I wake up, and I see that I'm on a stretcher, about to be lifted into an ambulance. I see about four different men, and one of them is reaching into my bag. The school police officers are outside, watching me get lifted inside, and they're talking to another teacher and the principal, who was told about the phone call to 9-1-1, from what I was just told.

"What's your parents number? We need to call them and let them know that we're taking you the hospital." A man asks, holding up my phone.

I take my phone, and I show him the number and he paces back and forth as he speaks. They begin to lift me into the ambulance, and two of the men hop in the back with me, and the other two head to the front. Once the doors shut, panic mode begins to set in.

"Well, from what the coach says, she was doing a flip in the air, and she didn't quite stick the landing when the girls held their palms out for her feet, and she fell directly onto her knee. We might think that—" he continues, but I don't bother to listen.

My mother won't care.

She probably thinks I deserved it.

Whenever my mother hits me and I express my pain, she just continues to beat me and tell me that I'm just complaining for no reason and that my pain is imaginary. Whenever the abuse occurs, for some reason, I have started thinking about my father, as if that will slightly lessen the pain of each blow I'm given. He always wanted me to be strong, so I endure it for him to prove to him that I am strong.

"Sweetheart, how old are you?" One of the men ask.

"I'm eighteen." I say shakily.

"Okay, I just finished the call with her mom. Let's go."

"Go? Go where?" I ask.

I try to lift myself, but I can already feel pain in my knee, and I wince in pain. Somehow I've forgotten the predicament that I'm now in.

Oh, right.

I fucked up my knee like an idiot, and now I have to go to the hospital.

My memory is starting to come back, and the last thing I can think of is when I fell right onto my knee onto the gym floor, and how everyone was around me.

"The hospital, you need to get that knee cared for." The man informs me.

I wipe tears from my eyes, but more tears come when I feel the IV enter my arm. I've never had one before, and seeing the needle inside of my skin freaks me out. It feels strange as it is being pushed further and further into my vein, and I look away to try and stop myself from hyperventilating.

I hate needles with a passion.

"Oh, God!" I shriek and start hysterically crying.

"It's alright, honey. It's okay." The men say, trying to calm me down, but it isn't working at all.

No, it's not okay! I'm freaking out!

"Let's get the medicine."

I see them take a clear liquid, and they insert it into my arm. My heart is pounding so hard that I can feel it in my throat. I would feel the medicine taking affect if it weren't for the fact that I'm still worried about what's going to happen.

"This should numb your leg and take away some of the pain your feeling, sweetheart."

"Okay." I say, still in panic mode.

"Hey, Alex? You gotta slow your breathing down, sweetheart." The man says, and I nod.

He moves my hair out of my face, and reaches above me for something. It's one of those finger heart rate monitors. The man attaches it to my index finger, and I hear a beeping to my right. The monitor is on, and is in sync with every pump of my heart.

"Okay, one hundred and seventeen beats per minute. It'll slow down, just when you're calm. Okay?" The man says.

"Okay." I reply flatly.

I smirk at the book reference that we just inadvertently said, and I try to think about happier things that'll slow down my heart rate like unicorns frolicking through fields of daisies or some other corny stuff like that.

We arrive at the hospital a few minutes later, and I'm wheeled into the ER. All of the people around us look at me, and a woman walks next to us. I'm just staring up at the ceiling during all of this, still trying to find something else to think about.

"What happened?" The blonde haired woman asks curiously.

The nurse has light blue eyes and she wears a pair of scrubs that look crisp and new, and she exudes professionalism. She's quite focused on me and my now deformed knee, trying to think of what to do with it.

"Fell directly onto her knee, might be dislocated."

"Wheel her into this room, I'll send a few doctors right away." The woman says and urges the men into the room.

"Okay, lower her down gently." The woman advises.

The stretcher is lowered and it's at the same height as the hospital bed is. All of the chaos going on makes me want to just scream until I feel like I've gotten it out of my system, but that isn't going to change anything, so I just stay quiet, internally panicking.

"Okay, let's put her on the bed. I'm sorry if this hurts."

I brace myself for the pain that I know I'll feel in my knee. I'm lifted, and pain shoots throughout my knee, and I let out a wail. Everyone then begins to go a bit slower, trying to ease my pain.

"Sorry Hun." She says, sounding somewhat sympathetic, but cold at the same time.

I lay in the bed, grimacing while staring up at the ceiling. It isn't a while until another doctor comes in, so I'm just suffering all by myself. Millions of thoughts race in my mind, and I'm trying to talk myself through this.

"Hello, I'm here to do some X-rays." Another woman says, and I nod.

"I don't want to sound rude or anything, but how long will this take?" I ask nervously.

"Not that long, only a minute or so." She informs me, and I sigh.

This nurse, wears yellow scrubs that compliments her dark skin tone beautifully, and she has a short pixie cut. I'm watching her set everything up and prepare the machine that's going to be used for the X-rays.

I feel her lift up my knee, and I scream.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." She says apologetically.

She's checking my knee for any swelling, which there's a lot of, and then, more pushing on the knee to see if I damaged some ligaments. After that torture of her moving my knee, I'm left alone while I listen to the chatter outside of my room.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell her." A different voice says from outside of the room.

The room curtain is opened, and I feel my heartbeat quicken. A tall, slightly muscular man stands before me, in the usual doctors attire. He has a sharp jawline, and he has really pretty blue eyes, and dark brown hair.

Dear God.

This man is drop dead gorgeous, like he just popped off the front page of a magazine or something. My heartbeat is in my throat again as we make eye contact, and I can't pull myself away from his gaze.

"We've taken a look at your X-rays, and your knee is definitely dislocated." He says.

"What's gonna happen to me?" I ask, trying not to hyperventilate.

"It's okay, Alex. We're going to perform a reduction in about an hour or so." He says with a slight chuckle.

What's so funny?

"I'm Dr. Rian Peterson, by the way. Nice to meet you, Alex." He says politely, and holds out a hand to shake.

My hand trembles lightly, and I shake his hand softly, while he does it a little too firm. When our hands touch, I feel a tingly sensation rush through my veins while I look directly into his eyes. There's a calmness that radiates through me now as I look at him.

He's my doctor?

Damn, how'd I get so lucky?

This might be the first time I've ever wanted to stay in a hospital for longer than I'll have to. Dr. Rian Peterson may be the most attractive man I've ever laid eyes on, and that isn't an exaggeration. I pull that thought from my head because he's only here to do his job, which is to help me so that I'm no longer injured.

"How'd this happen?" He asks curiously.

"I, uh," I stutter, trying to shake unholy thoughts from my brain. "I'm in cheerleading, and I was thrown in the air to do a flip. My feet didn't land in all of the other girls hands, and I fell directly onto my knee."

"Ooh, that must hurt. But don't worry, we're going to take care of you."

"What's a reduction?" I ask worriedly.

"Basically, it's where the joint is manipulated back into position." Dr. Rian Peterson says.

"Does that hurt?" I ask.

"It can be intensely painful, which is why the patient is put under sedation or under general anesthesia."

Wow, he's so intelligent.

I can't believe this is happening.

The only thing that's making this situation a little better is that Dr. Rian Peterson is one beautiful specimen. That shouldn't be the only thing I'm thinking about right now, but I can't help it.

I wonder if he's in a relationship. I wonder what he's like in a relationship. He seems like the type of man who spoils his girl with presents and sex all the time. I want to slap myself for really contemplating this right now, but there's nothing else that I could really think of, so this is going to be what occupies my thoughts while I'm stuck here.

I wonder what he's like in bed. I bet underneath those clothes, his body is perfectly sculpted and muscular, and I bet he knows how to make a woman scream.

I want him to make me scream.

Alex, stop!

This man is probably a lot older than you.

But you're eighteen, and that's the age of consent!

What's wrong with me? I just dislocated my knee, and I'm only thinking about my sexy doctor, and how I'm old enough to legally have sex with him? Teenage hormones are really unpredictable and quite outrageous.

"Alex?" Dr. Rian Peterson says, bringing me back from my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Everything's going to be okay. I can tell that you're very—, anxious, to put it lightly."

"Yeah, I've never injured myself during practice. I've never had this serious of an injury, ever." I state.

"It'll be alright, I promise." He says soothingly, and places a hand on my shoulder.

I feel a tingling sensation in my should where his hand is, and I'm trying not to smile like an idiot. He has nice, large hands, and the veins are noticeable. His hand also makes a warmth spread throughout my entire body, and he's making me even more nervous than I need to be.

I take my phone from the beside table, and I start texting Xiu and Savannah in a group message.

Savannah: wassup hoe

Xiu: hey Alex!

Alex: i'm in the hospital bruh

Xiu: what the hell happened?!

Savannah: omg r u okay?

Alex: I dislocated my knee during

practice, and they have to sedate me later on so they can put the bone in place

Xiu: 😖😖

Savannah: owww. Damn you okay?

Alex: I'm fine don't worry bout me

Xiu: I'm coming over there

Alex: no! Xiu, it's fine you don't have to come

Savannah: I'm with Xiu, we're on the way don't worry

Alex: guys, no!

They don't respond after that, so I already know that they're on their way. I rub my temples, and fight back tears.

They're always there for me when I need it.

My own mother doesn't do that.

She probably never would.

"Everything okay?" Dr. Rian Peterson asks, sounding concerned.

"I'm fine." I lie through my teeth. Hopefully he can't tell.

The curtain is drawn back again, and a weight drops in my stomach, and sudden nausea washes over me.

My mom.