Imperfections (Michael Clifford)

11

"Do you want to go get lunch?" I asked Luke. It had been about an hour since they told us Lilly could be paralyzed forever. We sat there and just looked at her.

"Uh, sure." He said. We both got up and went to the cafeteria and got some food.

~~~

When we were done eating, we walked back to the room. When we got in there I asked "Should you call your parents and tell them what happened?"

"Oh, probably not." He said without care.

"What? Why?" Why wouldn't they want to know?

"My parents.... They would be upset if we told them over the phone. We better wait until they get back."

"Oh." I mumbled.

"Michael? Luke?" A small voice asked quietly.

We both jumped up and went to Lilly's side. "We're both here." Luke said. "I'll get a doctor."

"It hurts like a bitch." She said with a squeak in her voice.

A doctor walked in and started talking. "Lilly I need you to raise your left arm." And she did. "Okay can you lift your left leg up?" I flinched at this question. She tried to, and it worked! She can move!

"Thank God!" I cheered. Luke did the same and Lilly just looked confused.

"What exactly happened? I don't remember a thing after them not letting Michael back when we first got here." She explained.

Since Luke and I didn't really know what happened, we looked at the doctor.

"When you got here we performed surgery immediately. The wood didn't hit anything major, except a nerve. It busted it and went all the way through your side. The nerve it broke was connected to a ton of other nerves that control your leg, so it could have permanently paralyzed you." She told Lilly.

"Oh, God. I didn't know the wood went all the way through me. Why didn't you tell me Michael?" She asked.

I could feel my cheeks getting warmer by the second. "I didn't want you to worry."

She thought for a moment before asking "When can I go home?"

"We need to keep you here overnight, for observation, and it depends on how that goes." She reassured Lilly, before leaving the room.

"It hurts so bad." She told me.

"Do you want me to get a doctor?" Luke asked.

"No. Who all knows what happened?" She asked

"Shit." I said realizing no one knew. "No one has any idea where we are." I pulled out my phone that was on silent and Ashton was in the middle of calling. "Hello?" I asked

"Dammit Michael, where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital."

"What happened?"

"Lilly fell off of her bed and a piece of wood went through her side." I told him, leaving Lilly and Luke alone for a minute.

"Oh, God! Is she okay?"

"She just woke up and her leg isn't paralyzed, so yeah all in all, it's pretty good I guess..."

He muttered something to someone.

"Who's there with you?" I asked

"Calum. Is Luke with you?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, be there in a few." He hung up. So he's leaving school to come see us. I would be surprised, but if they have an excuse to leave, they're gonna leave.

I went back to the room and said "Calum and Ashton are coming."

Lilly and Luke both smiled.

I sat down in a chair beside the bed.

After about 5 minutes, I got a phone call from Ashton telling me to come to the lobby so he has permission to come back to us.

I showed them to the room and both of their jaws dropped when they saw how bad it was. I sat down in the chair closest to the bed. Luke decided to move to a chair, instead of kneeling on the floor beside her.

Ashton ran over to her and gently hugged her, being careful not to even get close to her wound. It wasn't that thick, probably the size of a bullet, but it was still fresh.

-Lilly's P.O.V.-

Michael left the room to go get Ashton from the lobby because these retarded doctors wouldn't let them back here without one of us coming to say he had permission.

Luke didn't say anything, he just rested his head on my forearm. His head lifted up and looked at the door right before Calum, Ashton, and Michael came in.

Both of their jaws dropped when they saw me. How bad do I really look?

Ashton ran over to me with water in his eyes and hugged me far from my wound. I hugged him back as carefully as I could with an I.V. in my arm. I didn't have a tube down my throat to help me breath anymore though.

Ashton pulled away and Calum came over and hugged me. I love these guys.

~~~

I could walk just fine, but they made me walk in weird ways to make sure I was stable. After what seemed like forever, they told me I could go home.

Michael and Luke had stayed the night with me, but Ashton and Calum had to leave but they were both back before I woke up. They were like my other brothers.

Luke said that he would drive us, Ashton and Calum had taken Ashton's car here so they took their car and the rest of us went to Michael's. Partly because he lived alone, but partly because my parents were home. I need to be alone when they find out what happened. I will probably tell them later today, while all of the guys hang out. It will be safer if I'm by myself.

~~~

They had given me a booklet, that I was looking at in the car, telling me when to clean my wound and that I couldn't do it myself and blah blah blah.

~~~

After a while, and I knew for sure that my parents were home, I asked Michael to take me there. He decided it would be okay, and offered to stay with me.

I told him I would be fine so he left me there with my parents. I'm so scared of what they'll do to me.

I walked on the door and into the living room.

"Why aren't you in school?" Mom asked me.

"I just got back from the hospital." I told her.

"What the hell happened?" She rolled her eyes.

"I fell off of the bed and was impaled by the bed frame." I said.

"Well if your going to stay at home, at least do your chores." She said and handed me a list of things to do.

Chores

•sweep kitchen
•dishes
•laundry
•vacuum living room
•clean your room
•take out the trash
•change your sheets
•clean bathtub
•sweep stairs
•sweep hallway

"Mom, I just got back from the hospital! I can't do all of this!" I said. Does she really expect me to do all of this? If it was Luke who just got back from the hospital she would be making him soup and comforting him and that stuff.

"Did you just back talk me?" She said looking offended.

"No, but I just don't see how you expect me to do all this!"

"Don't ever question me young lady."

"Well I am! I can barely walk and you expect me to clean the whole damn house!" I yelled

She walked up to me and pushed me to the ground. It hurt my side so bad tears started streaming down my face. I knew what was coming next.