No Choice {GaLe}

Chapter Thirteen

I heard a faint, beeping sound.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

It was an endless void of, just, the beeping. I wondered where I was, since I really, only saw black. I guessed, my eyes were closed. I tried opening them, or just moving at all, but I couldn't.

"Levy......." I heard a faint voice whisper when I felt a warm hand grab mine.

"Gajeel, she's going to be ok," I figured Wendy, soothed.

"The doctor said that the burns were pretty painful. Plus, with the damn cuts and bruises, she must've been going through hell!" He growled, squeezing my hand tighter.

"Yeah, I know........ I wonder why she didn't tell us sooner...... she even asked me not to tell you but...... I had to!" Wendy cried, I felt some of her warm tears fall onto my bare arm.

"Mmmmm?" I groaned, cracking my eyes open. I hissed, closing my eyes at the bright light, right above the bed I was in.

"Levy!" Wendy smiled, wrapping her tiny arms around my neck. With my free hand, I slowly returned the hug, seeing a needle, connected to a long, clear, tube, in my hand.

"Hey, Shorty," Gajeel greeted, smirking. I huffed, finally opening my eyes when hearing my, new nickname.

"Wha.....What happened?" I asked, rubbing my eyes with my available hand. My other, being held by Gajeel.

"Well, Gajeel carried you to the truck, where you passed out. They told us that your cuts were infected, and the burns were just speeding up the process." Wendy explained, seeming like she was in a haze, almost like she was replaying the event in her head.

"D-Did..... they see my stomach?" I asked, not sure I wanted to hear the answer. My stomach was the worst of it all.

(Flashback)

"Whew!" I breathed, placing the last bag of groceries on the marble counter. I just came back from three-hour food-shopping. My mother hadn't restocked for weeks and we were running out of food. Virgo had the week off, so I took it upon myself to go grocery shopping.

I asked my mother for a list, which she nearly slapped me when she handed it -- more like threw it -- to me. I looked around, eyeing all the plastic bags on the hard counter.

"Time to check," I sighed, taking the horribly written list of things I needed to buy, as I started looking in every bag and checking the item off the list. I knew what happened to Virgo when she forgot to get something, I didn't need an extra scar.

My mother wasn't nearly as rough with Virgo as she was with me, as expected. But, she still didn't let her off the hook either. Sometimes, I wondered, did my mother always hate me? Did she always want to beat the life out of me?

But didn't because my father was around? I didn't know, but I guessed she did. We never truly had a strong bond, but we never fought either. So, it could've been either way, honestly. I also wondered, how was she able to think of different ways to punish me each time?

She almost never used the same punishment twice, but how did she come up with all of it? And when was she able to get everything she used? We surely didn't have a baseball bat before, both my parents hated sports, along with me.

And it wasn't like she ever left the house nowadays, with her drunken state of mind. So, how was she able to? So many questions went, unanswered with my mother. I thought I knew her so well before dad died, but I guess, I was wrong.

"Rat!!" My mother called, from the stairs.

"Yes?" I asked, stepping away from the kitchen. She stood at the foot of the stairs, gripping the railing to keep herself from falling.

"Did you get everything? Or are you as stupid as you seem?" She hissed, slurring her words.

"I-I got it all......" I told her, looking to the side.

"Did you get the six-pack of beer?"

I frowned, looking over the list for the hundredth time.

"Ma'am, i-it's not on the l-list......" I mumbled, slowly looking back up at her.

"So, you didn't get everything?" She asked, anger, laced in her voice, so came down the stairs, grabbing a fist full of my hair. I cried out, being dragged by my hair to who-knows-where.

"How many times have I told you to GET EVERYTHING??" She screamed, tossing me onto the same table she used when burning me. Was she going to burn me? No, she burned me two days ago, she would never do the same thing nearly twice in a row.

She opened a drawer of a rusty table, before pulling out a medium-sized knife. I gulped, my vision becoming blurry with tears.

"You're getting on a cut, for every bottle of beer you didn't get. Six."

Six?!

"One," She smirked, running the knife across my stomach after pulling up my shirt. I yelped, closing my eyes tightly.

"Two,"

Slice.

"Three,"

Slice.

"Four,"

Slice.

"Please stop!!!" I cried, blood, oozing onto the floor.

"SHUT UP!!" She roared, giving me a small cut on my chin.

"FIVE,"

Slice.

"SIX!!!"

Slice, slice, slice. I started sobbing, falling onto the floor. A pool of blood, starting to surround me.

(Flashback End)

"What happened to your stomach?!" Gajeel nearly yelled, getting up from his seat -- a red, plastic chair that was way too small for him.

"Nothing!" I squeaked, grabbing the sheets and pulling them up to my chin.

"Don't pull that crap! I know something happened to your stomach and I'm not letting you suffer when I can help!!" He growled, getting closer to me.

"D-Don't!! I swear, nothing's wrong!!" I plead, clutching the sheets tightly. I had already bothered them with my burns, no need to bother them again with my cuts. Wendy cowered in the corner, shaking. He snatched the sheets out of my hand, uncovering me completely. I was wearing a hospital gown, with black, shorts underneath.

"Please! Don't look!!" I cried, covering my clothed stomach with my arms.

"Levy, I need to. You're still hurt,"

I shook my head, closing my eyes tightly. He gently tugged at my arms, pulling them away. I was in a pretty weak state, I couldn't really fight back.

"No! Let me go!!" I struggled, barely even moving one of his fingers.

"Wendy, I need ya to lift up her gown for me, will ya?" Gajeel asked, looking back at Wendy. She gave me an apologetic look, before nodding and lifting my gown.

"Oh, my...... how many are there?!" Wendy gasped, lightly touching my stomach.

"Too many, call the nurse." Gajeel breathed, letting go of my arms. I slide of gown back down, not that it mattered anyway.

"Levy....... h-how did you get these?" Wendy asked, kneeling beside my bed. I bit my lip, shaking my head. Gajeel sighed, before grabbing my hand, making my eyes snap up to look at him.

"Whoever it was, they're gonna pay."

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Hey, my little droplets! I kinda wrote half of this chapter in the morning, and the last half at night, because the middle of the day was hectic for sure. I'm glad I got this chapter done today because school is going to start soon T_T and I want to get as much of No Choice done as possible!