Broken Silence

“Can I borrow the car in the morning?”

She nods her head and gives me a tight hug, rocking me as sobs overtake me. I’ve been so scared for so long. When I calm down, she leaves my room, and I force myself to stay in bed. I want to be rested so I can sit with Charlie in the hospital tomorrow. Grabbing my phone, I send a group text so the others will know when they wake up too. Sleep isn’t easy, but I eventually pass out.

The next time I wake up is around seven. I throw on some clothes and practically run out of the house to the car. The drive to the hospital feels agonizingly slow, especially because she's in Starbrooke’s hospital. As soon as I find a parking spot, I run to the front desk to find out what room she's in. I follow the nurse’s directions and make my way through the maze of hallways, each step feeling like a mile.

Finally, I reach her room and come to a stop outside her door. It’s cracked, but the curtain is drawn, blocking her from view. I take a deep breath, bracing myself for what I will likely find. I have no clue what happened to her, but last time she was almost kidnapped she had bruises, and something in my gut tells me this will be so much worse.

“Can I come in?” I call out quietly. I don't want to wake her, but I hear someone shifting.

“Come in, Cole,” Sophia quietly calls back. I step around the curtain and give a nod in greeting. She's clearly been sleeping with her head on Charlie’s bed. Hesitantly, I look over at Charlie and hold back a mix between a gasp and a sob, my hand flying up to cover my mouth. Her eye is swollen and puffy. Over half of her face is discolored with dark bruising. There's bruising on her arms that disappears under her hospital gown sleeves, so I can’t see how far up they go.

“What happened to her?” I manage to choke out. Looking over at Sophia, I notice the tears running down her cheeks. She just shakes her head, unable to speak. Once her emotions are in check, she takes a deep breath.

“They gave her some kind of overdose of vitamins, and she has awful cuts all over her abdomen too that they had to stitch, so be gentle. I’m going to go get her one of her favorites for breakfasts, so she can eat something when she wakes up. And some decent coffee. Don’t leave her,” she says, clearly needing a moment to herself. I nod and take her place.

I hold Charlie’s hand and sing to her, softly. Hopefully the sound of someone familiar will make the wake up less stressful. My poor Charlie girl needs me, and I won’t leave her side.

Charlie

Before I even open my eyes, I know Cole is near me. I can hear his rich, low voice singing. For a moment I can’t help but wonder if I’m dead, but then the events of the night come flooding back to me. Forcing myself awake, I blink a few times and look around.

I'm in a hospital room now, but my brain is still foggy, so I don't remember anything after Flynn saved me. Cole is holding my hand and singing. His eyes are unfocused, so I don’t think he notices me wake up. When I squeeze his hand, his eyes focus on my face and he lets out a sound of relief, a tear leaking from his eye. My poor boyfriend. Somehow, I manage a soft smile.

“Do you need anything, Charlie girl?” He keeps his voice low and quiet. Something about hospitals just makes people whisper and I almost have to laugh, but the pain makes me second guess that.

“A drink, please,” I reply, with my raspy, damaged voice. But the idea of staying silent isn’t an option for me anymore. I want to heal and embrace my new, raspy voice if the doctors think I can. I want to truly live.

He jumps up and goes to the hallway to find me a drink, quickly returning with a cup of ice water with a straw.. The pain isn’t as bad, but I don’t ask him to sit me up like I want as he puts the straw to my lips, just in case the action opens the wounds again.

“What happened to you, babe?” Cole asks, his voice full of emotion. He looks like he can feel my pain.

“Do I look that awful?” I joke, wincing at the needles in my throat. It falls flat, I know I look awful right now.

“You always look beautiful, now you just look like a beautiful badass,” he teases back. I let a giggle slip out, but it quickly changes to a groan as my abdomen reminds me that I'm too injured for laughter. He gives me an apologetic smile, and we sit and just enjoy the quiet for a moment, while the stinging on my stomach recedes.

We're interrupted by a loud knock on the door and we both turn to see who's joining us. Sophia walks around the curtain with coffee in one hand and a stack of to-go boxes in the other.

“I’m so glad you're awake, honey. I went down to the cafeteria to get you a better breakfast.” Her voice sounds so tired, and she looks disheveled. I hold my arms out for a hug. She smiles, drops the stuff on the tray, and leans down to gently wrap me in her embrace, being careful of my wounds. When she pulls away, she goes to the table and sorts the boxes before handing me a huge cinnamon roll that's the size of my face. It smells amazing. She even brought me a huge cherry soda. I beam up at her before I dig in.

I'm halfway through my cinnamon roll when there's another knock. Sophia pushes the curtain aside so she can let the group in. Abby starts to rush toward me, but Cole stops her with a shout.

“Slow down, her stomach is stitched, don’t put any pressure on it.” He leans over me and makes a cage with his arms. I hold back a laugh, but I secretly love how protective he's being. He presses a quick kiss to my lips and shoots me a wink, before moving away to allow the others a chance to get to me.

Abby approaches again but at a much slower pace this time. She gives me a delicate hug, her eyes filling with tears when she pulls away. She leans forward and brushes a soft kiss on my lips. I kiss her back, reassuring her that I'm fine.

“Glad you're safe now, Charlie,” Adam says in a rough tone, clearly not a fan of having to see me hurt like this. He kisses me as well, before gently running a hand down my cheek. Alice and Trent both give me hugs as well, careful not to put too much pressure on my bruised body. I love that they all came to see me.

“All right, Charlotte, I have the latest lab results,” my doctor says as she walks into the room, staring at the chart in her hands. She glances up, startled at all the people in the room. “How did you all get past the nurses? Would you like me to clear the room before I update you and your mom?” It throws her off enough she seems confused, but I shake my head no. Nothing she could tell me needs to be a secret from this group.

“Go ahead. They’re her close friends,” Sophia encourages as she leans forward, listening intently for the update the doctor has.

“Okay. The vitamin levels are going down, but they are still dangerously high. Anything else they injected you with is already out of your system. I don’t see anything in your blood work to be alarmed about, aside from the high levels I already mentioned. The nurses will be bringing you ice packs for your injuries in a little while. I’ve instructed them to keep you on your pain medicine. I need you to drink a lot of fluids, and hopefully that will help lower the levels as well. You will need to stay for a few more days until I’m certain there aren’t any side effects we haven’t noticed yet. I’ll be honest, I’ve never dealt with this kind of thing and I’ve consulted everyone I could. It’s going to be some trial and error. The fluids and plenty of food will be your best bet,” she finishes and gives me a reassuring smile before walking out. I look around at the others, and their mouths are all hanging open in horror. I feel heat creep into my cheeks and lower my head.

“Charlie’s a badass, right guys?” Cole says, breaking the silence. It was meant to lighten the mood, but I don’t miss the edge to his voice in silent warning.

“Well, we already knew that,” Abby points out, laughing. I smile up at her but my eyes are getting heavy again. I guess the healing my body is doing is making me extra tired. Sophia notices my eyes drooping and ushers the others out. They all say goodbye and leave except Cole and Sophia. Cole leans over and kisses me softly on the forehead.

“I’ll be back after you rest,” he says quietly and pulls my blanket up around me. I smile back and try to keep my eyes open. Once he walks out, I give Sophia a pointed look.