Chapter 8: Bumps and Bruises

Ellie Nash nervously paced the emergency room, waiting impatiently for any sign of good news of Craig. She had waited in the waiting room for several hours with Paige and Alex. She glanced at Paige, who looked like she was going to cry. Then she glanced at Alex, who seemed totally unfazed by all of this. At this point, Ellie didn't know how to act with no information whatsoever in the condition Craig was in and what happened to him. She snapped her rubber band that hugged her wrist, causing slight red marks to develop without mercy.

Suddenly, the teenager couldn't take it anymore. She angrily stood up and waved her arms.

"Why won't anyone tell us anything! What's the big secret they're keeping from us! I want to know what happened to my friend!"

Ellie felt tears well up in her eyes, in both frustration and fear. She felt eyes on her back at the other patients who sat in the room with them, but right now that was the last thing she was worried about. Let them stare; at least they knew information on the ones they cared about. It felt so unfair, so unjust.

She felt someone come up from behind her and tap her shoulder. Ellie quickly turned around to see a doctor, the scrubs red from either past surgeries or an incident that had just happened. She then felt a sick feeling grow in her stomach.

"My name is Dr. Kevin Reynolds. Are you friends of...Craig Manning?"

Alex and Paige both stood up and walked over to where Ellie and the doctor were standing, facing each other.

"Yes, we are. What happened?" Paige demanded, her face growing cherry red as if she had cried earlier.

"Well, Craig came into the ER with minor cuts and scrapes on his face, but large bruises on his abdomen, ribcage, and his back area. He wouldn't talk to us, but his father brought him in and explained to us that he had gotten into a fist fight at his house. We managed to clean the cuts and scrapes, but the bruises will take awhile to heal," Dr. Reynolds explained almost too easily.

Ellie, Paige, and Alex all looked at each other, knowing the real truth but too scared to say anything to the doctor.

"C-can we see him?" Paige asked him lightly.

He nodded, pointing the way to them. The girls nervously walked down the sterile hallway and then finally stopped at room 3B. Ellie pushed the door open slowly, in case Craig was asleep and then stepped inside. The others followed behind her and stared at the injured rock angel.

"Oh, Craig..."

Ellie looked at Craig's pale face that held small white band aids. She looked at the tubes that ran down his arm and attached at one of his fingers. Alex stood in the corner, not being able to hardly look at him.

"Hey guys, how did you know I was here?"

Paige looked at him quickly, and smiled weakly. "Manny called me on my cell. Where did she go?"

Craig shrugged and chuckled. "How the hell should I know? I've been unconscious for about five hours..."

Ellie could tell that everyone else was thinking the question she wanted to ask to badly, but they were just too chicken shit to ask.

"Craig, why did you go back to your dads', even after how he treated you?"

The young rock star looked at his hands and then rubbed the back of his neck with his right one. He shrugged and gave them a short, maniacal smile.

"You think that I went over there because I forgave him, don't you? You think that I'm a fucking idiot because I enjoy getting beaten by him, don't you?"

"No, no Craig. We don't think that at all. We...we were just wondering why you went over there again, that's all. We know that you're not dumb, and that you wouldn't go over there because you forgave him," Paige reassured him.

Craig shook his head and looked sadly at his cream colored bed sheets.

"I want over there because I forgot my backup guitar. I went to run upstairs and get it when...when my dear old dad found me and bashed the guitar on me. Then he basically beat me until I passed out. I don't mean to sound like I want self-pity, because I don't want it. I...I just wish that he would be locked up so I don't have to get my ass kicked every time I go to my house, the house I grew up in! I must have the worst luck in all history..." Craig replied in disbelief.

"Craig, you don't have the worst luck. You didn't want to go to child services and you didn't want to press charges against him. Things would have turned out differently if you had."

Craig nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know. I just...I just wish he would just lay off of me and leave me alone. I know I've done some bad crap in my life, but I don't think I deserve this, you know?"

The others nodded, dumbstruck about what to say to him that would make him feel better. Craig must have felt the discomfort because he took a deep breath and sighed.

"I'm feeling tired, guys. I think I'm going to take a nap. I'll probably be back at Joey's tomorrow..."

"Alright, Craig. If you need us, you can call us. We'll keep our cells on. Take care, Craig."

"Get better..."

"Later, little man."

Each girl took turns hugging him and they walked out of his room, their anger levels rising with every thought of Craig's father.