H.I.C.C.

Chapter 7: Mrs. Crutch

t's dark... I don't feel well... I don't have my uniform on. Nor shoes... It feels like.. A gown? My right armpit stings when I try to move it. Am I... wearing a mask? FUCK. My chest hurts so much... It's hard to even think straight... My hands feel cold.. No, only my right hand does... Why is my left hand so warm? Come on, you can do this! Open your eyes! OW! Shit, that's bright.... It smells weird too... Where the fuck am I? What even happened? My head hurts when I try to think about it... MARK! THAT'S RIGHT! YOU BASTARD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? OUCH. Shit... Calm down, I'll figure this out. Another try, carefully now.

I open my eyes again. It's still bright as fuck, but I keep them near closed to slowly adjust to it. It takes a while until I can see. I'm in a hospital room. My right arm's connected to a drip. Even though they probably gave me anaesthetics my upper body is extremely painful. It makes breathing very uncomfortable, which is probably the reason for this mask. Still doesn't solve the mystery of my left hand. I slowly turn my head. Since Mark hit that too I probably have a concussion. Not sure though. I now look at my left flank. JEN! Why is she here? What time is it? I see no clock. Now that I looked around I notice that the light that was so bright to me at the start is rather dim. It seems to be night. How long was I out for? And how long has Jen been here? Her eyes are closed, she's probably sleeping... Her face looks like she cried... Did I do that? I feel guilty... What did she do to deserve this? I wanted to cheer her up, and now I bring her more suffering. That's just not fair.

L looks at Jen a few minutes. Then she closes her eyes again. She thinks it's of no use to keep staring at her. Suddenly Jen's hand contracts shortly. "Jen?" L is shocked. Her voice is very quiet and raspy, and it hurt extremely badly to speak. She feels a cough rising. She suppresses it as good as she is able to. If speaking hurt that much, then coughing would be extremely tormenting. The urge to cough actually does go away. L is relieved, but does not sigh. She keeps her breathing to the best possible minimum. "Did I dream?" Jen suddenly murmurs, probably to herself. L wants to reply, but the memory of the pain just a few moments ago keeps her from doing it. Instead she squeezes Jen's hand. Suddenly Jen jerks up. "L???" L looks at Jen and forces the corners of her mouth to a smile. Tears get into Jen's eyes. "Don't." It hurt so much. "Do not "Don't" me when you shouldn't be speaking." Jen sobs. "The doctors sad you even were lucky... You have a few broken ribs, one of them almost punctured your lunge... You have a light concussion too... And they said you were dangerously close to get strong internal bleeding.. Had Mark....hit you again..." She can't continue. Instead she just stares at L, who listened carefully. It takes Jen a whole seven minutes to calm down. "I don't want to lose my only real friend one and a half weeks after I met her..." L shakes her head. She does her best to force two words out: "You won't." Jen strengthens her grip. "DON'T speak..." Jen leans closer to L's head. "They'll keep you here for a while... I'll have to go to school, but I'll visit. I promise." L nods. "I called my mum... She told your parents. They came today as well, they'll be back tomorrow. They said while you're still not up I'd be more than enough to look after you." L rolls her eyes. Her parents were kind most of the time, but they had their jerk-moments. Seriously, what kind of parents would just leave when their daughter is hospitalized and has not woken up yet? Or is there something they felt about Jen that L didn't grasp yet? It makes her think. Suddenly Jen's phone vibrates. "It's my parents." She says. "Hmmyello?" She answers the call. "Yeah, she did a while ago.... No... What? But... O.k...." She hangs up. "They want me home." She says with a sad expression. L nods. "Are you sure?" She nods again. "Ok..." Slowly Jen gets up. She waves shortly, then walks out of the room. It feels wrong... Something is missing... There is something she would've wanted to do... But what? She decides to not think about it longer and leaves the hospital quickly. When she arrives at home it is 4 AM. She feels tired. Her mother greets her, whispering: "Your Dad's already asleep. I stayed up to let you in." Jen hugs her mother. "You didn't have to do that. I have a key." Her mother returns the hug, then presses her lips on Jen's forehead. "Couldn't do that. And you know that." She looks at her daughter. "You look horrible Darling..." Jen rubs her eyes. "I know... It matches how I feel." As soon as Jen took off her shoes her mother suddenly swings her off her feet and carries her to bed. Jen couldn't sleep this night.

When Jen walked to school this morning she didn't encounter anyone on the way. They weren't at the gates either. Even when she entered the classroom no one really paid attention to her. It was one of the VERY few peaceful days. Jen embraced it. After yesterday it was nice to be left alone for a day. She gets out her things. Suddenly Peter walks over. Jen sighs. She wants to be left alone. The day had started so well. Peter now stands right in front of her. He was actually one of the few people that maybe once or twice joined the bullying, but were passive the rest of the time. "Yo Jen." He whispers. She stiffens. "H-hi..." Peter grabs the chair of the seat in front of her, turns it around and sits down. "I heard what Mark did.. And I think he overdid it. Heard that girl was hospitalized. How is she?" Jen gulps. "B-better..." Peter sighs. "Glad to hear it. Look, if Mark ever tries to pull shit that intense again, come to me. I'll teach him some manners." Peter winks at her, then gets up and goes back to his own seat. Jen is perplex. Did Peter really just offer to help her when she was in serious trouble with Mark? What the heck was going on lately? The rest of the day goes by rather quietly, just as Jen had hoped.

I happily make my way to the hospital. A few days have passed, and today L is finally going to be discharged! When I arrive, the nurse at the reception already knows where I want to go. I've visited every day after all. "Here you go, you just have to sign it, I filled in the blanks already." I smile. "Thank you!" I rush to room 213. I open the door and find L sitting up, leaning against the back wall and reading a book. "Hey!" She puts it down and turns to me. "Hi." She says, still sounding a little weak. I walk over to the bed and sit down on the side. When I put down my hand on the bed I shortly touch hers by accident, and pull it back quickly. "How's the speaking?" I ask. L gently rubs her ribcage. "Better, but still hurts a bit. I also can't breathe fast or really move my upper body. Oh, and laughing hurts pretty badly." I frown. I look around the room. "Are you getting crutches?" L rolls her eyes. "Crutches are for pussies, besides there's nothing wrong with my legs." I raise a brow. "Have you tried walking?" L sighs. "Yeah... briefly.. It still makes me feel dizzy. Blasted concussion." I look to the floor and fold my hands. "Don't you think you're rushing the discharge?" L looks shocked. "Fuck no! I can't miss that much school! You know how hard it is to keep up if you lose even a week!" I nod. She was right. Our school was an elite establishment, and even delinquents like Mark had to be really smart to stay. But that he was smart was only adding to his scariness. "But wouldn't crutches be the better alternative then?" I carefully ask again. L looks away shortly. "I was kind of hoping you'd be my crutch. I hate crutches, I had to use them when I was younger once." I raise a brow. She smiles and sticks out her tongue, winking. "I fell down when I climbed a building." I open my mouth to say something, then shake my head and giggle. "That sounds so typical." L suppresses her laugh, and I feel guilty. "Well, wanna leave?" L gestures down her body. "Dressed like this?" I only now realise she's still in the hospital gown. "I'll get the nurse." I get up and go to the nurse' office, asking for L's clothes. I am given her clothes and quickly head back. "Here you go." I say. "Thanks." I help L get dressed. Especially her top was complicated. It seemed unpleasant. "That's it." I say. "Nope." L shakes her head. "Gimme those!" She points to the drawer. "Do you really want to put them on?" L tilts her head. "Jen, I am NOT leaving this room without them on." I shrug and hand her the gloves. She puts them on. I take her arm over my shoulders and carefully support her getting up. "Well, looks like it's gonna be a fun week at school. If we want to continue walking there we might have to get up an hour earlier." L says meant as a joke. I look at her. "Don't say that so sarcastically.. Do you really think I'd drive there?" L looks at me and raises a brow. "Are you sure you wanna do that?" I nod. "It's the least I can do. After all he only hit you because of me." L suddenly smiles. "Well, if you're fine with playing the crutch." I want to pout, but I smile instead. "Yes, yes I am." L smiles.

"Well, then let's go Mrs. Crutch!"