You drew stars around my scars

Chapter 7

The teen started to groan slightly as she began to wake up. "Hi baby, you're ok. It's Taylor, I'm here. You're ok"

The young girl opened her eyes and tried to focus, she attempted to sit up slightly in the bed but pain shot through her as she did and a small whimper escaped her lips, Taylor held her hand tightly "Try not to move, it's going to be sore. You were in an accident but you are ok". The teen tried to focus on Taylor but everything was hurting, the room was too bright and the noise was too loud. There was movement all around the room as the doctors and nurses rushed to check on the girl.

Taylor stared at them all intently – wanting to know she was ok. When they had completed their checks and found no new injuries or concerns they turned to Taylor to offer reassurance "She may not remember what has happened. Just take it slowly. We'll give you some space now. Please let us know if you need us".

They all filed out the room and Taylor sat on the edge of the girls bed "Hey buddy, you're ok. Can you talk to me?" The girl swallowed and tried to form wounds but her head was throbbing "wwwwwhaat?" Taylor interjected quickly "what happened?". The young girl nodded timidly, trying to figure out how she had got here.

Taylor held her hand gently, rubbing her thumb across the back of the girls hand "You were in an accident. You and your mum were driving back from the doctors, some idiot ran a red light and hit the side of your car. Can you remember anything?"

The confusion on the girls face was evident as she strained to remember any details, then suddenly her face changed slightly, remember her mum unconscious in the car. She looked up at Taylor, tears forming in her eyes "Mum?", Taylor's voice cracked as she spoke – her own eyes brimming with tears "I am so sorry Buddy, she was really really hurt. The doctors tried absolutely everything they could, but her injuries were too severe." Sobs echoed round the hospital room as Taylor confirmed your mum had passed away in the hospital. The sobs turned into strangled cries, the panic and fear evident. Taylor sat there rocking her, comforting her until they died down slightly. Taylor continued to tell her about how she'd ended up here "you were both brought in by ambulance yesterday. The doctors have done all sorts of tests on you. You had dislocated your left shoulder, broken your left wrist. You have a couple of fractured ribs, you have a nasty concussion. You have some cuts and scrapes on your face – but don't worry they've all been taken care of. You're going to be pretty sore for a couple of weeks but you will be absolutely fine. You've been asleep since – they weren't too sure how long it would take you to wake up." As she was talking the younger girl could feel the fatigue hitting her, Taylor noticed and stroked her face softly "You're probably going to feel pretty tired for the next couple of days – they said you should just rest as much as possible. I can see your eyes closing, don't try and fight it – have a little nap and I'll be right here waiting". The teen didn't want to sleep, she wanted to go back in time – she wanted to see her mum but maybe it was all the meds they had her on, maybe it was shock, maybe it was just pain – either way she couldn't stop her eyes from closing and she fell into a deep sleep again.

A couple of hours later she woke up and true to her word Taylor was sitting right next to her in the chair. The blonde stood up and poured some water, holding the cup and straw to Jessica's mouth so she could take a couple of sips of water. She winced as she swallowed, feeling pain all over her body again. Taylor bit her lip "shall I go and get the nurse? They can give you some more pain relief?" The young girl shook her head – "I don't want anything. I feel sick." Taylor nodded sadly and went to speak again but the teen interrupted her "Taylor, what's going to happen? I don't have anyone. It was just me and my mum. Her parents are both dead, my dad has never been in the picture. Where am I going to go?"

Taylor didn't hesitate to answer "Buddy, your mum probably never talked to you about this because obviously we never thought it was going to actually happen. But when you were about 10 your mum asked me to be your legal guardian if anything happened to her. I obviously agreed and we got the paperwork all drawn up – we wanted to make sure if the worst should happen there wouldn't be any problems. My lawyers had all the information and I contacted them yesterday – they're going to deal with everything, as long as you're ok with that?" Tears dripped out of the girls eyes, she nodded and smiled softly "I'm sorry you're having to do that" Taylor frowned at her "Baby, I'm sorry that the circumstances have led me to have to do it because obviously I would rather your mum be safe and sound but believe me – I'm not sorry to take you in. I have loved you since before you were even born, I was THERE when you were born. You are your mum through and through but a little bit of you runs through my blood too" The girl laughed slightly "that's not even biologically possible, but thanks – I love you too. You're like my second mum – you always have been." Taylor scoffed playfully "totally not responsible enough to be a mum, but a really really REALLY cool aunt? Of course"

The teen girl played with her fingers nervously "When can I get out of here?"

"Sweetheart, you're pretty banged up – it's gonna be a couple of days I think, they haven't really said. Everyone was just so focused on waiting until you woke up."

The girl started to cry again "I hate hospitals, I don't want to stay here!" Her voice turned into a whine "if they've treated everything and it's just recovery I can do that so much better at home" Taylor tried to calm her down, sensing this was more than just not wanting to stay in hospital but the girl continued to plead. Eventually Taylor gave up and agreed to go and talk to the doctors to get an update and to discuss a discharge home.

The teen looked around the empty room, feeling a mixture of overwhelming sadness but also a bit numb – none of it felt real.

Taylor was gone for nearly 45 minutes before she came back in, she looked a bit apprehensive as she sat back down "Sorry I was so long Buddy, I had to sign some paperwork and get a few things organised" The young girl could sense some apprehension in Taylors voice "But is everything ok?" Taylor nodded kindly "Nothing for you to worry about – it is all going to be ok. I did speak to the doctors about going home. I'm not gonna lie I am a little nervous – but they said if you have some lunch, keep that down and then we get you up and walking and you're ok then they will discharge us tonight. BUT if you're sick, or you feel dizzy or you're in too much pain they're gonna keep us overnight and try again tomorrow. Now you've got some pretty serious injuries so take it easy – there is no hurry. Even if you can't go home, I'll be right here with you the entire time."

The teen nodded gratefully "I can definitely move, and I can deal with the pain – but I'm not sure I can eat. I feel pretty sick" Taylor frowned slightly but the girl jumped straight back at her "it's not a food thing – I don't know if its adrenaline or what, but I feel like I'm gonna puke even when I drink water". Taylor went out to speak to the nurses quickly then came back in "they said it's actually really common with all the morphine you've had, they're gonna come and give you an anti-sickness injection and they'll send us home with some tablets to help".

About 30 minutes later they brought round a tray of food containing a sandwich, a yoghurt, a banana and some orange juice. Taylor quickly thanked the nurse and took it off her, putting it in front of the young girl. The tension was evident in the room as the teen made no effort to pick anything up. Taylor handed her the orange juice and she took a small sip, wincing slightly again when she swallowed. They sat in silence for a few seconds until Jessica turned to Taylor "I really don't want it, I don't feel hungry", Taylor handed her half the sandwich and said firmly "You have to eat, I swear Jess – If you don't eat, you don't get to leave today". There was a stare down for a few seconds while both of them waited to see who caved first. "Have you eaten today?" the young girl asked the blonde, an accusatory tone in her voice – without missing a beat Taylor nodded "yep, one of my security brought me breakfast this morning and then the nurse brought me a banana and a coffee while you napped."

Realising she had no argument the young girl took a small bite off the corner of the sandwich, chewing slowly, not looking up as she ate. She managed to work her way through about one quarter of the sandwich then put it down and moved to the banana which she ate fully. After finally picked up the yoghurt and ate about one third of that before putting it back down. She turned towards Taylor, a pleading look in her eye "I can't do anymore" Taylor felt torn – she hadn't eaten enough but she had also been in a major accident, lost her mum and had a whole list of injuries – she didn't know how far to push her. She picked up the sandwich and begged the girl "just finish half of this – then we can tell them you've eaten enough and we can try to get you up and moving again". The teen hesitantly brought it up to her mouth and took another bite, she began chewing it robotically but when it came to swallowing it she couldn't face it, she looked at Taylor, the fear in her eyes but the blonde just nodded back encouragingly, she forced a swallow but as it went down her throat a gag ripped through her. Her hands flew to her mouth, scared she was going to be sick in the bed but Taylor handed her some water and rubbed her arms soothingly, she cooed at the girl "you're doing great – you were so brave! You're ok, just breathe and it'll go away". Doing as instructed the girl took a small sip of water and breathed deeply, trying to push away the sicky feeling she had in her stomach. Taylor gently took the sandwich off her and pushed the tray away "You can stop now, I can see you really tried your best there. I am SO proud of you".