Behind These Bruises...[Part 15]
"Is everything all right?" Kyle asked, his face growing serious. My dad was staring me down and I knew I was in an enormous amount of trouble. I saw him let go of the pretty girl's hand and clench his fists. I felt like breaking down in the middle of the restaraunt and crying. My heart was racing and my stomach clenched. For the second time in my life after my mother died, I felt truly scared.
"I-I-Yeah. No. I just-I just need to get home, Kyle. Please," I stammered, barely able to get the words out. Right then, Laila brought back Kyle's card and we stood up. I could barely stand still on my legs because they were shaking so much.
"Do you know that man?" Kyle asked.
"He's my father," I choked out.
"I'm sure she's just a colleague," Kyle said. I wanted to laugh at the hilarity of that statement. A colleague! There was no way. They had been holding hands! She was wearing a sexy red dress. There was no way in hell that she was just a fellow employee. But what made Kyle's statement even funnier was that that's what he thought what was bothering me. That I saw my father with another woman. That was partially my source of discomfort, but it was mostly the knowledge that I knew I was going to get it bad when I got home that was frightening me. I had lied to him and he found out. He would be even angrier now that I knew he was seeing some younger woman. And he would take all this anger out on me.
Kyle and I sat in silence on the way back to my house. I'm sure he was a little more than uncomfortable with the whole situation. And me? I was scared out of my mind. I wanted to tell him to take me away--far, far away--so that I wouldn't have to face my father's wrath. But I would have to deal with it sooner or later. Might as well deal with it now.
When we got to my house, I sat in Kyle's car, staring ahead, not blinking. He stayed silent, as if knowing I wanted to say something first.
"I don't think we should go on a second date," I said finally in a small voice. I felt extremely guilty saying this, but I had to. I had to end it. "The dinner was nothing short of awkward. You and Leah are better off together," I said. To my surprise, Kyle nodded.
"I know. The dinner was awkward. I was going to tell you the same thing, but when we got back to school after Thanksgiving break," Kyle said. "I thought maybe you'd be too upset to talk about that right now," he added. I shook my head, feeling slightly better that he felt the same way. At least that was easy.
"As cliche as this is going to sound, I'd really like us to stay friends. You're a nice person and easy to talk to," I said, finally bringing myself to look at him.
"Yeah, definitely," he agreed. I tried to muster up a smile, but failed. I leaned in and kissed his cheek.
"I'm sorry, Kyle," I whispered, and then got out of his car. I took a deep breath and walked into my house. Although he wasn't home yet, my fear heightened 10 times more. I went and changed into some sweats and washed my face. My hands wouldn't stop shaking and it seemed like my heart would fail on me because it was still beating so fast.
After about an hour, I heard the sound of a car door slam shut. I was sitting in my room, my door shut. I didn't have a lock on my door because my father had taken it off. Probably solely for this purpose. I heard the front door open and also slam shut. I flinched and felt my heart race even faster. And then my door flew open and he was livid.
"Dad, please-" I started, but he grabbed me by the hair and I let out a small scream.
"YOU LIED TO ME?! YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE GOING TO LEAH'S HOUSE, NOT A DATE WITH SOME BOY. HOW DARE YOU LIE TO ME? HOW DARE YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" he yelled. He threw me to the ground and then picked me up again by the hair. I could feel tears stinging my eyes. "DO YOU KNOW HOW EMBARASSED I WAS? COMPLETELY SHOCKED THAT MY DAUGHTER WAS AT A RESTARAUNT ON A DATE WITHOUT MY KNOWING?!" he shouted, throwing me across the room and against the wall. I yelled as my arm hit the hard wall and I heard a crack.
"Please-I'm-sorry!" I pleaded, a crumpled mess on the floor.
"Is this what you've been up to? How long have you been lying about where you're going?! HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON?!" he shouted.
"N-n-not long! It was just this week!" I cried out in a shaky voice. My arm and ribs were killing me. I tried to stand up, but he dragged me up by the other arm. I let out a yelp as I felt the bruises forming under his tight grip. He raised his hand back and then slapped me across the face. I fell to the floor once more, breathing deeply and tears pouring down my face, stinging the cheek where I had been hit.
"LIAR! YOU FILTHY LIAR!" he shouted. He picked me up by the hair again. "If you ever think about lying to me again-IF YOU EVER DARE LIE TO ME AGAIN-you won't get out of it alive..." he hissed threateningly. And then he threw me to the ground again and walked out of my room, slamming my door shut. I lay on the ground, in a broken mess, crying and breathing hard.
I heard his door close and I knew he was going to sleep. I looked at the clock. It was midnight. I pushed myself up off the ground, struggling because my sides and arm hurt so much. I needed to get out of here. I stuffed a pillow underneath my blanket and quietly opened my door and then closed it. I made my downstairs quietly with a lot of difficulty. Every step I took sent a jolt of pain through my body. I quietly slipped out the backdoor and walked into the cold November air.
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I had no idea how I did it, but I somehow managed to walk to my beach spot without killing myself. I kept walking to my rock and I saw a figure sitting there already. I stopped a few feet away, trying to make out who it was. My vision wasn't clear and I wasn't steady because of the pain. But when the person spoke, I knew who it was.
"Mila?" the voice asked. The figure walked up to me and I looked up. It was Derek. And I don't know why, but seeing him, I completely broke down and began crying. He put his arms around me, pulling me close. When he held me a little tighter, I yelled in pain and my knees gave way and I nearly fell.
"We need to get you to the hospital," he said, a worried look on his face. I shook my head, but couldn't say anything. I was crying too hard. "Mila, no. Your arm is broken. We need to get you to a hospital," he said. And without waiting for a response, he picked me up bridal style and brought me to his car, setting me in the backseat gently. I began to fall in and out of consciousness as he drove. I was vaguely aware when we got to the hospital and he picked me up again, bringing me inside.
"She-she had a bad fall. I got there just in time-" he explained to the doctor.
"Well what the hell was she doing? This looks really bad..." I heard a deep man's voice say.
"I told you! She fell! She was standing by the cliff...and her foot slipped..." Derek said.
"Is that what happened?" the doctor asked me, coming into view. He was a short man, balding, with a scruffy gray mustache. I forced myself to nod. Derek was holding me upright so wouldn't fall over. Then they brought me into a room where I assume they did X-rays on me to see what bones were broken and what tissue was damaged. This is when I completely blanked out. The pain was becoming unbearable and I just wanted to sleep. I wanted to get away from it all...let it all go...
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-Derek's POV-
"Her arm is broken in two places. That can easily be fixed with a cast. She also has a broken rib that was jabbing into her insides, which is what was causing most of her pain. That can be mended by a body cast around her midsection. In addition, she has a lot of bruises. Those will heal on their own. The bones should be mended in 3 to 6 weeks," the doctor said. I nodded, taking in the information. It took a while to convince the doctor to tell me everything, because he said I wasn't family and he wasn't allowed to disclose that information. But once I told him that her father wasn't available, he gave in. "We've got the casts on. Once she wakes up, you can take her back home," the doctor said. "I'll write her some prescription pain killers. The instructions will be on there. But she'll need to take those because she'll be hurting for a few days," he added. I nodded. With that said, he left and I walked into the room that Mila was laying down in.
I felt my insides quench. She looked so...broken. I needed to know what had happened to her. Whoever had done this to her would surely pay. She stirred and the opened her eyes. She looked around her, looking confused, and then looked at me.
"D-Derek?" she asked. I sat on the chair next to her bed.
"Hey, how are you doing?" I asked. She looked down at her arm, which was covered in a thick guaze cast.
"I-I don't want to go home," she said, ignoring my question. She looked at me with solemn and scared eyes.
"We can go to my house. Do you want to leave now?" I asked. She nodded. I helped her up and we walked out to my car together.
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-Mila's POV-
It was strange. I was sitting in Derek's car, just a few hours after what had happened. For some reason, I was completely relieved that he had found me. I might have been passed out at the beach at this point if he hadn't. When we got to his house, we walked in through a back entrance. He held his finger to his lips, telling me to keep quiet. He brought me to his room and he closed his door. We went into the bedroom part of his room.
"I'll be right back," he said, walking out of the room. He came back a few moments later, with some girls' clothes in his hands. "Here, these should fit you. They were my sister's," he said, handing them to me. I took them. I went into his bathroom and changed out of my ripped and dirty clothes and into the sweats that he had given me. He was right. They did fit. I walked out. He nodded at the bed, telling me to sit. I climbed into his bed and leaned against the intricate wooden headboard. He was sitting on a chair that he had pulled in from the sitting room section. We sat in silence. I knew he wanted me to explain what had happened, but he wouldn't ask.
"Derek?" I said quietly. He looked at me, his green eyes shining with concern. "Can you sit with me?" I asked. He blinked and then nodded. He took his shoes off and then climbed onto his bed and sat next to me. He lifted the covers and put them around our legs and then leaned back against his headboard, too. I rested my head on his shoulder and he put his arm around me gently. We sat there, in silence, for several long moments. He gently stroked my arm and kissed the side of my head. I closed my eyes, taking in the moment.
I had to tell him now.
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