Code Blue

~ Chapter 50 ~

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Chapter 50
Wednesday November 15th
Mallory's POV

"I'm hereee"

"Mal!" Veronica called from the kitchen, as I entered their apartment I heard the two of them laughing further inside the four walls. I assumed that Eli had already started cooking the meal he said he would when they invited me over tonight.

I'm just stopping by for an hour or two before I have to go to work, but I was still excited to spend some time with my favorite people. Even though we just saw each other last week or so, it felt like it was so much longer. Working at the hospital and being exhausted the majority of my life has a way of making one day feel like 20, and it's caused me to miss my friends a lot.

I kicked my shoes off to get comfortable before I'd be wearing them all night for my shift, and tossed my bag down on their little welcome bench they have in the foyer area. I followed the sounds of their laughter to the kitchen, rushing over to my best friend and embracing her tightly.

"I've missed you so much" I mumbled, the scent of her strawberry perfumed hair was prominent in our proximity.

"I've missed you too!" Veronica squealed, pulling away to get a look at me, as if it's been years since we were in the same room with each other. Her bright smile at my presence quickly diminished when she saw the giant bruise on my face from the other day.

"Oh my god Mallory, what happened?" Eli immediately stopped cooking, putting down the spoon he was using to stir the pasta within seconds. Both of their faces turned into the upmost concern at the sight of black and blue coating my entire cheek.

I didn't tell them about my encounter with my father at the hospital yet. Honestly, the whole situation has drained me mentally and emotionally over the last 3 days, and it also wasn't something I thought about telling them over our group text message. I was more so hoping that my injury would heal before I saw them again, but then they invited me over for dinner and I didn't want to decline and feel like a bad friend.

I guess I could of given some kind of warning. I showed up out of nowhere with a giant mark on my face, that even was tripping me out every time I look in the mirror.  Every time I went to the bathroom at work, or looked in my car rearview, I was hit with remembering the mess of dark colors that stained my cheeks. They probably assumed that I got attacked on my way to work one day, or by a frantic patient, but both of those were wrong.

It was my father.

"Are you okay? Did you call the police? W-what happened Mal?" Veronica rattled off questions, going into protective mode. Every time something happened to me, Veronica would turn into some sort of mama bear over me, trying to steer me from any pain. I always appreciated her concern, but I felt bad how she'd constantly worry about me.

"It's okay" I stated. "It doesn't even hurt anymore"

My little lie didn't help their consternation, neither one of them wavering from the furrowed brows and stares. It did still send shockwaves of pain through me if I touched it even just a bit, I've stopped putting on makeup the last couple days because it was just too much trouble. I wanted to cover it up as much as I could, but it was painful. I shifted on my feet under their gaze, but I knew they were just worried about me. It's been almost 2 weeks since we saw each other and then I show up here literally looking like I got punched in the face.

"How did this happen?" Veronica asked in shock, while Eli went to the freezer to grab an ice pack. I've been putting ice on it every so often when I remember, but I took the ice pack from Eli regardless because he was trying to help.