I woke up, sometime around 1:00 pm the next day, in a hospital room. Michael was next to me, sitting in a chair with a few bandages and some cuts and scrapes. I could hear my mom outside of the room, talking to someone, probably the doctor.

Michael noticed me as soon as my eyes opened. He sat up and smiled at me.  I attempted to sit up as well, but I was welcomed by a small dizziness spell. "Doctor said you can't sit up for a few more hours, you have a concussion." Michael informed me.

"Oh, cute," I said, laying back down. My mom must've heard me wake up, and she came rushing back into the room, Stephen beside her. "Oh Cas, how are you feeling?" "Fine, I guess," I said, not really trying to search for words.

"Want me to tell you what happened?" She said, sitting down in a chair on the other side of me. "Sure," I said, shifting and attempting to get comfortable on the horrible mattress.

"Alright, well, after you fell unconscious, the police barged in, and arrested Rick. I was informed a little while ago, he's being charged with abuse, and will be in jail for sometime, then most likely rehab. I plan to deal with that stuff later. But, anyway, we took you and Michael to the hospital and here we are, the next day!" She finished, clasping her hands together.

"Does Michael's parents know?" I asked, softly and almost sub-consciously. I still felt extremely tired. "Of course we do." A woman and man appeared suddenly in the room. They were smiling and they walked up to my bed. "Hi, I'm Katherine, Michael's mother. This is Joseph, his father." The woman said. "Sorry to finally be meeting you like this, but you are a very brave young lady," She said, smiling. I smiled lightly, but didn't say anything. The man, Joseph, still didn't look comfortable about the whole situation, but he slightly smiled at me.

                                  >>><<<

Michael was allowed to go home that night, but I still had one more overnight stay. My mom and brother stayed at the hospital with me.

Later into the night, I remembered about Melanie and Nate. "Mom, has Melanie dropped by?" I asked, rolling over. The dizziness was going away. "Of course! She came over just as she heard the news. She was with this boy named Nate. He seemed nice, though." She responded.

I smiled, remembering Michael confessing his love for me. I didn't think much of it at the time, obviously. I was half-aware of what was even happening. I'm so thankful he wasn't hurt badly.