Chapter 17

Krystina's POV
I fucking love the privileges. I can officially listen to music from an iPod or a disconnected Smartphone. Danni was nice enough to help me put music on my iPod; I honestly had no clue what to do.

            "So how is Aiden?" I can't help but smile at the thought of him.

            "He's doing well; I told him that they all should be able to come over soon."

            "That's gonna be a lot of benefit points. Think you can do it?"

            "Yeah, I mean they're worth it." Danni puts her hand on my shoulder.

            "How are you feeling? You don't really converse with Sky much." I sigh and shake my head.

            "He's kinda mad at me."

            "What happened?" I turn so my body is turned to her.

            "I told him about Aiden and he got upset because he likes me. I also kinda admitted I liked him a bit too." Danni nods her head.

            "Well, did you try talking to him?"

            "Yeah once, then he said he has no problem with hitting a girl so I kinda just walked off. I'm just hoping now that he'll talk to me." Danni pats my shoulder.

            "He'll come around. Believe it or not his disorder was a lot worse before he came here, he just needs time to cool off." I sigh and bring my knees to my chest.

            "I still want him to be one of my best friends. Sure Frayia, Talia and Duncan are some of my best friends but only Sky knew about me and my past, sorta. I just kinda want someone to help me remember things."

            "What things?" I bite my lip.

            "My little brother, Brody; I don't remember him except the fact that he was just barely a teen, 15 and he killed himself."

            "Krystina I'm so sorry." Danni grabs my hands firmly. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

            "Not really but if I wanna get better I kinda have to." I exhale slowly and clear my throat. "I don't remember him at all other than the fact we got into an accident together and I ended up in the hospital, I don't even remember if he was admitted or not, but when I got out." I sigh and Danni pats my hand. "When I got out my parents took me home, I went into our room and he just hung there."

            "He hung himself? Did you get him down?" I feel a lump in my throat.

            "I tried but I was shaking too bad. My dad threw me out of the way."

            "What happened after that?" I run my hand through my hair and bite my nail. Danni pulls my hand away from my mouth. "It's a bad habit. Don't do it." I nod.

            "My dad said it was all my fault. It was. If I just stayed home with him we never would have gotten into an accident and he wouldn't have killed himself."

            "Did they catch the person?" I scrunch my eyebrows together, thinking.

            "I don't think so. The only thing I know was Brody actually told me he saw it happening."

            "What do you mean?"

            "He said he dreamt about it." I don't even know if he dreamt about it or had a vision type deal. "He kept saying he didn't wanna lose me and stuff like that. I shouldn't have even been driving; I was a freshman in high school." Danni pulls me into a hug.

            "Krystina, none of that was your fault; how could you have known any of that would happen?" She pulled away and moved my hair out of my face. "He's in a better place. And now I'm sure he's your angel, he's watching over you now. The past is the past, you can't change it. But you shouldn't feel guilty about it, it was so long ago, and there wasn't much you could do to prevent it from happening. Ok?" I nod and pull her into a hug again.

            "Thanks Danni."

            "No problem at all. I'm always here to help." I pull away and bite my lip.

            "How far are you willing to help?" She smiles.

            "Why? Are you about to ask me to do something against the rules?" I shrug my shoulders.

            "Not exactly going against them. Just going around them slightly." Danni laughs.

            "It depends, what is it?"

            "I really need to see Aiden. Now preferably."

            "Well-" Danni pats her knees and leans forward, "If it helps you get better, let's think of a plan."

Aiden's POV
             "Hey Ellie," I hear Ellie's feet patter into the kitchen, "Ready for lunch?"

            "Yeah," I pick her up, grab the soup and walk over to the table. I set Ellie on her booster chair and place the soup in front of her.

            "Careful, it's still a little warm." I hand her the spoon and she picks up the crackers.

            "Soup is supposed to be warm Uncle Aiden." I scoff and shake my head.

            "You spend way too much time with Hayden and Jonas; you got those mean comebacks just rolling outta you." She picks up her spoon and smiles at me. "Eat your soup. I'll be right back." She dips her spoon in the soup and starts eating. I go into the living room and turn the TV volume up so she can hear it from the dining room. I walk up the stairs to go to the bathroom but stop by Aubrey's room, there are toys everywhere. I walk in and start to pick up the toys. I put the toys in the basket and start to walk out the door when I see something shine behind a picture of Aubrey, Hayden, Ashton and I. I reach behind the picture frame and pull out a razor, my heart instantly breaks.

            Maybe it's old; she probably forgot this one was here. I can't help but feel curious, if she forgot this one I wonder what other ones she hid that she forgot to throw out. I walk over to her nightstand and open the drawer. I pull out a bible and search through the pages, why the hell does she have a bible? Does she believe this crap? I sigh and throw the bible onto the bed and pull out an old photo album, I open it and the first picture I see is of Aubrey, Ashton and I covered in mud. This was the day mom and dad took us camping, I run my thumb over Ashton's face. He was smiling and his head was on top of Aubrey's while he had me in a head lock.

            Aubrey was holding onto Ashton's arm which was wrapped around her waist holding her in place. We all got into a mud war, I think I started it. Ashton and I were arguing about which Pokémon was better Bulbasaur or Squirtle, I was team Bulbasaur, and Ashton was team Squirtle. Then Aubrey took Ashton's side saying that Squirtle was better so I threw some mud at them and we ended up in a full on mud war.

            I flip the page and see a Halloween photo, I looked about 7 or 8, and Aubrey was still a baby, 2 or 3. I was dressed up as blue ranger, Ashton was dressed as the red ranger and Aubrey was dressed as a tiny pink ranger. I can't help but laugh, this was the year we all got sick from eating too much candy, Ashton hid half of the candy in our room before mom and dad took them and hid them. I take out the picture and read the back. 'Ash, Aiden, and Aubrey, Power Ranger phase.' I turn it back around and put it back in the album.

            "Uncle Aiden?" I look over and see Ellie holding my phone out. "It's Krystina." I close the album and put it on the bed. I get up and pick up Ellie and grab my phone.

            "Hello?"

            'Aiden?'

            "No, it's Abraham Lincoln. You called my number, of course it's me!" I hear her laugh.

            'Well excuse me for thinking otherwise when a child answers your phone.' I laugh and walk down the stairs with Ellie in my arms. 'So that's Ellie?'

            "Yup, little Ellie."

            'I can just imagine how clueless you are watching over a child.' I scoff and put Ellie down in the living room in front of the TV.

            "Hey, I'm doing a damn good job. She's a good girl." I walk into the dining room and grab the now empty soup bowl and crackers. "So what's up? I thought you weren't gonna call until you had enough points to see all of us." I put the bowl in the sink and put the crackers back into the box.

            'Yeah well remember when I said I could get someone to help me out in seeing you?'

            "Oh yeah, breaking the rules." I put the box of crackers into the pantry and walk to the living room and sit on the couch.

            'Not breaking the rules, just going around them a tiny bit.' I laugh and sigh.

            "So desperate to see me?"

            'Well screw you; I don't have to see you.' I hear her laugh.

            "Fine, I'll talk to you later."

            'Ok bye.'

            "I was kidding!" I hear her and someone else laugh.

            'Alright, well tonight I have group. Danni is willing to make an exception. Count me as there, and then tell everyone at group that I decided to go to a private session for the day. Before group she's gonna give me her key so I can sneak out.'

            "And how do you plan on sneaking out? Isn't that place guarded like a prison?"

            'Well that's another thing, my roommate and a really good friend, Talia. She's willing to start a fuss with Frayia and Duncan. They all know how much-' I can't help but smile when she stops and clears her throat. 'They're willing to help stall the guards while I sneak out.'

            "Alright, so what's the plan for you to get back in?"

            'We have an hour and a half together, group is an hour and the other half hour is free time so people are either in their rooms or just running around.'

            "Wow, you're such a criminal." I hear her laugh.

            'What do you mean I'm a criminal?!'

            "You literally have everything planned to escape a locked ward in the hospital. It sounds pretty criminal to me." I hear her sigh.

            'Shut up. By the way, can you ask Aubrey if I can borrow her clothes? That way I don't look like a mess walking out of the hospital?'

            "Yeah sure, but where are you gonna change?" I hear her laugh nervously.

            'Um, yeah, I was hoping you could come up and be in the elevator with me and I could just change in there; Danni told me trick on how to keep the elevator doors closed so I won't be walked in on while changing. That way I don't draw too much attention by going to the bathroom either.' I feel my face heat up.

            "Are you sure you wanna do this?" I hear silence. "Krystina?"

            'Yeah, I really wanna see you.' I smile and nod to myself.

            "What time do you want me to be there?" I look up at the clock, 12:46.

            'Group starts at 4:30, Talia is gonna start the distraction at 4:35. So come up the elevator about 4:33?'

            "Alright, I'll be there."

            'Great! I'll see you in a few hours.'

            "See you soon." I hear her hang up and I can tell again, I'm smiling like an idiot. I finally get to see her again! I hear the door open and hear a loud sigh. Ellie and I look over, Hayden walks through the door.

            "Work, people piss me off." He says walking over to Ellie.

            "Well I hate you too bro." He shoots me a look and I smile. "I'm actually happy you're home early." I stand up and walk upstairs.

            "You don't wanna know why?"

            "I'll ask when I get back down." I walk into my room and get out some of my nicer clothes, normally I don't care what I wear when meeting a girl but then again, Krystina wasn't just a girl. She meant more than that to me. I want this to be something special for her, not just a meet-up.

            I finally settle on what I'm gonna wear, I walk back downstairs and I see Ellie lying on Hayden's chest asleep.

            "Dude you're a good dad." He smiles and slides his hands through Ellie's hair.

            "So you wanna tell me what you're so excited for?" I smile and sit on the chair beside him.

            "Krystina is sneaking out and we're gonna hang out."

            "No shit. Isn't that dangerous though?" I chuckle.

            "Yeah well she literally has a plan for whatever could possibly go wrong. The initial plan sounds pretty fool proof." Hayden laughs lightly.

            "Dude you probably love a criminal mastermind. You both should rob a bank together." I laugh and lean back in the chair.

            "I'm actually really excited man. At 4:50 we will be home free and have time to spend together outside of the hospital."

            "Well you should be excited. I see Aubrey every day; I take it for granted sometimes but hey, be happy. You get time with her. Just be careful alright? There's a reason she's in a mental hospital."

            "I know, I'll watch out for her." Ellie turns her head to the side and I can see her face. She brings her hand to her face and starts sucking her thumb. "Isn't she a bit too old for that?" Hayden sighs.

            "Yeah, she should also be potty trained and wearing real underwear instead of pull-ups but I don't know how to do any of this crap. I'm really not a good dad."

            "You know you can ask my mom right? Plus I'm sure Aubrey would love to help. She loves Ellie."

            "Yeah I know, I just don't want you guys to be burdened with-"

            "Dude, it's to help her out too. It's not a burden at all, when my mom or Aubrey gets back talk to them about it. They'd be happy to help, especially my mom." Hayden nods and turns the TV off.

            "Yeah I guess you're right." He stands up and holds Ellie against his chest and walks upstairs. "Let me get you to bed Elliebug." Once Hayden is out of view I sigh. I know I'm probably a bit too young to be thinking about it but I really can't wait to be a dad, just seeing how happy Hayden is with Ellie influences me a little bit but ever since I lost dad it makes me want to have kids now so I don't leave them in that situation. I sigh and look at the clock, 1:30. God why can't time go by faster!?

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