Broken Bottles

Broken Bottles: chapter 25

"Paxton, wake up. Come on, Paxton. Open your eyes for me." A voice slowly pulled me from my sleeping mind and back to reality.

My eyes slowly fluttered open, but they shut again quickly due to a bright light.

"Polly go close the blinds." The same voice as before instructed. It took me a few seconds, but I finally placed the voice as Danny's.

"Danny?" I croaked out with my eyes still closed.

"I'm right here, Paxton. Can you open your eyes for me?"

I slowly blinked open my eyes and I was happy there was no more bright light shining in them. My eyes adjusted to the dim room and I recognized it as my living room. It was still completely trashed and I was in the same spot dad beat me up in. The longer I was conscious, the more pain I could feel start to come back to my body.

"Everything...hurts." I groaned from the pain.

"I know it does, Pax. We're going to get you to a hospital." Danny said. It was then that I noticed he was kneeling on the ground behind my head, propping it up on his knees.

"No!" I immediately said, "No hospital. We can't afford it."

"Your head is seriously injured, Pax. You need a hospital." Danny said.

"I'm not going to a hospital. I just need a shower, some pain medicine, and sleep." My mind was starting to feel less fuzzy and I could form full sentences.

Danny looked into my eyes from above me and I struggled to do the same. My eyes didn't want to focus on him, but I wanted him to believe I was good enough to not need a hospital.

He eventually sighed, "Okay, I'll let you take a shower and then we'll see about whether you need a hospital or not."

With his consent I tried to push myself up into a sitting position with my hands. Pain shot through my entire body, but I managed to sit up by myself. I then analyzed the room more. It was completely trashed like before, but now there was shattered beer bottles everywhere. The broken glass covered all the floor space around me and mixed in was all the previous contents of those bottles.

"Polly and Sadie can you start cleaning everything up? Be careful of the glass and I'll be right back out to help after Paxton is in the shower." Danny said to my sisters.

I then scanned the room and found my two younger sisters in the corner. Polly was holding Sadie tight and both of them had old tears staining their face.

"Hey girls," I said from the floor, "I promise I'm okay. And I promise everything will be okay."

"I'm sorry we didn't help you." Polly sniffled.

"You helped by staying in your room like I asked, so thank you for that."

Polly and Sadie both gave me a tiny nod and left to get cleaning supplies. Once they were gone I slumped back down into Danny as my strength was starting to leave me.

"Let's get you up." Danny whispered. He hooked his arms around me and gently helped me to my feet. It was a slow process, but we eventually were both standing.

"Can you walk?" Danny asked.

"I think so." I replied.

"Okay, watch out for the broken glass."

I moved my one foot forward slowly and then the other, but stopped from the pain that shot up through my leg and into my stomach.

"It hurts."

"Okay, it's okay. I'll help you." Danny said. He then leaned down and put his arms under my legs and back. He hoisted me up and carried me bridal style through the living room. I linked my arms around his neck for support and shut my eyes.