Chapter 13

Liv's cell went off at 6:30. It was a text from Melinda. "Hey! Are you up? I want to check on you guys before I head to work." Liv sat up and looked on the other side of the bed. Blonde hair was all over the place, her body was in what looked like the most uncomfortable position ever, but she was completely knocked out. Liv shook her head, because she didn't understand how someone could sleep like that. She walked to the front door and opened it for Melinda. "Rough night? You look tired." Liv turned around and started walking back to the bedroom and stopped at the dryer to throw the bedding inside. "She had a bad nightmare around 3am. Her clothes and sheets were soaked, she's in my bed now." Melinda smirked, "In your bed already? Wow, that didn't take long." Liv just laughed. "Olivia, we've been friends too long. You like her, admit it." Liv stopped her at the door, "I'm not going to deny it, but she's young. She has some things to work through first before I make any move. But hey what can I say she's cute." Melinda and Liv walked in the bedroom. Amanda was still asleep and hadn't moved at all. Her left arm was straight above her head, her left was bent at the knee, and her right arm and leg were practically hanging off of the bed. Melinda looked at the sight in front of her in amazement. "You slept with that!" Liv just laughed, "Thank goodness I have a king size bed." Melinda checked her temperature and it was back to normal, so that was a good sign. She wanted to wake Amanda up to look at her bruises. She didn't want Amanda to wake up and freak out. Liv said, "It's fine, she isn't gonna wake up. I've never seen anyone sleep so hard." Melinda thought maybe it could be the pain meds causing that, but she still didn't want to examine her without permission. Liv decided to wake the sleeping dead, "Amanda! Wake up, Melinda wants to check on you. Come on Amanda!" Those sleepy blue eyes started to blink open. "I'm still so tired" Amanda whined like a baby. Melinda said, "She's so cute. Hey I just want to check on your bruises and you can go back to sleep." Melinda checked her back and stomach, both looked better and she felt she was making improvements. "Amanda, I want you to see a regular primary doctor. I'm helping you now, but you need a doctor that you can go to when you get sick and need prescription medication. Liv and I both have the same doctor. She's wonderful and I think you will like her. I'm sure Liv will go with you." When Liv looked up, she saw the biggest, cutest pouting lips on Amanda's face. She was such a baby and it was adorable. "But why? You're a doctor" Amanda whined. Melinda pulled Amanda's shirt back down, "Yes I am, but I'm a different kind of doctor. I usually only examine dead people and with all that pouting and whining you are definitely alive. When is the last time your parents took you to the doctor for a physical?" Amanda just shook her head, "I don't know, because I don't get sick." Melinda looked at Liv, "Call Dr. Hendrix and make her an appointment today." Liv and Amanda felt like they were both in trouble with Melinda. "Okay, I will call at 8 when they open. Amanda it's ok, she really is nice and I will be right there the whole time."

Amanda laid back down and Liv walked Melinda to the door. "She's probably missing all kinds of vaccinations Liv. They can use her social security number and insurance card to figure it out, but it needs to be done. I don't mind helping, but I also don't want to pump her with pain pills without knowing her medical history. She's 19, she needs a primary, a GYN doctor, and I'm calling Dr. Hanover today. If I make an appointment, is anytime this week good?" Liv shook her head, "Yeah, I'm off the rest of the week so I'll take care of it. Thanks Melinda! Oh and Alex is coming by for dinner if you want to join us. She thinks she has a better school option for Amanda.We're having baked spaghetti and salad." Melinda walked out of the door, "Absolutely, I'm not passing up free dinner after working all day. See you after work."

Liv headed back to the bedroom. She was still tired from waking up earlier this morning. When she walked in, Amanda was laying on her side and she saw tears falling from her eyes. Liv climbed in beside her, pulled her close, and laid her head on her chest. "Tell me what's wrong baby. Why are you crying? Are you in pain or is something else?" Amanda's tears fell on Olivia's shirt, soaking it, but she didn't care about that. She wanted Amanda to open up and talk to her. Liv couldn't help her if she was just going to shut down. "I'm embarrassed about all these bruises Liv. I already know what you and Melinda are thinking because of the bruises on my legs. What good is it for another doctor to see them. I don't want to go to the doctor. Please don't make me go." Liv's heart broke when she saw more tears fall and heard Amanda's words. "Amanda we don't think anything bad about you if that's what you mean and Dr Hendrix won't either. We know something bad happened, but you haven't been ready to talk about it so we haven't pushed you. But Amanda, it's time baby and Melinda is right, so I'm going to make some decisions for you so you can start to heal and move on with your life. I'm doing this because I care about you. When I walked in that coffee shop, we were drawn to each other for some strange reason. The people who should have taken care of you, haven't done their job. Answer this question for me. Do you want to be more than just friends?" Amanda looked up wiping her eyes, "Yes Liv, I want to try." Liv held Amanda and kissed the top of her head. "Okay! Then a few things need to happen and I promise to always be honest with you. First, you and I are going to see Dr. Hendrix today. She's going to be your primary doctor and give us a referral for a GYN doctor. We need to make sure your healthcare is up to date immediately. Next, Ms. Cabot is coming over tonight, to give you options about school. She thinks she has a better option for you to finish high school. We need to make the best decision for you to move on. Then, Melinda has a friend who is a psychologist." Amanda tensed up immediately and tried to pull away from Liv, so she quickly pulled her back and held her tight. "No, don't pull away from me Amanda. We all need to talk out our problems. Something is holding you back from telling me what happened and that's ok. I'm not upset that you don't want to tell me and you never have to tell me if you don't want to. But Amanda you can't hold it in or it will eat you alive. You're having nightmares and it's just not emotionally healthy. So, she will be someone you can talk to, tell her anything you want, and leave all you problems with her. She will never tell any secrets you have. She can be your safe space and if or when you decide you want to tell me, I'll be right here for you. So you will see her also sometime this week. She can help sort out all these feelings that you don't know what to do with. Last, if we are going to be more than friends and you want a physical relationship, we have to agree to take care of each other. That's what lovers do and you need all of these things to be taken care of. So, Amanda let me take care of you. What do you say? Are you going to trust me to take care of you?"