a split second before they snapped back to look at the blanket.
“Okaaaay then.”
He said, dragging out the ‘a’. I rolled my eyes and pressed my head back against the scratchy pillows. After several minutes of comfortable silence my eyes began to feel heavy and my lips parted as I yawned softly. I scooted closer to William, feeling calmer when I was nearer to him. One of my hands automatically moved to touch his soft hair, and I yawned again. My eyes had begun to close when Kyle broke the silence.
“I’m gonna go and let you sleep. I’ll come visit you soon.”
His voice was so soft that his words barely registered in my mind, but by the time they did he was out of the room. A smile formed on my lips as I repeated his words in my head ‘I’ll come visit you soon’.
*~*
“Madeline!”
I was startled as twelve year old Sophie ran into me, wrapping her arms around me and almost knocking me down with the force of her hug. I was surprised, but pleased nonetheless so I returned her hug before pulling back again. My hands remained on her narrow shoulders and she beamed up at me.
“It’s good to see you back at school.”
She told me enthusiastically. I couldn’t help but smile at her, my heart swelling with a rare bout of happiness.
It was three and a half weeks since the day I had collapsed, and I had ended up spending two weeks in the hospital after some minor complications with my kidneys. Every day after school, and even at the weekends Kyle visited me, bringing me homework from biology and English literature so that I wouldn’t fall behind. He even went to my chemistry and history teachers to get work from them too.
I was grateful as doing work helped to pass the time. Without it I would have been undeniably bored. We finally decided on the topic for our biology project- the conservation of endangered animals. Kyle and I also got to know each other a little better, and I learnt that his favourite colour was navy, his favourite food was pizza, he loved dogs, and I also learnt numerous other things about him. I was always glad for his company and sometimes, Kyle would bring Sophie with him to visit too. My mother hadn’t bothered to come- not that I had been surprised- and I had to admit that I had been worried about William being alone with her at home.
However, when I had finally been allowed home I had returned to discover that William was unharmed. Of course, our mother wouldn’t dare to hurt William whilst I was still in the hospital. She knew better than that. Surprisingly, she had let me be for the week that I had been recovering at home, and had even managed to bring me up some food once in a while. I knew that it wouldn’t last. I knew that she just wanted me to think she had changed so that it would be more satisfying for her when she ripped me down again.
I looked at Sophie who was still grinning at me. She linked her arm through mine and began dragging me through the dreaded school gates. Her confidence was an unusual but brilliant trait, and she was also the sweetest twelve year old that I had ever met. I allowed her to pull me into the building. Sophie chattered away about meaningless things as she considerately walked me to my form room. I wasn’t entirely glad to be back, but then again I wasn’t dreading it either.
Over the past three weeks Kyle and I had become friends, and I was glad that I had at least one ally in the school.
I entered my form room, freezing in the doorway as everyone in the room turned to stare at me. No doubt they were wondering why I had been out of school for so long. Kyle beckoned me over to where him and Charlie were seated and I smiled gratefully at him as I began to weave my way through the desks. I was bombarded with questions, but I ignored them all. Reaching Kyle and Charlie, I pulled up a chair and sat down, dumping my bag on top of the table and leaning forward to rest the side of my face of it.
“Welcome back.”
The chorused in unison, voices sounding strangely musical.
“That’s kind of creepy.”
I murmured just loud enough for them to hear. Kyle chucked, as did Charlie and I smiled slightly, the corners of my lips rising. I could get used to school. It would be a welcome relief from my chaotic home life. Being at school gave me more of a purpose, and having a friend motivated me to work hard at my studies so that I would get the best grades possible so that after university I would be able to get a good job. When that happened, William and I would be able to move away from our good-for-nothing alcoholic mother, and I would be able to continue to bring him up with the life that he deserved.
Our form tutor took the register, and gave me a look of surprise when I answered to my name. I smiled to myself, looking down at my messenger bag and fiddling with the strap. As soon as the bell went, I stood up quickly. That had been a mistake. I was not yet fully recovered, and the sudden movement made my head spin. I stumbled slightly ad Kyle caught my arm in one of his hands to steady me. When he was sure that I wasn’t going to fall over, he dropped his hand back to his side.
“Thanks.”
I mumbled.
“No problem.”
He had a hint of a smirk on his face and I rolled my eyes at him as we headed out of the room and to our first lessons of the day.
By the time the bell rang at the end of the day I was ridiculously exhausted. I was so unused to being at school that the day had really taken a toll on my body. My messenger bag weighed my shoulder down as I staggered out of the building and toward the gates, only to be stopped by none other than Jenny and her two friends- I had yet to learn their names. Jenny sauntered up to me, blocking my way. I really wasn’t in the mood to face her. I felt tired and drowsy and I just wanted to get home, feed William and collapse onto my bed. Jenny crossed her arms just beneath her bulging cleavage, and leaned on one hip. She scowled at me, eyes narrowed.
“So, you’re back huh?”
“Wow, you have some real good observational skills right there.”
I snickered, rolling my eyes. A moment later I regretted saying anything, knowing that I should have kept my mouth shut and let her say what she wanted to say. Stupid, stupid Madeline! Jenny’s eyes narrowed even further into two small slits as she glowered at me. She took a menacing step forward, her hand shooting out and grabbing onto a chunk of my hair. No! Not at school as well.
I instantly began to struggle, my pulse quickening as Jenny pulled roughly on my hair, yanking me closer in her direction. She reminded me so much of my mother right now that I began to hyperventilate, my breaths becoming dangerously shallow as my heart started to race. My eyes watered as a sharp slap landed on my cheek, followed by another. I couldn’t help it- I screamed at the top of my lungs, thrashing my arms about as my slapped cheek began to burn.
“No! Let go of me!”
Tears spilled down my cheeks and Jenny pushed me backward so that I fell to the floor. I scrambled backward, not getting up but scooting as far away from Jenny as I could get. I rubbed the back of my hand over my eyes as uncontrollable tears began to fall. I couldn’t deal with this. First my mother, and now Jenny. School obviously wasn’t as safe as I thought it was.
“You better watch the way you talk to me, bitch.”
Jenny growled, taking a step closer in her impossibly high heeled shoes. A moment later I felt strong fingers wrap around my upper arm and wrench me up from the floor. Instantly thinking the worst, I tried to get free from the person’s grip.
“Madeline! Madeline, it’s me.”
I could just about make out Kyle’s familiar face through my tears, and I sagged in relief. Kyle slid an arm around my shoulders as my body wracked with sobs. Never in my life had I ever broken down so completely just because a bully had reminded me so much of my home life. Kyle’s arm tightened around me, tracing soothing shapes on the top of my arm and I leaned against him gratefully, too upset to be embarrassed at the scene that Jenny and I had caused.
“You stay the hell away from her!”
Kyle growled at Jenny, the hand of his free arm clenching into a fist that was so tight that his knuckles turned white.
“But Kyle, baby...”
Jenny simpered, her eyes going wide with feigned innocence. If I had been in the right frame of mind I would have snorted with laughter at the sight.
“Do you hear yourself right now? I’m not your baby!”
He snapped incredulously, anger radiating outwards from his warm body. Jenny’s expression instantly became sour, and her lips puckered into an unattractive pout.
“But-“
She began to protest but was instantly cut off by an enraged Kyle.
“I don’t want to hear it! Just stay away from Madeline.”
With that, Kyle began to steer me away from Jenny, leading me toward the gates. The tears continued to spill from my eyes and down my cheeks. There seemed to be an endless stream of them. Kyle looked at me as we walked through the throng of staring students, and he gently pushed a strand of hair away from my sodden cheeks. He then leaned close to my ear so that he wouldn’t be heard as he spoke.
“Let’s get you home.”
He said softly.