The Hospital!

I wasn't a stranger to pain.

I've felt it in varying degrees before, inflicted through a myriad of ways.

I never welcomed it with open arms, but it didn't surprise me as much when it came.

This… This wasn't pain.

It is probably worse.

It was sheer… nothingness.

The pungent smell of bleach invading my nostrils is strong enough to bring me back to consciousness. The room is silent aside from my heavy breathing and the beep-beep sound from the heart monitor.

I scrunched my eyes at the light that was sipping through my closed eyelids. I felt powerless and heavy as the pain kept shooting from all over my body. I could not move my hand, my head, and my body.

"Thea!!"

The white walls started to clear up, my vision beginning to fill with sharper details as if I suddenly just found all the final pieces of the puzzle and figured out the picture.

Hospital room.

"Thea!! Are you okay?" I lazily turned my eyes to the gold-flecked gray eyes stricken with fear.

"Ari... " I didn't think I sounded like I had a clump of instant noodles in my throat, but it sure felt like I did.

"I'm here, Thea. Take it easy. You're not allowed to move too much." She cooed with frantic gentleness, and I could feel her hand squeezing mine.

Even though I could definitely tell that I was fully conscious, I couldn't figure out why my head and body still felt so strangely heavy. It didn't seem like it would budge even with persistent effort.

"Wh- Wha... " I swallowed hard, wincing at the abrasion against my insanely dry throat.

A glass appeared in front of me, and a straw is guided to my lips. Slowly, I sipped, barely managing the strength to pull in the liquid deep, but I drank as much as I could. I licked my very cracked lips, wetting them in the process.

"Thea! Are you okay?" The concern in Ari's voice drew my attention back to her, and I frowned, confused as to why she looked so unhappy.

"What hap-- happened?" I tried again, sounding a lot better than I did earlier.

"You fainted." She said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You left with Aiden for your English project, and he said you looked pale, insisting you wanted to go home. Then, the next thing he knew, you were down the stairs unconscious and bleeding."

"Who brought me here?"

"Aiden did before calling your mom. He then called me to tell me about it." She croaked out under her breath. I turned my head to her slightly, wondering what could be the cause of her being so quiet.

"Ari, Is everything okay?" She looked up at me, her eyes full of unshed tears. "Ari?"

"No, Thea. Everything is not okay. Why won't you just talk to me? You are keeping secrets from me, and we swore to tell each other everything. Why won't you tell me about what you are going through? It's like you don't care what happens to you, whether you fucking die or not. Do you think you don't have people that care about you? I care!, Ash cares!, Polly cares!, Mady cares! We all care, but you only push us away at every opportunity you get." She took a deep breath, her tears flowing freely now. She wiped them off vigorously with her sleeve. "I only wish you'll talk to me and not shoulder everything alone."

I watched her walk out of the room, confused and shocked at her outburst. I know being in the hospital is taking a toll on her because her mom died in the hospital, but I don't understand why she would get mad at me.

The door creaked open, making me turn to the door. Ash came in clenching tightly to a small teddy bear and a bunch of flowers. He passed me a small smile before putting them beside me, seeing as I can't move my hands too much.

"Thank you!" I choked out, clearing my throat.

"Anytime, Thea. How are you feeling?"

"Like death. There's still a slight pain in my head and my left shoulder."

"Do you want me to call the doctor?"

"No! No! I'm sure it's not that serious." He stared at me for a long minute before nodding. If there's anyone that can tell me what's going on in Ari's mind now, it'll be Ash. I cleared my throat. "Ash!"

"Mhm!"

"Do you know why Ari seems mad? She kinda got mad at me earlier." He sighed before sitting down beside me on the bed.

"When she called me yesterday, I could tell she was about to have a panic attack. And when the doctor spoke to us after attending to you, she has been really quiet."He looked at me before continuing. "She cares about you a lot, Thea, and the fact that you don't care what happens to you hurts her."

"Why is everyone saying that? Of course, I care about myself."

"Do you, really? The doctor said from the test they carried out, you've been having migraines for weeks as a result of stress and that you have a fever. We also got to find out that you refused to take the pills your mom got you. You never told anyone about it." I looked away, embarrassed. "I know your life hasn't been too great, but please, stop keeping things from us."

I was about to say something when Levi came into the room, the doctor and my mom behind him.

"Hello, Ms. Brown! How are you feeling?" The doctor asked, the warm smile on his face putting me at ease.

"Err... I feel tired, and there's a sharp pain at the side of my head and my left shoulder." He nodded, taking notes in his notepad.

"Yeah, that's normal since you've overworked yourself too much. The pain on your shoulder is from the fall down the stairs." He took a few more notes before passing me a smile. "You will have to stay here for one more day or so for more tests. But you are going to deal with those migraines for a while."

"What caused the migraines?" My mom asked from the side of the room.

"Well, a lot of things cause migraines. But, Athena's is mostly emotional triggers. She'll be fine as long as she takes her drugs and not stress herself too much." The doctor walked out of the room.

"What have you been doing to yourself, Athena? You were supposed to go to school, study, and eat. Not get sick---"

"Leah!!!" Levi yelled. "You need to stop. She definitely doesn't need you nagging right now."

I chose not to say anything since I already knew this would be her reaction. I have to be the perfect daughter. The daughter that doesn't get sick or talk back or does anything.

She let out a scoff before walking out of the room in anger.

"I'm sorry about her. She's just worked up after watching you unconscious for almost a day." I gave him a small smile.

"You don't have to cover for her, Levi. She's my mother. I know her pretty well." He placed a kiss on my hair before leaving the room. I let out a deep breath, ready to go back to bed. There was a knock at the door, calling me back to consciousness.

"Can I come in?" Ari's voice resounded through the room. I nodded towards the seat beside me.

"I'm sorry for lashing out at you earlier. I was really pissed, thinking I haven't been there for you. Seeing you unconscious took a toll on me."

"I know!! I know!!" I took her hand and entwined it with mine. "I'm sorry if you feel like I'm pushing you away. That's not my intention. I need you to know that you're my best friend, and I love you."

"I love you too, dog face." I let out a chuckle, wincing slightly at the slight pain at the side of my head.

"Dogface?"

"Have you looked in the mirror?"

"Touché."

We laughed out. I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.