The Boy Next Door

aftershock

im in math class rn.... help

i hope you enjoy this chaper! 

x -e

The door opens, and in comes Mum, Dad, Joey, Katie, Billy, Annie, and Hayley. They all shout happily and I get hugs from everyone. Joey comes in the bed with me, and everyone else sits by the bed. We play card games until everyone's yawning, and have a great time. But as the night goes on, I begin to be in a lot of pain. My ankle is throbbing and I have a massive headache. All I want is to sleep and then, as if on cue, a nurse comes in. "Ebony Rose Shields?" She asks.

"That's me," I say.

"We have some pain meds for you, honey." She hands me a blue and white pill with a glass of water. "Now, the side affects are feeling sleepy, so I'd try to get to bed, alright?"

"Yeah," I say.

"Will she come home tonight?" Asks Dad.

"No, not tonight. We're gonna see how she's doing tommorow and then decide where to go on from there."h

"Okay," says Dad.

"Well, I think it's about time to call it a night," says Billy.

"Ebony, do you want someone to stay here with you tonight?"

"Yeah... Could Caleb?" Mum and Katie exchange glances, and I see Katie nod slightly.

"Yes, that will be acceptable for tonight," says Mum. I grin.

"Love you, Ebby, g'night," says Joseph.

"Love you, Joey," I say. He climbs down from the bed and Dad picks him up and puts him on his shoulders.

"Good night, Ebony, love you!" Say Annie, Hayley, Katie, and Billy. I give them all hugs. Then my parents. Mum tears up and tells me how lucky we are to have me, and then it becomes a hug-Ebony-and-cry party. Soon everyone's gone, and Caleb's left sitting on the bed.

"I love you," I whisper.

"Oh my God Ebony, you scared me so much," he says, kissing me. He gets up on the bed with me, careful not to hit my ankle. We lay there in silence for a few minutes.

"Caleb,"

"yeah?"

"How long was I out for?"

"Um, a little more than a day I think."

"Hmmm..."

"It was the worst day of my life," he says. I look at him, tears spring in his eyes. I put my head to his chest, but an awful pain shoots through me, like electricity, right through my toes. I shriek and pull my head up abruptly. My hand gets caught in one of the oxygen tubes I was ordered to wear tonight and they fall off. Tears burn in my eyes but I try to fight them down.

"What happened" Caleb asks, panicked.

"M-my head," I say. Lift my arm and gingerly touch my head. Something doesn't feel right. I run my fingers through my hair, but there's almost nothing on my head to run my fingers through. "C-Caleb, where's my hair?"

"They needed to cut it of on the side for stitches," he says casually.

"What?! M-my hair is g-gone?!"

"No, just short." I jump up from the bed and try running to the bathroom, but because of my ankle, I fall and land on the side of my hip that's still sore from the ripstik incident. Pain shoots up my ankle and my side throbs. I feel so helpless. I slump against the side of the bed, defeated and embarrassed. Caleb gets down from the bed and sits beside me. "You're beautiful, Ebony, trust me. Let me help you up." I take his outstretched hand and he picks me up easily and puts me in the bed. Then I lay the other side of my head on his chest and fall asleep.

~

Voices wake me up. I take a deep breath and inhale Caleb's scent, then lift my head. Caleb's talking to one of the nurses. "She's up!" Says the nurse, smiling at me.

"Goodmorning, Ebony!" He says.

"Goodmorning," I say softly. I hurt everywhere. My head hurts the most, but my entire body aches. I think the nurse reads the pain on my face because she ducks out of the room and comes back with pain medications for me. I take them and drink the water she gives me thirstily.

"Alright, I'll have some breakfast sent to you guys, and Ebony, your physical therapy begins at 10:00, so you have an hour. And I need to give you some pain killers. Okay?"

"Sounds good," I say, she comes over with a needle and injects this liquid into me that automatically numbs the pain. I relax in relief. Caleb smiles and rubs my arm, and the nurse leaves.

"Did you sleep well?" Asks Caleb.

"Yeah," I say. "Wanna vlog?"

"Are you sure?" Asks Caleb.

"Yep, the viewers have seen me be worse." Caleb gives me a what-are-you-talking-about-ebony-you-just-got-out-of-a-coma look. "Well, maybe not worse than the day after I got out of a coma, but you know what I mean. He laughs and kisses me on the cheek. I take out my phone and my appearance shocks me. I don't look like myself. My hair is almost all chopped off on one side, and it's the normal length on the other. I look at the new me for a few seconds... I'll need a hairdresser to fix this mess... Then I realize, there's no way I'll be able to hide my scar that runs across my neck and back. That thick, ugly scar. I showed Caleb the scar on the night of our first kiss, but that was so long ago. What if he forgot? And forget Caleb, now I'll need to wear shirts that cover it all the time, so other people don't see it. I begin to panic. I've always had my hair to protect me, but now I don't.

"Ebony?" Asks Caleb.

"M-my scar," I say.

"Yeah... What about it?"

"M-my hair doesn't cover it anymore."

"And..."

"It's ugly! It makes me ugly! Who wants to look at a red scar on someone's back?! Nobody!" I yell at him, then I feel bad I yelled at him and I begin crying.

"Shhh, shhh Ebony. Stop telling yourself that. You're gorgeous. Listen, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my entire life. Truly, you're gorgeous. Honestly, your scar make you, you. If you didn't have it, you wouldn't be the Ebony Shields I fell in love with." I sniff, and he runs his fingers through my hair. I look down at my hands, he takes them in his. "I love you," he says.

"I love you," I say. A woman comes in with a tray. Two rich American breakfasts are placed at the table. Buttery pancakes with plump blueberries, bacon, and eggs.

"Thank you," says Caleb.

"Enjoy!" She says smiling, and she leaves.

"You're beautiful, okay?" Says Caleb, picking me up and placing me at a chair by the table.

"Okay," I whisper.