Chapter Text
2006, late May
A loud grunt escaped her lips. A punch to the cheek, harsh. Making her fall down to the floor.
Get your shit together Dakota, were all the words that really registered in her mind before she had another punch against her chin.
The person behind the bloody knuckles was honestly unknown to Dakota in such a moment. She could only hear the slight grunts and a faintly irritated voice.
“Thought you’d at least put up a bit of a bigger fight,” the voice said, “but I guess not.”
A snicker managed after those words.
Bastard.
Dakota kicked the guy in the stomach. Hearing a cough escape as she tried to scramble her way back up again.
Her attempt was in vain as a kick that felt ten times harder hit her in the stomach. She swore she could feel a little blood splatter on the floor.
The people surrounding them didn’t do shit. Only watching as Dakota cursed and got beat into a pulp by some.. guy. And apparently, none of the teachers seemed to care either. Because no one came.
“Piss off,” Dakota managed to cough out. Blood dripped down from her nostrils to her lips. Her words weren’t taken well because all she got was another punch.
It hurt so fucking bad. Her blood tasted like metal. She couldn’t smell because there was a high chance that Glen Johnson over here broke her nose.
Her eyes watered way too much.
Her vision was blurred and hazy, her mind fuzzy. She could barely hear anymore because she was slipping in and out of consciousness. Open, closed, open, closed.
Can this guy stop punching or something? It was getting annoying and pretty obvious that Dakota wasn’t winning this fight either way.
The last punch was against her jaw. She could feel her head slipping down. But the feeling eventually stopped.
She could only see black and faint flashing lights above her head. It would’ve been a fever dream if not for the way she managed this.
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Everything hurts.
Her face, her stomach, her legs, her arms and toes. When Dakota was sure she covered every bodypart, she tried to open her eyes.
The lights were bright. Way too bright. And the air was cold and clammy. She honestly didn’t want to open her eyes again. But once a voice sounded from her bedside, she knew she had to.
“Open your eyes for me, Brown.”
Right. That voice. The one from the guy nurse. A few years older than Malcolm, probably. She never really asked such questions.
Attempting to open her eyes, Dakota winced. “Don’t think I can,” she mumbled, “it hurts.”
The man didn’t seem amused, since he stayed silent.
Even with closed eyes, Dakota could tell that he was staring at her and waiting until she worked with him. That didn’t stop her from stretching the limits. Taking her time as she attempted to opening her eyes.
She blinked and managed to slowly focus back on some objects. Squinting, as she did so. One of her eyes seemed like it wouldn’t open completely, and when she tried, it ached a lot.
"Careful,” He murmured, “you’ve got yourself a black eye.” Yikes. No wonder it hurt so much. That idiot almost punched a hole in her skull.
“You’re kidding,” Dakota murmured. More sarcasm in her voice than actual worry. Something rare in the circumstances they were in.
Dakota tried to sit up but quickly realized that that wasn’t a good idea. Her expression scrunching up and her lips turning into a frown. A grunt escaped her mouth as she laid back down.
She looked down at her stomach, covered by her shirt, not really helpful but she could feel the ointment that was drying up. “Watch out, Dakota. You were kicked pretty hard,” he murmured, “you’ll have to stay here for a bit to heal.”
Fairly understandable. The reflection she saw of herself in the window was all she needed to know that it was actually that bad. Her eye was swollen and purple. The cold color fading into her own tanned skin tone. She could barely make out her eye underneath. Yikes.
“Think I can leave after a few hours?” She asked as she pulled a little at her cheek, wincing. It tingled and stung. Like if you got pinched but for a longer period of time.
“Probably.”
Dakota hummed softly as she closed her eyes again. It hurt, but it was better than keeping her swollen eye open. Slowly turning her head to the side to actually examine the person next to her.
The nurse seemed new, actually. Dakota just noticed. Normally there was a woman here that she was pretty sure hated her guts cause of how much she came by. Which, looking at it, is kinda strange for a nurse, but whatever.
“Who are you again?” She asked. Not necessarily in a rude way. She hoped it didn’t come off like that.
People misunderstanding her words happened way more than she would like.
“Wade Sawyer,” he murmured carefully as he checked over her wounds, “call me Wade.”
“Nurse Wade, Nurse Sawyer, whatever,” he said, “call me what you want.”
Wade, huh? Dakota squinted her eye a little. His face was made out of greyish bags under his eyes, contrasting with his paler skin and acne scars. He seemed like he was used to the city, or maybe didn’t go outside much. His hair was a little greasy, fair. Dakota’s own hair was greasy too. She had never seen him before, not in town nor at school. Until now.
Did he just move in or did he just start here? Or both? Has he been living here since forever but just hasn’t shown up a lot? Stupid question, it’s impossible to not be seen over here.
Wade raised his eyebrow as he noticed that Dakota was intently staring at him.
Dakota decided to not make him anymore suspicious of her and just drop a question.
“Are you new in town?” She asked, tilting her head to the side. Her voice was a little rough due to her fight just a few minutes ago.
Her question was answered with a lightly hesitant nod, but it turned more firm after a second. After that she stayed silent.
She just observed the way he cleaned her up while Dakota turned to her side. She was curious but she’d put off her questioning for when she felt more like it.
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The sun was going down when Dakota woke up. Rays of orange, purple, pink and yellow coming through the clouds. It would’ve been pretty if not for the head pains she was experiencing right now. She winces as she puts a hand against her forehead. She could really go for a cold glass of water right now.
Her eyes slowly open as she looks around the room, the artificial lights basically stabbing her sight.
Birds squawked outside. Seagulls and whatnot. Dull looking ones against the vibrate colors of the sky.
It was prettier than normal. Must’ve been because she was knocked out, or it actually is prettier than normal.