Chapter 7

Chapter 7:
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They were already walking out to the car as soon as she got there.  Using her wings, she stopped the bike and then jumped off of it, discarding it on the lawn.  Her mom was helping Ashley to the car while her dad was making sure the seats were cleared off and nothing was in the way.  Ashley's face lit up when she saw her friend.

"I thought I scared you away."

"Me?  Never.  Wild horses couldn't scare me away."

She thought about saying something about the people she met but thought against it as they all got into the car and drove to the hospital.  She'd tell her parents later when she had some time alone with them.  She needed to warn them about the attention this situation seemed to be getting, she just didn't want Ashley to worry about that as well on top of everything else.  She just wanted Ash to get checked out so they knew exactly what was wrong and if anything was broken so it could get fixed.  She still hated that anything on her friend had been broken but all she could do was curl up her wings so her friend could use them as a pillow so all the rattling around in the car wouldn't hurt her.

The drive to the hospital wasn't so bad.  Molly felt stronger than she had in a while.  She had forgotten how freeing it was to use her wings to fly.  Even though she loved being human, she couldn't deny that other part of herself.  She made a promise to herself to use her wings more, to let herself be free and to try not to deny who she really was anymore.  The memory of the first piece of wisdom her mother had ever said to her appeared in her mind.  Her mom would never let her deny herself.  She had always accepted who her baby was, even when the doctors tried calling her a demon. They had never seen anything like it.  They were afraid of how her pregnancy would progress and wanted to do away with the "fetus," as they so lovingly nicknamed the growing baby inside her belly.  But Violet refused.  She would rub her hands over her belly, feeling the baby move and kick, and talk to the child.  She would tell her stories of who she was, about how she met her husband, about how happy she was and how much of a miracle she really was.  Molly could feel the love radiating from inside this woman.  She knew she had made the right choice and she felt safe as she got permission to grow and eventually be born.
That feeling never left Molly's body.  It was written into her DNA.  She knew she had a purpose on this earth other than being a daughter to her favorite parents and a best friend to this beautiful spirit, Ashley Blackfield.  She had a message to deliver.  She just had to remember to embrace her wings and set them free.  They never ached from being used. In fact, whenever she did use them for flying, she always felt exhilarated afterwards, like she could move mountains.  She wanted so badly to be seen as human that she often ignored the itching feeling to take flight that her wings gave sometimes.  She needed to stop ignoring that impulse.  But first things first.  She had to help Ashley out of the car while her dad went in to register and her mom got a wheelchair.

It was hard for Molly to see all the bruises.  Ashley had insisted that Molly stay with her no matter where they took her, and even though the doctors didn't like the idea of someone with angel wings that could very well bump into things and knock them over being in an area with lots of equipment, they were impressed with her ability to stay still.  And even more impressed with her wings' ability to stay still.  She didn't even shed a feather as she followed her friend to the x-ray room (she had to stand behind the glass but the doctor administering the x-ray let her watch).  Now Ashley lay in a hospital bed with a cold pack on her eyes and bandages all around her ribcage.  That wasn't even the scariest thing.  The doctors had to administer a rape test in which they had to take a swab of her privates for evidence.  She was sure there would still be some as she didn't have the time or energy for a shower.  But as soon as that was finished, she was told she was allowed to.  She would be asking someone for help but wanted to take a nap first so she didn't fall asleep while in the shower.  Although she was already in the hospital, she didn't need MORE bruises and broken ribs.

Through it all Molly never left her side.  Ashley knew her friend loved her, but she never understood how much until this very day.  Even when she had to strip naked to take pictures to use as evidence, Molly never left the room.  Ashley watched as Molly's eyes grew wider with every bruise that was found on her body.  She saw the tears spill onto her cheeks as Molly had taken in the full extent of what her father had done.  And she never left her side as she was getting that awful rape test.  Right now all she wanted to do was hug her friend and thank her for everything but she was full on pain killers and her body hurt so much that she couldn't move.  The cold pack felt more than great on her eyes and she smiled for what seemed like the first time in ages since this whole nightmare happened.

Molly noticed her friend smiling and asked her what the deal was.  Not that she minded, but this was just the first time she had seen her friend happy since before school got out.

"I'm... I'm just so happy right now... My eyes feel good," Ashley's voice trailed off at the moment the painkillers and finally being comfortable enough to sleep kicked in.

"yes, I can see that.  If you need some rest I can leave for a while so you can sleep."

Molly watched Ashley's face crinkle at the thought.

"can you just stay with me for a little while?"

"sure, do you want me to climb into bed with you?"

"yes, please."

Molly looked around to see if there was anything she could potentially knock over before figuring out how to proceed.  She didn't see how she could fit on the bed with all those needles and IVs everywhere plus her wings.  She was too scared she would hurt Ashley even more so she decided to just pull up a chair.

"I'm a big scardey cat, so I'm just going to sit here and watch you drift off into morphine drip dreams," Molly concluded.

"Tha's fiiiiine with meeeee," Ashley sang as the last coherent thing she remembered was that she was so thankful to be in a hospital and as far away from her father as she could possibly be right now.  Before she drifted off, she was determined to keep it that way for as long as she could.