The Consequence of a Dream

Ch. 34

Demi's pov

When I notice Phoenix not paying attention to the movie, I immediately know something isn't right. It's not until I see her tears when I know why she's not paying attention, she's in pain.

"I'll be right back sweetheart." I say.

She gives a small nod as I get out of the bed. I walk to my room and grab a heating pad and some Tylenol before walking back to her bedroom.

I get a couple pills of Tylenol into my hand and put them into hers and grab the water off her nightstand. I wait for her to take the medicine before I put her water back on the nightstand.

"I want you to put this on your stomach." I say.

"Why?" Her voice cracks.

"It'll help it feel better." I say.

She doesn't question it, just takes the heating pad and puts it on her stomach as I turn it on. I sit at the end of her bed and very gently wipe the tears from her face.

"Is it still your stomach?" I ask.

She shakes her head, "What hurts Nix?" I ask.

"My stomach and down there." Her voice cracks.

I really hope she didn't hurt anything down there with the amount of walking she did. But I'm also aware that when you start it can hurt down there. So I am going to wait a couple of days to see if she starts and if not, I'm going to have to take her to the hospital.

I carefully get beside her attempting to not shift the bed much and adding to her pain. She hides her face in my shoulder and I gently rub her back.

I know there's not much more I can do for her than wait for the Tylenol to work and the heat to take some of the pain away.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, let's see if the medicine and heat does anything first ok?" I ask.

"Ok." She whimpers.

I'm praying that this is just a simple period. Because I really don't know if I have it in me to take her to the hospital and put her through that trauma if it's something more. I know periods are fun and hurt, but this is a lot easier to take care of than if she's got an infection, tore, or anything like that. With the stomach cramping, I'm trying to remain hopeful that this is what is wrong.

"How come yours don't hurt?" She asks.

"It does, but I know when mine starts and stops and when it'll hurt the most and take medicine before I know it's about to start and take medicine during so it doesn't hurt." I say.

I gently wipe away more of her tears as I see them fall. She sits up and I look up at her as she does, "What's wrong Nix?" I ask.

"I need to pee."

I take the heating pad off her stomach, "Be careful Phoenix. You do still have stitches." I say.

She gives me a nod before walking out of the bedroom and to her bathroom. I remain in her bed until she walks back in timidly, "What do I do?" She asks uncomfortable.

"Did you start?" I ask.

She gives a small nod, "Ok, I'm going to go get a pad for you, just go back to the bathroom for right now ok?" I ask.

She does as she's told and I quickly head down to my bathroom and get the box of pads. Something I bought last month knowing I'd need it eventually for Phoenix. I didn't think it's her this soon, but I'm glad I bought them since she did start today.

I walk to phoenix's bathroom and open the box and grab a pad, "So what you do is put this in your underwear. This prevents the blood from getting all over your clothes. You put the bigger end in the back of them then the smaller end in the front. You want the part with the sticky flaps right in the middle. That way it'll stick to your underwear better. Sometimes you'll have leaks and blood will get in your underwear. It's not a big deal tho ok?" I ask.

She gives a nod watching as I open the pad, "Is the underwear your wearing now clean or do I need to get you another pair to wear?" I ask.

"They are clean." She says.

I nod and walk to her room and go ahead and put the pad into the underwear. I then just give it to her in the bathroom. I don't watch her put anything on but I pick up the dirty pair and go to the laundry room. I put it in with a load of towels to sanitize.

I wash my hands after that before letting Phoenix back in her room, "It's not comfortable." She says.

"I know hun, it's not. There's a few other things you can use, but I think those are a bit scary for you right now. You can't use them until you get the stitches out as well." I say.

"What is it?" She asks.

"Tampons is one thing. You have to put it up there though." I say.

"I'll deal with this." She says.

"That's ok too. I used that for a while too." I admit.

The idea of shoving anything up there is a bit hard at that age. But with phoenix's past I have to imagine that's even harder.

"It was a lot fo blood." She mumbles.

"I know hun, it's normal. I promise." I say.

"How come that is but when you knew I wasn't ok because of the blood, that wasn't? It was from the same place."

"Angel, that's not the same thing. Anytime you bleed like that and are in that much pain, it's not normal. I knew about the abuse Phoenix. I knew way before that. I just didn't think it was my place to force it out of you or ask about it. But, I was absolutely terrified for him to be there that day and him be around you. I knew it'd end up with you getting hurt. So when you were, I already knew who it was because of and knew you were in pain. Bleeding because of a period, that's normal. But that wasn't." I say.

"How do you know everything?" She asks.

"I don't know everything, but I'm pretty good at paying attention and figuring things out." I say.

"You're the only person who's been able to figure anything out. I only met a few family members and none of them ever saw past anything. They saw more than you did and not one suspecting a thing after I talked to them. You didn't see half of what they did and you already knew everything." She says.

"Phoenix, I cared about you. Anything or anyone I care about, I pay attention to. The way you reacted, or acted, wasn't normal. That caught my attention when I met you. And I didn't know what wasn't right, but I knew something was. By the time we started tour, I had a pretty clear idea what was happening which is when I already knew you weren't going home after it. I know the topics of what happened, not the stories. I'm never going to force you to talk about it either. That's hard, I know. But I do want you to know, if you ever feel ready to talk about something, I'm always going to be here to listen and comfort you. I don't care what I'm doing, you can always come to me." I say.

She moves closer to me and rests her head on my chest before wrapping her arms around me, "I love you Demi."

"I love you too Phoenix. So so so so much." I say.

I look down at her to watch her eyes close and I know she's just fallen asleep. I kiss the top of her head and just lay beneath her. She's asleep, I'm not risking moving and waking her up. I need her to sleep right now.