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Amity opened her eyes slowly. Everything in the mansion’s living room looking blurry, for many reasons, actually:
- She just woke up and was a little groggy;
- She fought with her parents again, and as usual, they hit her until she couldn’t stand any more;
- She fell asleep crying with the pain in her body and the heaviness that resided in her chest.
She doesn’t remember much of what happened. She knew they had fought and that, when they were over, she didn’t have enough strength to get up, so she just gave up and passed out on the living room’s floor, tears wouldn’t stop flowing from her eyes.
She felt sick, and it was like a train had passed her over. She wanted to scream, to cry, maybe even burn the whole house down, she didn’t care anymore. But the pain in her body, the burning feeling in her lungs, the headache she felt were enough for her to not do so.
So, she just laid there until she felt numb enough to get up, until she got used to the pain. She took notice of the red puddles that stood close to her ‘fuck’. She tried her best to get up. If she kept bleeding on the floor, she’d have serious problems, and today wasn’t a good day to die anyway.
She mustered all the strength she still had and got on her knees. Griping the tea table hard, she slowly got up, shards of broken glass leaving thin cuts in her hand and, taking a look at herself in the mirror of the corridor, apparently in her whole body too, torso, legs, arms, even her face. She had an injury in her forehead that was responsible for part of the blood on the ground. ‘well, shit…’.
Amity picked her phone from the ground, silently groaning in pain. The time on her phone read '00h46' and, after entering her pin, she found herself calling Luz. I mean, who else would she call at a time like this? Besides, Luz had been helping her for 2 months now. She knew she could trust her, and that’s why she’d always call her.
Maybe it was on impulse, or her crush speaking louder, but she told herself that calling Luz was the most rational option at times like this.
‘I’ll be there.’ Her voice played in Amity’s mind, helping her calm her nerves while Luz hadn’t still picked up. Every second felt an eternity, and the beeps of her phone were deafening to her.
*beep*
*beep*
*beep*
*Luz picked up*
“Hey, Ames.” Luz said silently, she was probably asleep or doing anything fun. Maybe she shouldn’t have called. Amity had those thoughts every single time she called Luz, even after Luz had told her to call her whenever she needed. Amity felt like Luz didn’t deserve to be stuck with Amity and not doing anything fun because she was always beaten up by her parents. Luz deserved to have fun and a full night of sleep without Amity selfishly calling her to pick her up and take care of her.
But Amity wanted to be selfish, at least for now. She needed Luz’s comfort, she needed to hear her, to touch her, to see her. Amity needed Luz.
After settling on why she called Luz, like always, she composed herself to talk.
“H-“ Her voice didn’t come out. Instead came out a little whisper, barely audible. Even that made her throat hurt so much, tears started forming in her eyes. How much had she screamed?
‘Fuck. Oh, for fuck’s sake!’ “Amity?” Luz said in a worried tone, sounding much more awake. “Hey, you Ok? You need me to pick you up? Let me just- give me 10 minutes and I’ll be there.” Luz asked but it wasn’t a question, she made a statement. She was worried and now she was rushing out of her house because of Amity.
“Luz-“ Amity tried, but it came out as a desperate little noise. The tears started rolling down her face.
“10 minutes! Please, Amity! Get out of there and wait for me in the front yard, please!” Luz said in a desperate tone. She was clearly panicking, and it sounded like she was about to cry herself.
And so Amity did as Luz asked. She waddled down the entry hall and walked out of the house, Luz never hanging up the call, and asking Amity to make a noise from time to time. When she got to the front yard, she saw a car in the distance coming in a totally-not-legal speed. Luz, she assumed, hit the breaks as she spotted her, drifting a little in the end.
Luz rushed out of the car. “Oh my God, AMITY!” Amity heard her voice from behind the blinding lights of the car, hearing rushing footsteps coming in her direction. As soon as she took in the figure coming closer, and closer to her, her legs started to falter.
Luz caught her just in time, sliding on the ground to catch her. She wrapped her arms protectively around Amity. “That’s it! I’m killing those fuckers!” Luz had poison on her voice, and a kind of rage Amity never knew Luz could have. It was like the one her parents demonstrated for her when she had a lower grade or wasn’t the perfect puppet daughter they wanted her to be.
Amity returned the hug, mustering a little more strength to assure Luz she was Ok (kind of). They stood like that for a few seconds before the Latina started shaking and sniffling silently. “I’m getting you out of here. For good.” Luz said after a few seconds, her voice wavered with tears, but her tone was certain, once again she was not asking but demanding.
Luz couldn’t stand this anymore. A few scrapes and red cheeks? Sure that’s normal (not really). Some injuries? That’s taking it too far. Now, beating her daughter enough to make her bleed? The marks on her neck? The cuts all around her body? An open forehead? That’s unforgivable. And they? They shall be punished for what they did. That wasn’t fucking normal! Those motherfuckers just almost killed their daughter! Are they fucking insane?! Jesus fucking Crist!
If there was something Luz was certain at that moment, is that Amity’s not coming back to this- to this- Madhouse, God dang it! She’d talk to her mother soon enough, and she was sure she wouldn’t mind having Amity living there. Camila felt sorry for the girl. She above anyone else told Luz to take care of her, as she knew Luz cared for her already!
As Luz came back to her senses, she pulled away from the hug just enough to look at Amity’s face. She ran her thumb on Amity’s stained cheek, a very worried and sad expression on her face. She looked at her in the eyes. “Hey Ames, can you get up?” She said with a low-shaky voice.
Amity knew she couldn’t answer, she didn’t have voice to do so. So she nodded slowly, the headache coming back as she silently hissed in pain.
“Don’t move too much. Just… Here.” Luz helped her stand up slowly. Amity felt so weak. Was this it? Was she really going to die at 17? In front of probably the only person who still cared about her…
Luz placed Amity’s arm around her shoulders and helped her get to the car. Once there, she helped her seat and put on her seatbelt. She’d better be careful not to hurt Amity while driving back home. Driving here she was sure she broke many traffic laws, but now she had no reason to. She gently closed the door, making sure Amity was comfortable in her seat, ran to the driver’s seat, and checked on Amity one more time. She now was resting her forehead on the car’s window, enjoying the cool air of the night through the cold window.
Luz started the car, the radio playing a low melody Luz recognized, the scientist by Coldplay. It was a nice relaxing tune Luz used to listen to when she was feeling down, along with a lot of artic monkeys songs. She opened her window, letting the cool air of the night dance through her hair and hit her face softly as the tune helped both calm down their nerves.
Amity knew she couldn’t fall asleep again, it’s true she woke the first time but that was just luck. No one guarantees she’ll wake up next time. So she just concentrated on the song playing, she really didn’t want to think about what she couldn’t remember, she knew she would do so tomorrow but for now, let her enjoy the ride and the temporary amnesia.
As Luz parked the car, she let herself relax on her seat, just staring at Amity. ‘If there truly is a God, why ain’t he doin’ anything, dam it!’ Luz thought as she looked at her broken friend.
Luz didn’t understand why Amity’s parents were so cruel. Amity told her that her siblings moved out last month, they were living on the college’s campus. Now Amity had nobody other than Luz to hold on to. Of course, she could always count on Luz to be there, to support her and comfort her, and to LOVE her. Luz loved Amity, there was no use in denying it. She loved to see her smile, she loved every single bit of her, even if she was a bitch to her sometimes. So seeing her like this broke her. If it wasn’t enough the pressure they put on her, they also had to abuse her like this. She… She’s BROKEN, both literally and metaphorically.
Luz held back the tears that started prickling in her eyes and grabbed Amity’s hand, the one that rested limply on her seat. She ran her thumb on the back of the other’s hand, looking sadly at it. The hand had many glass cuts, and the knuckles were red and sore. Luz moved the hand closer to her face and planting a gentle kiss on her knuckles. As she looked back at Amity, the latter was staring back with a tired expression that held no mockery or malice.
Luz settled Amity’s hand back on her seat and started to get out of the car. “Here. I’ll help you out of the car.” Luz said rushing to the passenger's side. Slowly, Amity got out of the car, but she didn’t really have much strength to stand up, so she ended up stumbling on Luz, who not even in another universe would ever let her fall.
Luz pondered her options and decided to carry Amity, bridal style. Honestly, Luz was way too worried about her to even care about those stupid little things. She just wanted them to get inside the house so she could take care of her wounds.
She stopped in front of the door, her house keys in hand, trying to open the door without letting go of Amity or hurt her. When she finally opened the door, she carried the injured girl to the couch, laying her down. “I’ll be right back.” She said and rushed upstairs to look for medical supplies. It was Friday night, so her mother was working on the night shift as usual. She used the bus to go to the hospital, despite having a car, as she said not only it was eco-friendlier to use the bus and also because of the ‘Amity’ occurrences in the last two months. So they made a deal. Camila would leave her car with Luz and she was free to use it, as long as it was to help Amity, not go to some party. Camila trusted her daughter and thanks to that, Luz was able to always help Amity.
She came back downstairs shortly with a big medical bag in hand. Luz opened it as she sat down beside Amity, revealing bandages, disinfectants, painkillers, and many other medical supplies Amity couldn’t quite make out due to the blurriness of her vision. Luz prepared a piece of cloth with disinfectant. “May I?” Luz asked looking at her.
Amity tried to say something, but her burning throat wanted otherwise. So, she decided to nod. Luz carefully placed the cloth on the other girl’s forehead, earning a hiss in return. “Sorry, but it’s for your own good.” Luz said with a pained but serious expression. She carefully cleaned the wound, with slow movements. Only then did Amity take notice of the bloodstains in Luz’s shirt. She knew she was bleeding, but the bloodstains were medium-sized, meaning the injuries were big enough to last hours of bleeding without stopping.
As soon as Luz was finished cleaning her wound, she started to look for any more injuries in her head. When she was sure there weren’t any more injuries, Luz started to bandage her head, being especially careful with her forehead. “Amity, would you mind taking your shirt off?”
Look, I know what this sounds like, but honestly, how could Luz think something like that in a moment like this. Use your brain dumbass! Luz was very worried, Amity’s shirt was completely soaked in blood, so it’s normal she wants to see the injury that was causing such thing.
Maybe because she trusted Luz, or maybe just because she was weak and groggy and in desperate need of help, Amity didn’t complain, taking off her shirt to reveal… gosh, am I even allowed to describe that?! Not only her torso was full of cuts, but it had a huge injury on her side, the cause of her bleeding probably caused by a glass shard (exaggeration, don’t worry, if it were that big she’d be dead, ya know), and she had black and blue marks all over her torso and back, her arms also full of cuts. Luz was horrified, that was truly the last straw, no one treated her like that and got away with it. She was never going back there, NEVER.
With shaky hands, Luz continued the task at hand, picking another clean cloth with disinfectant and cleaning the injuries, starting with the big one. After cleaning that, Luz could make out a big deep cut on her side. “I might need to stitch that.” Luz cleaned her blood-soaked hand and looked at the clock in the wall. 01h18am, her mother wouldn’t be home until 2 am, and until that, Amity would lose too much blood.
She sighed. She knew how to stitch a wound but… She wasn’t a professional and she’d never done it on an actual person. She was afraid of messing up. Putting her fears aside, she picked the stitching supplies and started working on closing that wound.
“Done. Phew…” Luz sighed in relief. She picked up the cloth she’d been using to clean the blood while she stitched and put it aside, picking up other cloth and finishing cleaning the cuts and wounds on her arms and legs. Once finished, she wrapped the bandages around Amity’s torso, gently so she wouldn’t hurt her, gave her some painkillers, and got up to pack the medical supplies in the bag again.
“Ames, I’m sure you already know the drill, but… *sigh* Please, don’t fall asleep. I’ll be right back.” She said with a worried expression, the same one she’d been wearing that whole night.
Amity let herself relax on the couch, not closing her eyes for she knew what Luz meant. True to her word, Luz came back downstairs shortly with washed clothes in one hand and on the other the blood-stained ones that she threw on the washing machine. Luz herself had changed to her pajamas.
Amity sat upright again with Luz’s help, and the latter sat behind her on the couch to check on the bandages again, for the third time. “I’m gonna keep you company, alright?” Luz said wrapping her arms gently around Amity’s torso. “I’ll make sure you’re ok and that you won’t fall asleep.” She kissed Amity’s back gently like that was going to make the wounds disappear. “My mother's coming back from the hospital, she should be here soon.” Luz mumbled softly.
Amity sighed and let her head fall back on Luz’s shoulder, the latter never letting go of her, adjusting herself comfortably on the couch. Luz couldn’t do anything about Amity’s neck, of many things her mother had taught her, how to help someone with choking marks on their neck wasn’t on the list. She hoped her mother would come soon, she knew Amity should’ve gone to the hospital but… she didn’t need that drama now, with all the doctors asking, ‘what happened?’ and running around in panic. Amity needed peace and someone who she trusted to take care of her, only that.
“Hey,” Luz said picking up the remote. “Wanna watch TV?” She asked showing her the remote.
Amity just shrugged but that was enough for Luz. She turned the TV on, changing channels until she came across a channel that was playing ‘Azura's animated series’. She put the remote down and laid on the couch, turning Amity around so that she was lying on her chest and her injured side was up. It was easier to check up on her like that, anyway.
Amity had slept there so many times already, Luz didn’t bother taking the blankets back to her room, so they sat close to the coach neatly folded. Luz stretched her free arm to pick up one and lay it on top of them. If there was something they both didn’t need was to catch a cold.
Minutes passed and Camila eventually came home to see them cuddled on the couch, taking instant notice of the bandage on Amity’s forehead.
“Hey girls. What’re you doing downstairs?” Camila asked hanging her purse in the entrance hanger.
“Amity called me to pick her up. I took care of her injuries but, could you take a look?” Luz said with a serious tone.
“Well, of course.” Camila kneeled before Amity, the latter looking back at her with a numb expression. “Hi, Amity. Do you mind if I check your wounds quickly?” Camila said with a gentle smile, trying to sound calming. Luz helped Amity sit up again and removing her shirt. Camila unwrapped the bandages gently, in a way they could be wrapped up again, and checked the injuries, trying her best not to show fear or worry, the littlest slip and Amity would be worried for nothing.
The injuries were bad, but she was happy she had taught Luz how to do first aid when she was younger. The wound on her side was nicely stitched and every single one of the cuts and wounds were clean and disinfected.
“Nice job, Luz. In other circumstances, I would’ve told to take her to the hospital, but I suppose she doesn’t need that drama, yet.” Camila said looking at her daughter. “But she can’t sleep tonight, she needs to stay awake at least 12 hours for observations and 24 under supervision, or else she’ll be at risk but,” Camila smiled gently at Amity. “You’re gonna be ok. I’ll also stay up to make sure you’re fine. If anything, Luz would’ve fallen asleep in 1 or 2 more hours.”
“Mom.” Luz said annoyed, earning a chuckle from Camila.
“Luz, Cariño, as much as I trust you, I believe not even you would last so long.” Camila said with a little smile.
Amity wanted to thank her, thank them both for all the help and support they were giving her. So she tried to fight against the burning sensation on her throat.
“Th-Thank-“ Amity’s face contorted with the pain in her lungs and throat. It was already a miracle she could talk, even if it was only a whisper.
Camila’s attention was drawn to the girl’s throat. She had purple marks on them. ‘Díos Mío!’ Camila gulped silently. “Don’t worry Amity. We’re happy to help you. Just, don’t force yourself to talk, ok? Your throat hurts, right? So you really shouldn’t force it, sweety.” Camila turned to Luz. “Cariño, have you given her the painkillers?” Question to which Luz answered with a nod. “Then I’ll prepare a warm drink with honey to help ease the pain. Luz, do you want me to prepare coffee for you?” Camila asked.
“Yes, please. Go take care of yourself, I've got it covered here.” Luz hugged Amity, lying on the couch again.
Camila went up the stairs and changed to her home wear, a cream-colored sweater and light gray pants, picking another painkiller she used at the hospital sometimes. These were stronger and used only in cases of serious injuries. She’d give her if the pain worsened later. She came downstairs and started preparing the coffee and warm chocolate milk with honey.
She then picked up the two mugs and gave them to the two girls cuddled up on the couch.
“Thanks, mom.” Luz helped Amity sit up again and picked the mug her mother handed to her. Luz’s mug had an otter painted on it, as for Amity’s, it had a cute cat. Amity drank the chocolate milk, its sweetness almost sickening but, somehow, it eased the pain in her throat.
“Want to know a fun fact, Amity?” Camila asked kindly. “A nice way to ease throat pain is to drink a warm drink with honey, chocolate milk is soothing itself and with a spoon of honey, not only it gets sweeter, but it also calms a sore throat.” Camila said now with an owl mug with coffee in her hand.
“Hey, ain’t that the mug Eda gave you?” Luz said with a little smug.
Camila blushed a little at that. “Well, yes it is. Why?”
“Nothing, just curious.” Luz’s smirk just grew.
“It’s not like that, Luz.” Camila said embarrassed. “I just… I like it. It’s cute.” Her blush just grew.
Despite that cute little interaction between Luz and her mom, they were both very worried about Amity. She looked a little better but they all could feel the presence of the elephant in the room. As for Amity herself, she was way too numb to feel envy for that cute mom and daughter relationship.
A few hours passed and Luz ended up falling asleep with Amity lying on her chest, after a marathon of Azura’s animated series. Amity just laid there comfortably staring blankly at the TV.
It was about 12h07 when Camila came closer and whispered. “Hello sweety. How are you holding on? Is your throat still hurting?”
“A little.” Her voice was husky but at least she could talk now. “I’m feeling better. Thank you for taking care of me, and for letting me spend here the night. I’ll go back-“
“You don’t need to, sweety.” Camila stopped her before she could finish her sentence. “You can stay here for as long as you need and – or – want. Plus, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take you to the hospital later. I may be able to take care of you now, but I’d prefer if a doctor took a look at your wounds, just to be sure.” Camila said softly, a glint of worry in her voice.
“Ok. Thank you for your kindness and worry, again.” Amity said yawning at the end.
“Oh, and you're free to sleep now. I’ll keep checking up on you for the next 12 hours. Since you’re feeling better, you should be safe to sleep.” She came closer to her face. “The pupils seem normal and you’re conscious enough to maintain a conversation with me. That means you can sleep already.” She gave her a quick gentle peck on her forehead, leaving Amity a little surprised. “Sweet dreams, sweety. If you need anything call me or wake Luz up, she doesn’t mind.” Camila said with a giggle as she closed the living room blinds and went upstairs.
Amity took one more look at Luz. She was sleeping peacefully, snoring softly. Her hair messy and she had dark circles under her eyes. She took the remote that was almost falling from her hand and turned the TV off. She pulled up the covers and fell asleep listening to Luz’s soft snores and her beating heart, along with the rise and fall of her chest. She was truly tired.