Hell and back [Dukesaw fic]

Sore morning

Veronicas POV

In the morning, I wake up to Heather gently nudging my shoulder. The bright sunlight slips out of the corner of the curtains, burning my eyes.

"Veronicaaaaa, are you up?" She asks.

I stretch my legs out, the dull pain in my side burning as I do.

"Yeah? I am now," I lazily mumble, "what's goin on?"

"It's almost noon!"

"Yeah, and?" I ask curiously, "what's the big deal?"

"We went to sleep at 7 last night, how the hell are you still sleeping?"

"is it bad that I'm still tired?" I chuckle out dryly, the pain in my side growing less ignorable.

"No, no," she answers, "it's fine if you're still tired, you just need to rest more. I'm gonna go get you a new ice pack."

She pulls the blanket off of me, and takes to old ice pack of of my side, running it downstairs. My skin feels bare without the ice pack on it, and I reach down to pull the blanket back over me. Sitting up, and reaching sends a wave of pain through out my chest, and I immediately lay me head back down on the stack of pillows.

"Hey, babe, can you-" I stop, realizing that she's still downstairs.

I pout quietly to myself, at my lack of mobility, and inability to do things on my own. I should be the one getting up, and helping people, instead of laying down by myself, completely helpless. How am I supposed to go to school tomorrow if I can barely sit up?

"I've got a fresh icepacks, and some more Tylenol," she announces. "do you need anything else?"

She sets on the new icepacks, and hands me the Tylenol, plus the glass of water on the nightstand.

"No, I'm good," I answer, taking a sip of water, and swallowing the pill.

She pulls the blanket back up over my chest, like she can read my damn mind.

"You sure?" She pushes, "do you want me to get you a book, or put on some music?"

"Just, stay here with me," I answer slightly reaching my hand, and pulling on the bottom of her shirt.

She sits down next to me, and strokes my hair, running her fingers through the curls. God, she could sit there and do that forever. I close my eyes, and melt into her touch, a small smile creeping onto my face.

"Gosh, you're so pretty," I hear Duke say in a very small voice, that turns my smile into a faint giggle.

"Your beautiful," I answer back, pulling her closer to me, so I can plant a small kiss on her lips.

When she pulls away, her whole face goes red, and she lays down next to me, resting her head next to my shoulder. I wish I could pull her closer to me, and hug her as tightly as I can without just hurting myself more. I should be the one comforting her, helping her, and being there for her when she needs me.

"Do you think I'll be able to go to school tomorrow?" I ask, even though I probably already know the answer.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, just as long as you rest today, and try not to move much," she answers to my surprise.

"The only problem is JD," she adds on, and my heart sinks, "I don't know if he's going to show up tomorrow, and we can't risk it."

I completely forgot about him for a while, but of course he's still a problem. Will he fake his death, or just continue on like normal? If he does show up, will he try to talk to me, or try to take advantage of the fact that I won't be able to move very well?

"What if he is there, and you're all by yourself?" I ask her, "I won't be there to help you if he is there, so you probably shouldn't go either."

"Well, at least one of us is going to have to go," she points out, "and there's no way in hell I'm letting you go if that slushee fucking psycho might be there."

"Well I'm not letting you go alone if he might be there." I add on.

"Well what do we do then?" She asks, "if you're not letting me go without you, and I'm not letting you go at all, how are we going to keep up with our school work?"

"What if we called Mac?" I suggest, "she's in his American history class, and we could ask her if she's there or not."

"That could work," she replies nodding her head in agreement.

"Perfect," I answer, before rubbing my eyes, and closing them. Heather leans over to her nightstand to grab some book, and she starts to  read it aloud as I drift off to sleep again.