Chapter Eleven

Recovery Pains

Savannah drifted in and out of consciousness, she had no sense of place or time.

Her mind was trying to convince her that she didn't have a physical altercation with her older brother but her swollen eyes, bleeding lip, bruised body and throbbing face told her otherwise.

Her body had never felt so heavy.

There was a bright light, Savannah managed to open the slits of her eyes. It took her a few minutes to realise that she was in her bedroom.

She was in her comfy bed covered by her soft lilac blanket, her blinds were rolled up, welcoming blinding rays of sunlight into the room.

Savannah couldn't work out if it were sunrise or sunset, her eyes, the only body part she can move, scanned the room, it felt like a lifetime had gone by, yet everything was exactly how she'd left it.

Her school bag tossed carelessly on a chair of her study table, her book shelf untidily stacked with old and new books and her bedside table where her ash tree plant stood.

She couldn't remember if she'd walked into her room and collapsed onto her bed, or if a guardian angel of some sort carried her there.

Before Savannah could make the effort to do anything more, her exhausted body gave in, her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she drifted back into unconsciousness.

"Savan.... Sav-Savannah!" said a voice in a loud whisper, Savannah moaned in discomfort as her body ached.

She opened her eyes and found a very horrified Ben, cautiously staring at her, as if she were made out of glass, fragile yet dangerous.

"What happ- who did this to you?" he asked, placing his palm on her cheek.

Savannah didn't understand what Ben was saying, but she was really admiring how beautiful her fourteen-year-old brother was.

His honey brown eyes fixated on her as his curls dangled down his forehead. Savannah had never seen him this worried.

"Ben... when d-did you get home?" Savannah said hoarsely,

"I got dropped of yesterday night, you've been asleep all day, what happened Savannah?" said Ben as his voice broke.

Savannah tried her best to pull herself from this trance-like state. Anything to stop her little brother from crying.

"Ben, it's alright.... I'm alright... when did you-...I mean, have you had anything to eat?" asked Savannah more conscious than she's ever been for the past how many hours went by.

"It's not me you should be worried about Savannah... you look pretty beaten down, please tell me what happened," begged Ben, looking more relieved.

Savannah thought long and hard. She didn't want to tell a soul what had happened between her and Mike, that he was the one who maimed her.

She rose into sitting position, trying not to wince in agony was impossible, Ben gasped and helped her up, her attempt to portray that she was not in pain failed miserably.

"I fell off a tree," Savannah said after a while, Ben stared at her as if able to see way past the lie and into her mind where the events took place.

He didn't believe a single word of it and Savannah knew, he would probably be laughing if he did.

"Ben... what day is it?" asked Savannah surprised by the patches of blood on her pillow case, she smacked her lips and still tasted blood.

"It's Saturday... 3pm," he answered disappointedly,

"mum and dad we'll be home tomorrow," Savannah thought out loud, as Ben rolled his eyes, "you're always worried about other people but never yourself... not even when you're this... well, messed up," said Ben playing with his hair.

Ben looked so down it made Savannah's heart ache, she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from asking if he was okay.

"I'll tell you what... why don't you make me breakfast... or," she looked at the clock on her wall, "I should say supper, and I'll get myself cleaned up?"

Ben smiled and nodded, "Benj, I promise, its not as bad as it looks... blood makes everything look worse than it actually is, just... don't worry about me too much okay?" said Savannah as her brother left the room.

She swung her legs over the edge of her bed, they were sore, but she could move them without wincing or screaming in pain.

She took a deep breath and placed her sore arm, which Mike had twisted, on her stomach to sooth her aching ribcage and got to her feet.

She walked to her mirror and was frightened for a second by what she saw.

A girl with a bruised nose, swollen eyes, a lumpy forehead and a horrendous gash on her bottom lip staring back at her.

She grabbed her things and limped across her room. The peace in the air made her feel as if Mike wasn't around.

The hot shower was agonising, Savannah played music to drown out the sounds of her screams.

Once she stepped out, she felt better, able to walk without a limp.

She examined her bodily injuries, the thing causing her the most pain was her arm, yet not enough to make Savannah think that something was broken.

She took it easy for the rest of the day, read books in bed and did her best to forget the mere existence of her older brother who she never felt so much rage towards.

She put icepacks and soothing creams to make the pain more bearable, she kept telling herself and Ben that she was alright, although she honestly felt at if she'd fallen from a hundred story building.

Ben was nice enough to have dinner up in Savannah's room with her while they watched a movie.

Savannah could tell there was something bothering Ben, but thought it was best to let him talk about it when he's ready, she was sure that day was emotionally exhausting enough for the pair of them.

By Sunday morning, Savannah's swollen eyes had almost completely healed and her bruises had reduced in size. The most noticeable thing was her cut lip which stood out like a rose in a sea of daises.

Her parents were arriving that evening, despite how fast Savannah felt the week had gone by, she missed her parents so much it made her stomach turn.

To welcome her parents and attempt to cheer Ben up, Savannah thought it was best to cook a homemade meal and set up a special occasion dinner.

She made her mother's mac & cheese from scratch as Ben tossed the salad and set the table.

She handled recovery after the incident with Mike a whole lot better than she would of thought, although the flashbacks she has of the night, make her insides twitch, her inner strength to carry on and put it behind her, took her by surprise.

Savannah always thought of herself as a fragile flower, delicate and easily broken by the wind, she now views herself as a tree, her leaves may die and branches may become brittle, but new leaves will grow and she is strong enough to prosper in times of great difficulty.

Savannah was proud of her slightly overcooked mac & cheese creation. Savannah and Ben played a series of video games on Ben's console which Savannah was outrageously terrible at, to pass the time.

Savannah's insides flipped when she heard the doorbell downstairs. She raced Ben to the front door, Savannah, whose body still ached, lost to him of course.

Ben opened the door as a huge figure swooped down and grabbed him for a hug, "Benjamin my boy! oh you have no idea how much I've missed your nonsense!" exclaimed the unmistakable voice of Savannah's father, Anthony.

Savannah hadn't realised how much she missed her father's sweet round face as he approached her wrapping his arms around his daughter as he embraced her tightly.

Savannah tried not to groan in pain, "missed my princess," he said in Savannah's ear filling her heart with warmth and her eyes with tears of joy.

"Darling!" squealed savannah's mother wrapping her arms around Savannah's still tender abdomen.

Savannah accidently grunted out loud and her mother let her go almost immediately staring at her accusatorily as Savannah smiled back awkwardly.

"What's the matter darling?" she asked, Savannah tried to cover the cut on her lip and answered, "nothing, I'm just glad to see you."

"Oh honey!" she exclaimed wrapping her arms around Savannah's neck which was less painful but just as uncomfortable.

The family moved to the dining room and had a lovely family dinner. Savannah was thankful that her parents were too busy going on about how beautiful the Caribbean was to notice Savannah's injuries.

She ate dinner with her palm covering her lip and made sure to only take bites when nobody was looking.

"So how were you guys?" asked Anthony kissing his teeth with his tongue,

"we've been good... school, you know, the usual," Savannah answered.

The room flooded with silence, Savanah could feel every person in the room thinking that something strange was going on.

"Ben, where are your drumsticks?" asked Anthony,

"they're in my room, like always," answered Ben not taking his eyes off his plate,

Savannah had wanted to ask Ben why he hardly drummed anymore and saw this was the perfect opportunity to address it when,

"Savannah, what happened to your lip?" asked her mother looking more and more worried by the second.

'Crap!' exclaimed the voice in Savannah's head.

Savannah didn't want to bring it up or even think about it, she just wanted to move past it, if her parents found out about her and Mike's altercation, they might as well get the pair signed up for couple's therapy.

"She fell... off a tree," stated Ben in a way that accused Savannah of lying, which she did.

Savannah gave Ben the side-eye as her mother got up from her seat and made her way around the table towards Savannah.

"Look at me," she said simply, tilting Savannah's face towards hers, Savannah's heart was in her mouth, it was like she could hear the thoughts running through her mother's mind.

"You fell off a tree?" asked Anthony, his face plastered with bewilderment.

"Yeah, I-"

"Savannah, you've got to be careful..." interrupted Anita, Savannah couldn't look her in the eye.

"Those injuries look pretty serious hun, are you sure you're alright?" asked Anita, caressing Savannah's cheek.

Savannah nodded, "I'm fine, they've been healing up pretty nicely and besides, it looks a lot worse than in is," Savannah preached encouragingly which to her disappointment, didn't make her parents look less worried or Ben more spirited.

Savannah changed the subject to a lighter topic by discussing her sustainability club which took the tension out of the air. Pretty soon they were all laughing and celebrating their reunion.

When they were eating their out-of-the-box cheesecake, there were keys rattling at the door, which only meant one thing, Mike was home.