Tongue Tied

Chapter 5

The doctor's discharged me around 8 pm after I begged them. I just wanted to sleep in my own bed. My parents signed the papers & wheeled me out to the front doors of the hospital. Then we were off to get my pain meds & snacks. It's fun to break an arm because your parents feel bad for you & don't want to tell you no. I suggest giving it a try haha. We left the pharmacy & turned the corner onto our road. As we pull into the drive way of my house, the sun was starting to set & my dad helped me out of the car, pretty much just keeping me steady.
"God I REALLY hate these stupid crutches. I shouldn't even need them" I groaned as I got my footing. My dad laughed & shut the car door as I hobbled towards the front. Our house was a decent size, roughly 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms & a nice basement. It makes for great house parties, maybe I should do that?? Celebrate the fact I didn't die? Yeah that would be fun. I gotta tell Mel about thi——

"HADDIE" my littlest sister's voice breaking my train of thought. I looked up & there was Nova Louise, or NovaLou as we call her, standing at the front door. She's 7 years old & her curly brown hair a big mess & still dressed in her pjs from the night before.
"Nova Lou why are you yelling at me?" I asked as I made my way up the two front steps.
"Momma told me you got hurt, I was up all night because I was scared. You guys were all gone & Ms. Alice wouldn't let me call you."
Ms. Alice is our neighbor & my moms childhood best friend. I chuckled at her little facial expression, & pulled her next to me as I sat down on the living room couch.

"Where was Katherine?" I asked realizing she wasn't here. "She went to stay at Gracie's house after you left for Mel's"  she said as she yawned. I nodded & continued to reassure her I was really okay. " You know that's okay that Ms. Alice didn't let you call. It was a long nice for all us Lou. But I'm okay see!!!" I said as I tickled her to take her mind off things, knowing her she had a million questions running around in that brain & I was just too mentally exhausted to talk about it all over again. As her laughed died down, the front door closed & my parents came into the living room. They sat down with us & my dad pulled Nova onto his lap. Then suddenly we were all in a giant group hug.

       "Okay Nova it's time for bed. You had a long night just like the rest of us. You need your sleep" my mother said sweetly to Nova picking her as she was practically falling asleep on me. Her & my father went to tuck her into bed. I sighed & prepared myself to get up off the couch as I heard the front door open. My middle sister came at me feel speed once she saw my cast & crutches.

       "Oh my god, haddie what the fuck?! I got moms message saying you were in the hospital but I just got back from the lake with Gracie. What happened? Are you okay? Did someone do this to you? What happened oh my g—" I put my hand over her mouth, "EW you licked me" I said with disgust as I wiped it back onto her sleeve.
"Kat I'm okay! It's okay, I knew you were gone." We sat back in the living room as I explained the whole night to her. She went from angry, to sad, to solely focused on the mystery man.
     "So, you're telling me. This god like HOT man, came to your rescue & you DIDN'T get his number? Are you sure you don't need an MRI or Cat Scan?" I laughed a little & just shook my head at her. 15 years old & she's just as boy crazy as the rest of us. "No Kat, I didn't get his number. I don't want it, he was pretty rude after helping me." She just looked at me with bewilderment. Signing she just dropped it & I went to get ready for bed. Getting up the stairs with these damn crutches is just too much.

I made my way into my room & grabbed clean clothes & a towel. I headed off to the bathroom & realized showering with this cast is going to be harder than I thought. After about 30 minutes of struggling I turned the water off & changed into my pajamas. Settling into bed, I went to plug my phone in & saw I had a text from a random number.
*Text message from: 671-783-9982 at 10:09pm*
"Hey kitten, sorry our first meeting had to be so rough. Sleep well, Shadow Man" I stared at my phone for about 15 minutes in ABSOLUTE shock. How, how did he get my number? What does he mean *finally* get to speak to me in person? What is HAPPENING!? I wrote out a text & read it about 50 times before I sent it.
"How did you get my number? Why are you texting me?" I started to shake as I hit send. My heart was beating out of my chest, after last night I trust no one. *Buzz Buzz* Grabbing my phone, I rolled onto my side careful not to put pressure on my wound.
"I have connections my darling, I just want to see if you were okay after last night. but if you're going to be that way then fine. I won't bother you, until you're ready kitten"
My face turned red fast as fuck when I read "kitten," but still. It's creepy he got my number randomly.
"I'm sorry, I'm just on edge. But no, if you must know. The man that pushed me on the ground, came into the ER & he was at looking quiet rough if I must say. He attacked me in the bathroom & sliced my leg open. It's been a very long 36 hours."  I sent back & closed my eyes. *Buzz Buzz*
"Wait, he hurt you again!? I guess I'll need to... speak, with him again. Glad you're safe tho, we wouldn't want your beautiful self to get hurt more. Sleep well kitten. I'll see you later(;"
I wanted to ask him what he meant, how he got my number, how he knew those guys. Hell how he even knew me!? I would have remembered meeting someone that fucking hot! But before I could even type out a message, my eyes were closed & I was out for the night.

I woke up the next morning at about 11:30
am, I made my way downstairs & as I went down the stairs on my butt because truly, fuck those crutches. I got hit in the face with the amazing smell of coffee & bacon. Our family always makes a big breakfast on sundays & we have over Ms. Alice, her husband & their two children. Jaxon who is 15 & Emily who is 8. It's always funny to see Jaxon sit at the counter awkwardly when Kat comes into in the room. Emily & Nova run around like little crackheads when they get together. They've been friends their whole life, kind of the upside to being neighbors I guess.
"Had, what in the world are you doing?" Michael, who is Ms. Alice's husband, asked while looking at me like I was insane.
"You're worried about what I'm doing when those two little girls just flushed your phone down the toilet?" & as if it was practiced, my sisters voice came from down the hall.
"Uh daddy!!!! Emily clogged the toilet."
"WHAT NO I DIDN'T. YOU SAID IT WOULD BE FUNNY" Emily's little voice came screeching down the hall.
"Oh god damn it" both my dad & Michael said as they rushed to the bathroom.
My mom, Alice & I laughed as I grabbed a cup of coffee & limped my way to the table. I'm over those crutches. I sat down & Alice started with the conversation I desperately wanted to avoid. "So, Had how are you doing? Do you want to talk about anything?" She said as she rubbed her hand on my arm. She was truly the sweetest woman alive, but I shook my head & took a sip of my coffee.
"Not really right now, if that's okay? I'm just still processing." She nodded & my mom set down a plate of eggs, bacon & jelly toast. I dug into my food & devoured it in like 7 minutes. I got up & hobbled over to the sink.
*Buzz Buzz*
"Good morning Kitten"

Hi guys!!!
Oh my god, can you believe it? I updated this story, after like 4 years!!! I'm honestly shook & proud of myself. I pushed this off for SOOO long (as you can tell) because I was afraid to let myself down thinking I couldn't make the story in my head work on paper.
I truly hope you guys liked this update. I'm going to work hard to stay on top of this again. I want to finish it.
Now I want your feedback?? How are we feeling about the writing? Lay out of paragraphs? Anything that I could do to make it better??
Also, how are we feeling about *shadow man* & his random texting? Is it too cliche? does it feel off? Please, let me know! I'm open to all sorts of feedback!!
Have a great week you guys!!
Much love
- J.