Love, loathe, betrayal - a gang story

Chapter 43

After two police officers finished questioning me I felt relieved "they bought it!" I said excitedly after they left they room "shh yes they did, now all you have to focus on is recovering" I nod. The story went well and I was advised not to live alone and not to leave things on the floor for me to trip over in future.

The next day come after an uncomfortable nights sleep in a hospital bed but before I know it will is dropping me at a flat with mum waiting outside, I instantly smile, I missed her. The silver lining to this is that my mum isn't in danger and I get to spend more time with her.

Will helps me into the freshly painted living room and I park myself on the sofa. My side is still in a lot of pain and I'm on high pain medication. "I have a surprise for you" Will says while smiling "what is it?" I ask, after telling me to "wait here" he disappears back to his truck. The sun shines brightly through the cream coloured blinds, it isn't a big living room but it's cosy enough. While Will is gone I take my time to truly get a look at the room. There is a small tv that stands alone in the corner of the room with a bookshelf next to it, the walls match the colour of the curtains and a small glass coffee table is in the middle of the room opposite the sofa, they're not family photos around which will be the one thing I miss from our old house. My bedroom is also just down the hall, Will bought my stuff over last night which I was thankful for. It didn't take long as I didn't have much stuff worth keeping.

After a few minutes Will appears with his hands behind his back. He reveals one hand "my phone?! How did you get it?" I ask happy to get it back, knowing I couldn't afford a new one. "Jordan went into the mansion he said it was just on Maeve's desk." He explains, my heart kind of saddens knowing I won't be able to see him and the others. "Thank you" I smile putting it in my pocket after seeing no new messages from anyone. "Annnnnd..." he says slowly pulling the other hand from behind his back. "As promised a new frame" my mouth falls open and I grasp the photo of me, Will, mum and dad in a brand new frame from when it was shattered and vandalised when mum was taken. "I thought you forgot" I whimper and hug it too my chest "I promised remember, should I put it by your bed?" He asks "yes, thank you so much Will, for everything!" He smiles "anything for my family."

After catching up with my mum and saying goodbye to Will we eat and go to bed, I feel a lot safer than usual I'm not as tense as usual. The only other time I've felt like this is when I was in Clay's arms... but that won't happen again so this will have to do. I do still have so many unanswered questions. Alas I'll sleep better at night knowing we know have three locks on the door.

3 weeks pass and I feel so much better, my meds have slowed down in quantity and I only get pain when I sneeze of twist the wrong way. I speak to Layla pretty much everyday as well as Demi, our friendship was short and sweet but I'm glad we're still in contact. Will comes up here every chance he gets and mums got a job at the corner shop I slowly got used to being home alone again but I still get the occasional nightmare but overall everything I went through made me a stronger person and I'm thankful for the valuable life lessons and skills I learnt from the Soutas. Clayton has called me a lot but I haven't once answered, I feel bad and I know he recovered because Will told me.

"You gonna answer that? My mum asks while my phone rings from my pocket, that's the third time today clay has rang me. "It's only Layla I'll call her again after dinner" I lie "ah okay fancy going for a walk later? Now you can walk a bit without being so sore, we should check the place out more" min suggests "sure, that sounds good." I smile. I get a text from Clay, it reads: 'Florence please answer the phone, the letter you left needs some explaining. I feel like a broken record as I know your reading all these messages but please call me. I know you know about Sydney and what happened but please I need to talk it over with you, Will won't tell and of us where you are for safety but I miss you, I miss your voice, your warm smile, please call me xx' I scroll back through the one sided conversation. It's true he does keep repeating himself, I sigh am I being too harsh? Should I give him chance to explain himself? What harm can letting him talk do? So I quickly reply: 'fine Clay, I'll call you later I need an explanation, I just needed some space to think." Not even a minute later my phone buzzes again: 'thank you so much, you don't know how much this chance means to me I'll speak to you later xx."

After my walk with my mum we buy some sweets from the shop and head home, our lives are simple now I do kind of miss the occasional adrenaline rush. We laugh and joke around until late evening. I have so much fun all remains of my conversation with Clay drifts from my mind until we get home. "I'm going upstairs now, night mum" I call out "okay sweetie, night."