The Mute Fighter | 3

027

027 - Moving

Everything was a mess, everything except my mother. After confronting our father, she was calm, collected, and knew exactly what to do. She was free. I had never known how bad it was between my parents.

I knew Ward and I weren't exactly the easiest kids to have due to our interests and work. After having thrown my father out of the hospital, my mother had sat down with me and Ward.

"We will get through this, all three of us. We got this" She said. "Nicolina, honey, do you want to move or do you want to stay?" She asked.

My heart burned as Mitch immediately flashed in my mind. I didn't want to leave him, I wanted to work it out. I wanted to discover his secrets and be there for him.

But once again, I reminded myself. He had never promised me anything, he wasn't exactly showing that he wanted to fight for us, he was just...gone.

"I'm gonna have to think about it, if that's okay..." I trailed off and she nodded. "All of your friends are here in the hospital, some are just waiting and some are hospitalized. Do you want me to get them?" Ward asked.

"Is Francesca out there waiting?" I half whispered. Ward nodded his head without a second of doubt. I knew he'd had plenty of time to get to know everyone who helped us.

"Then her please" I said and he nodded, he kissed my forehead and headed out. "There is a boy, he wasn't speaking, he was...mute, I think. He has been staying outside of your room for the past two days" My mom said.

"Two days?" I asked her surprised. She nodded her head and gave me a sad smile. "I'll get the nurse" She said and left me.

As soon as the door closed, I bawled my eyes out. I felt the stitches tightened on my forehead, I also felt my bruises.

All over my body and in my face. The nurse came in after Francesca, who waited till I was checked, then she engulfed me in a hug.

She was sobbing in the crook of my neck, she held onto me tightly as she cried. Ward was at the door, not leaving but giving us a little privacy.

"I'm so sorry," Francesca cried. "Don't, you shouldn't apologize" I told her. She finally calmed down and laid in my bed with me. "We have a surprise for you, if you're ready?" Ward said and Francesca gave me a small smile.

"Okay" I said and nodded shortly, letting him know I was ready. He shot me a smile before exiting the room, shortly after he came back in and kept the door open.

Nurses rolled three beds in. With three of my best friends in it.

West, North and Celina. All three had major smiles on their faces. "That's my girl!" West cheered.

Chase, Oliver, Mitch, Celina, Sophia and my mother walked in after the nurses set them up to share the big room with me.

I couldn't help but laugh a little as West had his own party going on while high on painkillers. North looked ready to kill his twin and Celina rubbed her temples.

"Hi guys" I called out. Francesca smiled down at me as she lay in the bed with me still. "Do you like it?" She asked me and I nodded.

She cheered and kissed my cheek before letting the others say hi, Mitch stayed back, but he watched me intensely as everyone greeted me.

Shortly after everyone settled down. Sophia hopped into West's bed, Fran in North's and Oliver in Celina's.

Chase, Ward and my mother were talking in the corner where the chairs were while Mitch just stood there. He was waiting for a sign, but so was I, so it took a few minutes for me to figure out how to make the first step.

So, I did it by lifting the duvet a little and scooted over, to make room for him. When I did so and made it clear it was for him, he looked ready to bawl his eyes out.

He came over and jumped in gently, he was really careful to not hurt me. "I'm sorry, I let you push me away again" I whispered to him as I rested my head on his chest.

He said nothing, or signed nothing, he just squeezed me tighter. I assumed he didn't want to talk about it now and rested my eyes a little.

"You need a new phone by the way, Nick" West called out all of a sudden. I raised an eyebrow in confusion, did it get trashed in the fight?

"Oh? Why?" I asked. "Well, the whole thing was filmed live so I tried to call you, hell we all did-but the call kept getting ended" West said and Francesca agreed.

I narrowed my eyes and slowly drifted towards Chase. He looked awfully guilty, I wasn't in doubt that he had a part to play in that, but I didn't say anything in front of everyone.

"Sweetie, Ward and I are going to get some new clothes for you at home. We're gonna deal with Frank as well, if you need something-get someone to call us if your phone isn't working okay?" Erin said, I nodded my head and she gave me a smile and squeezed my hand. Her eyes traveled to Mitch and I knew she was enjoying this way too much.

I had never had a real boyfriend before, not that Mitch was. But I didn't hide it from her, she smiled widely at that and winked at me.

"I'll see you later, okay?" Ward also said and kissed my cheek. "Chase will stay here" Ward added and I nodded my head and waved goodbye when my mom and brother left.

"Can I get a moment with Chase, please?" I asked Mitch, he nodded with confusion on his face, but he slowly slid out of the bed and headed over to Oliver and Celina.

"Chase" I called out and moved my head to make him come over. "What did you do to my phone?" I ask him.

"Oh-I-uh, well it was in your jacket when you-you know" He stuttered, he was guilty as hell. "I saw you fumble with it after giving you my jacket. Did you decline their calls?" I ask him.

I tried my best to remain calm. It wasn't working, I was furious, we could've gotten help-no, we could've gotten out of there without as many hospitalized.

Chase bit his lip and sighed. "Alright, yes. I declined the calls and shut it off, okay? You needed to focus" He exclaimed in defense.

"Focus on what? Chase, it was you, me and Ward just having fun there, the fight hadn't even begun. They could've backed us up or warned us" I scoff in disbelief.

"Well, I didn't know this was going to happen, obviously" He said with a defeated sigh. "It doesn't matter. Why were you even touching my phone?" I snapped at him.

"Well, I don't-""-Oh my god-you were jealous? It was my friends" I gasped in realization. It only ignited my anger more. By now everyone in the room was looking at us as our voices raised.

"No, it's-no, that's not it" He said, but he didn't come up with an explanation, so it was just confirmation. I scoffed and pulled the duvet off of my body before fighting to stand up.

"No, Lina. Just stay in bed, it's not safe, you're injured-""-Piss off!" I shouted in pain as I stood up successfully. I shoved him back despite the pain in my back and arms.

"Get out, I never want to see you again. Get out!" I shout at him and shove him harder this time. "Lina, you're moving back to West County soon. We can fix it, okay? Everything will be back to normal, right?" Chase said, desperation showed and I scoffed.

"Get the fuck out of here before I dent your face" I warn him. I felt multiple presences behind me and Chase swallowed hard before putting his hands up in surrender, he backed out and left the room.