The Chief's Daughter

Chapter 11- feels

You sat on the edge of the hospital bed, staring at the wall across the room blankly while the nurse stitched the cut on your forehead. The same cut that only just healed from crashing the Mustang all those weeks ago. Typical.

The nurse had popped your shoulder back in the socket too, your left arm now in a sling. It had hurt like hell and still ached, but you barely noticed because all you could think about was Billy.

The last time you saw him was when the paramedics strapped into the back of an ambulance. You had no idea if he was okay or not.

He had to be okay though, right? He had to be.

Billy's blood still stained your hand and had long ago gone dry and flaky. You stared at your red and trembling fingers, picking at the bloodied flakes whilst the nurse continued with the stitches.

"There we go, that should do it." The nurse eventually announced, taking a step away as she stared at her work with a nod of approval. "It'll leave a scar, but I saw you already had a little scar next to it. What happened there?"

"Car crash."

That was all you said. Hell, it was the first thing you had said since arriving here. The nurse had tried to make small talk with you, asked you the usual questions about what happened, but you refused to answer. All you could think about was Billy. You didn't give a shit about small talk.

You were about to ask if you were free to leave, but didn't get the chance before the door suddenly opened and Hopper walked inside.

He looked exhausted.

Between dropping you off at the hospital and rushing back to the station to process and deal with Neil Hargrove, Hopper looked ready to sleep for a week straight.

"How is she?" He asked, walking into the room.

"She'll have to wear that sling for the next couple of days and will be able to resume most activities in two weeks. But keep in mind, most dislocated shoulders take 12-16 weeks to completely recover, so no heavy lifting or sports for a couple of months, okay?" She answered, pointy looking at you with the last sentence.

You simply nodded but didn't say anything. You didn't have the energy for that.

"She'll need to come back next week to get the stitches removed, but other than that, she is good to go."

Hopper nodded, his tense shoulders relaxing ever so slightly with the nurse's words.

"Billy?" You asked, looking over at him.

"Haven't heard anything. Susan and Max are in the waiting room."

"Neil?"

"Arrested. I'll need to take everyone's statements, but that can wait until tomorrow. Are you okay?" He asked, walking further into the room and stopping by your side.

You nodded and looked down at your arm in the sling, blinking back the tears burning in your eyes.

"C'mon, let's go and see if they've got an update on Billy." He said, noticing your worry.

You silently followed him out the room while he thanked the nurse before you reached the waiting room where Susan and Max were sitting.

Nobody else was in the room. The clock on the far wall indicating that it was near midnight as you glanced around taking in the rows of chairs and small coffee table stacked with various magazines and kid's toys.

Susan looked like she hadn't stopped crying since Cherry Lane. Max not much better from where she was sitting curled up beside her mother.

You had mixed feelings about Susan. On one hand, you wanted to hate her. You wanted to hate her for just standing in that doorway when Neil had hit Billy the day you were hiding in the closet. She had just stood there and watched. She didn't do anything to try and stop her husband from abusing his son.