Sweet Dreams #CHONI [riverdale girlxgirl]

23

Twenty Three

"Is she asleep?" A young nurse with caramel skin and golden eyes asks me in a soft voice. I nod in response. I hear Cheryl's steady breathing from right beside me, and I manage to shuffle my way off the hospital bed without waking her up.

"When will she be able to go home?" I plan on staying with her until she gets out, no matter how long it takes, but I can't say hospitals are my favorite places.

"Usually I'm meant to only tell the patient, but Cheryl is finally asleep and something tells me she won't mind if I just let you fill her in," The nurse gives me a sympathetic smile and continues, "We want to keep an eye on her for the next few hours, but I think she will be okay to go home tomorrow."

"She has to stay another night?" I question. I just want her to be okay, but she told me that she thought she would be out in a few hours.

"When her head collided with the cabinet it did more damage than it looks like. Cheryl has a minor concussion, but don't worry. She'll be just fine." She explains and then excuses herself and walks out of the room. Cabinet?

Cheryl stirs and mumbles something incoherently. "Cheryl?" I say, gripping tightly onto her hand, which is clammy and trembling. Her breathing loudens, and she throws herself onto her side. "Cheryl, wake up!"

Her eyes flash open with fear written all over them. They soften when she sees me. "Toni," she says breathlessly.

"I think you were having a nightmare," I tell her.

She makes room next to her and opens her arms up, signaling for me to lay with her. I oblige and cuddle into her side, and she wraps her arm around me.

"The nurse says you can't go home until tomorrow because of your concussion," I say without moving. She sighs and kisses me on the forehead, making me hug her tighter if that's even possible. I remember the nurse mentioning the cabinet, and Cheryl vaguely admitting that she lied about getting into a car crash. I know she won't want to talk about it, but I'm worried about her.

"What really happened to you?" I ask.

"My dad," she tells me after a long pause.

I shoot up so I'm sitting facing her. "Your dad did this to you?" I say through clenched teeth.

"Not like that," she answers quickly, putting her hand on my leg -- probably to calm me down but it feels like she did it so she could grab me quickly if I decided to leave and do something stupid.

"Then what the fuck was it like?" I spit harshly.

"It was my fault." The guilt in her voice is transparent, and my stomach sinks, but I stay silent, hoping she will continue. "He was sleeping when I got there, but he woke up and when I wanted to leave he blocked the door. I tried to get past him but he wouldn't let me... so I pushed him but he kind of..."

"He kind of what?" I ask, feeling myself get angry again.

"He flung me off him. I fell back and hit my head on the corner of a shelf near the door. Apparently I was out cold for a few minutes," She notices my clenched fists, "It was an accident."

"Shoving your daughter isn't a fucking accident," I start to yell.

"Toni," she says, and only continues when I eventually relax. "He called an ambulance, told them I fell over; he tried to stay with me but I got him to leave. I don't know where my mom was or what she thinks happened."

As she tells me what happened I can't figure out how I feel until she starts crying, and I also begin to cry. I have never wanted someone to be happy so badly in my entire life, and the fact that I can't change how she feels right now is heartbreaking.

"We need to do something about your parents. Your dad can't just get away with this," I say, becoming frustrated. How come the best people have more shitty things happen to them than bad people? How does that make any sense?

"T, I know my parents are cruel. And I would be perfectly happy with never having anything to do with them ever again, but there's nothing we can do. And even if there was, my dad never really did anything wrong. We can't prove anything."

I put my head in my hands, defeated. "It's not fair."

"I know," she says, "But you have to let it go."

I run my brain for any way to fix this. "Wait.. maybe we don't have to. Let me talk to my mom. She'll know what to do."

"No! Please. Don't get your mom involved. I did this and I can get myself out of this mess," she justifies, and she has never been more wrong.

She's telling herself that she has caused every single bad thing that has ever happened to her. Like she is some huge mistake who somehow made her parents into monsters. But that's just the way they are, and Cheryl couldn't be more perfect.

I stand up. I need to talk to my mom. She deals with this kind of thing all the time at work and I know she could help.

"My dad will just buy himself out of it anyway. That's what he's done anytime I've run away and the person who found me spoke to child services or the police or anything like that. He always gets away with it."

"No, Cheryl," I tell her as I walk towards the door, knowing exactly where I'm headed. "Not this time."

***
Please vote if you enjoyed the chapter and wanna keep reading <3
I can't decide if I wanna tie this book up or make it a lot longer.
Anyway, I hope everyone has an amazing day xxx