by C. L. Stone
My mouth popped open. “Luke!”
There was snickering in the background from both Luke and Gabriel.
“I hate you both right now,” I said.
“Oy, Trouble. You’ve got to have the full hospital experience.”
“Yeah, Sang,” Luke said. “Rite of passage.”
I grumbled. Earlier, it had sounded reasonable when they told me I just had to put the gown on. After all, I was in a hospital and about to go into a very large machine. Medical dramas on television always showed people in the gowns. I’d never been to the doctor before. How was I supposed to know?
Victor’s sweet baritone voice sounded through the speakers. “Do you want a blanket?”
“She can’t have one now,” Kota said. “She’s in the middle of the MRI.”
“We can start it over,” Victor said. “She said she’s cold.”
“She’s tough. She can take it. Can’t you, Sang?”
I sighed. “Maybe.” I knew I could, I just wanted to grumble. It distracted me from the loud machine and moving parts around me. They were kind of scary.
“This machine costs an arm and a leg just to push the ‘go’ button,” Dr. Roberts said.
“I’ll pay for it,” Victor said.
“We’ve already started,” Kota said. “Let her finish. She’ll be fine.”
There was a softly spoken protest from Victor but he quieted.
I swallowed back my complaints. I thought of North and Silas, who were probably getting ready for football practice out in ninety degree weather. They’d probably love to relax in a cool room right now.
Nathan spoke, “Your ankle doesn’t hurt, does it?”
“No worse than usual,” I said, although his question caused me to focus on my foot. After Friday Fall and I’d jumped from the second floor to the first, I’d ended up with what Dr. Green thought at first was a sprained ankle. It’d been a couple of weeks and I was still limping, despite applying ice packs and the boys berating me to sit down and rest it. I couldn’t hide my pain walking through school and Dr. Green insisted on bringing me in for an MRI, since the first X-ray didn’t show a broken bone.
“Give me a few more minutes,” Dr. Roberts said. “We’ll find out what’s bothering you.”
“It’s probably nothing,” I insisted, like I’d done for weeks. “If it isn’t broken, there isn’t much else that will fix it besides resting it, right?”
“Will you let us doctors do the doctoring here, please?” Dr. Roberts asked. “She’s a miss smarty-pants, isn’t she?”
Gabriel chuckled. “If I hadn’t already nicknamed her Trouble, I probably would have gone with Smart Ass. Or Pretty Ass. I can’t decide.”
“Ugh,” I said, grateful the MRI machine was hiding my blushing.
Hidden Bruises
What felt like eons later, I was able to get up, and get dressed. I found Luke and Gabriel and Nathan in a waiting area. They were still wearing their faux school uniforms, although they’d all shed the blazers. Luke’s white button up shirt was undone halfway down his chest. Gabriel had removed the white shirt, wearing just a ribbed tank undershirt. Nathan was wearing a white t-shirt. I thought their uniforms looked good on them, but hated that those uniforms also made them targets at school.
Luke noticed me first and whistled a catcall.
I huffed. I put my lips together and blew, only getting empty air and a raspberry at the end.
“Your whistle broken?” Nathan asked.
“Never had one,” I said. “I can’t whistle.”
“Sure you can,” Gabriel said. “Put your lips together.”
I did.
“Now blow through them.”
I blew a raspberry.
Gabriel snickered. “Guess you can’t. Come sit by us, Sang.” Gabriel patted the empty chair between him and Luke.
“No,” I said, tucking myself next to Nathan in a loveseat across from where they sat. Nathan was buried in his phone, punching in a message. He hooked one hand under my thighs, scooting me around until my knees were over his legs so I could prop up my sore ankle. They’d all done the same when they could, and it no longer fazed me that I was practically sitting in his lap this way.
“We were just teasing you,” Luke said. “Besides, it was cute.”
“Not really worried about what you’ve already done. It’s what you might do,” I said. It was difficult to smother my smile, though.
“She’s on to you, Luke,” Nathan said, finishing his message and putting the phone down. He sat back, his elbows propped up on the low seat cushion behind him. This caused his chest to flex out, and the white t-shirt he was wearing did little to hide the defined muscles. “The only reason she hasn’t gotten you back is because she’s nice.”
“Or maybe I’m not. Maybe I’m just waiting for the perfect moment.” I widened my eyes to emphasis my threat.
“Ah ha,” Gabriel said, pointing a lean finger at Luke’s brown eyes. “Trouble’s gonna get you.”
My chest started buzzing. I blushed, ducking my hand into the cup of my bra to pull out my phone. North was calling.
I was hitting the button to answer when Luke, Gabriel and Nathan started giggling at me.
“Hello?” I answered, my voice wavering.
“What’s wrong with you?” North asked.
“We don’t know yet. They’re looking over the MRI now.”
“No, I mean, why do you sound weird? What’s wrong?”
I should have suspected. Ever since the fight, the guys had been more aware of every little thing. I couldn’t sneeze without them asking if I had a cold. I glanced at Nathan, narrowing my eyes. “The guys are laughing at me.”
“Why?”
“Because I had the phone in my bra.”
North chuckled. “Sang Baby, don’t you have pockets?”
“A lot of the skirts I wear don’t.”
“You were wearing shorts today.”
I blushed again. Nathan’s amused smile was teasing as he listened in, and he was brushing his fingertips along the top of my knee. It was almost distracting me from what to say to North next. “It’s a habit. I’ll put it in my pocket.”
“You don’t want perverts watching you messing with your bra. You get too much attention already.”
“How’s practice?” I asked him, wanting to stop talking about my bra.
“Hot. I hate this kind of stuff,” he said. “How was the MRI?”
“Cold. It rattled. Luke made me wear a hospital gown when I didn’t have to.”
Luke’s eyes widened. “Traitor!”
North grunted in the phone. “I’ll give him a good thumping later if you want.”
“Don’t for a while. Make him sweat it out.”
Nathan laughed next to me. “You’re mean. Remind me not to cross you.”
I got off the phone with North, tucking my phone into my back pocket this time. I made sure my blouse hung over far enough to where, when I did stand, the phone wouldn’t be seen. The guys knew I had it, but my mother could never learn about it. I didn’t want to forget where it was and get caught with it.
Kota appeared from a door down the hallway. From behind him emerged Victor, Dr. Green and Dr. Roberts.
Luke and Gabriel stood up to address them. I was about to do the same, but Nathan held on to my thighs, shaking his head. “Nope. You sit,” he said.
When the others got close, they pulled chairs away from the walls and clustered them around the loveseat Nathan and I sat in together. This made the fact that I was nearly sitting in his lap a little more embarrassing. I tried to sit up to at least create some semblance of professionalism like they were showing.
“Well the good news is, it isn’t broken,” Dr. Roberts started, winking at me. “No casts for you.”
“What’s the bad news?” I asked, my eyes flitting from Kota to Victor and the doctors. “Don’t tell me you have to cut it off.”
I’d said it because I was nervous, but regretted making the joke becau
se they all started laughing, leaving me hanging longer for an answer until they recovered.
“No, not that. Not yet at least,” Dr. Roberts said.
“Your talus and calcaneus bones are bruised,” Dr. Green said, sitting forward to put his elbows on his knees. “Your heel and the bone right below your ankle.”
“They must have made contact when you touched down,” Kota said.
“If it’s a bruise, why hasn’t it healed yet?” I asked. Normal bruises didn’t take two weeks to get better.
“Bone bruises are more severe. You’re looking at maybe a month longer before it goes away,” Dr. Roberts said.
I sighed, twisting my lips. “And there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m so sorry. It was a waste of money.”
“Hey now,” Dr. Roberts frowned, but his eyes betrayed his playful nature. “Don’t give me that tone.” He raised a hand and waved it back toward the room they had come from. “That was a perfectly brand new MRI machine we needed to test out and you, girl, just gave the training radiologist someone to practice on.”
I felt my lips curling up. “Thank you,” I said softly.
Dr. Roberts beamed.
Nathan cupped his palm over my knee. “Now you’ll have to listen to us when we say stay off your feet.”
“I know, and I am trying,” I said. “Unless I’m walking to class or going home. I can’t do it forever.”
“You don’t have to go that far,” Dr. Roberts said. “You should be able to walk normally. Just no more jumping from balconies for a while.”
“How about ever?” Gabriel asked. “Let’s go with that. Never ever jump off the school balcony again. Or any balcony. Stay away from balconies.”
The others laughed.
“Thank you, Dr. Roberts,” Kota said. He held out a hand for the doctor to shake. “I’m glad the results are positive, but we should get Sang home.”
“In a hurry?” Dr. Roberts asked, an eyebrow shifting. He took Kota’s hand to shake, but his gaze fell on me. “Have a date?”
The question glued my tongue to the roof of my mouth, and a finger hovered over my lip. Me? He had to be kidding.
“Concerned parents,” Kota said.
That was putting it mildly, I thought. Concern wasn’t exactly the word I would have used.
Victor and the others stood, except for Nathan. They shook hands with the doctor, and fixed the chairs.
Nathan gathered me, lifting me off of the loveseat and holding me in his arms.
“He said I can walk,” I said.
“I heard him,” Nathan said.
I grunted, but smirked, shaking my head. They never listened to me.
Dr. Roberts’ eyes sparkled and he winked at Dr. Green. “She’s cute. Keep an eye on that one.” He patted Dr. Green on the back and started down the hallway.
“I should go on to work,” Dr. Green said. “Who’s going where?”
“I’ve got Luke and Gabriel,” Victor said. “We’ve got some work to do as well.”
“Nathan and I will take Sang home,” Kota said.
Dr. Green nodded. “Sang, listen to the guys. Be careful.”
“Thank you,” I said.
His easy smile and dazzling eyes left me feeling lighter. He turned and walked in the direction Dr. Roberts had gone.
Now the only thing I had to worry about was getting home without getting caught. My mother couldn’t find out.
Kota seemed to read my worries on my face. “We’re going now,” he said, pulling keys out of his pocket.
There was nothing else to do. At least I didn’t have to wear a cast and try to explain that to my mother. Now I just had to handle a couple of bruised foot bones.
And prevent my mother from ever finding out about Kota, Nathan, and the others in the Academy.
Easier said…
Friday
It wasn’t as late as I’d been worried about. We arrived back to Sunnyvale Court before the bus was scheduled to arrive. When the bus pulled onto our street, Kota, Nathan and I emerged from Kota’s garage. My sister, Marie, started talking to Danielle, the next door neighbor girl. Derrick, Danielle’s brother, was already heading up the road. I lingered with Kota and Nathan. No one seemed to have noticed we hadn’t gotten off the bus.
Only now, when I knew I had to get going, I didn’t want to leave.
“So what are we doing?” Nathan asked. “It’s Friday. What’s the plan for the weekend?”
“Sang goes home and checks in,” Kota said. He put a palm on top of my head and rubbed. “We’ll get homework out of the way and figure things out from there. I’m thinking we’ll start with self-defense training. Something light though because of your ankle.”
I smiled, feeling better. I was welcome back. Hopefully I could get back. In the last couple of weeks, my mother had told me to get on my knees three times and to sit on the stool four times. Punishments lasted for hours and I was often so sore and tired and angry afterward that I couldn’t return for a while.
Kota and the others didn’t know about the latest punishments. When I was being disciplined and they were expecting me, I would text to tell them my mother was hovering so I couldn’t escape. I knew they would be worried if they figured out the truth, but I didn’t see a way out of it and the Academy guys had enough problems. They didn’t need to worry about me.
It also didn’t matter to me. My mother would punish me. I would sit for hours and when it was over, I’d be out the door to Kota’s again. I did whatever I had to do to keep my secrets.
If a few hours of punishment was the cost of my friendship with the guys, I’d take every second of it.
“You want to spend the night again?” Nathan asked, looking at me.
I brightened more, nodding. “I’d like to. Can I?”
Kota smiled softly. “Only if...” he made a face, reaching into his back pocket for his phone. He checked the messages, frowning. “We might have to see,” he said. He looked at Nathan. “We’ve got to go.”
“Not another fight,” I complained. “Did Silas and North get into trouble with football tryouts?”
“Nothing so tragic,” Kota promised. “Academy.”
I pursed my lips to hold back the buzzing questions collecting on my tongue. Despite trying to keep out of trouble at school, Kota and the others still got called out on occasion for Academy business. “What do I do?”
“Check in,” he said, pulling out his keys. “If you need anything, call Victor if it isn’t an emergency. Call me if it is.”
“Call me if it is,” Nathan echoed.
They waved to me and headed toward Kota’s old, clunky sedan parked at the corner of his driveway. Kota was still wearing the blue blazer with the faux school badge. Nathan was in his white t-shirt and uniform pants. No time to change. The Academy was calling.
I started down the road, disappointed that the weekend might be delayed. Kota and Nathan were off to work. North and Silas were probably still at football practice. Luke, Victor and Gabriel were busy. I was bummed, already lonely without them and without an idea of when I would next see them.
Marie caught up with me. We walked alongside each other. It felt awkward. She and I rarely talked unless we had to and often times we avoided each other as much as possible. It was completely different than how I felt about the boys. I knew it wasn’t normal. Sisters were supposed to be close, right?
“Are you still spending the weekend with Danielle?” I asked. She’d talked about this last week. She was getting good at disappearing and running off to Danielle’s house. She never got into trouble like I did, though. I wondered how she got away with it.
“Yes,” she said, shifting her nearly empty book bag on her shoulders. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her t-shirt clung to her tall frame.
“Check in every once in a while,” I reminded her.
“Since when are you the boss?” she snapped at me. “Just don’t tell mom.”
I sighed, rolling my eyes. It wasn’t like I wanted to
stop her from a good time. I was probably the only one around who could understand. We escaped to be around people that liked us. I didn’t want to see her punished like me.
She sped up, heading to the garage door of our house. I hoped she listened to me, but if she didn’t, I hoped she wouldn’t get caught. There was nothing else I could do.
♥♥♥
The house was quiet. It was then that I remembered that my father would be gone all weekend. I sunk into myself, disappointed. I might not be able to spend the night with Kota and Nathan after all. I felt guilty about leaving my mother by herself all night. Marie would be gone for the weekend. If something happened and I wasn’t home, it would be my fault.
I wondered if my mother had eaten. I wanted to change my clothes and planned to check on her after. If she was sleeping, I’d wake her to get her to eat something. It was risky. Depending on her mood, I might end up on my knees again. Still, since Kota was gone, it wasn’t a problem now. No one was expecting me.
I skipped up the steps two at a time and walked into my bedroom. I dumped the contents of my book bag onto my bed since I needed to clean it out. I told myself I would get all my homework done like Kota said before I attempted to text Victor or Luke or someone just to talk.
When I was done emptying my bag, I tossed it on the floor. I stripped off my shoes and socks, leaving on the shorts and the blouse I had worn to school.
I went to the upstairs bathroom, turned on the faucet and washed my face. I heard fumbling in the hallway and I thought it was Marie getting ready to go to Danielle’s. I brushed my teeth just to feel fresh. I touched the cup of my bra, expecting to feel my phone there but remembered it was in my back pocket. I pulled it out, wondering if I should charge it. I returned it to my pocket, drawing my shirt down far enough so the lower hem hid the bulge.
Out of habit, I tidied the counter, getting rid of a hairbrush and some of Marie’s makeup and tossing it into a drawer, wiping down the white countertop and cleaning a smudge from the medicine cabinet mirror. If I left it to Marie, the bathroom would be a wreck.
