Austin’s POV

“So her injuries will be healing quickly, or so we hope. Our goal is to have her out in four or five days. She’s got forty stitches on her stomach, a couple on her leg, but otherwise her entire left side is bruised. Ms. Skarsson is very lucky for the accident she was involved in.” The man called Doctor Lyons informed our group. We all sipped coffee in the longue. Windows surrounded the room, but I still felt trapped by sadness. The entire band, Kylar, Dante, Nico, and Skars were sitting on couches in our little meeting. It was midnight and we were all tired.

“So she’ll live through it?” Skars sniffled. Nico wrapped an arm around her shoulder. To say that the five tough, tattooed, metal guys in the room cried the least wasn’t truthful.

The band cried the most.

“Yes, but she’ll be sore for about a week. Now, I know that Raven’s parents have passed away, but do any of you know what her plan is after she gets out of the hospital?” Lyons asked us. I didn’t hesitate to answer. There was no question about it. Alan squeezed Kylar’s hand, trying to reassure everything.

“She’ll be staying with us.” Told him firmly. The doctor nodded. I was handed a small packet of instructions. The others crowded around to read it.

“Most of this is just papers to tell you what medications she needs to take and at what time plus the side effects of them.” He pointed out. His pen tapped the top of the paper. I saw at least three sheets with side effects.

“Also, don’t touch her left side. It’s very sore and bruised. She probably won’t be able to walk for a little bit because it’ll be too painful. Just try to avoid contact with any left area for about a week.” He explained. I started to read the side effects of the medication.

Warning: May cause depression, bloating, dizziness, etc….

“Is there anything else we need to know?” I asked him. He nodded and handed Aaron a sheet. The brown hair swept forwards as he shook his head, obviously displeased or concerned about something. The warm air of the room went cold. I feared the worst for our little girl.

I loved her so much. Do I really want to know why the doctor is upset?

“Depression?” Aaron asked. Lyons nodded. Kylar passed me a worried glance.

“Look, I talked to Raven a few minutes ago. She had woken up but needed to go back to sleep again. Ms. Skarsson has gone through a lot of tragic events in a very quick and short period. This type of trauma can lead to very serious depression if her brain can’t deal with it.” He told us quietly. I nodded, thinking about what the girl has gone through. Dante sniffled a little.

“When Raven gets out of the hospital, she’ll probably sleep off the next day or two. The medication will wear off and you’ll need to start her on the prescription. After the second day, I need you to get her to try and stand up and walk around. She’ll be off balance for a day, but I need you to get her to try to walk around for a little. Don’t overstretch her.” He looked at each of us. We all nodded in unison.

“Why will she be off balance?” Tino asked. Something in the doctor’s eyes told me he wasn’t telling us the complete truth about what happened to Raven.

“Injuries.” He responded quickly. “Raven can take care of the stitches and bruises herself. She’ll have to put ice packs on the bruised areas, but she can do that herself. Look for these signs.” He bent over and circled an area on Aaron’s sheet. I read the bulleted list:

-Loss of interest in activities.
-Loss of appetite
-Sleeping too much/too little
-Mood swings, often towards anger
-Reckless Behavior

The list went on but that’s all I could bear to read. Raven’s friends went to go get more coffee while the man told us what to look out for. Alan sniffled a little as Kye went away.

“If Raven doesn’t want to get out of her bunk, doesn’t want to eat, or is unusually moody, keep an eye on her. She might have these symptoms in the first few days after the hospital, which is normal, but if it continues after five or six days, give me a call. Depression is a serious matter, but I need you to keep an eye on her, okay?” He asked. We all nodded for our poor girl.

“Thank you for your help.” Alan thanked the doctor as he left. The lights in the lobby flickered hopelessly. I grasped the paper in shaking hands, too fearful for words. What would happen to our keyboardist?

Phil opened up his phone, instantly checking Twitter. I sipped my coffee sadly. A million thoughts raced through my mind. But all I really wanted was to see Raven again. I just wanted to hold her in my arms and say everything was going to be okay.

“Hey, guys…” Phil gulped. We glanced to him. Alan clutched a tissue.

“Check out the feeds….” He trailed off, eyes wide. I pulled up my phone and logged on. Sure enough, there was two things I noticed.

First, we had a trending hashtag.

#SheWillFlyAgain

Second, Raven had $143,000 pledged to a campaign called SheWillFlyAgain so that her hospital bills could be paid. When her dad died, now she was left to pay for the hospital bills that was left over with the insurance.

Only seven thousand dollars left to go before they were all paid off by fans and bands alike. I saw posts from Pierce the Veil that pledged five thousand. Suicide Silence pledge five thousand as well. Bring Me The Horizon and its followers had donated a total of thirty thousand. Someone had pledge a thousand all on their own.

I burst out in another spurt of tears at the kindness of fans and the bands.

But the flood of tweets hadn’t stopped yet. The hashtags kept coming.

“LOOK AT RISE!” Alan called out excitedly. A nurse at the front desk peered over her desktop to stare at our excitement.

@riserecords: We’re almost reached our $150,000 for #SheWillFlyAgain campaign! For the last seven thousand dollars, Rise, Victory, Fearless, and Epitaph records are all coming together to get Raven out! Thanks everyone!

They had done it. Our record label and everyone had done it. Raven wouldn’t have to worry about money. She would have one less thing on her plate. This was a big victory for all of us. The band crowded around my phone, just staring at the tweet. This had taken off in less than two days and it was already done.

The world isn’t all bad.

“Excuse me? I have a delivery for room 687, um, Ms. Raven Skarsson?” A voice asked the front desk. Our head snapped up to see a very colorful sight.

Three delivery men each carried a crate full of boxes, letters, and other assorted packages. We went up to them.

“She’s not seeing visitors right now, but I can hold-“The young secretary’s eyes went wide as a crowd of tattooed men rushed up towards them. The FedEx people seemed a little surprised as well.

“We can take those!” I cheered. The men handed over the large crates without hesitation. We had to pair up to carry each one. Alan and Aaron helped on one, Phil and Tino grabbed another. I was forced to take one by myself. Wow, how heavy could letters be?!

“Okay, people need to lay off the heavy packages.” Tino grunted as we set the crates down. Raven would be happy to see these! I hoped this would lift her spirits.

I hoped she wasn’t as depressed as the doctor said….

“I reeeeaally want to open these.” Alan murmured, staring at the crates. Oh man, I did to. Slapping his hand as he reached for a package, he whined and sat back.

Now we had to wait.

Notes

LETTERS!!!!! Showering with letters!!

Okay so this chapter is both happy and sad :(

Hope you liked it nontheless!