Fallen

Chapter Thirty Three

TW// Physical assault

The sun was peering over the horizon by the time we were able to leave the hospital. Exhaustion had a tight hold of me, but I refused to sleep until I knew Ellie was okay. Once she'd gone through chest x-rays and having her stomach pumped of all the drink we had that night, we finally got her out of the hospital. As relieved as I was to know Ellie didn't suffer from any long-term injuries thanks to Nick finding the fire soon enough, my stomach twisted with dread when we all piled into Jackson's car to get to our new home.

Ellie and Nick were both as shocked as I was when I first saw Jackson's house. With Ellie's arm over my shoulder, we quietly stepped into the place and up the stairs. Jackson had enough rooms for all of us. I slept in Ellie's bed for the first few nights, refusing to leave her side. As she slept, I couldn't stop myself from watching her to make sure she was breathing okay. During the day, if she'd cough or put her hand to her chest, I insisted we went back to the hospital, but she reassured me that everything was fine.

But I knew it wasn't. She'd changed. The old, happy, sarcastic Ellie had disappeared. Now she just wrapped herself up in a blanket and laid out on Jackson's sofa staring at the wall. She'd not eaten properly for days and when I offered to make her a drink she only asked for wine.

"Ellie, it's 2pm. I'm not letting you drink," I said, stroking her hair as I sat on the floor in front of the sofa. Her head was resting on a pillow with the blanket up to her chin.

Jackson approached us from the bar at the back of the room. "Here you go," he said, offering Ellie a glass of wine despite what I had just said. She sat up and took it. I glared at Jackson.

"It's the middle of the day. She shouldn't be drinking."
Jackson shrugged. "If she wants to drink, let her drink."

I wanted to argue, but not in front of Ellie. I didn't even have Nick to back me up. His job made him work long hours so I barely got to see him when I wasn't at the café myself. Working gave me a purpose to carry on as normally as I could. I didn't want to live at Jackson's without paying him back. It was a pride thing.

The hours at the café were still long, but gradually I began to notice that my shifts were going down and Carly's were increasing. I'd had so much time off that Benny had to pull me into his office and warn me that I was seeming unreliable. He also noticed my strained relationship with Danielle. We barely spoke when working together. I tried to ask about Mark, but I never got an answer. My texts and calls were all ignored. I was starting to get the feeling I had lost my two closest friends.

I let myself into Jackson's house after a long day of being ignored by Danielle to hear clattering and whispers from the living room. As I followed the noises, a loud smash sent me into panic mode. I ran in to find Ellie lying on the floor at the back of the room by the bar. A broken bottle of whiskey was beside her. She was giggling as she rolled onto her back. Jackson was stood over her with his arms folded.

"Ellie?"

They both turned to me. Ellie's face lit up when she saw me.

"Baby sis," she called, trying her hardest to get up to her feet, but she crashed onto her knees. Jackson grabbed her arm to pull her up and sit her at one of the bar stools. With a giggle, she began to slouch forward, but I caught her before she fell onto the floor again.

"I took my eye off her for two minutes," Jackson said.

Ellie's head rolled around on her neck. I sighed and carried her up to her room as I always did. Jackson tried to help, but I refused it. As we slowly climbed the stairs, she was babbling something I couldn't understand. We slowly reached her bedroom where I let her collapse onto the bed. I took off her shoes, tucked her into the covers and let her sleep it off. She was passed out within seconds. Biting my lip in concern, I watched her sleep. It was the first time I'd seen her happy for weeks since the fire and that was the worst part of it.