take it

8

nine days later
Christina.

I laid my head on the desk at school- the room spinning in circles.

I closed my eyes, feeling myself still dizzy- which caused me to pray that it would soon stop.

During one of his anger spells- dad hit me, knocking me down- which caused my head to collide with the couch, and since then- I've felt even worse than before.

I still had stitches in my eye- dad continually saying he'll bring me everyday- but it never happens and he won't give mom permission to bring me.

I was interrupted from almost falling asleep when I felt a hand rub across my back, making me almost immediately cry out

I was an hour early to class- I just wanted five minutes of sleep.

I sat up slowly- expecting to see my teacher but instead, I saw a familiar Calum.

It took me a minute to realize who exactly he was, but it clicked once a focused enough.

"What are you doing here-" "I've been looking for you the past hour- Luke and I are here to get those stitches out."

"Don't we have to go to the hospital?" I questioned.

"We'll make an exception for you"

We went to the nurses hall fairly quiet- going into a room that Luke was seated in, Calum shutting the door behind me.

"Tired?" Calum asked after and few minutes of him clicking through my chart and me silent sitting in a chair beside Luke.

"A little" I spoke quietly, seeing him moving his chair- coming closer to me.

"What happened to coming back to get the stitches out two days ago?" Calum asked, pulling the small bandage that was over it off.

"Continual excuses of my parents being too busy to bring me"

Calum.

I focused on her eyes as I took her stitches out

I had caught something her eyes did when Luke flashed a light to help me see at one point- and it was odd.

I got the stitches out completely before looking to her clearly exhausted state.

"You feel okay?" I asked, leaning forward to move closer to her, focusing on her eyes.

"Yeah" she breathed quietly

"Just a head ache" he spoke- raising all the warning flags for me

"Let me check your eyes" I spoke, pulling my phone flash light out.

I checked them quick- seeing signs of a concussion.

"Have you hit your head recently?" I asked.

She went blank- and I assumed she was thinking

"I might have" she shrugged lightly

"You don't remember any specific event?" I asked, lightly touching her head- feeling for knots or any area that made her facial expression change.

"No" she spoke quietly, making me look to Luke, who looked at me.

"I think it's just a head ache though" she spoke quietly.

"I don't think so, princess" I spoke, tilting her head back to make her look at me.

"Let's call her parents and get them to meet us at the hospital-" "we really don't have to" she interjected

"They're not going to want to do that"

So we had to call as ask for permission.

Luke spoke to her mom through the phone- a lengthy and detailed conversation as to why we were at her school.

And when he broke the news of a concussion

I could literally hear her voice raise

"A fucking concussion?!"

And with that- we left only seconds later.

We did a good exam- ending up doing a scan to make sure she didn't have any brain damage.

We wanted to be sure with her, and we also wanted to keep her safe and with us for as long as we could.

Once finished with the scans- I left Christina with Luke, walking into the exam room we assigned her, seeing her crying mother, holding Allie.

"Everything okay?" I immediately asked- seeing her immediately stop crying. 

Luke walked Christina in, guiding her to sit in a chair beside the door.

I could see by her face that she didn't feel good-  and it kinda broke my heart.

I gave her a shot of pain relief, praying that it would work quick.

Allie crawled into her lap- cuddling into her chest.

Luke threw her brain scans onto the light- us both examining them- seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

"Do you know of any time she may have hit her head?" Luke asked.

Her mom nodded almost immediately

"She fell and hit her head on our kitchen cabinet" she spoke.

"And that didn't raise any alarms for you to maybe bring her in for a check up-" "she acted normal-" "she didn't cry?" I quickly shot towards her

"She was already crying" her mom responded

"Why was she already crying?" Luke and I said in unison- making her go silent.

I looked to Allie and Christina- seeing them both sleeping into each other.

"You know how teenage girls are" her mom dismissed the topic slowly

"They cry over everything" she spoke quietly.

"There's nothing else you may want to tell us?" I asked

"I have a question" she spoke

"Go ahead" luke spoke

"Is there anyway you can keep her in the hospital until this concussion is gone? Luke explained that she would need a quiet and relaxing place and I don't think my house is going to be fit for that" she spoke.

"You don't think your house will be quiet and relaxing?" I asked- narrowing my eyes at her.

"My husband and I are having friends stay over for the new football program- it's going to be celebrations every night, I just need somewhere for them two to stay until Christina feels better" she spoke swiftly.

Luke and I exchanged a glance

"We can't get her a hospital room- but we do have several guest rooms at our house- they are more than welcome to stay with us until we clear her"