Smile Even Though It Hurts ( A PTX fanfiction) ON HOLD

Snow

Warning! Mention of abuse and panic attacks will be mentioned throughout this book.  If things like this trigger anyone, read at your own risk

It was the beginning of December, mid-afternoon when a group of 5 people walked out of their hotel room laughing, pushing each other around in a playful manner.  It had been snowing the night before, so the ground was covered in a foot or two of snow.  The tall one pushed the smaller female into a large snow pile.  She screamed words at the blond who laughed and ran away.  The tall black male made a snowball and threw it at the other black male.  They were all laughing until they heard a terrifying scream in one of the back allies.  

Kirstin's POV

When I heard the scream, I felt my heart drop.  I looked at Scott, who looked at Mitch, who looked at Matt, who looked at Kevin.  They all had the same heart-wrenching reaction.  We all heard the terrified scream and we all ran to the nearest ally we saw.  I saw two huge men beating on this tiny, tiny girl.  I froze and my voice didn't want to work at the moment.  The girl wailed with each hit, punch and kick.  "STOP THAT! STOP HURTING HER."  I heard Scott scream.  I never heard him sound scarier in all these years we've been friends.  The three men surrounding the child ran when he heard Scott.  Kevin was the first one to run to the poor thing.  Mitch was next, me, Scott and Matt were next.  We were sure not to touch her as we were not sure how badly she was hurt.  We heard whimpers and cries coming from the girl.  She was covered in bruises and dried blood.  She was in the fetal position to protect herself from further harm.

Kevin shook his head.  He expanded to us her injuries and they were pretty bad, she won't survive the night out here in this condition.  We made a mutual agreement to bring her back to our hotel room to treat her.  If the injuries were bad enough, the emergency room will be our only choice.  Scott carefully picked the child up and Matt covered her with his large jacket to subside her shivering.  Walking back, it started to snow again.  Mitch looked at the child and gave her his hat and was again careful of her head, as it was the main target of the men.  The walk was about ten minutes, but it felt like it was ten hours.  The girl fell silent halfway to the hotel, we were worried because she could have fainted.  

We walked into Scott's hotel room and he put her on his bed.  We made sure not to tarnish the sheets, but no such luck.  We removed the jackets and gasped.  Her body was covered in black and blue bruises.  Kevin went to touch one of them and that is when she woke up.  She saw us and crawled to the farthest part of the bed and away from us.  Her hair was a rats nest, clothes ripped, burned and torn, she lost her shoes and her skin was covered in a layer of dirt.  I never saw a homeless kid so messed up. 

Jenna's POV

I was walking down the street to look for some cover, as it was about to snow.  I went down my usual ally to lay low for tonight.  I saw three big men come over to me.  "You planning to stay here child?" The larger one spoke.  I nod, too scared to speak.  "Well, this place is taken by us, so leave or get beat."  I did not leave, so they came over to me and punched me in the stomach.  I gasped but It was not awful.  I felt another blow on my back, that one made me fall to the floor.  I had multiple kicks on the head, back and stomach.  My body could not register the pain, so thankful I felt nothing.  I could feel myself about to pass out when I heard a males voice scream at them to stop.  I almost cried I was so grateful. I could not do anything as I was sure something was broken and I had a concussion.  The men stopped and a single man ran over to me.   He quickly got out of the way, as I started to throw up from being kicked too many times.  The others ran toward me, but my hearing and vision were hazy.  I felt someone pick me up and I started shivering violently.  I was not prepared for this weather.  I felt a coat being layed on me, and that was the last thing I remember because I fainted in the man's arms.

I woke up on a bed, really confused.  The group of 5 were standing above me, looking at me with great concern.  I could feel myself starting to have a panic attack, so I crawled to the back of the bed and started to shake.  I was having a panic attack and I could not stop it.  I felt movement on the bed and a hand rubbing soothing circles on my back.  It felt nice having someone care about me for once.  After a while, I felt the panic disapear, leaving me tired.  I felt pressure on my head, realzing that someone had kissed me and told me to sleep.  I let my eyes obey and went into a dreamless sleep, feeling safer than I ever did before.