bad company

when Tama awoke, she felt, different. She couldn't describe it exactly but she just knew she didn't feel the same. Sure, she still felt the stinging pain in her face from being hit so many times. The back of her head and entire face throbbed as she came to but,

"Tama? Tama!"

Her mother cried tears of joy, hugging her daughter as soon as she saw her heart rate pick up for the first time since her arrival hours ago. Tama's eyes fluttered open but shut again, groaning at the harsh overhead lights.

"Can you turn the lights off, please?" Her throat was dry and, it hurt to talk. A lot. She cleared her throat and her mother instantly reached for the water next to her bed, helping her up.

"How do you feel?" Mitena asked gently, holding her daughter up with one hand while she held the plastic cup to her lips while she drank.

Tama coughed, moving the cup away from her mouth before she frowned. "What happened?"

Her hand lifted from under the thin blanket that was lazily thrown over her, gingerly touching her head. She winced upon contact with her still bruised scalp and her mother reached forward, moving her hand away. Just then, the doctor entered, Chief Swan coming in right behind him with a pen and a note pad in his hands.

"Hey kid," he said, a tight lipped smile adorning his face as he looked over the teen he had known since her birth. Seeing her in such a vulnerable position made his blood boil and he gripped his pen tighter. "How you feelin'?"

"Like I got electroshock therapy or something," she admitted, finally finding the strength to lift herself up properly, politely declining her mother's help.

"What do you remember?" The doctor, who she knew as Dr. Cullen, said, at the same time as Chief Swan. They shared an awkward glance before they both returned their gazes to Tama.

The teenager was quiet for a moment, frowning as she struggled to think, racking her brain trying to remember how she landed in the hospital. "I just remember taking out the trash...it was raining. Then I just saw a flash of light and nothing. That's all I can remember."

Dr. Cullen offered her a comforting smile, ignoring the disgusted stare that was being sent to him by Mitena. "It's okay, that's common after the body has suffered immense trauma. You were struck by lightning, right in the heart. It's a miracle that you're alive, Tama."

Chief Swan cleared his throat awkwardly, causing Mitena to glance down at the floor as she frowned deeply, blaming herself. "We also found uh...someone else. A man; Thomas Wells. He was pretty close to where we found you and judging by the scene and the other bruises on your body it's safe to say..."

Tama touched her face, suddenly remembering being struck in the face repeatedly by said man, shivering at the memory. She looked at her mother, who whispered apologies to her daughter over and over, going on about how she should've pressed charges beforehand or how she should've heard her knocking from the shower. "What's going to happen to him?"

The three adults exchanged looks, wondering who was going to be the one to tell her. She was looking directly at Chief Swan though and he sighed. "He died, Tama. He was struck as well but, he wasn't lucky like you."

She nodded, removing her hand from her cheek, not looking at anything in particular as her mind drifted off. "What about the others?" She asked, earning shocked looks from her mother and Chief Swan.

"Others?" he repeated questioningly, stepping forward so that he was standing at the foot of her bed. He offered a quick glance to Mitena and looked away just as fast. "We only found the one, at the scene."

"There were three of them," she said, more memories coming to her the longer she was conscious. Fear was building in her chest, the idea of more of her attackers being out there, possibly waiting to come for her again. Her quickened heartbeat was reflected on the monitor as she placed her hand over her heart.

Mitena placed a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder before she silently pleaded with the Chief of police. "Charlie, you have to find the rest of them. You already know who they are. They'll come for her."

"I won't let that happened," he reassured her quickly, closing his notepad before he looked the two over. "You'll have to close up shop, get away from home for a few days until this thing is solved. We don't want them to come back to your house trying to start anything. You can stay with me until they're caught."

Mitena smiled up at the man she had known for so long, thanking him. He shrugged, assuring her it was the least he could do. Charlie looked over to Tama with a smile. "Bella's coming back soon so, you'll have someone to keep you company while you heal."

Tama nodded, though she was excited by the idea of having a friend during her stay, if she would even call her that. Bella and Tama were close, well as close as they could be with the awkward barrier Bella put between herself and everyone around her. They'd spent countless summers together during her visits, bonding over their social anxiety as well as their love of books. But, it had been a while since Bella had visited, or texted. Tama was hurt but, she didn't take it personally. "That sounds great, Charlie. Thank you."

Dr. Cullen cleared his throat as politely as he could smiling at the pair as they were in their own moment. He proceeded to step forward, Mitena's eyes on him the entire time. The doctor checked Tama, making sure her vitals and reflexes were fine. He frowned, confused. "Hmmm, everything looks fine. A little too fine honestly."

"What do you mean?" Tama asked, her heart rate rising as she glanced up at the abnormally beautiful blond doctor that stood over her.

"It's almost as if nothing has happened," he answered, writing a few things down on her file. "Your vitals aren't matching with your injuries and accident. Besides the bruising, you're perfectly fine."

Tama scrunched her nose up in confusion, sharing a look with her mother, who didn't look like she believed him. "So, what's going to happen?"

The doctor stood a few inches away from her now, continuing to take notes and write additional conclusions on her file. Mitena cleared her throat, causing Carlisle to look up. "Well you have two options. You can continue to stay here and we can monitor you another night to make sure everything is fine or, you can go home and have your mother bring you in tomorrow just so we can see how you're holding up."

The smile that adorned Mitena's face was less than friendly, unusual for the kind woman. "I think we'll choose the latter."

Carlisle looked past her, his amber colored eyes peering into Tama's own, "is that what you want, Tama?" After taking a second to decide, she nodded, throwing her blanket off her body. "Alright then, I'll have one of the nurses come in after I finish with your paperwork to discharge you."

He left before the teenager could thank him, Mitena letting out a sigh of relief. She turned her attention to her daughter, who was watching curiously. "Why don't you like Dr. Cullen?"

Mitena grabbed her daughter's clothes, bringing them back over to the side of the hospital bed, ignoring her question. Charlie awkwardly excused himself, reassuring him that he would be outside waiting while she changed and got discharged. Tama gently refused her mother's help, slowly throwing her legs off of the bed.

She glared at the IV stuck in her arm, resisting the urge to rip it out, feeling her mother staring at her. She took the pair of underwear and dark blue sweatpants her mother had been holding and pulled them on, muttering about how gross it was that they took off her underwear in the first place. She wasn't able to put on a shirt just yet due to the constricting IV that was still connected and she sat impatiently,

Just when she was about to voice her concerns, there was a knock at the door. The nurse smiled at the two, slowly entering the room with a stack of papers and a clipboard with her. She reached for something in the cupboard after passing the clipboard over to Mitena, instructing her to sign it so Tama could be released. Tama held her arm out with a small smile, excited to have the uncomfortable needle out, and sleep in her own bed. The nurse handed over the discharge packet after she had bandaged the teenager's arm carefully, wishing the poor girl well.

"Thank you," Tama said, genuinely, rubbing the now sore spot. The nurse just nodded, her smile still present as she bid her farewell.

Mitena began to walk over to Tama just as the door closed shut. She held up the folded clothes in her hand, "here, let me-"

Tama lifted her hand weakly, stopping her. She took her clothes from her mother's hands, ignoring the sad look on her face. She understood she just wanted to help and was still in shock that she was so close to losing her only child but, she needed to be alone with her own thoughts. "I can do it myself, mom...thanks."

After a few seconds, she nodded understandingly, taking a step back. "I'll wait outside with Charlie, if you need anything just yell I'll be right here."

Once the door was shut, Tama let out a breath, regretting it as her body began to throb. She winced, gripping the side of the hospital bed for support as she regained her composure. "Shit."

Undoing the hospital gown took what seemed like half an hour and she wished she had at least let her mom help put her bra on. She could see the bruises adorning her body as well as the scratches, tears brimming in her eyes. Pushing the foggy memory to the back of her mind, she looked away from her upper bear body, happy to have them out of sight. Her shirt and bra, which were still folded on the uncomfortable bed, taunted her as she contemplated the best way to slip them on without hurting herself further.

Groaning, she looked away from her clothes and caught site of something in the small trash can that stood in the corner of the room. It hadn't been closed properly and there was a glimmer that caught her eye under the harsh hospital lights.

"What..." Tama slowly trailed off as she walked towards it, slowly lifting it up. The contents surprised her and she reached down inside, picking them up before slowly standing back up to her full height, inspecting them.

There were flowers, her favorite. White daisies were enveloped in pink craft paper with a note attached, her free hand opening it up. The shock rippled through the brunette and without thinking, she lost her already weak grip on the flowers, the bouquet falling onto the floor.

Tama,

I know I'm the last person you want flowers or anything from but, I know daisies are your favorite.
  -Paul

The note was ripped straight from a notebook and had obviously been erased and rewritten multiple times, something that made her laugh before she could even catch herself. Her smile quickly dropped from her face and was replaced with a frown, catching the words "I miss you" that were barely noticeable after having been erased.

She was certain her mother had been the one to throw it away, as she had never been fond of Paul even before the pair had started dating. She felt troubled but, her mind and body wasn't prepared to go through this right now. Sighing, she shoved the note into her pocket, unable to throw it back into the trash. She reached down, plucking one flower from the bunch before throwing the rest away, trying to make it look as though they hadn't been touched.

Walking over to her bag, Tama stared at the flower. "I'm such an idiot," She sighed, angry with herself for not being able to get rid of it. Paul had hurt her, put her through the worst pain of her life -well, it was until this happened- but, still. She couldn't bring herself to get rid of it, get rid of him.

All it took was one single note and a few flowers to get the girl's mind racing. He never had to do much. Before she could think any further, she heard the door knob rattle, startling her. She shoved the flower into her bag on the counter and quickly covered her upper half, which was still nude. "Mom!"

Mitena rolled her eyes, the door already shut behind her as she ignored the blush that had creeped onto her daughter's face. "I changed your diapers, Tama. If you needed help, you could've asked."

Tana mumbled a complaint too low for her to hear as she made her way over to her daughter. She was grateful she hadn't noticed the trash can or the fact that she was hovered over her bag topless and she had to resist the urge to glance over at the tossed sentiment from the ex who broke her heart. They stood in silence, Mitena helping put both her bra and shirt on, Tama ignoring the pain that she felt when her body twisted and turned. She had never been in this much pain before, it was all so new and terrifying for her.

"Thanks mom...I got it," She told her, gently taking the coat that was, thankfully, a zip up. She instructed her daughter to sit on the bed, slipping her tattered brown rain boots on for her over the socks the hospital provided. Tama felt like a child and silently wondered how long this routine would last. Her mother pulled her up slowly, grabbing Tama's belongings before she could and leading her out the door where Charlie was still waiting.

"You girls ready?" He asked, grabbing Tama's bag from her mother and throwing it over his shoulder. Mitena thanked him again for his hospitality, her polite mood shifting when Dr. Cullen came into view again, a stapled stack of papers in his hand a smile on his face.

"You're all set, Tama." He handed the papers to the teenager but Mitena took them before she could even lift her hand. Tama scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest in an act of defiance, immediately hissing in pain and regretting her decision. "Try to take it easy for the next few days, I'll have you follow up with me in a week to see how you're doing."

"She has a doctor," the older woman said, a false smile Tama rarely saw her wear on her face. Tama's eyebrows furrowed, why was she acting this way? "Thank you for your help but we can take it from here."

Dr. Cullen didn't even seemed phased by her rudeness, Tama guessing since he probably deals with people like this constantly, he was used to it. He kept his dazzling smile on his face, one that made the hair on the back of Tama's neck stand up. "Of course. I hope you get better soon, Tama."

She nodded, offering him a polite smile and a wave as her mother beckoned her towards the elevators. "Thank you, Dr. Cullen."

Mitena quickly pressed the button for the ground floor, sighing heavily as she looked straight forward, not meeting Tama or Charlie's gaze. Tama looked over to her mother, the two the same height since the girl reached freshman year. "What was that all about?"

"The Cullens are not good company to keep," Mitena replied, still not looking at her daughter as the elevator doors closed shut and made their descent.

Tama stayed silent, knowing how her mother and the other elders felt about the Cullens ever since their arrival in town a few years ago. The stories about the cold ones filled her head as she suddenly recalled them, quickly shrugging them off. They were merely stories adults told their children at night to keep them in line, afraid.

Charlie shrugged, still carrying Tama's bag over his shoulder as he stared at nothing in particular. "I don't know...I thought he was pretty nice."

Mitena scoffed, looking up at Charlie who held his hands up in self defense.

"I mean, I hate his guts."