You Light Up the Sky Like Lightning

Chapter Thirty Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

A few days past, and I made very little improvement. It seemed that the day after it all happened was better, the next day was worse, and then the day after that was even worse. Now, I didn't hurt as much down there, some of the cuts had formed scabs that were slowly fading, and I could move just a tiny bit better. But, my left arm was in a sling for my dislocated shoulder, and the cut down my back was only getting worse. I still got headaches really easily, but people knew to be quiet when they were around me. 

Justin was a sweetheart and never left my side. He had the next few and past few days off, thankfully. 

We were still in Australia, and we were supposed to leave tomorrow. No one knew how the flight was going to treat me since I was still in a 'bad condition.'  I had a hard enough time coming to terms with what happened, so people swarming me constantly didn’t help.

I hated all the attention. I've never been an attention seeker, and so I hate it when all of a sudden, everyone turns to you when you walk into a room- er, at least try to walk, in my case. 

Yeah, I could walk, but every once in a while, a random string of pain would shoot throughout my body unexpectedly, and I'd fall over or fall against the wall. I've done that a few times. Justin tried his best to help me, but sometimes it was just easier to let me fall. That way, he wouldn't grab at me, just causing more pain. 

Right now it was about eleven at night. Everybody had turned in except for Justin and Ry Good. No, Ryan didn't know what happened, and for now, I'd like to keep it that way. 

"Lan?" Justin asked softly, announcing his presence in our dark bedroom. He hadn't been sleeping with me the past few nights out of fear that he would hurt me accidentally. He slept either on the couch in the bedroom or on the floor next to the bed. 

"Yeah?" I said quietly. 

"How you doing?" he asked as I felt him sit down slowly on the bed. He was always so careful around me since it had happened. 

"Getting better slowly," I said, moving so that I could see the outline of his body. I could move slightly easier, which I was so thankful for. 

Justin helped me take the sling off of my left arm, and he placed it on the nightstand. It was weird because I wouldn't let anybody else touch me at all. Not Carin, not Pattie, no one. Only Justin. It wasn’t because I was trying to, but I flinched every time someone got too close to me. For some reason, Justin was the only one I felt comfortable around.

I heard him sigh. "I should have been there," he mumbled. 

"Justin, it's not your fault," I whispered. 

"I know, but I feel like I should have been there to protect you!" he yelled. 

I winced. "Justin . . . yelling."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I just . . . I just get so worked up about it, and I feel like I should have come to find you. I almost did, too, right after you left, but Scooter stopped me. He wouldn't let me."

I reached out and found his hand, putting my fingers between his. 

"I love you, baby girl, you know that right?" he whispered. 

"Yes, I do know that. You know that I love you, too, right?"

"Yeah," Justin said, chuckling. 

"Okay good," I said, laughing a little. It hurt to laugh, and so I tried my best not to, but with Justin around, that was never going to happen. 

“I am so incredibly sorry this happened to you,” he whispered.