Grateful | Fragile Hearts

chapter 36

Charlotte

As soon as I hit the bed, I crashed. My slumber only lasted a short while until a stabbing pain in my abdomen woke me up.

I tried to take Tylenol to ease the pain, but to no avail it wasn't helping.

I stared at my ceiling, contemplating. I was afraid to tell my dad because I wasn't sure what Jackson would do. I would never put my family in danger, especially when I just found them. But I also know that something could be very wrong with the amount pain I was in.

I started to cry. How did I end up here? Everything was going so well, until I decided to go to the library and put Jackson in his place.

I should've just kept my mouth shut.

I looked over to the alarm clock and saw it was 6am. The sun would begin to rise, which meant my dad would be up soon. He was an early riser who always did a morning workout and then made breakfast.

I decided to take another hot shower to hopefully ease the throbbing. I stayed in there for about 30 min until my fingers got pruny from staying in the water for too long. The heat definitely helped a little.

I got out and put on another long sleeve set with grey sweatpants, covering my injuries. I hoped with rest and Tylenol, they'd get better.

I walked downstairs and saw my dad sitting on the counter with Grey, and a ton of donuts in front of them.

"Morning, Char" my dad told me as he gave me a hug and a kiss on my head, causing me to wince slightly. He didn't notice, but Grey sure did. I saw him squint his eyes at me, as if he was trying to figure me out.

I sat on the counter and grabbed a donut. My dad poured me some sweet tea in a glass and then handed it to me.

Each bite I took made my stomach churn. Every slight movement caused me agony.

Suddenly, my dad's phone rang causing him to walk on the terrace to take the call.

Grey looked to me. "Char, is everything okay?" He asked me softly as he focused to me. His eyebrows were furrowed as if he was trying to read through me.

I looked to him and laughed. "Yeah of course, why?" I asked as I took a bite of the donut.

"Something is off sweetheart." He told me sincerely. "Just know, you can always trust your dad or any one of us" he told me. I'd never seen him get so sincere and it made me feel a little more guilty.

I contemplated for a second but decided that I would still assure him everything was okay.

"I promise I'm okay, really" I tried to convince him.

He nodded, but as always, he didn't seem to buy it. I knew Grey was intelligent. He could probably read through me and already knew.

But I was afraid of what would happen if I told them. I was scared. I didn't want anyone to get hurt.

After I was finished, I went to the cabinet to get two more Tylenols, blaming it on that time of the month.

I made my way to the couch, laying with a blanket and getting cozy.

Hopefully I'd feel better soon