Sommerstall Academy

Chapter 54

Elija

She's finally asleep. We're a few minutes away from the hospital but she's finally asleep so I tell my dad to drive to our place instead. He doesn't try to talk me out of it. They spent about ten minutes trying to get me to stay in my bed before finally agreeing to get Florence with me. They know it's not worth arguing about and they care about her too.

So on our way home we are.

"I'll carry her inside. Will you please go back to the hospital now? The doctor said she wanted to keep you overnight for observation," my dad says.

"But she needs to e-" I want to protest but my mom cuts me off.

"Enough, Elija. Please, let me drive you back. She's sleeping right now and you can call her later," she says. She looks genuinely tired and that's enough to make me shut up. She's right, I guess. I may not like it but my parents are worried so we'll do what the doctor said. I just hope we can handle the extra charges.

I hate this system.

I unbuckle my girl's seatbelt and my dad picks her up, gently so as not to wake her. Then he walks towards our door and my mom and I drive off.

I text my dad to plug Florence's phone in only for him to tell me he already did. Then I text Kai to check if we have green apples, wondering if I made a mistake by letting her sleep. Shouldn't she maybe have eaten something first?

But if she ate, she couldn't lie down for some time and therefore couldn't sleep. Fuck, this sucks.

-

"Hey, you feeling better?" I ask Florence. She just texted me she woke up so I called her. I can hear her laugh over the line.

"I'm supposed to ask you that," she says. "But, I'm better, thanks. Sorry for making such a scene, I didn't mean to freak you out. And your parents, oh god, I'm mortified."

"No one's judging you, Florence. Now, did you eat something?"

"I literally texted you as soon as I woke up. When was I supposed to eat?" she asks me, chuckling again.

"Okay, I get it. There should be green apples, by the way. My dad is out with the twins so you're probably home alone so just take a look around in the pantry and decide what you want to eat."

"I can't just eat your family's food. Besides, I should get home soon. My parents are probably worried," Florence tells me. I bite my tongue to hold back a comment about how she's still pretending nothing happened. Losing my temper won't help though so I take a deep breath and reply calmly.

"My parents told me about what happened," I tell her. The line goes quiet so I check if she's still there. She is. "Did that happen before? With your mother?"

"No," she replies quietly. Man, I wish I could hold her during this conversation but I promised my mom I'd spend another night in the hospital.

"Did her or your father contact you since?" I ask.

"No." I clench my fist even as I force my voice to be even. It's all I can do not to go to her house and have a little talk with her parents.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. I guess I thought if I just didn't talk about it, it wouldn't be true. I'm sorry I lied," she says quietly.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry I snapped at you. I shouldn't have pushed that hard. Now, are you eating yet?" I ask.

"Yeah, sure. I'll go downstairs now but I think I'll really head home after," she tells me, walking down the stairs loud enough for me to hear.

"It'll be dark by the time you'll arrive and you sure as hell won't take an uber again. Just stay over at my place."