This Love of Mine (Raine Series #1)

CHAPTER 7

Kayla

As much as I wanted to just jump on the next bus out of here and leave, I was in no condition to do so. The gash on my head seemed fine to me, but there was no way I was going to be able to travel for twelve and a half hours with the knife wound I was sporting on my leg. Cami's brother was a nurse at the local hospital, so I agreed to let her take me there first, and then to the bus station. There was no way I was spending another night in this messed up town.

We pulled into the parking lot of Good Samaritan Hospital a few minutes later and I was relieved that I could get this thing stitched up without anyone knowing. I reached for the door handle to get out, but felt Cami's tight grip around my elbow.

"Um, what do you think you're doing?"

"What do you mean? You're the one who told me to get it fixed, so I'm getting out to get it fixed." I rolled my eyes at how ridiculous she was being.

"Not that stupid. You're not walking. Let me go get a wheelchair for you. No arguments!" She gave me a stern glare before hustling inside.

She emerged through the sliding glass doors a second later, wheelchair in tow. As ridiculous as I thought she was being, I knew there was no way in hell I would've been able to walk in there, even with her help. I stepped out onto the sidewalk and then maneuvered my way into the wheelchair. I was in a tremendous amount of pain, but I didn't want Cami to notice anything. It was bad enough I was going to have to tell her I was moving to Texas, this would send her over the edge.

Once inside, a man in blue scrubs came sauntering up to us and I instantly recognized her brother Mike. Of course, he was having to see his baby sister's best friend like this, which was just my luck. Her brother was handsome and so hard not to look at. Cami and her brother could have been twins, except for the fact that he was six years older than us. He had short dirty blonde hair, Cami had the same color but hers hung just above her waistband like mine. They both had piercing green eyes and a perfectly round face, and to top it all off, they were both in incredibly great shape.

They sucked!

I laughed a little to myself before her brother interrupted me. It took him less than a second to look over me and my injuries before he was hustling us back into a private room. I was thankful to him for this, seeing how my shirt was no longer on my body. I quickly wrapped my arms over my bra-covered chest, as Cami started pushing me back to the room.

There was a lot of commotion back here, but I was okay with the distraction. Once we reached the last room at the end of the hall, I pulled myself over to the bed and threw my head back. I wasn't looking forward to having to explain my injuries and how I came to get them. Luckily, Mike new a little bit of my history and didn't ask too many questions. Once he had me all situated, he looked over the open wound on my leg, and then ran out to go find the nearest doctor.

A few minutes later, a short middle-aged, balding man in a white coat came walking towards me. Mike must have explained the situation, or lied about how it had happened, because the doctor didn't ask any questions. Mike had already pulled off my shirt that I had been using as a tourniquet, so the doctor was all set to go.

"Well Kayla, it looks like the stab wound is deep, but the bleeding has stopped, so that's good. I'm just going to take you for a quick x-ray to better survey the damage, if any. Is that okay with you?" I simply nodded.

His eyes raised up looking at the gash on my head and swollen jaw before settling back on my eyes.

"Kayla, can you open your jaw?"

"Yes but not very far. It hurts real bad." I answered through clenched teeth.

"Well it looks to be dislocated. I highly doubt it's broken, but we will take an x-ray of that as well. As far as the gash on your head, we can fix that real easy with some butterfly strips. Now, let's get you back to x-ray."

I tried to give my best smile, but it hurt too bad to move. I was once again back in the wheelchair and being carted off to x-ray. They didn't take too long, and I was back in my room in no time at all. I was relieved that my little trip to the emergency room was taking less time than expected. Who knows how long I had until one or both of them came looking for me. The doctor returned about twenty minutes later with my x-rays in hand. He pushed them up onto the light board and flipped the switch.

"It looks like your jaw is not broken, but just as I suspected, it is dislocated. That's an easy fix though. I'm not going to lie it's going to be painful, but easy nonetheless. Your leg on the other hand, we are going to have to stitch up. I don't know who pulled the blade back out, but they did a good job of missing any arteries and there was minimal damage to the muscles. I'm going to have the nurse, Mike, come in and administer some pain medication so it won't hurt too bad, when we put your jaw back in place. Sound good?"

"Yes, thank you." I muttered.

The doctor nodded and then left the room. A minute later, Mike was back in the room He wasted no time coming back with my pain medication. "What is that you're giving me?" I asked.

"It's morphine. It's the best we got here. I just need you to roll over onto your other side so I can give it to you."

I did as he asked and within five minutes, I was starting to feel the effects. I felt loopy and out of it, but the pain was gone and I was thankful for that. Another fifteen minutes later and I was good to go. The doctor came in and quickly set my jaw in place. He said he was going to count down for me, but that must have just been a way for me to not know it was coming. Even with the amount of drugs I had on board floating though my veins, it still hurt like hell.

"Okay, onto the stitches. As far as your jaw goes, make sure to ice it and try not to talk for the next couple of days."

About an hour and a half later, I was stitched up and feeling no pain at all. Mike made sure to get me a prescription for the pain and even gave me one more shot for the road. Cami and I thanked Mike and then we were headed back to her car.

"Cami, I need you to take me to the bus depot now. I have to catch the last bus to Texas."

I cringed as I waited for her response. This was the first she was hearing of my leaving, but she must have just assumed it was for the summer, just like every year before.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay riding on a bus for twelve hours? I'm really worried about you KJ. I need to know you're going to be okay."

"I'll be fine Cami, I promise. I just need to get to my grandparent's house. I have plenty of medication to keep my comfortable on the way there, and when I arrive there, I can always fill my prescription if I need it.

"Okay." I knew she was at a loss of words, and I wasn't sure I could even try to comfort her, because let's face it; the situation was far worse than it had ever been.

We were both silent the rest of the car ride to the bus station. When we pulled up outside, I quickly jumped up and hobbled my way to the trunk of her car. She was instantly at my side pulling out my small bag. I wasn't sure where my mom and Wren had stashed my other bags, but they had left this one and my purse, so I was okay.

I turned and pulled Cami into a tight hug. "I'll call you as soon as I get there. Oh and thank your brother again for me, for the shirt and everything else. I don't know what I would do without you. I love you girl."

"I love you too, honey. Be careful and I will tell him. Please don't forget to call. I don't care how late it is, just call."

"I will." I grabbed my bag and limped up to the ticket counter. I purchased my ticket and turned to wave good-bye to Cami, before disappearing into the actual station to see where I needed to go.

Texas here I come!