JUST SAY YOU HATE ME
When Lila opened her eyes, everything hit her at once.
She was both dizzy and disoriented, not sure where she was or how she got there. She looks down, expecting to see a purple dress, but instead she wears a shirt that doesn't belong to her.
Lila makes an instinctive move to sit up, but her shoulders are pinned down by two hands.
"Stay still for me, Lila." Ashton says. He is waving a light in her eyes, eyebrows pulled together in deep concentration. "How are you feeling?"
Her abdomen throbs like there are a million needles poking her. Her head is spinning, ears ringing as the sound of a gun pierces through her memory.
She blinks up at him, her vision a little fuzzy. "Oh my god, that sucked. Be honest, how bad do I look right now?"
The girl's throat felt like sandpaper as she spoke. She wiggles her fingers and toes, making sure everything works the way it should.
"For someone who got shot two days ago, you look pretty damn good. Now, what's your pain level on a scale from one to ten?" He pulls Lila's shirt up to her belly button and peels the bandage off, then places a fresh square of gauze over the wound and tapes it down.
She takes a peek, grimacing at the dried blood and severe bruising. "That's why you're my favorite." She speaks through gritted teeth. "But it hurts, like, really bad. I give it a twelve. Maybe I could pop a few Advil... like thirty?"
He chuckles. "Calum is checking out a few of the hospitals to see if he can get his hands on something stronger than Advil."
"Good, I want to be so drugged up I don't even know my own name. But thank you." Lila's eyes begin to water, and she squeezes them shut. "For not letting me die. Thank you seems like such a small thing to say to someone who just saved your life, but... thank you."
He swipes his thumbs under her eyes. "No tears, alright? You can thank me by making a kickass recovery."
Lila's insides feel like they've been shredded, but she musters up a grin anyways. "Deal. Is Calum okay? He was next to me when it happened, and, uh, how long was I out?"
The long pauses between her words has Ashton frowning. Even a simple intake of breath puts her in pain.
"He's fine. And it's been about two days, it's a little after four in the morning right now." He grabs a bottle of water from the nightstand and hands it to her. "You're probably dehydrated. Try to drink as much as you can for me."
She tucks the bottle under her arm. "Yeah, okay. Could I just sleep a little longer? I feel a lot better when I'm asleep."
"You might want to stay up for a bit. I think there's someone who really wants to see you."
Lila's ears perk up at this, and she can hardly hide the elated smile on her face. "Luke? He's awake?"
"Yeah, I don't think he's slept since we got home."
Her face falls. "But you just said I've been asleep for two days."
Ashton shrugs. "He was worried about you." He then motions to the water. "I'll go get him when you drink half of that."
"Oh, that is cruel." Lila's bottom lip curls. "Come on, Ashton, don't you think I've suffered enough?"
Eyes narrowing slightly, he says, "Fine. Drink a quarter."
He drives a hard bargain, so Lila unscrews the cap and takes a sip. It scratches her throat, almost burns. She makes a face and sets the bottle on the nightstand. "Why don't I just go get Luke myself, hm?"
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𝘿𝙀𝘾𝙀𝙋𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 • 𝙇𝙍𝙃
Fanfiction"Anger makes a man do stupid things. It brings them to their knees and has them burning cities to the ground." "Oh, he isn't angry. He's in love." . . . In which an innocent girl is swept into the life of a ruthless gang member with a lot of secr...
