Adopted by Heathers: The Sequel

I Wouldn't Miss This For The World

Elle couldn't stay with me in the hospital tonight for some reason. No one in my family could. So Elle asked me if I was okay alone for a night, and that she would FaceTime me before I went to bed. When I was younger, I would've hated that and I would've begged someone in my family to stay with me.

But I'm a 16 year old junior in high school. I should be able to handle it.

Speaking of junior year, school was about to start. In one day, to be exact. And while all my friends were reuniting and meeting new teachers and possibly getting homework piled on them, I would be in a hospital. Don't get me wrong, I've missed school due to hospital trips before. But that was when I hated school with a passion and didn't really care about missing it. In middle school, I was probably getting dismissed early around once a week on average. Maybe two weeks when school wasn't being a butt to me. 

I still wasn't sure why Elle wouldn't let me go to school once I was out of the hospital. It wasn't that big of a deal, I thought. And all my friends were at school, and they couldn't visit me in the hospital as much when school went into full swing. Red was out of the hospital now, and I didn't know how often she would be able to visit. We were all Honors or AP students, all in extracurriculars, and most of us were planning on running for Student Council. With Shirley and I wanting to be officers this year. I've been the Vice President since freshman year, with Shirley as president. That's how we became friends.

It was 1 in the morning, or sometime around then. All was silent, except for a heart monitor beeping softly in the corner and the chatter of maybe one or two nurses out in the hallway. All was dark except for a teeny bit of light streaming inside my room from the hallway.

 I'm not sure what caused it, but I suddenly felt homesick, and I missed Elle terribly. I missed my own room, the rest of my family, my friends, my saxophone, ballet. Heck, even if I saw Violet Gardner pass by, it would make me feel better a bit. 

I wanted to go back to sleep. Truth be told, I could barely keep my eyes open. But it hurt so much knowing that I wouldn't wake up to see my mom by my side. I've gotten used to waking up not being in my room from the month I've been here already.

All I could think about was the first day of junior year. Everyone's going to be deciding what they want to be when they grow up and what colleges they want to apply to. I didn't want to be left out of that! 

I had to get out of here. 

I stopped short. When I was in eighth grade during another overnight hospital stay, I ran to my sister, Barrett's apartment in the middle of the night and stayed there for three days before my brother, Jon, found me. According to the majority of my family, Elle was worried sick about me. And they all made me promise I wouldn't run away again.

I didn't think Elle was home. She wouldn't notice if I went home for the night then went to school the next morning, just like any other first day of school. Except she wouldn't be there sending me off on the bus, or in this case, waving me off as I drove away. 

She would be at the hospital, expecting me to still be in this bland, stupid room that's been my home away from home for the last month and a half. All because of a stupid road trip I planned to help me forget about a car crash. Not a road trip that would end up with me in a car crash myself.

I slid out of my hospital bed, feeling a little unsteady on my feet as I made my way through the door. The last time I ran, I was only worried about something with my blood going wrong. But if I didn't play my cards right, I could be paralyzed for good.

I waited until the coast was clear in the hallway, then sprinted as fast as my legs would take me. Down the elevator, out the door, and into the great wide open. I pulled up my own address on my phone, I have a terrible memory so I forgot my own address a lot, and then headed towards my apartment. 

The road there felt familiar from all the back-and-forth hospital minutes. Ten minutes in a car if traffic was good, but about an hour's walk. If I walked fast enough, I could make it home in time to take a shower and get changed into something decent.

Twenty minutes later, I felt my legs start to give out, and I felt really lightheaded. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

Of course it wasn't a good idea, Catlynn! I thought to myself as I reached a random alley.

Then, everything went black.

AN: This was really evil, I know, and I deeply apologize. But remember, it's going to get better in just a few chapters! Hope you enjoyed and catch ya later! Love you all!