Complicated Love

Chapter 9

*Dakota's POV*

I woke up in a hospital. My head was killing me. I looked over and saw Peter sleeping in a chair next to me. I grabbed my phone and checked the time. It was 1:00pm. There was a knock on the door. Peter woke up. "Come in," he said. A nurse walked in. "Good afternoon, Miss Grace." "Hey." "You are free to go." "Thank you." The nurse walked out. Peter stood up. He was shirtless. "How you feeling?" he asked as he picked me up. "My head kills," I said. "It will for a while. Just don't touch your head." "I don't want to go to school tomorrow," I said, leaning my head against Peter's chest. "We can skip." "I don't want to fail." "You need your rest boo." "I don't want Jasmine to be made fun of." "Dakota, Jasmine will be fine." We got to the car. "I just don't think I should leave Jasmine alone at school," I said. "You're a very nice friend, Dakota." "I had a friend in 8th grade who got pregnant from her brother. People didn't know her story but they called her a whore or a slut. When she had the kid, she killed herself cause she was getting made fun of. I don't want Jasmine to go through the same thing. If anyone dares to make fun of her, they won't see the day," I said. "You can be scary sometimes," Peter said, chuckling. I laughed and smiled. "Just don't mess with me and we won't have a problem. I wasn't that scary when you were an asshole to me." "Oh man, I do not want to see your scary side,'' Peter said, smiling. Peter's phone went off. He answered it as we pulled out of the parking lot. "Hello?....Eric, I'm...you know what? Fuck you. I'm done with your shit." Peter hung up the phone. I looked at Peter with wide eyes. Peter looked at me. "What?" he asked. "You...you stood up for yourself." "I know but now I'm probably gonna die," Peter said. "I won't let him touch you." Peter smiled. We got to my apartment. Peter walked into my kitchen. I followed. "We never got to have chocolate covered popcorn," Peter said, looking at the hard chocolate in the pan. "Aw I forgot about that. I want some." "I'm gonna make some for you," Peter said. He turned on the stove. There was banging at the door. I looked at Peter and he looked so worried. "Hide under my bed," I said. Peter ran into my room. I grabbed a knife and put it in my back pocket. I ran into my room and grabbed a long shirt to cover the knife. I walked into the room. The banging continued. I opened the door. Eric was standing there. "Where's Peter?" "How do you know where I live?" I asked. "Where is Peter?" Eric asked, raising his voice. "He's not here." "I know he is. Don't lie to me. Now tell me where he is." "No," I said, crossing my arms. He pushed me on the ground, causing me to fall. Of course, since the knife was in my back pocket, it cut my back. I cringed in pain. I looked up and saw Eric looking around. "Where are you hiding him?" Eric asked as I stood up. "I don't know." "Bitch." "Oh no, that hurt my feelings," I said, sarcastically. "Why can't he still be with Jasmine? She's so much more better than you are. You are an ugly whore." "Shut the fuck up," Peter said, standing near my doorways. Eric looked at Peter. "I'm gonna kill you. You don't talk to me the way you did over the phone." I pulled out the knife from my pocket. "Don't you dare touch him," I said to Eric. Eric smiled. "Clever." Eric lifted up his shirt and pulled out a gun. "But not clever enough." He pointed the gun at Peter. "No please," I said, taking a step forward. "Dakota, please stay back. I don't want you hurt." "Shoot me. Not him. I'm the whole who influenced him to do that." "No she wasn't. I am sick of your bullshit. Eric, I don't like that you sometimes take advantage and beat me." "Deal with it. You're coming home with me now," Eric said. "No," Peter said. Eric shot Peter. "Peter," I shouted. I ran over to him and kneeled down beside him. Tears poured down my face. He got shot in the lower stomach. I put my hand on his stomach. I looked at Eric. "Don't just fucking stand there. Do something. Damn!" "What am I suppose to do?" "Call the ambulance." "No." I grabbed my phone and called the ambulance. "You're gonna be okay, baby," I said, rubbing his cheek. "It...hurts to...breathe." "Shh. Don't speak." I reached over with my other hand and grabbed his hand. Peter smiled weakly. The EMT came in with a stretcher. They put Peter on the stretcher. "Get the fuck out of my apartment," I said to Eric. Eric left. I shut my door and caught up with the EMT. I got into the ambulance. "I...love you," Peter breathed. I grabbed his hand. "I love you, too." We got to the hospital. I sat outside his room while they checked on him. The door opened and a doctor walked out. "Hello, I'm Dr. Matthews. Now, I found this bullet in him. How did this happen?" I thought about whether or not I should tell him. "I don't know," I said, lying. "I know that you know. If you are trying to save him, you aren't. What's going on?" "Peter got shot by his brother. His brother beats him and takes advantage of him. His brother got mad because Peter told him off so he came to my apartment and shot Peter." "Thank you for telling me." "What are you going to do to his brother?" "We will take him away." "You will make it worse." "How?" "Cause his brother would literally kill Peter," I said. "Dakota, we can not let his brother escape." "He's probably gone already." The doctor sighed. "Is Peter okay?" I asked. "He could be better," he said. "I know that. Is he going to be okay?" "He should be. We will keep him for a couple days to see how he's doing." "May I visit him?" "I don't think so. I'm sorry." I looked at the ground. "It's okay," I said quietly. I turned around and started walking away. "Wait." I stopped and turned around. "Yes?" "You may visit him." I walked over to the doctor. "Thank you." "You're welcome." I opened the door and walked into the room. I walked over to Peter. Peter slowly looked up at me. You could see the pain in his eyes. "Hey sweetheart," Peter said, weakly. "I'm so sorry this happened to you." "It's okay, baby. I now know not to talk back to Eric." "Peter, about Eric, the doctors know about Eric beating you," I said, shyly. His face expression didn't even change. He smiled. "You're the best." "I am?" "I know I yelled at you before because I didn't want him to kill me but when he tried to kill me, my eyes opened up. I never thought he would try to kill me." "I'm glad he didn't." Peter looked at my hand. "Baby, you should wash your hand. You have blood on you." "Oh gross." I got up and washed my hands. I walked back to Peter. "You know what's crazy?" Peter asked as I sat down. "What?" "I used to bully you so much and now we are dating." I smiled. "I'm glad we are dating." "You were the only person there for me, even when I was mean to you." "Usually when people are mean to others, there's a reason behind it." "Well I'm glad you found out cause you really helped me become happier. Gosh I was so stupid for going after Jasmine." "You fell in love with how she understood." "Yeah. I'm just glad I have you back. You make me strong." "You make me strong, too, Peter." Peter opened up his arms and I gently hugged him. He's the best.