“But I thought we were having so much fun, baby girl,” he sneers beside me, clearly aware of how scared I am.
I hate when he drives like this. We’ve been dating for the past four months and the novelty of him being three years older than me has wore off. When he first asked me out, I thought I was the luckiest girl in school. Freddie Ryan never dated younger girls, I was the first he’d shown interest in so it made me feel special. He told me he loved me after just two weeks, and coming from a home with so little love, I put my all into him. But I’m starting to see the kind of guy he really is and I have the feeling he’s only putting up with me so I’ll put in a good word with my dad when he wants to patch into the club in two months.
I straighten up to face him as he pushes on faster through the streets of downtown. “I said I want to go home, Freddie! If you won’t take me, just stop and let me out here!”
He slams his foot down on the brakes with such force, my body strains against the belt and my head jolts forward. He swings around in his seat and grabs my jaw, his bloodshot eyes showing evidence of the fact he’s been using today.
“What have I told you about raising your voice to me, baby girl?” He grinds out through gritted teeth.
I try to pull my head away but his fingers holding my jaw tighten. “Get off, Freddie, you’re hurting me.”
“In case you’ve fuckin’ fforgot, you don’t talk back to me! Fuck! I thought going out with a biker brat would be more fun than this, but you ain’t anythin’ more than a kid!”
He throws my head back and it cracks off the window. I may only be fifteen, but I’m no push around. I unclip my belt and reach into my purse, spraying my pepper spray in his face as I sit up.
He screeches and splutters, rubbing at his eyes. “You fuckin’ bitch!”
Before I can hear any more, I drop the can, pick up my purse, and run out the car into an alley to hide away from him just in case he decides to follow me.
I wait until I hear his tires screech away ten minutes later. I don’t know why I keep falling for these kinds of guys, or perhaps I do. The guy I really want doesn’t want me back.
I want better for myself than someone like my dad and he seemed great at first, but he’s shown his true colors. This also means I can’t hang out with my group of friends anymore because he’s always there, not that any of them will care, they only put up with me because I was his piece of ass.
I shake my head. I have no idea why that memory resurfaced. It’s such an inconsequential part of my past at such a trivial part of Sam’s future that I decide to grow some balls and just go on in there and stop concentrating on what’s going on in my mind.
I grab two sandwiches and two bottles of water from the cafeteria and head in the direction of Cindy’s room again. When I get there, I offer Sam a sandwich but she says she doesn’t want one.
I shrug. “More for me then.”
While I was in the cafeteria, delving into my own memories, the nurses took Cindy off all the drugs keeping her in a coma, so I ask how long it’ll be before she wakes up. She doesn’t know but has been told to press a red button that’s near me. I look to where she’s pointing and the kid inside me starts jumping up and down, wanting to press it. “Is it wrong of me to say that I’m really tempted to press it?”
Sam laughs a genuine laugh which makes me smile. She tells me that she’s glad I’m here and I’m genuinely happy I am too. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than here supporting her right now no matter what feelings it drags up for me.
We’re halfway through a conversation about Connor when she grabs her mom’s hand. “Mom? Mom can you hear me? It’s, Sam. Kee, press the button, she’s waking up.”
I don’t know what’s going on, I just do as she says and jump up and slam my hand down on the button, feeling a sense of relief as I do. What can I say? The child within me wasn’t going to quiet down until I pressed it.
The hours after she had woken up were sketchy. The nurse quite quickly discovered that Cindy wasn’t responding to her name properly, so they ordered her more tests. I don’t know how to make any of this better and it sends my brain into turmoil at the thought of not being able to help Sam.
The doctor comes to the conclusion that Sam’s mom has memory loss from the concussion. He said it’s a common side effect and to not worry too much but you can’t say that to someone without them worrying, so that’s what Sam’s doing. She’s in that room with Cindy, worrying. And I’m stood outside, but I can’t wait around like this, there’s too many memories rattling around, so I try to busy myself looking for a decent coffee.
My cell pings as I’m about to sit down at a table in the cafeteria.
Where are you? I’ve brought real coffee.
I scrunch my face up in confusion. Why is Lewis here? I hit reply.