He could have been safe and away from all this. Instead he's hurt.

"You are so very lucky Leah" The doctor says, shaking his head.

"We will numb the areas and put the stitches in. No school for at least a week, preferably a week and a half" The doctor says and my heart drops.

"What? I need to go to school. I need to get into college. Please" I say and he shakes his head.

"You can't go to school with a concussion. No excuses. You'll do fine, you have very good grades" He says pulling up the blanket.

"May I?" He asks and I nod, telling him its okay to lift up the hospital gown. Giving him access to the deep gashes.

My phone starts going off, I ignore it. I can't talk to Grace about this right now.

"Mason, will you bring me the work?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"You can't do anything that could confuse you or make you think too much" Mason says, crossing his arms.

"Thanks for helping me out Mas" I say causing Tara to laugh.

I feel pressure on my thigh, as the needle closes one of the gashes on my thigh. This gets repeated multiple times until there are no more open gashes.

"Okay, all done with that. I will go have the nurse check on those labs. We'll get you out of here soon" The doctor says, taking his gloves off.

"I just want to go to sleep" I whisper, struggling to keep my eyes open.

"Go ahead Le, take a nice little nap. I'll be here when you wake up" Mason says holding my hand.

I nod, my eyes closing as I'm embraced in a deep sleep.

"Le, hey. Wake up, we can leave now" I am woke up by Mason.

"Hey Leah. How are you feeling?" The nurse says, holding a clipboard.

"I'm feeling okay. A little better actually" I say and she nods, smiling.

"Okay, well you are ready to be discharged. Just sign these. And these are some medication prescriptions that the doctor wants you to take. The directions are on the label" She says, handing me the paper work.

I sign a couple things and Mason helps me out of bed. It's even harder to get around now. It hurts to stand straight and to slouch, making it hard to find the happy medium.

"I'm okay, I got it" I say to Mason causing him to shake his head.

"I'm more than capable of helping you Le. No protesting" Mason says helping me into his car.

"We are going to go put the prescriptions in at CVS. We are also stopping for food. Text me your orders and we'll see you back home" Mason says to Tara and Jim. Ellie must be with Brooks somewhere.

Mason buckles his seat belt, starting the car. The weather in California is beautiful today for it being winter.

"I'm sorry" I lean over, placing a kiss on his lips.

"Leah, what are you sorry for" He asks, eyebrows furrowing.

"For dragging you into this whole mess" I say, looking down.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you like I should have" He says, a tear slipping out.

"Mason, they didn't want to hurt you. And I'm so glad they didn't do worse. But you shouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place" I say, shifting uncomfortably in the pants Ellie brought me.

"Neither of us should have Leah. Are those bothering you?" Mason says, pointing at the jeans.

"A little. It's kind of hurting my stitches but its fine. Hopefully we will be home soon" I say leaning my head back.

"Here, put these on" Mason says, reaching back for his hockey bag.

He places it on his lap, rummaging through it.

"Here. They're clean, I promise" Mason says and I nod, looking down at my predicament. The doctor showed me how to take care of this but it hurt when i put my jeans on. I hope this won't be as bad.

"Shoot, um" Mason says and I shake my head.

"I'll just run to the bathroom" I say and he nods.

"I'll come with you. Just in case" He says and I nod, we walk to the bathroom.

When I get in the bathroom I sit on the toilet bowl cover, carefully taking off my boot. I slide the sweatpants on my left leg, moving the elastic farther up my leg so it doesn't hurt my ankle even more. That wasn't so bad.

I put the boot back on, sliding the sweatpants up my other leg. I take a quick glance in the mirror, cringing at the sight of me.

My lip is split, dried blood around it, a gash on my forehead, a couple stitches closing it up and a black eye. I am the color of a sheet, my eyes bloodshot and droopy. I look awful.

"Leah?" Mason knocks on the door taking me out of my trance.

I suck in a quick breath, tears springing to my eyes. These ribs are going to take some getting used to.

I open the door, Masons face calms.

"Are you okay?" He asks and I nod, feeling more comfortable in these roomy sweatpants 5 sizes too big.

"Alright, lets go take care of everything quickly" Mason starts the car, leaning over to buckle me up.

I thank him and then we head our way to CVS.

"Can you wait here?" Mason asks and I nod, smiling.

He jogs in, quickly putting the prescription in while I listen to some music, waiting for Mason to finish.

He jogs back over to the car, smiling at me.

"Where are we going now?" I say blushing a little.

"I was thinking apple bees. We can just take it home" He says and I nod, taking my phone out.

I quickly put in our order for pickup and we wait in the parking lot for it to be time.

"How are you feeling?" Mason asks, turning to look at me.

"I'm okay" I say, giving a tight lipped smile.

"I'm really sorry Le" He says causing me to grab his hand.

"Stop apologizing Mas. You did nothing wrong. I'm just excited to get back to your house" I say to him.

"It's your house too" He smiles, kissing my cheek.

"The foods ready, I'll go get it" I say flipping the mirror down, trying to make myself look more presentable.

"I got it" He says grabbing his wallet.

"No, please use my money. I owe you guys" I say.

"No can do" He says, closing the door and running inside.

Mason White, you're going to be the death of me.

"Let's get you home" He smiles, placing the food on the backseat.

We slowly drive back to Masons house, pulling into the house to see multiple cars in the driveway.

I recognize two, as Brooks and Christine's, but thats it.

"Mason, whats going on?" I turn to him and he shrugs.

"I really have no clue" He says as we walk to the front door.

"Whats all the cars about?" Mason says when we walk into the living room.

"The neighbors are having a party so we let some people park in the driveway" Tara answers, taking a sip from her wine glass.

"Oh okay, we have food" Mason places the bag on the coffee table and I go to grab some plates.

"I'll come with you" Christine says jogging over to me.

When we get out of earshot she pulls me over.

"Hey, how are you?" She asks, concerned.

"I'm doing okay. But I'm in desperate need of makeup" I say laughing.

"Leah, you can talk to me" She says and I nod.

"I know, but right now isn't the right time" I say and she smiles.

"I can respect that. Let's go eat" She says grabbing the plates and helping me back into the living room.

I take a seat on the floor next to Mason.

"Leah, take my seat" Brooks says standing up out of his chair.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you Brooks" I say causing him to shake his head.

"Leah, take the chair" Brooks says, Mason looking at me expectantly.

"Okay, okay fine" I say, hissing as I get up.

Mason jumps to his feet, slowly helping me up. "Sorry" I sheepishly say, walking over to the seat.

"Nothing to be sorry about love" He smiles, helping me sit into the huge, comfortable chair.

I melt into the comfort of something other than the hospital bed.

Christine hands me my wings as every starts chatting.

I take a couple bites of one, savoring the non hospital food.

I know they have other, more important things to do but can't they make the food a little better?

After a couple of wings, I place my plate down. I cant eat too much.

"Leah, you barely ate. Are you okay?" Mason asks causing me to smile.

"Yeah, I'm full" I say, as he looks at me skeptically.

"I need a shower" I say getting up and grabbing the plastic bag from the take out.

"Leah, I can help you" Ellie says and I shake my head.

"No, I'll be fine" I say, Mason stands up.

"I-At least shower in my room just incase you need something. I won't look, I promise" Mason says and I nod, walking towards the stairs.

"Do you need help?" Mason asks and I shake my head. "I need to do this"

I take a couple steps, stopping to catch my breath. Mason is standing behind me so that I don't fall. His hands are touching my hips, gently. The touch causes goosebumps to form on my arms.

"It's okay Leah, you're almost there" Mason whispers in my ear.

I slowly make up way up the last couple of stairs.

"I don't remember it being this hard the last time" I say laughing.

"You weren't this hurt the last time" Mason says pushing open his door.

I walk over to my suitcase which is on Masons bed for easier access. I grab out my shorts and a lose fitting sports bra with a couple shirts. Sweatpants don't hurt as bad but they do rub against my legs which is very uncomfortable and more painful than shorts would be. The same goes for my ribs. The area is all bruised so I need to find the most comfortable shirt.

"I'll be right back" I smile, shuffling into the bathroom.

I turn the shower on, undressing from my hoodie, reveling my Calvin Klein bra. Shįt, I'm not going to be able to tie this bag on my arm.

I maneuver, trying to tie it but failing. "Shįt" I mumble, frustrated.

"Le? You okay in there?" Mason asks as I open the door a little.

"Yeah, can you um. Tie this bag around my arm?" I ask, his hands covering his eyes. "You can look Mas" I say, covering my bloated stomach.

"Are you sure?" He asks and I smile, laughing a little.

"I'm sure. Come help me" I say, holding the bag out.

He smiles, grabbing the bag and tying it around my arm, covering the whole cast. "Can I?" He asks, pointing to my side.

"Um, yeah" I say turning to the side, lifting my arm up to show him the badly bruised area.

"Leah" He croaks out, tears filling his eyes.

"Mason, no. Please don't cry. Mason, stop it" I say, hugging him.

"I'm sorry" He shakes his head, stopping the tears. "Go shower" He says and I frown.

"I'm fine. Please shower so I don't have to worry much longer" He laughs, wiping an eyelash from my face.

I nod, closing the door and stripping out of my other clothes. I leave my boot on until I am close to the shower, so I don't have to hop much.

There is a little stool folded next to the sink that I spot.

"Mason, can I use that stool?" I shout. "Yeah, go ahead" He responds causing me to smile.

I grab the stool, placing it onto the floor of the shower. This is going to be an experience.

After a good half hour I get out of the shower, drying my leg completely so I can put the boot back on. I quickly dress, brushing my teeth and putting some product in my hair.

"Le, are you done?" Mason asks and I hum in reply. He slowly opens the door, seeing me brush the product through my hair.

"How was your shower?" He smiles, taking the brush from my hand, finishing the job.

"It felt really nice to finally be able to take one. But it was a struggle" I laugh, picking the tank top off me.

"Does that hurt?" Mason asks, causing me to nod a little.

"Here, give me one second" He says, walking out of the bathroom and soon coming in with a sports bra and my silk robe.

"Change into these. But keep the shorts on. It might be more comfortable" He smiles, causing me to nod. Why didn't I think of that?

He quickly leaves, allowing me to change. It's very comfortable. Masons really smart. I grab my clothes, walking out of the bathroom and sitting on Masons bed.

"I cant sit anymore" I mumble, laughing a little. My back is killing me. I cant stand straight and I cant be relaxed so I'm in an awkward position constantly.

"Is your back okay? Do you need anything" Mason asks, concerned.

"No, It's fine. I think I'm just tired" I say, getting under the covers.

"Okay, Le. Sleep well" He says placing a quick kiss on my lips.

I smile, closing my eyes and within two seconds I'm fast asleep.

Thank you guys so incredibly much for all the endless support. You got so many votes on the last chapter in such a short amount of time and I'm so thankful. So this time, lets do 12 for a new chapter. I think you guys can do it! Don't forget to vote, comment and share! Thank you for reading.

Word count: 2378

~Leah