Shattered But Not Broken

Chapter 10

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My eyes opened as it took me a second to realize where I was. I looked around. I was in my bedroom. I turned my head to my arm. It didn't hurt anymore. It took me a moment to wake up a little when a yawn escaped my body. That's when I looked at my Swatch on my wrist and it read 9:30. Richie was sleeping in a chair with his head between his arms on my bed.

He woke up when I was trying to sit up.

"Good morning," I said.

"Good morning," he replied, yawning.

"What happened last night? The last thing I remember was at the lake," I said, still trying to wake up. My eyes felt weak.

Richie stood up and walked to my desk. I saw him pick up a syringe. "Well... you got drugged," he said tiredly.

"I got what?!" I said, raising my voice a bit.

"Shhh," he hushed me. "Mom and Cheryl might hear you."

I settled down my voice. "Why would anyone want to drug me?"

"I don't know," he said, putting the syringe back on my desk. "Maybe he was planning for you to be alone so he could kidnap you without any interference."

My face went into a disgusted look. "Ugh. That's just wrong."

"Yeah," he agreed.

We talked about that topic for another five minutes.

"Also, don't tell mom or Cheryl about what happened because they don't know anything," Richie told me. "I had to actually carry you into the house without them noticing last night because if they saw you drugged and not moving, they would probably lose it... and my mom would never let you or me go out at night again."

"Okay," I said. I thought for a second and looked back at him. "How did the man get away?"

"Well... you cut him... and then I stabbed him," he said, putting a guilty look on his face.

My eyes grew wide. "I did what?!" I heard he said that he hurt the man too but I didn't believe that I would ever cut someone. I had never done that before.

He walked towards me and cupped my hands in his. "You had no other choice, you saved yourself. And me... I... I was just pissed at the man for hurting you."

"Did you get hurt?" I asked curiously.

"Not really."

"What do you mean 'not really'?"

"Well, he pushed me down a couple times, but nothing major," he responded.

I was somewhat relieved to hear the words that he didn't really get hurt as we leaned in for a kiss.

"Wake up you sleepyheads!" we heard Cheryl say while banging on my bedroom door.

"We already are," Richie snapped at her.

I giggled and my stomach growled. "I'm hungry. I'm gonna do down and make myself some toast."

He stood there for a second.

"You coming?" I asked.

He broke out of his gaze. "Yeah. I'll be right down."

Before I left my room, I saw him look at the syringe once more and the start to make my bed for me.

What a nice boy.

****

Later that day, I decided to take off the bandage that was on my leg. I didn't really know what to think. I wanted to get it off, but I didn't want to see the scar that the bullet left. I wasn't ready to see the damage. I sat on the couch and brought a pair of scissors with me. I bent down and started to cut the bandage. I was shaking when I got down to the bottom, I started unraveling the yellow bandage.

When I pulled it off my leg, I realized that I got myself all worked up for nothing. I mean yes, there was still a scar, but it wasn't as big as I thought it would've been.

The scar was about two and a half inches long but it was still pretty visible, especially if I wore shorts. I ran my finger over it.

"Hey," I heard Richie say from behind me. He walked around the couch and sat next to me.

"Hey," I responded.

He looked down at my leg. "Is that it?"

"Yeah."

With little hesitation, he put his index finger on my leg and traced the scar.

Shivers ran up my body even though his fingers were warm. There was a smirk on my face for a few seconds.

"You know it's not that bad," he said looking up at me.

"Yeah, I guess," I said agreeing with his words. "But it's still there. You can't get rid of a scar, at least not one like this."

He grabbed ahold of my hands and cupped them in his.

He kissed me quickly on the lips and then pulled back.

He looked at me in the eyes and with a kind voice he said, "Just think of it as a battle you won."