To Build A Home || c.h

Chapter 18

Calum's POV:

I don't have the energy to open my eyes, but I furrow my brows slightly. The first thing that runs through my head is: who the h.ell is visiting me? I get my answer pretty quickly when the person decides to speak up, though.

"Hey, how are you doing?" the person says, and I quickly recognize Ashton's voice. I should have known. I just raise my hand a bit and give him a thumb up.

"I'm sorry I panicked when I saw you, I just had no idea what was happening to you," he apologizes quietly.

"It's okay, I was panicking too," I mutter with a small, breathy laugh. He chuckles lightly, and I hear him walking over and probably sitting down. I open my eyes slightly and let them adjust to the light.

"So, why are you here?" I ask him in a low voice after a couple of seconds without actually looking at him.

"Well, once the ambulance had picked you up, I called Carol to tell her what had happened, and then I went to pick her up. She was at job, so it took some time to get there and then get to the hospital, but it was better than her taking the train or the bus or something," he tells me. Oh, well, that was nice of him, I guess... I reply with a small nod while I just stare at the white, dull ceiling.

"The others wanted to come and visit you too, but Carol said that they should let you rest." Yeah right. As if they would want to visit me. I just nod again, and the room falls completely silent for a couple of minutes until Ashton sighs softly and stands up.

"I'll let you rest now, see you later Calum," he says as he walks towards the door.

"Ashton," I mumble, causing him to stop in his tracks.

"Thanks for kinda saving my ass, I was pretty sure I was going to die out there," I say, followed by a pathetic excuse of a laugh from my side in an attempt to pretend that I'm joking about the last part. He turns around and gives me a small smile.

"No need to thank me," he says quietly before he exits the room. I sigh loudly, which leads to a couple of coughs, and close my eyes again.

It sure would be nice with a cigarette right now. It would be great to relieve some of the stress and- stop it! You're trying to quit, d.umbass! I cringe slightly before I shake my head and sigh again.

I wonder if Aunt Carol has told mom what happened. She's probably worried sick if she knows about it... I find myself smiling as I imagine my mom sitting next to me on my bed, stroking me over my hair lightly as she tells me that I'm a fighter and how much she loves me. Oh God, I need to tell her how much she means to me one of these days. I continue thinking about my caring mother until I finally drift off, spending the rest of my time in the s.hitty hospital asleep.

~~~

The next day my aunt tells me that I'm not going to school, which makes me very happy (you know, as happy as I can get over something so stupid) until she tells me that I'm going to the therapist instead. Honestly, I'd much rather go to school. No matter how much I try to tell her that I don't need to go to the therapist, she doesn't give in, which is why I'm currently sitting in the stupid waiting room, already a couple of minutes late for my session.

The white leather sofa I'm sitting on isn't comfortable at all, it's obvious that they just chose it because it looks good and goes well with the whole 'modern interior'. It's probably new too, at least it has the 'new leather couch' smell to it. There's a small glass table next to me with several magazines on it, but they're all s.hit, I've already checked them out. There's also a bigger table right in front of me. The black pendant lamp in the ceiling provides a dull and grey lighting, and the black and white spotted rug on the floor looks like it's never been walked on before, even though I walked on it just a couple of minutes ago.