The Pogue Life || JJ Maybank

Recovering

I wake up in the hospital surrounded by my family. The last thing I can remember is seeing Kelce finally let go of JJ and him trying to catch his breath. Then: nothing. I must have passed out from the beating I copped.

"Mum?"

"I'm here baby, you're all right, everything's all right," my mum promises, throwing herself onto me in a gentle but desperate hug.

"What happened?" I question, unsure if they even know.

"JJ said you took a beating from Rafe," Zac fills in.

Zac is sitting to my left, his hands together beside me and Mum is on my right, holding my hand tightly in hers. My dad is in the corner of the room, a very unhappy expression on his face.

"The police will want a statement from you," my dad informs me, "we will be pressing assault charges against them."

I nod, knowing there's no point in arguing with him. I just hope whatever Pope and JJ did doesn't have to come to light because of it. Surely they'll understand my family wanting to press charges though.

"Am I ok?" I ask, feeling exponentially stupid.

"Yes baby, you're fine. You most likely have a concussion so we'll have to keep an eye on you but overall you're fine. Just cuts and bruises. You lost a bit of blood from the cut on your arm but they put a couple stitches in it. The doctor said you'll have to take it easy for a bit and probably avoid surfing," my mum says.

"How long was I out?"

"A fair few hours. Between the knock to the head and the blood loss I don't think your body had it in it to wake up."

I nod before asking quietly, "JJ?"

"He's fine. I told him to get some rest, I thought he'd crash in your room until we got home but when your father went back to grab you a change of clothes he wasn't there," mum informs me, "I'd say he went back to his place. Poor thing looked pretty beat up himself. He sent you here with your other friends and came straight to us, so the next time you see him you'll have to thank him on my behalf for that."

I chew on my lip, hoping the blonde escaped to John B's and didn't go back to his dads house, but who knows. Zac hands me my phone the second I look over to the side table, knowing exactly what I'm thinking. I give him a thankful smile and take it, shooting JJ a Snapchat message on the slight chance he comes in contact with someone's wifi or a charger. Otherwise I guess I'll just have to wait till I'm out of hospital to find him.

The doctor comes in and gives me a quick once-over, saying I'm good to go and just need to take it easy for a while and come back to get my stitches out in a week. After that the police come and take my statement and then we all head home. Im not supposed to sleep so Mum sets up a movie night and stays up with me for a while, making sure I stay awake. Zac comes downstairs around midnight and they swap over.

"I don't need babysitting," I inform my brother as he turns mums movies off and picks a show on Netflix.

"Hey, who's the dumbass with stitches in their arm and a concussion?" He argues

"You've got me there," I laugh.

I try to convince Zac to take me to find JJ the next day but he refuses, saying that mum and dad want me to stay at home and rest. We have a debate but in the end he wins, because dad took my car keys until I'm over my concussion and they're all watching me like a hawk so there's no way I can get out without them noticing. They won't let me take a nap or do anything so I'm forced to spend the day on the couch swapping between reading and watching tv. They finally let me go to bed that night and agree that if I'm feeling better I can go to midsummers tomorrow night. I haven't felt that bad all day so I can't imagine I won't be okay tomorrow. I want to go back to normal. Plus I really want to wear that dress and I won't have a lot of other opportunities.