Chapter Seven: Getting Her Back
A/N: Okay a few people are asking where Craig is…with the exceptions of Jimmy and Paige, everyone from their grade has moved on to college, even Craig. He may or may not be in the story later; I know that, but I'm not going to tell you!
"Hello?" Chris answered the phone on the first ring.
"It's me! Is Paige's mom still there?" Manny asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Tell her to bring Avery to the hospital now! Paige woke up!" she yelled happily into the phone.
"Okay, she says she'll be right there." he said.
"Bring the twins too. Maybe Heather will let you take the van. I gotta go!" Manny hung up the phone.
"Manny, I'm so sorry," Paige whispered.
"For what?"
"For doing this to myself, and making you worry about me," she said.
"Paige, you are one of my best friends. And it's not your fault," Manny explained.
"I know, the doctor told me. Post partum depression. But what if something's really wrong with me? I might never get Avery back," she said, starting to cry.
"You'll get her back. Don't worry about it."
"Have Marco and Dylan been here to visit me?" she asked suddenly.
"No. They couldn't get here from the states. They've been really busy with school. But they called every day, hoping you were awake, or the phone would wake you up," Manny told her and laughed.
"No one has told me how long I was in a coma for..."
"It's been about two weeks. After a week, you started breathing on your own, and they took the breathing tube out." Paige rubbed her throat when Manny said this. The two girls sat in silence for five minutes. The silence was broken by the door bursting open. It was Paige's mom, carrying Avery in her car seat. She thrust the car seat towards Manny and ran to Paige, hugging her hard.
"Oh honey I thought I lost you," she cried to her daughter.
"Mom, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…" Paige started to say.
"Shhh…it's okay. I love you Paige. Don't ever scare me like that again," she whispered, stroking Paige's hair.
"I won't, I promise." Paige said.
"Hey, we got here as fast as we could." Manny turned around to see Chris, the twins and, surprisingly enough, Jimmy standing in the doorway.
"Chris picked me up on the way," Jimmy said, noticing Manny's surprise.
"I'm so glad you're both here too," Paige told them. "And Jimmy, I remembered you telling me that it would all be okay. Thanks for that," she said.
"No problem. Anything for a friend," Jimmy told her. Everyone hugged Paige and she held Avery, then the twins. They all stayed until visiting hours were over. Paige needed rest because the psychologist would be visiting her the next day. She was also told that they were going to keep her in the hospital for a few more days to make sure she was fine.
"Hello Paige, I'm Dr. Butler," the man said, shaking her hand.
"Hi," was all she responded. Paige was in her gown and bathrobe, sitting in a chair across from Dr. Butler's desk. His office was in the hospital.
"I'm going to ask you some questions. You don't always have to answer if you don't want to, but it will help me find out if you have any long term psychological problems. My first question is, how did you feel when you first found out you were pregnant with your daughter?" Paige took a minute to think before she answered.
"I was scared. Any seventeen-year-old would be. Especially with who the father was…" she trailed off.
"I understand that her father is Matthew Oleander. Can you tell me about your relationship with him?"
"He was my boyfriend. I knew it was wrong; but he was only a student teacher, and he wasn't my teacher."
"I have been told that he was charged with statutory rape because you weren't eighteen yet when you had sex. Did he force you at all in any way?" Dr. Butler asked.
"Well, as I said in court, I didn't really want to have sex withhim that day, but I did agree to it. I was uncomfortable, but I never said no. So he didn't rape me," Paige explained.
"Back to your pregnancy then. The doctors and nurses who were present during Avery's birth said that you were one of the happiest teenagers they'd ever seen in the delivery room. What changed your attitude so much?"
"The day I found out that Manny was pregnant, I felt a little better about myself. I knew I wasn't alone anymore. I guess I also felt connected to her because there was a chance that Mr. Oleander was the father of her baby too."
"He raped her, correct?" the doctor asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"And how did that make you feel?"
"I was furious. I didn't think that he would do that to anyone, but I knew Manny wasn't lying to me. I felt so bad for her, and I hated him for it."
"I see," he said and made a few notes on the paper in front of him. "Back to Avery. How did you feel when you took her home for the first time?" he asked.
"While I was in the hospital, I had so many people helping me, but I knew that when it came time to go home, it would be much harder. I was scared, but I knew that I could do it. I was actually very happy the day that I brought her home. My mom helps me out a lot. It got a little hard when she had to leave on a business trip…"
"Right before Avery got sick?"
"Yeah. When that happened, I didn't know what to do. I called Manny and she brought me to the hospital. It was the worst time in my life for me. I wanted to stay with her every minute, but everyone told me that I needed rest, and they'd call when something happened. I still didn't want to leave her, so I visited every day. And then, one day, I couldn't bring myself to go see her. I don't know why," Paige said and began crying.
"I'm sure you were upset and exhausted. Tell me about the day you cut yourself," Dr. Butler said. Paige ran her fingers along the bandage on her arm and sighed.
"That was the day that I couldn't see Avery. Manny called me a few times, but I didn't answer. I knew she was going to try and get me to go, so I didn't want to talk to her," Paige said. "I was in the bathroom, listening to the radio. A song came on that was sad and depressive while I was brushing my hair. I…" she stopped her story.
"Please continue," Dr. Butler said.
"I threw my brush at the mirror and it shattered. I picked up a piece of glass and cut myself. Right after I did it, I was in shock and I couldn't do anything. I let myself fall to the ground and I closed my eyes. All I could think about was Avery and how much better off she'd be if she had someone else as a mother."
"Did you want to die Paige?" the doctor asked.
"At first, I did. I thought it would make everything better. But after thinking for ten minutes on the floor, I realized that it would make everyone hate me for leaving them. When Manny finally came, I saw the horror in her eyes when she first saw me. That's when I looked down at the pool of blood and wanted to take it all back, but I was too weak to even move. By the time the paramedics arrived, it was like I couldn't hear anything. I was already gone and I thought I was going to die," she finished. She was trying as hard as she could not to cry.
"Well Paige that should be enough for today. Dr. Anis told me that you will be staying for three more days here at the hospital. If I have a chance before then, I'll stop by and see how you're doing. If not, your next appointment is a week from tomorrow.
"How many times do I have to see you before I know if I can have my daughter back?" she asked him before she left.
"You have to come once a week for six more weeks until I am able to make a thorough decision," Dr. Butler said. When Paige finally got back to her room, all she wanted to do was go to sleep. It was very physically and emotionally draining to talk to Dr. Butler, even though it was only her first time. But if it helped her get Avery back then she was willing to do it.
A/N: Okay, I know that the story seems to be all about Paige. I was planning this little thing for a long time to happen to her and I didn't know it would take up so many chapters. In hopefully the next chapter, I'm going to sum it all up with her…say if she gets Avery back or not, then it'll be back onto Manny and Chris. Don't worry, I have a lot planned, so even though it may take awhile to get those chapters out, good stuff is coming.