Push

Chapter 23

Cameron Santiago POV

"Heyyyyyy!" I see Pinoe, Mal, Kelley, Tobin, and Alex come through the door. They brought flowers and a teddy bear. I try to sit myself up to be more presentable but a pain shoots up my arm to my shoulder. I bit my tongue to hold from screaming.

"Hey, kid relax. It's just us." Kelley chuckles. I smile back through the pain.

"You scared the hell out of us." Pinoe speaks out. "Don't do that again."

"Ahaha okay, I'll try not to be a gunshot victim of a mass shooting. Got it." They laugh and Ash gives my good arm a little push.

"Well, I got you something even though I already told you." Pinoe says.

"She doesn't remember the phone call, so it'll still be a surprise." Ali explains. I'm curious to what they are talking about. My mind is put at ease when Pinoe pulls a pair of sunglasses from her bag.

"So we can shade out the haters in style." She winks at me as she hands them over.

"They're dope." They are a simple design of black Ray Bans, but if you look closer they are detailed with orange and white designs. "Thanks Pinoe."

"Why aren't you guys at camp?" I ask.

"The England game got pushed back because they heard what happened so we have a few days off before we have to go back. We decided to visit our favorite newbie." Mal explains.

"Speaking of game, when do you think you'll be out of here?" Alex asks standing at the foot of my bed.

"Doc said 3-5 days. And hopefully if I get started on physical therapy right away, I may be able to play against England."

"Don't rush. Fully heal because I know each one of us rushed when we weren't ready, so take all the time you need." Kelley mentions and everyone nods in agreement.

The conversation keeps going, but the more we talk, the more the pain increases. I don't know what we are talking about as I zoned out minutes ago. My only focus is on the pain and the burning sensation in my arm. It's only the second day and I know things are going to get worse before they get better.

"You okay?" Ali whispers to me trying to not capture the attention of the others.

"It hurts too much." I look her in the eyes and say through my teeth. I think she notices the unbearable pain I'm in because she's quick to tell Ash to ask a nurse if I can get pain meds. Ash leaves and I notice everyone's eyes on me. This isn't what I wanted. I hate the look they give me. I try to control my breathing as the pain is too much for me to handle. My stomach churns and it's almost like deja vu, as Ali grabs the basin and places it under my mouth. I feel Kelley rush over to put my hair in a makeshift bun and rubs my back.

As I finish, I apologize, "I'm sorry you guys had to see that." I say as I lay my head back and close my eyes.

"Girl, I'm sorry you're in so much pain." Alex mentions. That's when Ash and Nurse Hailey walk into the room.

"Heard the pain is bad. I got you the highest dose of Tylenol and Advil we can give you." She says as she hands me the mini plastic cup holding my meds and a cup of water. I take it down quickly wanting it to work right away. The nurse gives me a sympathetic look and tells me to ring if I need anything else before walking out.

"Why aren't they giving you something stronger? When I broke my ankle they gave me morphine when I was in the hospital." Kelley asks.

"I asked for it. I don't want anything stronger." I explain and figure I should tell them the truth.

"I'm a recovering addict. I don't want to risk relapsing." I feel Ali squeeze my knee and Ash squeeze my hand. I catch a quick glance, and see they are proud of me.

The looks on the girls faces show that they all are surprised that someone like me would be an ex-drug user. I guess they would have never guessed it.

I feel the pain starting to subside slightly enough for me to relax. I feel my eyes wanting to close to get some rest, but I force them open. I don't want to sleep. Sleep doesn't last long for me. I also don't want any more nightmares. Sleeping equals nightmares.

If I feel this exhausted I could only imagine how Ashlyn and Ali feel. They have been up with me the whole night and I doubt they slept on the plane coming here.

"Ali, Ash, I think you guys should go to a hotel, shower, and sleep. You guys need it." I insist.

"It's alright. We got Cameron." Pinoe states. They look very hesitant.

"We'll go if you try to sleep." Ash challenges me. She knows I don't want to sleep because of the nightmares. It happened in rehab so she knows why I'm fighting the sleep off. I stare at her. She knew I would do anything to make sure she was okay and healthy. Challenge accepted. I stick out my pinky and she takes it with her pinky. Now the promise can't be broken. I close my eyes and sleep quickly takes over.

Ali Krieger POV

"She's been having nightmares all night." I tell the girls. "Nobody got sleep last night. So just a heads up, she might have one or more while we aren't here."

"Don't worry Krashlyn. We got this." Kelley says. Her, Pinoe, and Mal decided to stay with her and Tobin and Alex are going to take us to the hotel. They rented a car and already checked into a hotel.

"Just call us if anything changes or you need us." I say.

"Will do." Mal says as we leave.

The hotel was only a few minutes away from the hospital. We made our way to the room and the first thing Ash and I did was shower. Alex and Tobin bought food in the meantime and we devoured it.

"You guys can sleep in that bed." Alex points to the bed by the window.

"I hate seeing Cam like that." Ash tells me as I wrap my arms around her in bed. People think she's this intimidating badass but she's just a big softie. But she's still very badass.

"Me too."

"She's in so much pain and she's still in shock. When she starts feeling and processing, it's going to be rough." Ash thinks aloud.

"And we will deal with it together. She has all of us she can rely on. We'll make sure she doesn't bottle everything up." I try to relax her mind and thoughts.

I'm worried for Ash as much as I'm worried for Cam. Ash worries too much and this whole situation is bringing up memories of Taylor for her. I entered Ash's life when she was still dealing with everything and I experienced her recovery process after rehab. It was very hard but she made it so far and I don't want to see her take steps back from her progress.