Band-Aids On Bruises

Forgiven

[The Next Day]

When I was finally allowed to leave the hospital the next day, I was excited and nervous. Dustin was going to talk to me without trying to hide anything anymore, and hopefully he wouldn't push me away anymore.

The doctors had given me some strong painkillers that I now held in my hands, rolling the bottle around to distract myself. I was also told that I would have to get the bandages on my cast changed after a few weeks. I didn't really care about my broken arm though, I was more focused on what the heck I was going to say to Dustin.

I had told my family that I had gotten in the fight to defend Dustin and his honour and admitted that is was immature of me to attack the three guys. It wasn't really a lie, I was just not going into details. I knew I should mention that to Dustin.

When we arrived at home my parents started fretting over me, asking if I wanted anything or needed help with something.

"I've just got a broken arm." I eventually had to tell them "I can take care of myself, don't worry. I'm seventeen, remember?" they laughed and apologised for being so protective.

I had something to eat and checked the time. Eleven am. I still had two hours to go. What to do?

I wandered around my house looking for something to do for a while until I got extremely bored. I ended up just going to my room and texting Chase. We 'chatted' about school, my broken arm and the fight. Thankfully she didn't really ask questions about the fight, besides 'Did you win?' and 'How many people did you take on?'.

We finished texting around eleven forty, and I groaned with annoyance. I had nothing to do until one. I browsed on my phone for twenty minutes, until I got bored again.

"I give up!" I cried and stood up. I walked downstairs and found my mum in the kitchen.

"I'm going for a walk okay? I'll be back soon." I informed her "I'll call you if anything happens." she nodded.

"Do you want me to give you a ride?" she asked.

"I'm good, thanks. I need the exercise." I said while I struggled to pull on my hoodie.

"At least let me help you with that." she said and came over to help me. When I finally got my hoodie on she opened the door for me. "Stay safe. I love you." she whispered and kissed my cheek when I walked past her.

I nodded and continued to walk down the street towards the park. I hummed quietly to myself as I walked. It was a nice day today, no clouds covered the sun, but there was a cool breeze that prevented anyone from wearing shorts and t-shirts.

I put my hand into my pocket and viewed the area around me. I wasn't entirely sure where the park was, for I had only been there a couple of times. But Dustin had told me it was one of his favourite spots to go to when he wanted to be alone, so I assumed he knew exactly where it was.

I walked down the road until I came to a small and thin dirt path that lead off to the left of the road between two large houses with very tall hedges and a large field behind them, something I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't looking for it.

The path went through the grassy pasture, that I guessed grew corn or other produce. I followed it as it winded through the edge of the field. Then, I could see a cluster of trees at the end of the field. The path lead into them so I entered it.

The path finally ended in a clearing in the middle of the group of trees. There was a sign at the entrance and a small swing set at the edge of the park on the side opposite the entrance.

I stopped walking and read the sign. It said : Thrushberry Park, In memory of Beth Rodgers.

Underneath the large and bold letters it stated that the park was never going to be removed due to the fact the original owner's daughter loved this park and requested that it would remain taken care of when she died.