Enjoy this double chapter post today! Why aren't you guys lucky?! I can't believe that there is only 3 more chapters after this. Thank you for all of your love and support! Also, look out for the <>!

DarlaH

"Mom, dad! I'm heading out!" I called out to her a week later. I pulled out my phone, knowing I had to get out the front door, Callum would be here in minutes.

"Did you take your medication, El?" mom asked from the top of the stairs. Her curly hair was pulled into a tight bun, making her hair appear straight. Her glasses slid down her face as she looked at me.

I bit my lip. I hadn't taken all of them. In fact, I hadn't done so in a few days. I was hoping she would just forget about it. Since I stopped taking some of my medication, I had felt much better. I had more energy, I was doing better at therapy. It wasn't like I was avoided all the medication I was given, just one in particular. "Yeah, totally have," I said with a fake smile.

She nodded with a smile, happy with my response. "Good. Have fun. I will see you later tonight," she said then walked back into her office.

I threw her a wave then walked outside. I pulled my winter down puffer coat closer to me and shivered. My breath instantly turned into fog as I breathed out. I was freezing. Maybe it wasn't a smart idea to wait out here for him.

I pulled out my phone to check the time. He was late. I hated when people were late. There was time for a reason. I pushed against my fuzzy head to ease the headache. My parents didn't want me to go out today. They thought I had done too much since I did have a blood check then physical therapy this morning. By the time I made it home, I had enough time to take a 2-hour nap and now I was here, ready to get going again.

I was tired, sure. But I convinced myself anyone would be as tired with the schedule I had. I wanted to go to this event. I needed it. This was the first real event I was going to since I got out of the hospital. I needed to show everyone, including myself that I was fine, that I was surviving.

Breaking me from my thoughts was headlights coming closer, pulling into our driveway. I smiled at the car.

Callum rolled down his window in his Range Rover with a smile. He leaned out of his car with a lollypop in his mouth. He grinned slyly at me. "Are you waiting for a ride or something?" he asked me casually.

I rolled my eyes as I slowly got into the car. Since I had gotten out of the hospital I had been working on what the therapist told me almost every day. I was making improvements, like getting in and out of cars, but I still had a long way to go. "Shut up and drive," I said as I put the seat belt on.

He chuckled then sped off down the road. "Just a fair warning, my extended family is kind of crazy too," he said with concern in his voice.

I chuckled at him. "Please, I know your dad. Who could be crazier than that?"

He frowned slightly as if I didn't get it. "My dad is cruel and sadistic, not crazy," he sighed. "I'm just giving you a heads up."

I nodded as I held onto his free hand. I knew that first hand. His father was a monster. That was why Callum spent more time at our house than his own. "I'm excited to meet them," I said as I thought about Allyson's baby shower that we were going to.

There was silence as he drove. He was thinking about something. He looked nervous. He was nervous about me meeting his family, but the thing was, he had nothing to be nervous about. I would love them just like I loved him.

I turned up the music in his car and blasted some upbeat song that was playing on the radio. Oh, that reminded me! "I may have emailed a record label your demo," I said. Since I hadn't been skating, I had a lot more time to work on other things, like Callum's band. I was committed to making them a big name.

He chuckled at me as he turned down the road. "And what did they say?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. I just sent it today. It will take them a bit to respond."

Callum laughed as he shook his head. He didn't believe that his band had potential. But I saw it. I knew he could be big. "Ellis, when will you get that I'm happy where I am?"

That wasn't a good enough answer. Life wasn't about staying in one place. It was about improving. "When will you get that, you don't know what you're missing? You have so much talent, all of the band members do. Don't you want to do this as a career?"

He nodded. "That would be cool. But I don't know if that's a reality."

"You don't know unless you try. Let me do this for you," I said with a smile as he pulled up into his massive house.

I opened the car door and stepped out with some difficulty. I hung unto the door, as I waited for my legs to feel sturdy enough to walk forward. For doing physical therapy for only a week, I felt like I wasn't improving as much as I wanted to.

"Ready?" Callum asked as he wrapped his arm around me for support.

I didn't want him to have to do this, but I did enjoy having him so close. "Of course I am. It isn't every day I get to go to a baby shower."

He nodded as we took slow steps towards the door.

Callum closed the door behind me and I felt the heat from his house hug around me. I already wanted to sit down. I was out of breath and I could feel myself starting to sweat. I had to pull it together.

"We can leave whenever you want," Callum said as he took off his shoes.

"Ellis! Callum! Come on in!" Allyson said from the kitchen. She wore a tight blue dress that made her small baby bump apparent. She was glowing as she danced around the kitchen getting plates and food out. I don't think I had ever seen her wear anything but scrubs so to see her with street clothes was a bit odd.

"Ellis!!! Yay! Someone is finally here to play barbies with me!" Darcy, Allyson, and Parker's daughter said as she ran up to me. She wrapped her small tanned arms around my legs and I stumbled back.

"Hey Dar, be careful, remember, El is recovering," Callum reminded her softly.

Her eyes showed realization then took a step back from me as if I would break. "Sorry, El."

I shook my head at her. "Don't be! We can play barbies later," I said with a smile, trying to play it off like it wasn't a big deal.

She beamed at me then ran back up the stairs to do her own thing while the adults played downstairs.

<>

I heard laughing and upbeat music playing in the house. It sounded like a real party. Callum wrapped his arm around my waist again and together we walked into the large kitchen. There, gathered around a large kitchen island were about 15 people, squeezed in to get the food that was centered there.

"Callum, is this the girl?" a girl with long rainbow colored hair asked with a smile. She brushed a strand of pink hair behind her ear to reveal piercings that went up her ear. She looked to be around the same age as us but her eyes said that she had seen more than me.

"Yes!" Callum smiled. "This is El," he said and kissed my temple.

I smiled at her. "Hi."

She gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness there's another girl here. It's not a true baby shower without them," she said as the older man beside her shot a look her way.

"Kate, really?" he asked her.

She put her hands up in the air. "Look, Dad, I'm just saying that this isn't a true baby shower,"  she said to her father. "It's more like a family gathering."

Allyson laughed at Kate. "Don't worry, my sister and her girlfriend are coming still."

"Halleluiah," Kate said as she looked around the island. "We all know men are no good at these kinds of parties anyhow."

I chuckled lightly. I liked her. She was blunt, spunky, and a breath of fresh air. Unlike most of the skaters at the rink, it seemed like she didn't care what people thought of her. She was confident without people giving her a pat on the back.

"Ok Kate, you're going to scare away Callum's girlfriend. We aren't all crazy." And the old man winked at me.

"And your one to speak grandpa," Kate retorted.

"Grandpa k, please play nice," Callum begged him.

"It's good to see you, El," Wallace said as he pulled a beer out of the fridge. "But I think that fuzzy pixie cut it a bit too short on you though."

I ran my hand through my short dark blonde hair in silence. He always had a way to jab at my self-confidence. I didn't hate Wallace as much as Callum did, but I could honestly say that I did not have a single bone in my body that liked him.

Callum shot him a look. I knew what he was thinking. He wanted to get in a verbal fight, but he was holding himself since all the family was over.

"Ok! Let's do games! Who wants to do games?" Allyson said with excitement, trying to distract all of us from fighting at her party.

"Fantastic! I'm ready. I was been born ready," Kate said as she put her multi-colored hair into a ponytail.

"Ok, let's put that to the challenge," Allyson said with a smile.

She said as lead the crowd to the large vaulted family room. "Let's see who's the best at putting diapers on," she said with a grin then dove into the details about the game.

Finally, Kate sighed loudly, she looked bored. "Ok, we get it, Allyson. Let's play this game already. I want El to be on my team," she said and pointed towards me.

"You know I'm going to make you lose, right?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "I think you'll win actually. You have this winner vibe. And I'm never wrong."

"Ok then. I'll start," I said as I looked at Callum, knowing that he would be on the other team.

He smiled. Teasing me with his eyes. For the first time in a while, he seemed light-hearted. For a second, he just saw me as someone he had to beat, not watch out for. "And I'll race against you," Callum said.

"OOH! Yes! Couples against each other! My fave!" Kate said with a smile then turned to Allyson as the front door opened.

"Allyson! Happy baby day!" a voice rang out.

I looked over to see two women with smiles on their faces as they held gifts. One had the same dark skin tone as Allyson and I knew that had to be her sister. "Oh sis, thanks!" Allyson said with a smile as she hugged the two girls.

Kate sighed loudly again. She was losing her patience. "Ok, are we good?"

Allyson laughed as she turned back to all of us. She pulled out her phone. "Ready. Let's do this. Three two one."

I ran forward to the baby doll that was Darcy's and started to pull out clothes for it. I felt my hands shake as I dressed the baby. I took a deep breath in, I was going to be sick. I couldn't hold it down and before I had a chance to react, all of my lunch was spilled on the carpeted floor.

Allyson's smile dropped off her face as she looked at me.

I dropped to my knees, unable to hold myself up any longer and my vision went black for a second. My headache was growing by the second and my body started to ache like I had the flu. When I opened my eyes again I saw Allyson right beside me.

"El, can you hear me?" Allyson asked as she knelt beside me.

"Yeah," I said with a soft voice. I just made a scene that I didn't want to happen. I could feel all of Callum's families eyes on me. I wanted to dissolve into the carpet.

"I don't understand Allyson, I thought she was getting better," Callum said as he held my hand. He looked so nervous.

I squeezed his hand to let him know I was ok.

Allyson nodded. "She is. She just had a check-up today. Doctor Wells said she was making strides." Allyson sighed as she looked at her family. "Alright, enough with this scene, I'm going to help, El up and you guys continue the game," Allyson said as she helped me up from the ground.

With ease, she pulled my frail body from the ground. I wrapped my arm around her as she guided me to the kitchen. I heard whispers coming from the other room. They were about me. Once again, I was the most popular girl and I didn't want to be. I should have listened to my parents. I should have taken this night easy.

"Ok El, I'm only going to ask this once and I need you to be honest with me. Are you taking your medication?" Allyson asked me firmly as she sat me down on a chair in the kitchen.

I frowned at her. It was as if she knew the truth already. "I'm not taking Dexamethasone. I don't like the way it makes me feel. It makes my joints ache like an 80-year-old lady."

She ran her hands through her curly Afro as she thought about my words. "Ellis. Damnit. you know you have to take that for recovery." I had never heard her swear before.

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head at me. "Sorry won't work this time. El, this is serious. I knew something was up when I saw your elevated white blood count."

"What are you talking about?"

"I think your body is fighting an infection and there is probably slight swelling in your brain. Have you had headaches recently?" she asked as she put her hand over my forehead.

I shook her away. "Yeah. So," I shrugged.

"We need to get you to the hospital."

My eyes widen in panic. I shook my head at her. "No." I couldn't go back. I had only been home for eight days.

She sighed as she looked frustrated at me. "Either I'm calling an ambulance or you'll let me and Callum take you."

"But your shower," I said as I looked back in the direction of the room that had the game.

She shrugged. "I didn't want a shower to begin with," she whispered with a smile as she winked at me.

I suddenly felt the urge to vomit again and dry heaved in front of Allyson.

"Ok. We're going. Callum!" Allyson said and called out to her brother in law.

A second later Callum came running into the kitchen. "What?" he asked as he looked at me with concern.

"Get your shoes on. We are taking El to the hospital," Allyson said as she slipped on some sneakers.