Haunted and Holy | T|Raeken

Chapter Two

A couple weeks pass and things go smoothly, until gym class gets a little too rough. We're playing lacrosse, and apparently lacrosse here is football for most schools. One of the players on varsity, I don't even know who, gets too hyped up and ends up tackling me to the ground, slamming my bad shoulder into the grass. Typically, it would be fine because Grandpa could have me back pain free by the next day, but he's not coming for another week, and the gym teacher has to send me to the nurse. Trying not to cry, curse, or use my arm, I head towards her office. Turning a corner, I just about go head first into Liam, who stops dead in his tracks and in his conversation with none other than Theo.
"Selah? What happened?!" He asks, eyes wide. Theo, on the other hand, snaps his jaw shut and looks ready to commit first degree murder.
"Ask your teammates." I huff out at him before continuing past them. It's not fair to him but I'm pissed, hurt, and I know that this means I'm going to have to have surgery, and I won't be able to hold out any longer.
"Wait, stop." The tone Theo uses leaves no room for argument, as much as I wish there was one. I stop moving, wincing as my shoulder twitches involuntarily. "Do you want me to get Jamie." He doesn't ask me what happened, doesn't address the elephant in the room, much clearly to Liam's shock, whose jaw drops more when there isn't a "and what happened" attached to that question.
"Yeah, tell him..." I pause for a second, not sure what I'm comfortable with him relaying. "Tell him that I'm calling Grandpa." He nods, and then takes a step towards me. If I didn't know the minimal information I know about him, I'd be a whole lot less nervous.
"I know you don't know me, but can I please try and help a little bit?" He asks, and I know it's safe when Liam looks relieved that although the elephant hasn't been addressed, we aren't all completely ignoring it.
"How?" I whisper, because at this point the pain is pretty excruciating, and I forgot how bad it sucked when the OG separation happened. He gently lays a hand on top of my shoulder, and I watch as black creeps up his veins into his arms and disappears underneath the short sleeve shirt he's wearing. Slowly the pain lessons, and he pulls his hand back.
"That will hopefully help until you can get it looked at." He tells me with solemn eyes and a quiet but firm tone. I nod, say a quiet thank you, and book it to the nurse.
I was right. I need surgery.
36 hours post hitting grass I'm in and out of surgery.
72 hours post hitting grass and Grandpa makes it into Beacon Hills with my Grandma in tow, worried to all get out about his "little bear" as he calls me. He gets to work right away doing his thing, and I'm fairly pain free for the next couple days, feeling good enough to keep up on homework and contribute quite a bit to our History PowerPoint so that I don't keep Nolan and Alec behind.
I'm out of my room and in the kitchen with Mimi, what we call our Grandma, when I hear mass chaos coming in the front door.
"No, silly goose, you don't want to put protein powder in milk that's disgusting!" She laughs at me, but I just shrug, smile, and chug it.
"Ewwwww!" Vince grimaces as he comes around the corner, clearly hearing our conversation, followed by a snickering Jamie.
"Eww what?" And then Liam ducks around the corner. Oh great. I'm a little off put until Alec and Nolan turn the corner behind him, both looking very excited to see me. They're followed by a couple more guys I haven't met yet, who introduce themselves as Corey, Mason, and Brett, two girls, Lori and Hayden, and finally Theo makes his way around the corner. Oh joy.
Alec and Nolan swarm me with stories of class, Liam is trying to ask about what was gross, and Corey accidentally steps on Brett's foot and starts an argument before Mimi has enough.
"Everybody hush!" Everyone shuts up so fast you'd think SHE was the alpha!
"Yes ma'am?" I ask, falling back on the many years and many cowboys in my life who taught me how not to get my butt handed to me.
"Everyone can go sit on the couches, I'll make some cookies, and y'all can converse or watch a movie without talking the roof off of the kitchen! Now out!" Someone snickers and then there's a mass exodus out of the kitchen into the living room. I manage to be the last one out, grabbing an ice pack from the freezer to use. I hear Liam ask Vince what was so gross, who proceeds to tell him what he heard & saw eliciting laughter from the older teen. I don't even realize someone is behind me until they clear their throat.
"Sorry." He says when I jump at the sudden noise. I turn around to see Theo. "Just wanted to see how your shoulder was."
"It's ok. It was separated long before I hit the grass so it's been a long time coming to get it fixed." He looks at me questioningly but doesn't push it, instead offering a "if it bothers you let one of us know and we'll pull some pain" under his breath, before retreating back into the living room. I head in to find my chair still available, clearly being held for me by Vince. We settle in and settle on watching Top Gun, before I notice Theo slip onto the floor next to my chair. As quiet as he slipped onto the floor, he sneaks a hand onto my leg and I know he's pulling pain because of how quickly my pain levels drop, and how quickly I fall asleep.
I wouldn't even believe it happened until two weeks later when Jamie finally brings it up.
"So. What made Theo help you out when we had our impromptu movie night?" He asks, when we're hanging out in his room studying together.
"I have no idea? Why?!" I ask, confused.
"Theo doesn't just HELP people unless he thinks he owes them, or they deserve it. So, what did you do?" He repeats.
"I have no clue. All I did was walk around the corner and tell Liam to ask his teammates what happened." I shrug. I do notice, after that, however, his unwillingness to help pretty much anyone else.