Water she’d nearly drained and I’d had some, though it had been warm, and I figured that was where the funny taste had come from. At least they’d been able to test me to figure out what had been done to her. That helped.
Not much.
In between the blurrier moments though, one thing that stood out was the fact that Homecoming was still happening. The music still played. People still danced. Kids were having fun.
And we were putting Frankie in an ambulance, and Coop hopped in to go with her.
Fuck me, there were pics of her on the gurney and others of Mitch being put in one with the cops there. The comments on Mitch’s made my stomach roll.
Feel better soon!
OMG What happened?
We’re with you Mitch!
Was there a fight?
Was there a fight?We’re with you? There were so many more of the same. Fuck all of them. Did they not know what he did? They werewithhim? I hated every one of these jackasses. I hovered my thumb over the one of Frankie on the gurney, it had comments, too. A lot of them.
Five bucks said they’d tagged her. Currently, her phone was off, and we’d kept it that way unless she wanted it for something. The well-meaning text messages got out of hand at the hospital, and after we got her home, we just shut it off.
Fuck it, I downed a mouthful of the coffee and clicked the picture.
What happened?
Is that Frankie?
Was there an accident?
Is she drunk?
Heard she attacked Mitch.
Pain pulsedbehind my right eye, then I caught the reply to that last one.
Then getyour hearing checked or your sources. Jockstrap attacked her. Now shut the fuck up.
Rachel.
I hearted that comment.
She was all over the comments, too. Where they were nice or asking questions, she left them alone. But the stupid ones? Damn.
Her blistering tone left my skin chapped.
I was glad she was on our side. Well, Frankie’s anyway…
Leaving that picture, I scrolled some more, then switched apps again. The more I looked, the more tired I became. The squeak of the door and Tiddles bounding out of the hallway had me standing. The bathroom door closed, and I blew out a breath. Sweeping the living room with a glance, I made sure there weren’t any messes. We’d been trying to pick up after ourselves, especially after coming home to the mess of mum building.
Jake had offered to get rid of her mum from her room if she didn’t want it to bother her. But the reproachful look she gave us had us all raising our hands. Do not touch her mum.
Got it.
A part of me was oddly grateful she still wanted it. The door to the bathroom opened, and I picked up my coffee cup so I didn’t look like a dork just standing there waiting for her to come out. She might go back to bed or she…
She shuffled around the corner and gave me a faint, but genuine smile. Apparently, she’d taken the time to comb her hair while in the bathroom. The bruise on her face looked better, and I used that term judiciously. The swelling had gone down, and it was more a mottled green and blue rather than angry black and purple.
The bruise on her back actually pissed me off more, but don’t think about it.