HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMFELTONLOVER1991!
Note: Just so your not all confused Clare's pov and Drew's pov are covering approximately the same time period.
Ch. 11 Don't Do Sadness
(CLARE)
After sitting against the door in pain and tears for what seemed like a long time I take a deep shuddering breath and swallow hard to keep from crying anymore. It doesn't work completely as some tears still crawl down my cheeks but at least I'm not sobbing anymore and I can breathe a little better. I have no idea when my father will be back or when he might let me out and my knee hurts like hell. Not just my knee, the pain is radiating up and down my leg, my left side hurts where I hit the side of the tub the other day. Actually everything hurts every bruise or cut I've gotten in the last few days is throbbing and screaming in pain. Even the cut down my front that Fitz gave me two weeks ago is hurting again. If I were able to think rationally I'd probably realize that this has more to do with my current situation than anything else and a goo portion of this pain is probably psychosomatic. Right now though I am not able to think rationally and all I know is I'm in a great deal of pain.
I try to stand to take the few steps from the door to the vanity but I can't. When I try to put any weight on my leg the pain gets so immense that I fall and nearly vomit. After a painful scream, several deep shaky breaths and some more tears I'm able to move again. I move forward slowly keeping my hurt leg straight and using my hands to sort of scoot. I grab the vanity counter gripping tightly, taking a deep breath I slowly pull myself up. Retrieving the aspiring bottle from the medicine cabinet and dispensing some water into my hand from the faucet I swallow four aspirin before sinking to the floor again. Between the fear of my father's tirade, the pain in my knee from the mallet and falling on the stairs, the energy expelled from sobbing and the feeling of nausea I'm experiencing I feel terrible and weak, before the aspirin can even take effect I pass out.
I have no idea how long I was out but when I wake the aspirin is working as the indescribably immense pain I was in has now diluted. It's not entirely gone but it's not quite as horrendous anymore. I manage to stand again and sip some more water, I try the door again but it's still blocked and I don't hear any other sounds in the house. Wetting a washcloth with cold water I lean back against the vanity and put the washcloth on my knee. Even the weight of the washcloth hurts and it's not quite ice but it's better than nothing. As I probably have hours before Dad gets home or anyone finds me I refuse to think about my father, to let my mind sink into that abyss now is something I probably can't get back from. So instead I think about Drew, how hot he is, how good he is to me, how sweet and caring. I have to admit when Alli was dating him I thought Drew was nothing more than a boneheaded jock, a hot boneheaded jock but a boneheaded jock none the less. Even what little time I spent with him while hanging out at Adam's didn't help this perception but the more time I spent at Adam's the more I saw another side to Drew and how he was with Adam.
Naturally my mind wanders from Drew to Adam and then from Adam to Eli. I have no idea how long I sat on the washroom floor pondering over my best friend, my current boyfriend and my ex but the sudden sound of the doorbell startles me out of my thoughts. I try to stand, to get to the washroom door and make some noise so that they hear me but I stand too quickly and put the slightest amount of weight on my right leg. I don't even make it to the door; I shriek in pain and then fall back to the floor as I lose consciousness.
When I wake up again sometime later I feel light headed and groggy, like I've been sleeping for hours or days and haven't eaten in all that time because I haven't eaten since breakfast. I suppose it's possible I've been out for days, who knows how long I've been in here? I can just make out a sliver of light coming in from under the door and whatever my father moved in front of it. I don't hear any sounds in the house so it's more likely that I was only out for a few minutes. I sit up lean against the tub and promptly hurl into the toilet. This doesn't help how light headed I was already feeling and I nearly pass out again. I feel sick, not just sick to my stomach sick but sick in general, my body starts trembling and I begin crying again even though I tell myself not too. My mind is too clouded and foggy to think right now, unable to hold any thought in my head longer than a few seconds I sit there and watch as the light seeping in under the door slowly disappear as the hours tick by.
Making sure to turn on a faucet and take a few sips of water every few hours so I don't dehydrate I spend hours in the washroom alone but determined not to wallow in the situation lest I slip into depression. I do take four more aspirin when the pain gets too unbearable again. When the darkness comes I begin to fall asleep but if it's because of the dark, my boredom or just sheer exhaustion I'm not sure. I don't even move just lay my arm on the side of the tub and my head on my arm. The sound of the doorbell wakes me again, I hear pounding on the door too and know that it must be Drew and Adam and pop my head up quickly an action I deeply regret when all the blood drains from my head and I get horribly dizzy again.
I want to yell, to scream help, to make noise so they know I'm here but no sounds come from my mouth other than choked sobs. I try to pound on the floor, on the tub but it doesn't seem to be making any noise. I try to stand, I can't get out but maybe they'll hear me rattling the door. I push myself up on the side of the tub and sit on it to catch my breath, my leg is in agony again and yet somehow numb all at once. The door is only a couple of feet from where I am, I try to hop over on one foot but I'm so dizzy I have no balance I start to fall instinctually putting down my other foot to help steady myself but putting weight on my injured leg sends a shocking wave of pain through my entire body. It hurts so badly I can't see for a few seconds, I fall against the wall I think and sink to the floor as I get so nauseous again I once more feel the urge to vomit.
I lie there, breathing deeply but even that hurts and now I'm crying again as I become awash in a feeling of hopelessness. My mind or perhaps more accurately my fear tells me I'll be in this washroom for the rest of my life, that I'm going to die in here, that my father is going to leave me in here, that Drew, Adam and my other friends will forget about me and never even know I starved to death locked in a washroom. And with this thought, this gripping fear I cry myself to sleep on the cold tiled floor.
I wake up the next morning to the scraping sound of furniture being dragged across the wooden floor in the hallway. The sound grinds at my nerves and my psyche, my stomach lurches as I sit up slowly. I manage to sit and promptly vomit; it's all white which I find odd. Although I haven't eaten in probably 24 hours or more, haven't had much water and been in terrible pain so my mind isn't exactly in prime condition at the moment. The washroom door opens and my father looks at me but my eyes are bleary and I can't quite make out the expression on his face. He makes an annoyed sort of grunt and I hear him take a couple of footsteps then the creaking sound of the linen closet door, two more footsteps and he's back in the washroom door again.
"Clean that up," he demands throwing a hand towel at me; it hits my face lightly before falling to the floor. "I have to go to work." Dad says and I hear him walk down the hall and down the stairs and out the door.
Turning a little I take the towel and start to clean the puke from the floor, I also start crying. My eyes just turn on like sprinklers and won't stop. "Stop it Clare, don't cry it's not worth crying over!" I try and scold myself but it doesn't work. I drop the soiled towel in bath and run water over it for a minute. Before I attempt to leave the washroom I take a few more aspirin, five or six I can't be too sure. Then I slowly scoot backwards on my hands, doing my best to keep my hurt leg straight and off the floor but it doesn't entirely work. After several minutes, a lot of effort and enough screaming in pain to make my throat sore I finally make it to my bed. A deep breath, I close my eyes tight, grip my bedspread and quickly pull myself up and get into bed. Pulling my Fortnight throw blanket over me, my head falls onto my pillow and I fall into a fitful sleep as my body and mind are too exhausted to deal with consciousness.
(DREW)
Adam I went by the Dot on our way home but Clare wasn't there and no one had seen her. I was trying not to get anxious, trying not to show my fear and worry, I'm the big brother and the girl in question isn't just my girlfriend but my brother's best friend and if I show him how afraid I really am it's going to make Adam even more worried. So I remain calm as I can on the outside but inside I'm going crazy, I have a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach and a horrible sort of sick feeling all over. Every instinct I have is telling me something is wrong, that Clare needs us and we need to find her. We walk less than half a block before, without saying another word, the two of us take off running for our house. I'm certain that Adam is hoping just as desperately as I am that Clare is at our house, that she's sitting on the basement sofa and will tell us she just wasn't feeling well and came to our house. When we reach the basement however Clare isn't there, our basement is empty and my anxiety level shoots up.
"CLARE!" Adam calls into the house with a tone of hope and also urgency.
We listen for a few seconds after Adam yells but the only thing we get in return is silence.
"CLARE!" We yell together as we begin running through the house.
She's nowhere in the house and we both sink down on my bed, Adam has a sick worried look on his face and I'm pretty sure my expression is similar.
"Call Owen maybe he found her at her place," Adam says trying to make his voice steady and hopeful but I hear it falter and the underlying fear in it.
I nod and get out my phone to call Owen. "Hey did you find her?" I question as soon as he picks up.
"No she's not here, neither is her dad. I rang the bell and even climbed the trellis to look in her room, she's not here." Owen tells me and I hear the worry even in his voice.
"She wasn't at the Dot and she's not at our house," I reply as I shake my head at Adam and his expression becomes even more anxious.
"Don't panic yet, B is checking the ravine and some places she knows he hangs just in case Fitz has her but I doubt that's the case." Owen tells me.
"Then where is she? She disappeared from school after morning break and if Fitz doesn't have her, she's not at home and she's not here where the hell could she be?" I question as my fear begins to erupt into anger.
"Dude chill we'll find her, I'm coming over there and I'll call Bianca on the way." Owen says.
"Yeah thanks," I reply and hang up. "Owen's coming over and he'll call Bianca on the way." I tell Adam.
Leaving our backpacks in my room we go down to the basement while I try to call Clare for probably the fiftieth time since finding out she'd never come back to class that day. Owen shows up a few minutes later and tells us Bianca found Fitz but he claims he hasn't seen Clare and Bianca didn't find her anywhere.
"Well we can't just sit here, if she's not here, not at her house or the Dot or the ravine she has to be somewhere we need to go look for her." Adam says standing up.
"Yeah come on we'll take my car, Adam you know her best you tell us where to go." Owen says.
We go out to Owen's car and I let my brother sit shotgun so he can navigate. All I can think to do is call Clare, over and over hoping one of these times she'll pick up but every time it goes to her voicemail. Adam has the good sense to call Mom and tell her we won't be home for dinner telling her that a friend needs us. After four hours of searching and me calling her phone so often that I kill the battery on my phone and no sight or word from Clare we go to her house. Her father should be home from work but the house is dark, there are no cars in the driveway and there are no noises coming from inside. Adam rings the bell and we wait but only hear silence from inside. I pound on the door but we hear nothing and the door is never opened. I try the door just in case but it's locked so the three of us go around the back, there's no lights on in the house at all, even Clare's room is dark, I still climb the trellis to look in her room but the only thing I'm greeted by is a dark, silent empty room.
"We better get home," I sigh in defeat to Adam when I climb down as a terrible feeling of dread and hopelessness overtakes me.
We get back in Owen's car and he drives us home coming inside with us ready to tell our Mom he needed our help and he kept us out late. When we get home the curtains are all drawn but lights are on and compared to Clare's it looks inviting and friendly.
"Did you eat?" Mom questions as soon as we walk in the door.
"No we're not hungry, we can't find Clare." I inform Mom as the three of us slump down at the table.
"What do you mean you can't find Clare?" Mom inquires.
"Connor and Wes said that Clare was taken out of math by the school secretary and she never came back to class. She wasn't in science and she wasn't at school for the rest of the day. We looked everywhere Mom, her place here, the Dot, every place she hangs out but she's not anywhere and her house is all dark her dad's not home, she's not anywhere." Adam tells her with a distressed voice.
"Calm down Adam I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation I'll just call her father." Mom assures us going to the house phone and looking up Clare's emergency contact information because Mom makes sure she has emergency contact information for anyone that's at our house more than a couple of hours. She punches a number into the phone and holds it to her ear; the three of us listen to Mom's side of the conversation. "Randall this is Audra Torres I don't mean to bother you but the boys are worried because they can't get a hold of Clare…she was what?...Oh that's awful…Yes of course I understand and I'll tell them…Okay if you two need anything let us know goodbye." Mom says and hangs up.
"Well what did he say? Did you talk to Clare?" I ask as Mom she puts the phone back in the cradle.
"He said she's been getting threatened at school by Fitz and he pulled her out for a couple of days until Fitz was assigned a new community service placement. He said she was upset over the whole situation and he thought it best to get her away for a few days to rest. He took her up to their cabin and cell service is spotty but he happened to be in town buying groceries when I called. They'll be back on Wednesday or Thursday so she's fine and you three need to stop worrying. Well since I'm guessing the three of you spent your afternoon looking for Clare instead of doing your homework you can start on it now while you eat some dinner." Mom orders.
Owen stays for dinner and gets most of his homework done before he leaves to go home at ten. Adam and I finished our homework and watched TV until bed time but in spite of Mom's assurances I was still worried and I could tell Adam was too. I didn't sleep well all night and kept trying to call Clare's phone but she never answered. If I had to wait until Thursday to know she was really okay I was going to go insane. I woke before my alarm the next morning and tried calling Clare again but still no answer. I showered quickly and went down for breakfast to see Adam at the table. After we scarf down our breakfast Mom takes us to school, the first place we both go is Clare's locker but of course she's not there. We go out to the front steps and Adam leaves me when Eli gets to school and I sit on the steps waiting for Owen and Bianca to arrive but hoping I see Clare.
"Hey Drew you heard from Cupcake yet?" Bianca asks as she saunters her way up the stairs to sit next to me.
"Nothing," I shake my head.
"Well your mom called her dad right?" Bianca asks.
"Yeah and he told Mom that he took her out of school because she was threatened by Fitz and they'd be back on Wednesday or Thursday." I reply.
"You don't look like you believe it," Bianca remarks.
"He doesn't and from what we know about her father I don't blame him. Come on mopey lets go inside classes start soon." Owen insisted dragging me up by the shirt.
"I'm not mopey I'm worried," I retort.
"She's probably fine and we've been to her house twice with no one there what her dad says makes sense. Her dad is an ass but maybe he really did take her to rest for a couple days. Just keep telling yourself that she'll be back tomorrow or Thursday at the latest." Owen advises.
"Yeah I know but I can't help but worry, I really like her what if she's in trouble and her dad is hurting her?" I inquire as the bell rings.
"I'll drive Adam to your house at lunch and we'll get her dad's number and call him again just to be safe." Owen assures me.
"Who would have ever thought Drew would fall for Saint Clare," Bianca teases as we walk to Social Studies.
"I haven't fallen for her I just really like the girl and she's also my brother's best friend." I reply.
"Whatever you say," Bianca snickers as we sit at our desks.
Eli is giving me a look, not his usual smirk though it's somewhere between worry, pity and an understanding like he knows how worried I am. I'm sure Adam's filled him in, probably not telling him everything but enough. I hardly pay attention in class and all I can think about all morning is what Clare is doing right now. Every possibility runs through my mind from her father yelling at her and hurting her to Clare sitting at a cabin reading a book. I try to tell myself she's fine, that her father despite his yelling and habit of throwing stuff at her is actually concerned and just took her out of school for her safety. I try to tell myself this but it doesn't work and that feeling of dread gets bigger and bigger with every passing minute.
(OWEN)
"Maybe you should be the one to call Bianca, pretend to be Jenna or something." Adam says holding the phone out to Bianca.
She makes a disgusted face at the thought of pretending to be Jenna but takes the phone. Drew was of course spending his lunch in detention but I'd driven the three of us to the Torres house so we could get Mr. Edwards number and call him again.
"I'll put it on speaker but you two better be quiet." She warns us as she starts dialing the number.
It rings, then rings again and again until it's picked up by voicemail. "This is Randall Edwards I will be out of town and unreachable by phone until Thursday."
Bianca hangs up the phone and looks at us. "You think he changed the message before or after Audra called him yesterday?"
"I'm guessing after but it doesn't mean he didn't take Clare somewhere for a couple of days." Adam says.
"We better get back to school; we'll swing by the Dot for sandwiches and wait for Drew to get out of detention." I say as we walk back to the front door.
Adam locks up, we get back in my car, I drive us to the Dot, we get sandwiches and go back to school. We eat outside of Perino's room waiting for Drew to get out of detention.
"Did you call?" Drew asks as soon as he opens the door.
"Her dad's voicemail said he was out of town and unreachable by phone until Thursday." Bianca informs him.
"She told me once her family had a cabin out near Belwood Lake, he could've taken her there." Adam says.
"Great but what is he doing to her?" Drew sighs as the bell rings.
Adam waves to us and walks off to class and Drew starts slowly walking off to his class looking sort of forlorn. We're not the only ones wondering what happened to Clare rumors have been circulating all day running the gamut from Fitz kidnapped her to Drew hit her and she changed schools. By the end of the day as we're leaving English class together Drew looks antsy like he's gonna skip basketball and just go looking for Clare at Belwood Lake.
"Dude stop thinking about it you're going to drive yourself crazy go to basketball." I advise him.
"How can I stop thinking about it?" Drew questions.
"Drew if Clare gets back on Thursday and you've gone insane she's gonna leave you." Bianca teases and Drew grimaces at her.
"Just go concentrate on basketball and worry about Clare later." I insist.
Drew sighs and runs off to the locker room to change for basketball; I wave to Bianca and head out to the hockey locker room. Hockey's a good sport when you're pissed off but not so much when you're worried. I'm distracted and hardly paying attention, coach yells at me several times to get my head in the game. I still don't pay attention so coach makes me stay after practice to clean up, by the time I've showered and changed to go home it's almost seven. My brother called to tell me he ordered pizza for dinner, I'm about to call him back but Clare's house is on the way to mine and as I pass it I see her dad's car in the driveway.
"What the fuck?" I exclaim as I slam on the brakes and pull up to the house dropping my phone on the seat as I do.
I almost go to the front door but her dad's supposed to be at a cabin with her. There are no lights on in the house but I can see the TV is on through the window. I go around to the back of the house, it's dusk so I can see okay but there's no lights on in the house at all, I do see Clare's window open however. When we came by last night her window was closed so they're definitely home. I climb up the trellis to her window to find her sleeping! We've been worried, Drew's practically worried himself sick and she's home sleeping! I get her window open a little more and climb in; sitting on the edge of her bed I gently shake her.
"Clare," I say softly.
She gaps, her eyes shoot open and then she exhales in relief when she sees me. "Owen what are you doing here?" She asks in a whisper.
"What am I doing here? You disappeared for a day and a half and you're asking what I'm doing here? Do you have any idea how worried Drew has been and I find you here sleeping?! Come on lets go I'm taking you to Drew's." I tell her but keep my voice in a whisper.
"I can't my father's home he's not going to let me leave, especially not with a boy." She argues in a soft voice.
"Then we'll climb down the trellis," I counter.
"I can't just tell Drew I'm fine but tell him not to come over or Adam either." She says.
"You're joking right? I can't tell them you're home and stop them from coming over now come on pack a bag I'm getting you out of here and taking you to Drew's." I insist pulling at her hand to get her up.
"Ow stop Owen I can't," she says her voice rising and cracking in pain.
I let go of her hand and look at her, I reach over turning over the bedside lamp so I can see. I see no bruises on her face, neck or shoulders but she does look really pale and peaked, her eyes are clouded and sallow, she looks slightly ill but I see no visible injuries. I take the blanket off of her and my eyes are instantly drawn to her very swollen and discolored knee!
"Shit!" I exclaim under my breath. She bites her lip and shuts her eyes but I can see tears in them. "Clare what the hell h…" I start to demand not remembering to keep my voice down and she hits my arm and interrupts me.
"I fell on the stairs," she tells me in a low voice.
I grimace at her, squeezing my eyebrows together in disapproval of her response that I'm sure is a lie. "Sit up put your arms around my neck from behind I'll carry you down the trellis and then I'm taking you to the hospital." I inform her.
"No I can't," she argues again goddammit this girl is stubborn!
"Either I'm carrying you out the front door so your dad sees or I'm sneaking you out the back either way I'm getting you the hell out of here and to the hospital." I inform her.
She looks at me a few seconds and I guess decides I'm not leaving without her because she finally sighs and sits up. "Fine out the back then, are you sure you can carry me and climb down the trellis?" She asks.
"Just keep your arms around me tightly and don't strangle me," I assure her.
She puts her arms around my neck and I stand up slowly so I don't hurt her leg. Getting out the window the right way to climb down the trellis with her on my back is the hard part and I hear her whimper in pain more than once. Climbing down the trellis isn't so hard after football and hockey training. When I get down on the ground I take her from my back and carry her in my arms to the car before setting her in the backseat so she can stretch out. She sucks in a sharp breath and I see tears of pain crawling down her cheeks. We start driving and I call Tris to let him know I'll be home late, he says fine and Maya's over anyway, I can hear them watching movies.
"If we go to the hospital they'll call my father," she says after a minute.
"No they won't I'll take you to the all night clinic and we'll tell them you're eighteen or something." I reply.
We should call Drew and Adam but I'm more concerned with getting her knee checked out at the moment. I park at the clinic and take her inside, one look at her knee and they have me carry her back to an exam room. I lay her on the table, the sanitary paper crinkles under her weight and she contorts her face in pain as her leg rests on the table. The nurse gets her vitals tells us the doctor will be in shortly and then leaves the room, the next person to come in is the nurse again handing Clare a clipboard with some forms and she starts filling them out.
"Put my number down as your home number in case they try and call your dad and put your age as eighteen, they won't check." I tell her and she nods.
Just when Clare is finished filling out the forms the doctor comes in and looks at us.
"Hello I'm doctor Temple you hurt your knee I see, how did that happen?" He asks Clare.
"I slipped on the stairs and hit my knee when I fell," Clare tells him keeping up her lie.
The doctor examines her knee and pokes at it asking if it hurts for a few minutes, every time Clare hisses in pain I want to the hit the doctor. Of course her leg fucking hurts it's all swollen and like six different colors!
"It looks like you twisted it, possibly dislocated it but we'll send you down for an x-ray to be sure. A nurse will be in with a wheelchair in a few minutes," Dr. Temple says and then leaves the room.
When they take Clare for the x-ray I go out to the lobby and call Drew.
"Hey you and Adam should get down to the all night clinic I found her." I tell him.
"What's wrong? Why are you guys at the clinic?" Drew asks but I hear him walking and then opening another door. "Owen says to get down to the clinic he found Clare," Drew says to Adam before I can answer his question.
I hear Adam jump up and start asking questions to Drew. "Her knees messed up, she keeps saying she fell on the stairs just get down here, they took her down for an x-ray." I insist to them.
"We're on our way," Drew says and hangs up.
I go back to Clare's room to wait for her, she's brought back a couple minutes later and the nurse tells us the doctor will be in shortly and then leaves.
"I called Drew, he and Adam are on their way." I inform her.
She doesn't reply just sort of sighs, lying back on the bed and wrenching her face in pain. We sit silently for a few minutes until Dr. Temple comes back in with a nurse.
"Okay Clare you twisted your knee and dislocated it slightly so we're going to reset it and put it in a brace. You won't be able to use it for a few days, we'll send you home with some crutches and pretty powerful pain relievers because it's going to be very painful for a couple of days probably. Can you help the nurse hold her down while I set her knee?" The doctor asks me and she turns even paler.
"Yeah," I nod standing up and going to Clare's side. "I've had my shoulder reset before just take a deep breath and squeeze my arms." I tell her.
"Why do you have to hold me down?" She questions.
"Because it's going to hurt like hell," I respond as I push her shoulders down firmly into the exam table.
She grips my forearms tightly, the nurse holds down her other leg and the doctor with another doctor take her leg and wrench it back into place. Clare screams in agony, it ends with a whimper and tears roll down her face. She's in such pain, gripping my arms tightly and taking heavy pained breaths that she doesn't notice the nurse giving her two shots, one in the leg and one in her arm.
"What did you give her?" I ask.
"Lidocane and vicodin to ease her pain it should take effect in a few minutes. We'll send her home with a lower dose of vicodin for the next couple of days and a sleep aide so she can get to sleep tonight." The nurse tells me as the doctor puts Clare's leg in a knee brace and she doesn't even seem to notice.
Clare takes a few sharp deep breaths before opening her eyes, her face relaxes and I can see the drugs taking effect.
"My head feels floaty," she says.
"Yep you're high, can you sit up?" I ask her.
"Is my head floating?" She giggles.
"Nope still attached to your body, the nurse wasn't kidding when she said it would happen fast." I remark as the nurse leaves and I help her to sit up.
"It's probably because I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast on Monday and I threw that up. The only thing I've put down my throat yesterday or today…" she stops and looks at me like she's confused about something although she's higher than the hubble right now so she probably is confused. "It is Tuesday right? I'm really not sure how long I was in the washroom." She says.
"It's Tuesday what do you mean how long you were in the washroom?" I ask.
"I've only had water and lots of aspirin since Monday morning and I even threw some of the aspirin back up." She informs me ignoring my previous question.
"Holy crap Clare why the fuck didn't you tell me?! You haven't had food in like 36 hours and they just gave you super powerful drugs." I scold her.
Before she can say anything the door to the room opens, Drew and Adam rush in and over to Clare.
"What the hell happened to your knee?!" Drew demands but kisses her before she can answer.
"I fell on the stairs," she replies and then pushes Drew away and looks at Adam. "Come hug me Adam," she commands and he does. "You're my bestest friend in the whole world and I love you Adam." She says hugging him tightly. "Shhh don't tell Drew because I don't love him yet but I like him a lot."
"I love you too Clare," Adam says trying to pull away from the hug but she won't let him go.
"They gave her vicodin and apparently she's had no food since Monday morning so she's really high right now." I tell them.
"Clare why haven't you…" Drew starts when the door opens again and the nurse comes in.
"Here's her medications, instructions are in the bag make sure you follow them very carefully. Here's some crutches for her, if she has trouble getting around on them you can rent her a wheelchair for a couple of days but she's ready to be discharged." The nurse says handing Drew the bag of pills and me the crutches.
Clare lets go of Adam to sign the discharge papers, Drew pays with a credit card, charges I'm sure he's working out how to explain to his parents when they see the bill. The nurse gives us a few more instructions including bringing Clare back in a few days so they can check on her knee then the nurse says we can go. Drew hands the bag of pills to Adam and picks Clare up, she starts giggling. We get out to the parking lot and Drew sets her on the hood of his mom's car he borrowed to get down here.
"Bro we can't take her to our place like this our parents will flip!" Adam says.
"Yeah and we can't take her back to her house so what do we do with her and where the hell has she been the last two days?" Drew inquires.
"No idea and she's in no condition to answer but she can sleep at my house tonight. I'll call B and have her go to Clare's house before school to get her a change of clothes." I tell them.
"I like Bianca," Clare chimes in and Adam pats her on the head.
"What about your folks won't they flip if you come home with a girl they've never seen before in a leg brace and high out of her head?" Adam asks.
"My grandma had surgery this weekend and my mom's staying there to help out for a few more days. Tonight's Dad's bowling league night so he won't be home for a couple of hours yet." I tell them.
"Good take her to your house then," Drew says and then looks at Clare. "You're going to stay the night at Owen's, you'll be safe there and we'll see you at school tomorrow." He tells her holding her face so she'll look at him.
"I like your blue eyes blue eyed boyfriend." She giggles.
"Make sure she sleeps and see if you can get some food in her," Drew says to me.
"There should be drugs in the bag to help her sleep but not so sure she'll eat. I'll do my best though." I reply.
Drew looks back at Clare and kisses her softly then Adam hugs her, I unlock my car Drew gets her in and buckled up and she waves to them as we start driving to my house.
Update soon when high as a kite Clare meets Tristan and Maya, the next day at school when she just might tell the other where she was the rest of Monday and Tuesday and maybe even some more sexy time.
