Meet My Dedication

I woke up to bright lights in my face, and monitors beeping. Was I in the hospital? It felt like I was in a bad dream, or memory. I couldn't remember how I got here, or when. I started freaking out, fun on panic attack mode. My vision was still really fuzzy and I hated not knowing where I was, but mostly because I felt alone.
My body was spazzing out and I felt a strong grip on both of my hands. "Mikey," the mall voice spoke. "Mikey, please calm down. You're safe, no one's going to hurt you."
"Where am I? What's going on? Where's Austin? Where's my sister?!" My heart rate was increasing rapidly and my breathing was so uneven I thought I was going to choke on nothingness.
"Babe, calm down. I'm right here." Babe? "Milly went to go and get coffee. We've been worried sick." I knew it was Austin's voice, he sounded exhausted, but I wasn't calming down as fast as I wanted to. "Breathe... everything is going to be fine."
"Austin." I closed my eyes again and drifted back into the darkness.

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Still the bright lights, I hated it, especially the beeping sounds. I felt much calmer this time waking up. How long had I been asleep? I moved trying to get comfortable, I felt stiff, but I didn't want to open my eyes just yet.
"She's awake," I heard Milly. She was here, "Austin, wake up. She's moving." She sounded tired, but relieved.
"Huh? She's awake?" Austin sounded so cute when he just wakes up, it put a small smile on my face.
I fluttered my eyes open, to see them both just staring at me. "Take a picture, why don't ya?" My voice was raspy, and my throat was dry. I tried sitting up, but Milly's small hands pushed my back down onto my pillows. "Don't try to move too much, take it slow."
"I'm thirsty, Mills. Can... Can I have some water?" It hurt, talking. For the most part, my whole body hurt. Especially my head, I reached up to notice it was sticky and I had stitches running up my scalp. I winced when I touched it.
"You hit your head pretty hard." She handed me a cup of water with a straw in it. I sipped at it, and the cold water felt amazing on my throat. I practically drank the whole thing with one sip. "Easy," Milly soothed. She always took care of me, this wasn't our first rodeo with me being in the hospital.
"Where's Austin?" I whispered, I didn't want him to see me like this, but I figured he'd seen me anyways, there was no stopping it now.
"I'm right here, Mikey." He took my hand in his and kissed it. Milly got up from the chair next to my bed, so Austin could talk to me. "I was scared, Mike. I thought you weren't gonna wake up again."
"How long have I been out?" I looked at him and brought his hand up to my cheek and kissed it.
"Three days the first time," he moved a lock of my hair from my face, "five days this time. You were completely unresponsive, I was getting worried. I was terrified that I lost you."
"What happened?" Half of me already knew, the other half didn't want to.
"You and your dad got into a fight, you hit your head on the edge of the counter pretty bad, they had to give you 152 stitches." He didn't look anymore relaxed when he talked, "Mikey, I wanted to kill him for what he did to you. What he has done to you, I'm so sorry, I should have stopped him before all this."
"Hey, it's okay. It's sorry to say, but I'm used to this. And this," I pointed to my cheek and then my head, "this isn't even the worst that he's done. This was nothing. And I'm not mad that you hadn't come in sooner, I thought I could handle it. Handle him."
"You can't go back there, Mikey. It's not safe there, if I'd known, I wouldn't have let you go home. I could have kept you safe... I," he was staring down at my hand that had the IV in it. "I want to keep you safe, you don't deserve that abuse. You're so much better than that. You deserve the world. You've worked so hard, you deserve to be happy." He was babbling, and it just made me smile and want to laugh. Instead I engulfed him in a hug.
"Austin, shut up. Please. I'm fine, and I'm not going back there." I bit my lip, I probably looked like a mess, and yet here he was, looking perfect as always. "Is that offer for me to go with you still on the table?"
He looked up at me and that smile that made my heart leap out of my chest was as brilliant as ever. "Always."
"Good, because I want to take you up on that." His lips met mine and I wrapped my arm around his neck and he put his hand on the back of my neck. I didn't care about anything else in the world, in that moment. All I cared about was the man who gave me a voice, the man who I never wanted to stop kissing.
"Am I interrupting something?" Milly joked, standing in the doorway with the doctor next to her. My cheeks turned into a deep red, as did Austin's.
"Good to see you moving around, Miss Brier." The doctor said, looking at all the monitors and the clip board attached to the foot of my bed. "Your vitals all look good, and it seems that you're recovering quite well from your injuries." I looked at him, and he knew exactly what I wanted to hear. "I'd say I could have you out of here by the end of the day."
"What about my dad?" I looked at Austin, "What happened to him?"
"I wouldn't worry about your father too much, Miss Brier. You wont be seeing or hearing from him for quite some time."
"Good." I didn't care what he meant, if he was dead, or in jail. I was just glad that the monster that was my dad wasn't going to be around for a good, long while. "Thanks, doc."
"My pleasure. Mr Carlile, may I speak with you and the other Miss Brier for a moment?" He looked at Milly, they both nodded in agreement. Austin kissed my forehead and got up to go outside of my room.

There were out there for a few minutes, I looked for my phone, siting on the table by my bed and started going through all the notifications on it. Most of it was useless Facebook crap, Tumblr, and a couple of Snapchats from Alan and Tino. There was also a picture that Austin tagged me in. I pulled it up, and it was of him, sitting in the chair next to my bed, half asleep.

austincarlile: sitting in the hospital waiting for @mikeybrier to wake up. send your love to her! i don't know what i'd do without her <3

I had to try not to cry, it was so sweet. Not all the responses were, and a few of them were just down right nasty. It was amazing how much someone called themselves a fan, but bashed on pretty much everyone. I ignored it and just kept scrolling down my news feed. Alan had tagged a photo of me, as well as the Of Mice & Men's official instagram page. Both were signs that said "get well soon." It was pretty cool.
Austin and Milly came back in shortly after.
"So?" I looked at them both, which had matching blank stares. I was confused, "what's going on?"
Austin smiled, but it seemed forced. "They're getting your release forms now."
"That's good news, though. What's going on?"
Milly just looked at me, almost apologetically. "Nothing, I'm gonna stop by the house to get you clothes. I'll be right back." She left, leaving Austin and I in an uncomfortable silence.
"Austin, what is it that you're not telling me?" He didn't move, or say anything right away. I sat up and just stared, waiting for a response.
"The doctor said it's best that you don't go back to your house. Your dad isn't going to be held here much longer, so we need to get your stuff and leave as soon as possible." He looked up at me then, his brown eyes staring into mine.
"My dad is here, too?" I was almost horrified, "what did you do to him?" I was almost too afraid to hear his response.
The corner of his mouth raised up a bit, in an almost-smirk. "I nearly beat him to a pulp, when the cops pulled me off of him. Then I saw the paramedics come and get you and I had forgotten everything, except that you needed me. I went in the ambulance with you, and stayed the whole time. The only time I left was to take a shower and get food for Milly and I. She and Gavin would stay when I went back to my hotel."
My worry seemed to wash away the more he spoke. He never left? He stayed with me the whole time. "You look exhausted," I mentioned. That made him chuckle, which made my face light up.
"I haven't slept very well, I've been so worried about you." He walked back over towards me.
I scooted over and made room for him, "come lay with me?" He nodded and lay down beside me, I turned onto my side away from him. He responded by wrapping his arms around me. I felt safe and perfectly content in his arms.

I had fallen in love with Austin Carlile, whether I wanted to admit it or not. I never wanted to leave his side, ever again.

Notes

Alright, last chapter for the night. I'll be back tomorrow! Thanks for all the love, guys <3