Painted Lines by Brei Betzold

didn’t hear any of
it through the sobs that were now wracking my body.
    “What
the hell is going on here?” asked the doctor that had been treating me for my
concussion.
    “Just
talking with my patient,” replied Dr. Carter smoothly.
    “No,
you were baiting her,” Thayne bit out, “talking about having her hospitalized,
scaring her.”
    “I
think it’s time for you to leave,” the other doctor said and I gripped Thayne
harder, not wanting him to leave me.
    “She
needs treatment,” Dr. Carter said.  “Why can no one else see that?”
    “I
said leave, now, and I will be contacting your superior.”
    Thayne
held on to me while I cried then I heard Simon’s booming voice yelling at
Thayne asking him what he did to me. Before I could say anything Thayne was
ripped away and Simon had punched him.
    I
sat there in stunned disbelief; I couldn’t believe that Simon had hit him.  I
quickly snapped out of it though when Simon went to hit him again.  The entire
time Thayne did nothing but watch him, but when Simon threw the next punch, he
deftly moved out of the way.  One moment he was in the path of Simon’s fist
then he wasn’t, I quickly reached out and grabbed a hold of Simon by the back
of his shirt.
    “What
the hell do you think you’re doing?” I nearly yelled.
    “He
hurt you,” he shouted spinning around to face me and nearly yanking me off the
bed in the process.  “What did he do?”
    “He
didn’t do anything, Simon!” I screamed back.
    “Then
why were you crying, Scout?”
    “B-because
the doctor.”
    He
glanced towards Thayne who had stayed quiet through the whole ordeal.  He had a
split lip and blood trailing down his chin.  He reached up wiped it away with
the back of his hand and nodded.
    “Sorry,”
Simon said quietly, “I just thought…” he trailed off.
    “Yeah,
I get it,” he replied he reached down and squeezed my hand.  “See you later,
Scout?”
    “Yeah,
I’ll see you later.”
    He
squeezed my hand once more and walked out the door.  I looked up at Simon and
frowned at him.
    “What
was that?”
    “I
could ask you the same thing,” he said coldly.
    “I
was talking to my friend, Dr. Carter came in said some things then left.  I
cried and my friend held me, now want to tell me why you felt the need to hit
him?”
    “I
thought he had done something.”
    “Do
I typically let people who have hurt me hold me, let alone touch me?”
    He
looked at me like I had lost my mind, but we both knew the answer to that
question “no”.
    “So
then why would you think he hurt me?”
    “Because
he works for them, Scout.”
    I
nodded, “He does, did you know that he didn’t know Ace had a daughter until
that meeting?”
    “So
why does that matter?”
    “That
I don’t think he knows anything about them really, and he’s not like them.”
    “Oh
and how do you know that, you’re so naïve, Scout.”
    “Get
out,” I told him, “if you are going to act like a jealous boyfriend then get
out.”
    He
spluttered, “Jealous boyfriend?”
    “Yeah.”
    “How
would you know what a jealous boyfriend acted like Scout, you’ve never had a
real boyfriend.”
    “GET
OUT!” I screamed and he spun on his heel and stormed out through the curtain.
    I
curled up in the fetal position and waited for sleep to take me again, but my
body wasn’t cooperating this time.  I felt a warm body curl around me and took
a deep shuddering breath.
    “He
was acting like a jealous boyfriend, Harper Lee,” Liam murmured into my hair,
“and he didn’t need to say that.”
    I
nodded.
    “You
really like Thayne, huh?”
    “He’s
my friend, Liam.  He’s the only friend that I have that doesn’t know about what
happened, and with him I can be mostly normal.”
    “Yeah,
I can see how that would be appealing, just do me a favor and go slow with him,
I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
    I
nodded again and cuddled into his chest, sleep finally finding me.
    When
I awoke, Liam was fast asleep drooling