McKenzie Anosova is a seventeen-year-old high school student trying to survive in her house with her abusive father and trying to keep her three year old daughter safe. Ever since McKenzie was six, her father has been abusing her in horrible ways be...
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I tried to get comfy in the hospital bed, well, as comfy as someone with an incision and broken ribs could get in this uncomfortable bed. My stomach was already throbbing and every time I changed positions, it hurt more. I finally gave up on sleep when I turned for the tenth time to try and get comfy and ended up hurting my stomach more.
It was ten-fifteen when I got on my phone to play Brick Breaker, hoping to fall asleep soon, then I remembered to text Julie to ask her if Belle could come over. I figured it would be okay with her, but if she says she can't watch her then Tori can just bring her here. Julie texted back saying it was fine and I texted Tori the directions to her house and asked her to make sure Belle was sleeping by now.
I was about to press the call button to ask a nurse for something for the pain when the door opened and Julian walked in.
"Julian? What are you doing here? Didn't the officer find you and tell you I said to go home?"
He walks up to the side of the bed and says, "Yeah, she did, and I asked her why you were here in the first place because the doctors didn't tell me anything and she didn't either. I know your spleen burst and the doctor said that your ribs were broken and... How did your ribs get broken in the first place? Is someone hurting you? Did Spencer do something to you? Is he why you always flinch whenever someone touches you? I will kill him I swear to-"
"No! Julian, no one is hurting me," I said looking into his eyes, equal parts hoping he won't see the lies behind them and hoping he will, so he can save me. But I can't let him know, so I put as much conviction in my voice as possible. "I fell down the stairs the other day and that's why I stayed home, not because I was sick, and that's why I was limping." The lies flowed effortlessly out of my mouth.
"Why didn't you just tell me when you fell down the stairs? You said you tripped."
"I know. I just... I tripped and fell down the stairs and I thought I was fine. My stomach was hurting, but I figured it would pass."
"You just collapsed. You scared the bloody hell out of me. I drove you to the hospital and the doctors told me I should've called an ambulance and not moved you. Do you think I caused your spleen to rupture by moving you?" He asked looking down at me with a mix of fear and sadness on his face.
"No! When I fell down the stairs, I broke two of my ribs and the doctor said that my ribs were poking my spleen and that's what caused it to burst."
"You must've fallen pretty hard," He remarked.
"Yeah, we have wooden stairs," I answered.
"Well, next time you decide to take a tumble down the stairs, tell me, so we can get you checked out before something like this happens again."
"Okay," I giggled. "Aren't your parents worried about where you are?"
"I told my dad what happened and he said that I could stay as long as I wanted."
