"Were you able to reach her?" Dr. Robbins asked moments after my mother hung up on me.

I nodded, "Yup, she says she'll be here in half an hour."

I felt a quick burst of panic when I realized that I forgot to tell my mother that I had lied about my name and that the hospital thought I was Stella.

I then realized that she probably wouldn't even notice, and even if she did, she probably didn't care enough to correct it.

"That's great," Dr. Robbins said and I nodded, deciding to skip the part how whether it was against medical advice or not, I was leaving today.

"She must have been so relieved to know you're okay," Dr. Robbins added.

"Yeah," I laughed lightly, remembering how my mother hadn't even asked if I was okay, "I think I'm grounded for the rest of my life though."

Dr. Robbins chuckled, "Maybe not for the rest of your life, but probably for a while."

When I was left alone in the room again, I closed my eyes, not wanting to think about what I had to deal with now. So yes, now I didn't have to stay in this hospital, but I had broken ribs, a concussion, and just had knee surgery.

You can't run with all that.

I let out a frustrated groan and pounded my fist against the hospital bed.

As hard as it was, practically raising Stella, it was also easier. That was what my life was. That was all I knew. My life used to revolve around Stella. When it was taken away from me, I was suddenly lost. I no longer had a purpose.

During that time, the Stella era, as I'm now calling it, every decision I made and every action I performed was with the thought of Stella in mind. That's what came first.

I didn't know how to function without that.

I couldn't function without that.

I knew that once I got out of here, there would be no somewhat comfortable hospital bed and a warm room to sleep in every night so I figured I should get some shut-eye in this environment while I still had the chance.

It was hard though, trying to fall asleep when I knew my mom was on her way to come to get me. As much as I did want to leave this hospital, I also didn't because I knew it was a safe place. I could sleep without thinking someone would try to steal my belongings and I mean, if I was being honest, the pain meds in this place was a plus too.

My monster liked it here.

I must have exhausted myself from thinking so much because the moment I closed my eyes, I could feel sleep starting to take over my body.

...

"Mrs. Taylor, we would really like to keep Stella here overnight," Dr. Robbins explained, "Her body's been through a lot and we just want to keep an eye on her for a little longer."

I opened a bleary eye before yawning and turning my head to see where the voices were coming from. I felt my heart drop when I saw my mother standing in the hallway with Dr. Robbins.

My mother didn't even seem to notice that Dr. Robbins had used incorrect names, "I understand, but I think my daughter can recover better at home."

I was surprised by how calm and collected she was, a total 180 from how she usually is.

"With all due respect, I don't think you do," Dr. Robbins said, "Stella doesn't just have cracked ribs, she's broken a few and that can be dangerous. It already has become dangerous, her broken ribs punctured her lung and they can puncture her aorta or another major blood vessel."

"They can," My mother nodded, "And if they do I will bring her to a hospital, but I'm discharging my daughter now."

"She just had knee surgery," Dr. Robbins added, "The bone had broken through the skin."

My mother nodded again, "I understand, I understand everything you're telling me and I understand what the consequences could be but I'm discharging my daughter so please, just get me the papers."

Dr. Robbins did as my mother asked, telling Dr. Karev to get the discharge papers ready before looking through the window in my room. She saw that I was awake and gave me a gentle smile before coming into the room.

"Your mom's here," She told me, pointing out the obvious.

I nodded, "Yeah, she is."

"It looks like you're going home," Dr. Robbins grimaced slightly.

"Is that bad?"

Dr. Robbins gave me a warm smile, "Well, it's not ideal, preferably we'd like to stay at least overnight, but you can go home."

I didn't plan on going home at first but hearing what could happen to me made me uneasy and ultimately scared me into going home instead of trying to keep running.

"You have to promise me that you're going to rest though," Dr. Robbins stuck out her pinky at me and I didn't pick up right away that I was supposed to lock pinkies with her until I remembered that was something Stella used to make me do whenever I promised her something.

"Deal," I nodded and hooked my pinky around Dr. Robbins'.

"I mean it," Dr. Robbins said seriously, "Between your concussion and broken ribs, that's bed rest for you young lady. Not to even mention your knee."

I gave her a tiny salute, "Yes Ma'am."

"Take care of yourself, Stella,"

"I will," I promised.

"If you think anything's wrong, go straight to a hospital, okay?" Dr. Robbins went on. "I'm serious, any kind of pain could mean your broken ribs has punctured something."

Even though it was Dr. Robbins who was reassuring me at first, it seemed like the tables had turned.

"I'll be okay," I told her, "And I will go to the hospital if anything feels off."

"Good," Dr. Robbins seemed satisfied with my answer.

And we left it at that.

Moments later, she returned with Dr. Karev announcing that I was good to go. I was given a pair of crutches, a prescription of pain medication, and a long list of warning signs that something might be wrong which would be my signal to go to the nearest hospital.

It was almost like a goody bag.

Some doctor from physio came down too, giving me a knee brace and a long lecture about how important physical therapy would be for my knee's recovery. Even though I should have listened, I couldn't help but get distracted by my mother pacing back and forth in front of my hospital room's window. She seemed jittery and I knew that if she could, she would have been screaming at me to hurry up so that she could get her next fix.

Finally, after what felt like years, though it must have felt like centuries for my mother, all the discharge papers were in order and I was allowed to go.

"Okay, Stella," Dr. Robbins clapped her hands together, "It looks like you're good to go."

"Alright, come on," My mother's fingers latched around my wrist and started pulling me away, "Let's go."

I was very unbalanced on the crutches and my mother's pulling didn't help but I managed to stay upright before hobbling away.

"Thank you," I hollered back at Dr. Karev and Dr. Robbins who were both staring at me.

Only Dr. Karev managed a little wave while Dr. Robbins looked greatly dumbfounded at my mother's actions.

Somehow, we managed to get out of the hospital with little to no strange looks from any of the staff and as soon as we were out, I felt myself relax and the tight grip of my mother's fingers around my wrist slip away.

"Where are you going?" I asked when I saw that she was heading down the sidewalk without me and started limping after her.

"Home," My mother replied shortly.

When she saw that I was following her, she stopped in her tracks.

"Where are you going?" She looked at me with a strange expression on her face.

I raised an eyebrow, "Home."

"No, you're not," My mother snorted, "Absolutely not. You got yourself here because you decided what? That you didn't want to just stay home where it was fine."

"I-"

"What if the doctors found out," She went on, "Then what happens? To both of us. What happens?"

I had plenty to say, but I was scared. Or maybe I wasn't. Whatever feeling I was feeling, it was what was stopping me from speaking back to my mother.

"You wanted to be all alone, well now you have it," My mother jabbed her finger at me, "Soon enough, you'll see that you're nothing all by yourself. You're nothing without me."

With that, she turned on her heels and started walking down the street, leaving me to stand alone on the sidewalk in front of the hospital.

Alone.