~Nico~
Today was probably the best day of school in 3 years. I met Alex and he actually started talking to me of his own accord, despite not knowing that I was Nico.
I hum to myself as I lay in bed scrolling through my phone. Alex even said I may be able to rejoin the Silver Bane wolf pack. I was so excited. I missed that clearing with the big house and many cabins. Everyone was so friendly there, and being surrounded by nature felt great. Unlike this small room where I was so far from the outside.
I hear some commotion coming from downstairs. I look over at my alarm clock, it was about the time that Uncle Joe got drunk. That means I should either get out of the house now, or I should just sit tight in my room. The rumbling of my stomach said I should sneak out of the house to go eat. I guess my stomach is lucky that I only ever think about food.
I slip into some warm clothes that I can wear against the chill of the night. I take a deep breath as I descend the stairs. I hear Uncle Joe's ranting and raving in the living room so I avoid that route and walk through the kitchen to the foyer. I quickly bend down to put my shoes on, but before I am even able to slip it on, I hear a slurred, "Where the hell do you think you're going."
My heart dropped so fast I thought I was going to die. I turn back to look at my uncle. The man who I hate with a passion. "Out." I reply. I fumble with my shoes as I still try to put them on.
"I don't think so, get back to your room!" He yells.
"I'm just going out-" I turn to look back at him. I don't know how this drunk can move so fast, but he was right behind me. He lifted me up by my throat. I couldn't breathe. I grab at the hand around my throat; trying to pry it off.
"You listen when I am speaking to you, boy!" He throws me hard against the ground. He kicks me in the stomach, then the ribs.
He grabs me by my hair, "You're nothing but poison to my family, it'd be better if you were never born." He hits me in the ribs again and again. I'm sure some of them are broken by now. I could see my consciousness was fading. I was going to black out.
"You soiled my son," He punches me in the face, a first, "You're mother took my brother and made him a monster," A punch in the arm, "And they left me you, the biggest insult of all." With that he punched me once more in the other arm and threw me to the ground.
"You're in my house boy, you'll listen to everything I say, are we clear?" I don't answer him, I don't think I can. " I said, are we clear?" I nod my head. "Good."
He staggers away from where I lay on the ground. I am conscious just long enough to see Kyle come around the corner looking confused at what his father was doing before he spots me on the ground. His eyes widen and he runs over to me. He started saying some stuff but I was already long gone.
~~
I wake up to discover myself laying in my own bedroom. I don't know how I got here, but I was almost grateful to be alive. I breathe in and feel pain in my chest. My ribs, they're broken.
I sit up. Pain screams through my body, but I ignore it; I have to go to school. I pull off my clothes, remembering to take deep breathes with each shock of pain I feel. I look down everything has bloomed into a dark purple. I look away, the sight was making me nauseous.
I walk over to my dresser and see a note and a bottle of Ibuprofen.
"You have broken ribs. You should stay home and rest, God knows how much pain you're in. Also, you don't want to be stumbling around in a half-drugged stupor. So just stay home and rest, I left some Ibuprofen. Take that. I've already called into school to tell them that you wouldn't be there because you broke your ribs, so rest up. I'll pick up your school work for you.
Use ice on your ribs for 15 to 20 minutes and then let the area warm up for about 15 minutes and re-apply the ice. Make sure that you breath the same as before; no shallow breathing. You can walk around and stuff, but don't push yourself. I'll take you to the hospital when I get home later today.
-Kyle"
Whoa, Kyle turned into my nurse. How detestable. I crush the note in my hand. I hate the idea of listening to what Kyle says, but he already called the school to let them know I wasn't going to be there, so I guess I mine as well get some rest. God knows my ribs are voting for that option.
I sigh as I pull on some pajamas. I make my way down stairs, painfully and slowly, to get some ice for my ribs, a glass of cold water, and I decided to sneak some food, too.
Back up stairs I'm covered in a coat of sweat, the effort from walking up and down the stairs was excruciating. I open the bottle of pills and take the recommended dose. I pop the pills in my mouth and swallow them down with water. I hate taking pills. I nibble on an apple as I apply the ice to my ribs. The cooling sensation is welcome on my painful everything.
I flip open my computer and put Netflix on. After one episode of Supernatural I am already dozing off. This was probably the most rest I got in a week. For the next couple hours I was in and out of sleep. I made sure to breathe deeply when I was awake, and take my medicine after the 4 hour time was up, then I would drift off back to sleep.
***
"Hey," Someone whispers, shaking me awake, "Nico, get up, lets go to the hospital."
I groggily open my eyes to see golden sunlight streaming through the tiny window. I squint at the welcome brightness, and then I look at the interloper to my sleep. It was Kyle. His brown hair was in its usual messy style and hazel eyes looked concerned.
"Mmm, Kyle?" Even in my groggy state, I flinch at his presence, unconsciously putting some distance between us.
"C'mon, let's leave before my mom and dad get home." Kyle helps me sit up, my skin crawls with the contact. I just sit in a daze as he riffles through my dresser drawers. He hands me some grey sweat pants, apparently my shirt was fine. I fumble with the waist band of my current pants; my hands clumsy with sleep.
"Jeez, you're so slow." Kyle goes for my waist band, but I slap his hands away.
"I can do it myself," I slur, blinking through the haze of pain. With clumsy, shaking fingers I undress facing away from him.
He helps me down the stairs, and out of the house. I buckle my seat belt as Kyle starts the car. I lay my head against the cool glass of the window. My head was full of sleep, and I was sick of it. I wanted to be fully awake and alert. Being in a car with Kyle while unable to defend myself screamed danger in my head. I don't care if he's trying to be nice, I still don't trust him.
The ride to the hospital was full of traffic. It was around 4 o'clock, some people were getting out of work, or driving home.
***
2 hours later we are out of the hospital. I got an x-ray of my ribs and it showed that three of them were broken. The doctor prescribed me medicine and rest. They couldn't do anything else besides that. The doctor was concerned about why I had so many bruises littered on my body, I told him I had quite the fall while rock climbing. He said I was lucky to be alive. I just agreed with him, although I didn't feel so lucky.
I am glad that my lungs are okay, and that my ribs would heal; even if it hurts to breathe. The doctor also recommended that I take a couple weeks off of school to heal up. I decided that I would only take one week off and then go back; I can't afford to miss that much school.
Now I lay on my bed, on my back, staring at the ceiling. I wonder what Alex is doing right now. I wonder if he is concerned because I didn't come to school today. Thoughts about Alex swirl through my head. I know, it may seem weird that I like Alex. Some may even say that it isn't love, it's just infatuation. But I don't think that's true.
People say focus on the bigger picture, don't worry about small things, they aren't as important as the bigger picture. However, I think that, in some cases, the little things make up the bigger picture. Like the way Alex bites his lip when he is making big decisions. The way he raises his eyebrows when he is confused. The way his eyes twinkle with humor, and the lines around his eyes crinkle when he laughs. Like the way Alex mouths the words to a song that's stuck in his head. Or the way Alex's eyes flick over to me every now and then when he thinks I'm not looking because he wants to see how I'm doing. All of those things make up who he is. I love each and every one of them. I'm sure no one else feels this way about Alex, because I love him. He's my mate. He's mine.
I scold myself, He's not yours yet. You have to capture his heart soon. With my head full of Alex I drift into sleep.
***
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It took me forever to figure out how I wanted to write it, and I wrote it like this. Sorry if the facts about broken ribs are wrong. That was probably one of the most painstaking things in this chapter XD. So much research about broken ribs. That's why the hospital scene was so vague...