Guys, I'm so, so, SO sorry that it has taken me so long to update, but I have been so freaking busy!! Just this week for example, I havent had any time off AT ALL!!
Monday I can't even remember what I did, Tuesday I had ATU (the geek club thing) right after school and wasn't home till past 9...
Wednesday I had to do CAS stuff (that weird IB getting points thing) after school and then had cheer practice (we got profile pics taken for the website.. hate pictures) and again wasnt home till almost 10..
Thursday I picked up my sister and took her to practice and again it was 9 before we were home..
Friday I went to my cousin's place right after school and helped her get ready for her goodbye party, snce she's going to California on monday (hate her, she gets to live in Santa Barbara for 4 months and then Costa Rica for 5) and wasn't home till 2 this morning...
Then today, I had to go to a tumbling workshop from 9 through 17 (5 PM) and the same again tomorrow, but guess what, not too far into the workshop, we did leaps. And well, I did a sideleap, and BAM!! My knee CRACKED as I landed. After having rested for 10 minutes or so, I decided that I would try to join them again (they were now doing cartwheels) even though my knee still felt a bit weird.. and BAM!! Once again, my knee CRACKED!!
Apparently, I stretched my ligaments and overworked them, so you have those to thank for this update, case if that hadn't had happened, I would still be learning back flips and not sitting here with my knee bandaged and probably not allowed to go tomorrow!!
It sucks though!! It hurts like hell whenever I walk, and I cant do ANYTHING!!
Anyways, better stop rambling, cause have to do a math hand-in, chem hand-in, economics hand-in and english hand-in for Monday (eco for tuesday though).. Luckily the danish commentary and the physics report arent till later on (physics wednesday, danish next week).. but that'll take me FOREVER to do...
So ENJOY this update guys.. I'll try to update soon, and remember, I DIG REVIEWS!! (and thanks to the ones who have reviewed already :P) They'll definitely help my depressed mood (from hurting my knee and not being able to participate in the workshop) and possibly, or very likely make me updat efaster :P
Chapter 40 - Going Home
Abby was sitting in a chair in the hospital room, looking out of the window at the people on the street. She had always enjoyed people-watching, and well, right now was the perfect time to do so. She was just waiting for Dr. Kovac's shift to end so they could go home.
Home..? Well it wasn't really... home, but it was as close as it would get. It still sounded so weird though, and she had far from gotten used to the idea, not just that she'd be living with Luka's family, but everything.
"So, are you ready to leave?" Looking away from the window she nodded slightly, automatically pulling her sleeves over her hands.
"Yeah." Dr. Kovac had given her the clothes earlier. She had no idea where she's gotten it from, but she didn't care. It was long sleeved and covered up everything that needed hiding, so that was enough for her. She'd had to tell the police about Richard and where they lived, stuff like that, so since her apartment was still practically considered a crime scene, she wouldn't be able to get her stuff for at least another couple of days.
Biting her lip she carefully pushed herself up from the chair. Even though she was used to being in pain after getting beaten up, it had never been this bad. And it wasn't just because of all the bruises she hurt, the surgery had also added a lot to it, so she could barely walk. Or well she could, but slowly and painfully.
"Are you okay?" She stopped walking and looked at Dr. Kovac, hating herself for showing she was in pain.
"I'm fine." She looked down as the doctor carefully stroked her still wet hair. The nurse had helped her wash it earlier, to get all the blood and greasy stuff out of it, along with washing the rest of her body. It had been pretty difficult, considering none of her many stitches were allowed to get wet, and pretty uncomfortable. Luckily she could get them out in about a week so she could take a real shower.
"Okay then. Let's go." Abby just nodded as she followed Dr. Kovac out of the room. "I'm gonna warn you though, we're eating Croatian tonight." She just looked up confused, not getting why she needed a warning. "It's a tradition we have, we eat Croatian every Wednesday." Nodding she continued to walk. She wished she had traditions, something that was special for her family. Or well she did, but not the kind of traditions normal people have. It would definitely be really weird living in one of those normal homes, with normal people. How was she ever going to figure out how it all worked?
Abby took a deep breath as Dr. Kovac stopped the car outside the house. The entire ride home had been quiet, at least from Abby's side. Dr. Kovac had tried making conversation a few times, but had quickly figured out that Abby wasn't up for it.
"So, are you ready?" Biting her lip she carefully nodded as she opened the car door. She didn't really feel ready, but she couldn't share that. To be honest, she was actually a bit scared, maybe even a lot. Terrified!
She followed Dr. Kovac along the path that led to the front door, walking as fast as she could with her injuries, and carefully climbed the few steps. "We still have a bit of time before the others get home." Once again she just nodded as the doctor unlocked the door, holding it open for her to enter the hallway. "Well, you've been here a couple of times, so you don't need me showing you around, do you?" Shaking her head she used her feet to take off her shoes.
"Can I ehm... Go use the restroom?" She was looking down, but she could still feel Dr. Kovac smiling sympathetically at her.
"Of course honey, you don't even have to ask about that. You live here as well now, remember?" Still looking down, feeling embarrassed, she slowly nodded and walked towards the bathroom as Dr. Kovac went to the kitchen. She didn't even need to go, but she'd always used restrooms to escape from things. It was usually the one place where she could lock the door, where people would leave her alone and not invade her privacy. And right now she needed that, she needed to get away from... Everything.
Locking the door behind her, she sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her lip was cracked and the big bruise on her forehead was still very apparent, very... bad and scary-looking.
Biting her lip, she carefully lifted her shirt. During her entire hospital stay she'd avoided looking at her body as much as possible. Not because she wasn't used to the wounds and the bruises, cause she was, but she felt it had gotten looked at enough by all the doctors and nurses. She had to admit that her stomach looked worse than ever before, but what she really wanted to see was the wound from her surgery. But since it was still covered up, that was pretty impossible. Lifting it up a bit further she revealed her ribs. She hated the fact that every single one of them were visible, and it didn't help very much that they were full of bruises and burns. It was practically a miracle that none of them had broken or cracked, but had only gotten bruised.
Letting out the air she was holding back, she let go of the shirt so it fell back down. She sat down on the closed toilet seat and leaned back, closing her eyes. She knew she had to get back out there, if she didn't want Dr. Kovac to get worried, but she really didn't want to. She liked her, she really did, she liked this family, but it just felt too weird, too awkward.
Abby looked up as someone knocked on the door, but looked back down when she saw it was Luka.
"Hi." He sat down at the other end of the bed, carefully resting his hand on her knee. "What are you reading?" Shrugging her shoulders she placed the bookmark in the book and put it on the table as she finished the paragraph.
"Just some random book from your living room. Not very interesting." Nodding, he turned the book around so he could see the cover.
"Well if you want to we can go by the library one of these days." Looking up at him for the first time, she gave him a small, forced smile. Going to the library would mean going out in public, but it would beat being stuck in practically strangers' house with nothing to do.
"Sure." She looked back down as Luka started stroking her arm, but she stopped herself from moving it, knowing he meant well. "When did you get home? I didn't hear you." Placing a piece of her slightly wavy hair behind her ear he made her look back up.
"Just now." Abby just nodded, not sure what to say. "Mom asked me to go get you. Dinner is as good ready." Taking a deep breath, she looked seriously at Luka.
"What does Croatian food taste like?" A big smile formed on his face. Not just because he had expected something way more deep and serious, but because it was like the old Abby was back for a few seconds.
"You'll like it..." Abby just stared at him suspiciously.
"Are you sure?" She interrupted him, but he didn't care.
"I think..." Not being able to stop herself from smiling either, she slapped his shoulder as hard as she could, which wasn't very hard at all considering how weak she still was.
"It's not funny." She attempted to stop smiling without success, causing Luka to start chuckling. "I'm trying to be serious here."
"Well so am I." Blushing, she looked down kind of embarrassed, although not knowing why. It felt good being able to laugh again and not just feeling so pitied all the time.
"Hey," Lifting her face so she was looking at him, he was about to ask her if she was okay, but decided against it, knowing she was probably really tired of that question. "Just watch out for the sauce, my mom always tend to make it way too spicy." Smiling slightly, she didn't bother moving away his hand.
"But I love spicy food." Returning the smile, just bigger, he carefully moved some hair away from her face.
"I know you do. Just thought I'd give you a heads up before you poured half of the salt and pepper in." When she didn't respond, Luka carefully started stroking the side of her face. "Do you know how beautiful you are?" Blushing, she pulled her head away and looked down as her small smile quickly faded.
"Luka..."
"I mean it, Abby." Carefully grabbing her chin again, he forced her to look at him. "Even with all the cuts and bruises you're still the most beautiful girl." As her cheeks turned more and more red, Luka just smiled.
"So don't be embarrassed about them or your scars." She really wanted to look away, but couldn't get herself to do it. "When I was younger I used to love bruised and even scars, even on myself. They each have their own story and history, and they are a part of you. Think of them as tattoos." As he moved his hand her face slowly fell so she was looking down, but she was still paying attention to what he was saying. "I know that your scars don't exactly have the most pleasant stories behind them, and that you'd probably just want to forget all about them, but that's not possible. Just don't let them control your life, okay? Because I... We care about you, and it wouldn't matter if you shaved your head and got a hundred times as many scars as yo have right now, I wouldn't love you any less." She felt a small tear slide down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away, not wanting Luka to see it. She wasn't sure whether or not Luka had just told her he... loved her, but she chose to just ignore that part.
"I didn't." She was still looking down, not wanting to look at Luka. "I never let it affect me when nobody knew." Biting her lip she looked back up at him, fighting to keep her tears back. "But it's really hard not to when everyone keep pitying me and feeling sorry for me. I hate it, and I wish you'd all just treat me like normal, like you'd treat everyone else." It wasn't till she was done that she realized how weak she had sounded, but judging by the look on Luka's face, he had understood what she'd meant.
"Okay." Giving her a sympathetic smile, he gently put her bangs back behind her ear before carefully stoking her hair. She closed her eyes as he leaned closer to her, and she had to admit that his soft kiss on her forehead felt really good, even though it didn't last very long.
"Let's go." Opening her eyes she carefully grabbed his hand and let him help her up. "They're probably waiting for us."
