"Holy shit.." Andy whispered, and he shook me awake. I sat myself up, and I looked at him. He looked at my arm, then back up at me. "Audrey.." His voice was shaking, "can I see your arm?" I sighed, and reluctantly held out my hand to him. He turned over my arm, causing me so much pain it was all I could do not to scream. He wiped a tear from my cheek, and then lightly rubbed my arm. "When did you do this?" He asked me softly. I had to think about it, "About a week ago." "Holy shit...they've gotten this infected that quickly..Audrey we need to get you to a doctor. And you need to tell Jinxx." I shook my head furiously, making me dizzy. "No sorry that's not an option. He can't know." Andy took my hands. "Audrey Miranda Ferguson. Look at me." I couldn't mske myself meet his eyes. He lifted up my face to his, and then took my hands again. "You must tell Jinxx. Listen, I will gladly take you to the doctor, but you have to tell Jinxx. He's your legal guardian, your cousin, and he loves you. You have to." I nodded. "I'll tell him." Andy smiled. "Good, now get dressed, and I'll be waiting downstairs for you with something to eat." He helped me up, and then left. There's no fucking way in hell I'm telling Jinxx. I did'nt want Andy to know in the first place. Yeah, Jinxx knows that I did it back in middle school and the begging of highschool, but he thinks I stopped, and I can't tell him I started again. I put on a pair of jeans, one of my dad's t-shirts, and a swim sweatshirt so no one else would see my cuts. I was tying my converse when there was a soft knock at my door. My heart stopped. "Come in." Oh thank god it was CC. He walked over and sat on my bed next to me. "Hey babygirl, I heard you weren't feeling too great." I nodded. "Yeah I'm not feelin 100%, so Andy is taking me to a doctor." CC nodded. "Yeah I heard him say something to Jinxx about that." "Well, what did Jinxx say?" Dear god Jinxx please let Andy take me and you not have to come. "He was a little reluctant at first, but then he was cool with it. Andy sent me up to check on you, and to tell you he was waiting downstairs for you." I nodded, and reached for my other shoe, but CC beat me to it. "Here, let me get that for you, I know you're not feelin great." I wanted to protest, but I didn't feel well enough to. I laid back on the bed, and closed my eyes until he was done. When he had finished, he patted my leg. "Alright babygirl. Time to go." I tried to stand up but my knees gave out from under me. I tried to stand again, but CC picked me up, and put me on his back. "Looks like I'm carrying you." we walked down the hallway, and then downstairs. Andy chuckled when he saw us, and he patted my back. "Ready to go?" I shrugged. "I guess." Jinxx walked over to me, and kissed my cheek. "Be good. Don't kick a doctor because they stick you with a needle, kay?" I laughed. "How did you know about that?" He smiled. "Your mother told me. She always kept me updated on you." I smiled, and he rubbed my back. He rubbed my hair and kissed my cheek one last time, before we left. CC carried me out to Andy's car, and then Andy and I left for the doctor's.
"I brought you a bagel, and some green Naked juice." He pointed to the bagel wrapped in a paper towel and the bottle. I nodded, and went for the drink. I slowly sipped at it, but didn't dare touch the bagel. Carbs carbs carbs. Andy chuckled, "Don't like bagels?" I shook my head. "Me either." I smiled and pretended to sip on the juice. You're fat. Your're fat. You're fat.

Andy pulled up at the hospital, and he carried me inside. I whispered in his ear, "Why did you bring me here? I hate hospitals! And doctors! And Needles!" He rubbed one of the arms I had around his neck, and then he sat me in a chair and went and talked to the receptionist. God he's so cute when he's being professional and worried and shit. Wait. What the fuck? Did I just say Andy was cute? Oh hell no I didn't. He's your big brother Audrey. That's a no-no. Andy walked back over, and sat next to me. "They're not very busy in the pediatric emergency department, so we shouldn't be long. They called us down the hallway, and Andy carried me down there, and sat me in a chair. I heard him discussing with the nurses all of my legal work. He handed them our insurance cards, our drivers licenses, and all of the other legal things we needed. He came back over with a green plastic bracelet. "Here, give me your arm that isn't mangled." I stuck out my right arm, and he wrapped the bracelet around me. "Um, Mr.Biersack?" One of the nurses called. "Yes ma'am?" She walked over, and handed him the cards back. "I noticed she hasn't been walking. Does she need a wheelchair?" Andy looked at me, and he had this weird look on his face. Like he wanted to carry me. "No miss, I'd rather carry her." She smiled. "Alright hun. Well, if you'll just pick her up and follow me, I'll get y'all settled into a room." Andy scooped me up into his arms, and carried me like I was a little girl. I buried my face in his neck, and he smiled and rubbed my back. She took us into a room with a bed, 2 chairs, and some monitors and a cabinet and a sink. Andy set me on the bed, and then took a seat in one of the chairs. "Alrighty baby," she adressed me for the first time, "What happened sweetie?" She sat on the end of my bed and rubbed my leg. I looked at Andy, pleading for him to tell her anything but the truth. He cleared his throat, and of course, saved the day. "We were out riding horses together with our brothers, and there was a snake in the pathway. Her horse freaked and threw her off. She was still holding onto the reins when it ran, and her arm was dragged back and forth against some rusty barbed wire. We thought we cleaned it well enough, but now it's infected and she's really sick." The nurse was writing down what he was saying, and then asked him what my symptoms were. "Well, she was vomiting earlier, and she had a high fever this morning, and her arm has started turning purple and there is green puss coming out of it, and I think I'm right to assume that, that is not a good thing." The nurse shook her head. "No it cerainly is not.." She finished writing and then turned to me. "Alright sweetie if you could just take off your sweatshirt for me so I can take a look that would be great. Andy stood, and helped me pull it over my head. She instantly saw the swelling, and then she took a look at the actual cuts. "Oh my...girl you sure are tough. I'm gonna go get you an IV, and then the doctor will come in." She left, and then I started to panic. "Nonononononononononononononononononononononononononononono Andy she can't give me an IV I can't take needles." He held my hand, and tried to calm me. "Shhh shh honey it'll be okay. They numb your skin, so you won't feel it. Just keep your eyes on me, and it'll be okay. I promise." I nodded, and he kissed my forhead. "Alright I sighed." He sat on my bed next to me, and put his arm around me. I rested my head on his chest, and he held my arm. "Audrey you need to stop this." I sighed. "I don't think I can." He kissed my hair. "You have to. It's not safe. Do something productive. Write, play your guitar, you can use the piano up in the band room, I know Jinxx will lend you an instrument and if you're into singing we can sing together. But please stop." I kissed his cheek. "Alright...I'll try." He smiled. "Good."
The nurse came back in with an IV, and a doctor. "Alright hunny." She grabbed my arm and I felt my breath quicken. "I'm gonna numb your hand, so you won't feel it, but it's there." I buried my face into Andy's chest, and stuck my arm out. The three of them giggled at me. "Alrighty, one, two, three. It's in, and youre good baby doll." I sighed a breath of relief. "Good job sweetheart." Andy whispered in my ear. The nurse stood in the corner, and then the doctor took over. "Hi, my name is Doctor Koren, and I'll be helping you guys out today." He smiled and sat at the foot of my bed. He motioned for Andy to go sit in a chair, and then the doctor turned to me. He grabbed my hand, and looked at my arm. "Yeah...we're gonna have to drain that. And once we do the swelling and your fever will go down, and the nausea will disappear." I nodded. Fuck..more needles. He stood up, and asked the nurse to get a wheelchair. Andy stood up. "Are you guys taking her away? Can I come?" Doctor Koren chuckled. "No, I'm sorry you can't. But you can stay here and watch TV, and one of our nurses can get you a drink." He sighed. "Okay.." The nurse rolled a wheelchair in, and the doctor helped me into it. Andy kissed my cheek one last time, then I was wheeled out, and down a few hallways.



I don't even want to think about what happened in that other room.


After an hour, the last needle was pulled out, and I finally stopped crying. One of the nurses took me over to a different sink, and softly washed off my arm. I sighed because it felt sooooooo good. The nurse laughed at me. "You happy now?" I nodded, and he smiled back at me. "Good." they wrapped up my arm in wonderful soft gauze pads and soft white cloth. They opened the doors, and took me back to my room. When we got there, Andy was pacing like mad. He walked over to me and kissed my forhead. "I'm glad you're back. I was getting worried you had kicked someone and they sedated you." I smiled, and the nurse put me back on my bed. "I'm gonna go get your papers and medicine, and then you guys can leave, okay?" He smiled and walked out. I rested my head on the pillow on the bed, and Andy sat in one of the chairs. I closed my eyes, just to rest. I heard the nurse come back in, and I heard him discussing medicines with Andy. Then I felt a hand on my back. "Alright sweetie you can go home." I smiled and I thanked the nurse and doctor. Andy shook their hands, picked me up, and then we walked out to his car. And I have to say, I felt pretty good.

On the car ride home, it was hard to stay awake. I physically felt really good. When we pulled up in the driveway, I put my sweatshirt back on, and I was actually able to walk on my own. Andy helped keep me steady, as we walked in. I was greeted by a worried-to-death Sammi, and a relieved Jinxx. He turned to Andy, "What was the verdict?" Andy looked at me. My heart stopped. "Stomach flu. They gave me anti-nausea medicine and a fever reducer. I'm feeling alot better now, I'm just very tired." Jinxx and Sammi smiled. Andy was livid. Sammi hugged me, "Well, I'll make you a cup of tea, and you can go get some rest, kay?" I smiled. "Here Audrey, I'll walk you to your room." Andy practically snarled at me. Fuck. He carried me upstairs and to my room. He sat me on the bed and instantly went off. "Audrey. What the fuck?! You said you were gonna tell him!" I sighed. "Can I please tell him later? When he can handle it?" Andy ran his hands through his hair. "Alright, but it needs to be tonight. Because he deserves and has a right to know." I nodded. "Alright..well, I'm gonna go downstairs and get your tea from Sammi, and you can rest for a while, but then you need to take your medicine, okay?" I nodded. "Okay.." He ruffled my hair and walked out.

Notes

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