Nothing Left

Chapter 4: Fighting for Kaelyn

I walked out of the hospital and got my first breath of fresh air in a long time. I inhaled deeply as I unlocked my car door. I got in and looked in the small mirror and ran my fingers through my short pale blond hair. I opened the middle console and pulled out a SnapBack that had a Rose print on it. I put it on along with my glasses and started the engine. I pulled out and read the piece of paper with Kaelyn's address that was folded up with the key. I clutched the paper tightly and entered the address in my GPS.
"Turn left on Taylor Avenue." The automated voice said. I followed the directions until I came to a run down apartment complex. I went to 5B and knocked, and to my surprise a beefy man answered. He smelled like booze and smoke.
"What'd ya want? You seen that bitch Kaelyn?" His words slurred from the alcohol he clearly had been drinking.
"Kaelyn is in the hospital and told me to get that bag of her stuff under the couch." I said stiffing up and awkwardly looking away. He stared at me blankly.
"She's in the hospital?" His voice cracked, he must have figured out what he had done.
"Yeah, she's getting surgery. Her lung is punctured and she's having trouble breathing." He threw the half empty bottle that I didn't know he was holding, at me.
"That bitch! She told them and now you're going to call the cops on me, aren't you?!" He yelled as I slowly backed away. But it was too late. His huge fist hit me across my face. I fell back into the pile of glass in the hallway. My back was covered in glass shards.
"I-I'm not! Just give me her stuff and I'll leave!" I stammered, trying to stand up. He went in the small apartment and into the living room. The door was wide open so I saw him lift up the couch and pushed it away. A grey duffle bag was under there and he threw at me. It missed and Jasper stomped out, grabbed me forcefully off the ground and held me up.
"Don't you ever come back here." Jasper threw me down and went inside. I collected myself and grabbed the bag. Blood covered the floor behind me where my back was. I felt glass inside my back. I ran out to my car and got in. All I could feel was my back, burning from the pressure on the seat. I put the bag in the passenger seat and once again looked in the mirror. My cheek bone was bleeding and my glasses were cracked. 'All of this for Kaelyn' I thought 'Worth it.' I smiled even though I was in pain. She was worth it. As I drove to my house, I couldn't even feel the pain thinking about Kaelyn. I pulled in my drive way and got out. As I got into my house my cat scared me. She kept meowing so I went to her food bowl. She had an automatic feeder and she was fed, same with water. As soon I as bent down to pet her, the pain sank in. I cried out a fell down. I stood back up and ran upstairs to the bathroom. I took off my shirt and saw a ton scratches, glass, and blood. I knew I had to go back to the hospital to get it removed. I put on a pale blue shirt and grey hoodie with the Nintendo logo with a pair of dark blue skinny jeans. I also grabbed two pairs of underwear and a bra. I put this all in a pink duffle bag. I also grabbed my laptop, phone charger, headphones, extra money, my sketch book, and clean pair of shoes. I went back to my bathroom and cleaned up my face and put on my extra pair glasses. I hurried out and got in the car. I parked and took the bags inside. Kaelyn was drawing on a napkin with a pen. As soon as she saw me she threw everything down to hug me.
"Did Jasper do this?!" She said laying her head on my chest. I held up a finger signaling her to hold on. I removed my hoodie and shirt so she could see my back. I felt her warm hand softly touch my back, pulling out a small shard of glass.
"I have your bag though." I said pulling back on my shirt.
"What did he do?" Kaelyn said picking up her bag and carrying it to the bed.
"He threw a beer bottle at the wall and punched me into it. Kaelyn turned around and gently touched the bloody mark under my eye. "I'm gonna need you to get the glass out. I'm gonna go ask if they have a pair of tweezers." I put back on my shirt before the nurse came in.
"Do you need anything?" Kaelyn shook her head and sat in the hospital bed and took the remote to turn on the tv. I threw her the grey bag and she opened it revealed clothes, shoes, glasses, and a lot of art stuff. I was about to question we but I had to catch the nurse before she left.
"Wait, before you go, do have tweezers?" She laughed and handed me tweezers and a bandaid from her shirt pocket.
"A band-aid for you cheek there. Looks like ya' hurt yourself." She said, laughing as she closed the door. I looked over to the bedside table and found the 'Do Not Disturb' sign and slipped it on the door.
"Hey Kaelyn, will you get this glass out now?" She nodded and put her stuff on the floor. I plopped down the bed and handed her the tweezers.
"Okay here I go..." Kaelyn said pulling out a piece of glass. I didn't move. "Wow, good patient." She laughed. After awhile, Kaelyn must have thought I fell asleep because when she finished, I felt her small lips touch my neck. "All done." I heard her throw away the glass and get some wet paper towel. I winced when the cold water touched my back. "Sorry." She said gently cleaning the blood off my back. "Wait, did you feel when I..." I didn't want her to feel embarrassed so I lied.
"What?" I knew this wouldn't make things weird between us. Although I could tell she had a crush on me.
"Nothing, all done." I stood up and stretched. "You might want to put on a shirt..." She turned away awkwardly and I laughed nudging her. "What Kae, have a crush on me." I jokingly said. I knew she wouldn't admit it.
"Yes."