Battle Scars [BxB]

F I F T E E N

"Why are you in here?" She asked abruptly, causing my head to snap up in curiosity.

"W-What can I say?" I grinned, "The food is too delicious to miss out on." I prodded the questionable looking substance on the tray, gazing down at the plate of slop. The small canteen was buzzing with chatter and the smell of something that reminded me of dog food filled my senses.

"No, really, why are you here?" Hazel questioned again.

I shrugged. "I-I don't know." I answered in disinterest, pushing the food around on the tray with my plastic fork. "What are you in here?"

"Bipolar." Hazel answered casually before pinching her nose and shovelling another spoonful of mush into her mouth. "Jesus, Teddy, stop staring at me like that."

"Like what?" I pried peppily, resting my head on my hands, my elbows propped up on the table.

"Like I'm fascinating or some shit."

"You are." I smiled brightly. "Y-You have really nice eyes." I admired, studying the twinkling blue irises, obscured by her shaggy green hair. "A-And you hate everyone. Why?"

She snorted, "There's not much to love about people. They're wankers."

"You're not." I commented.

She rolled her eyes tiredly, "Hurry up, eat your food. It's loud in here, I wanna go."

I hastily shovelled food into my mouth, trying to finish as quickly as possible. I'd been here for two weeks now. It was scary at first, but I was finally starting to feel happy again. My meds have shifted about a dozen times and my therapist kept changing. I called Luca most days and my parents came to visit all the time. Tommy had been down to see me once, but he usually couldn't get away from work. Since he's been helping out around the store without my assistance, his hours have practically doubled.

Hazel snorted, shaking her head in mock disapproval. She untangled her legs from the bench before standing up with her empty tray. "C'mon, it's almost time for visitation." She urged and I jumped up hurriedly, eagerness and anticipation inflating my chest. "Your boyfriend coming?"

"No." I answered sadly. "H-He's still at uni. But my brother's coming." I said peppily. I was desperate to see Luca, but had to constantly push down those feelings of longing and forget about it. I got out soon, just in time for Luca to return to Wolfpine for the Christmas holidays and spend a few short weeks snuggled up with me. It was the only thing keeping me going.

"What about your parents?"

"Th-They can't make it today." I sighed sadly as we dumped our food and tray and headed out of the bustling canteen, only to be stopped in our tracks by a nurse. "Hi, Violet!" I smiled warmly at her, making Hazel roll her eyes yet again. "How're you? Did your husband like the flowers you sent him?"

She tried to suppress the smile tugging at her lips as she sighed, "Hey, Teddy. How's it going?"

"Great." I smiled. That was a new thing I'd started doing. Smiling. "H-Have a good day, Violet."

Hazel scoffed obnoxiously beside me as we headed past the nurse and through the winding white hallway, "You're such a suck up."

I nudged her playfully as we turned the corner, advancing towards the big white door at the end of the shiny, waxy corridor where I knew Milo was waiting for me. Once we'd pushed it open, I froze.

Milo wasn't there. But that didn't mean I was in a room of strangers.

Because sat on the big red sofa in the corner, fiddling with the hem of her jacket as her knee bobbed up and down in agitation, was Samantha Wilkins.