Since I slept well into the afternoon, we spent the rest of the evening talking about anything and everything. About our lives, our dreams…everything down to our favorite color.
“Oh green for sure!” Austin answered, laughing.
“Really? I love green,” I nodded in agreement. “But I’d have to say my favorite is red…black is a close follow up.”
“I can see why,” he grinned. “You look really good in red.”
“W…what?” I blushed slightly, completely taken back.
“The shirt you wore to the show? It was red,” he pointed out. “Of course they had to strip you down to your panties to put on the hospital garment and check for more damage. You looked pretty good then too.”
“WHAT?!” I practically squealed. “You saw me?!”
“No haha,” he replied, laughing so hard he almost fell out of the chair. “They pulled the curtain until they had the…essentials covered over. Then they let me back in. Most of you was still…exposed…”
“What…?” I asked, noticing the sudden change in his voice.
“They had me come in when you were still mostly uncovered so I could…” he swore under his breath. “So I could see any other damage that was hidden under your clothes…I had to tell them the story of what happened again so they could match what happened to some of the marks…”
I could see where this was going. I knew exactly where it was going. I made it a habit to only go to the doctor and have any sort of inspection if it was absolutely necessary. And even when I did, I always had a story to tell them. I swallowed hard when I thought about Austin’s reaction to what he saw. All the scars, cuts, and bruises. How it looks like I fell down eight flights of stairs, out a window, and got hit by a bus…all at the same time.
“After I told them…they all looked at each other all concerned…then left to talk to about with each other…” he continued on. “But I knew exactly what they were talking about. I knew there was no way in fucking hell that you could have all those bruises just from a fight in an alley. Not even getting stuck in the middle of a pit can do that kind of damage…I knew it was him. I just…I didn’t know who he was to you.”
“Austin…I’m sorry…” I went to bite my nails, but he stopped me. He took both of my hands in his. I looked up at his face. He looked almost…hurt.
“No,” he said sternly. “You have no reason to be sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I didn’t notice it earlier. I actually saw you from backstage when he pulled you away from that boy. I saw you two fighting…and I saw him raise a hand at you. I was going to get security to take him out, but you ran away. After you did, he found the letter, read it, and got very upset. He stormed off and waited close to the signing area. I was hoping you would use your pass to come in…then I could at least warn you…protect you somehow. But I didn’t. And for that I’m sorry. I’m even sorrier that you had to go through that kind of pain…”
“Sorrier…?” was all I could say. I smiled slightly.
“It’s a word sweetie, trust me,” he smiled back, laughing slightly. “I didn’t think so either. But…” His face got serious once more. “I just…I’m so sorry Haylee…”
I didn’t know what else to do. There I sat with my hands in his…and I felt such a sense of security…I felt safe. I couldn’t control myself. Everything that has ever happened…from everything with my family, to Derek…just came back at me at once. I tried to hold it back but I couldn’t. And at first it was only a few tears…but then I started crying uncontrollably. I didn’t even care if he judged me or made fun of me. I couldn’t hide it anymore. I’ve been hiding for years and I just couldn’t do it anymore.
“I’m sorry!” I managed to say between my sniffles and weeps.
“Oh Haylee,” he said, trying not to laugh as he pulled me into a hug. “It’s okay sweetie! It’s alright.”
“Is not…you’re laughing at me,” I tried to stop crying, but being in his arms just made it worse.
“I’m not laughing at you,” he whispered as he hugged me tighter. “I’m just…I’m laughing at the situation. That and you’re just so cute. You’ve been strong for so long…”
“Yet here I am crying like a fucking baby,” I laughed as I stopped bawling slightly.
“There’s nothing wrong with crying,” he pointed out.
“There is when I do it,” I debated. He laughed and pulled me even closer. I was practically in his lap now. However, neither of us really noticed.
“Oh bullshit, you’re fine,” he insisted, kissing the top of my head unintentionally and holding there. She smells so good… he thought.
“Am I interrupting something?” a voice asked. We both looked to the door to see my nurse with her hands on her hips, smiling. “I can come back later.”
Suddenly, we both realized what she was talking about. We both pulled away from each other and avoided eye contact. My face felt hot and I could feel my pulse racing. Why didn’t I notice it before?...did it really feel that natural? I took a glance over at Austin, who was attempting to hide his face.
“No ma’am,” he replied shyly. “You’re alright. We were just…”
“Talking,” I finished quickly.
“Uh-huh,” she nodded, skeptical. She walked up to my bed and lied me down slowly. “I’m sure you were. But that aside, I’m here to check up on you since you’ve been awake for a few hours. How are you feeling?”
“Alright…a little soar.”
“As expected…” she nodded as she began checking my blood pressure. “You had quite a rough night. Luckily this young man and his friends were around. I don’t want to think about what would happen if he wasn’t.”
“Oh it was nothing…” Austin said shyly.
“Don’t be so modest!” she replied.
“She’s right Austin!” I agreed. “You saved my life that night!”
Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my side. I cried out and held my right side. It felt so unbearable. I curled up so my knees were against my chest and I began breathing heavily.
“Haylee!” I could hear Austin cry out as I felt his arm go around me, trying to pull my back into a laying position. But I couldn’t. “Haylee what’s wrong?!”
“We have to lie her down!” I heard the nurse order. “She has a wound in her side that was reopened that night! I’ve had to stitch it back up again but it needs to stay relaxed.”
That’s right…I almost forgot about that… I thought to myself as I gritted my teeth. Damn it this hurts!
I could feel myself begin to black out as I had a flashback of what happened and how I got the wound. As I slowly passed out in reality, I slowly came to in fantasy.