Love Heals All

by Addie McKenna

  “Yes, it’s over,” the medic said, patting my leg. I looked down at my arm and saw the IV all patched up and doing whatever IVs are supposed to do.

  I sniffled and wiped my eyes. “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  “Your face,” Cameron smirked.

  I slapped him and mumbled, “Asshole.”

  “You must be in a lot of pain,” Ella said, astonished.

  “Well, yeah, I stepped on a huge piece of pottery and I’m sitting in the back of an ambulance!” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Sweetheart, calm down. We’ll be there in a minute.” Hayes rubbed my back.

  “Actually, we’re here,” the medic said.

  Right then, the door opened up, and it was hectic all over again. They need to calm down—I wasn’t dying. My sassiness? It must’ve been annoying some people because I sure was annoying myself.

  I was wheeled into one of those room-type areas separated by a curtain instead of walls. You know, the ones in the emergency room? I’ve been in one of these way too many times . . .

  A doctor came in to examine my foot and said I’ll most likely need stitches. Oh no. I’m gonna freak out if I have to get stitches. Stitches just won’t do for Autumn Brown.

  “Okay, we’re going to take out the piece of pottery now,” a nurse said while the doctor picked up a pair of tweezer-looking things.

  I looked over at Hayes, my eyes scared. He immediately came and sat on the bed with me. As he was wrapping his arm around my shoulder, I stuffed my face in his neck and closed my eyes tightly.

  I felt them start fussing with the tweezers and my foot, and I tried holding in my tears. After what felt like five minutes, I was fed up. I lifted up my head, Hayes’s arm still around me, and just went off on the doctor.

  “What the heck is taking so freaking long? Do you know how much pain I’m in?” I screamed. “And it sure doesn’t help that you’re just playing around. Get the thing out!” My face was probably redder than a stop sign.

  “We’re trying, miss, but it’s wedged in pretty deep,” he said calmly.

  “Try harder!” Soon, someone will have to hold me back, or I’ll rip this guy’s face off. I guess they don’t want me to be mad at them. It’s understandable.

  “All right, it’s out,” the doctor said about a minute later.

  “Thank God. Now, can you give us a few minutes alone, please? She needs to cool off,” Cameron said as politely as possible. The annoying doctor and nurse left, and it was just us.

  “I swear, I wanted to rip their faces off,” I huffed, and lay back on the bed.

  “At least you didn’t.” Bailey giggled.

  “Yeah. That would’ve been bad.” I laughed. Bailey could make me smile at any point of the day. That was one of the many reasons we were such good friends.

  They took some X-rays about ten minutes ago, and we were waiting for the results. After about five minutes of watching SpongeBob, I started to get restless. There’s only one solution to restlessness—Hayes’s cuddles. I looked over at him, and he understood exactly what I wanted. He lay down next to me and wrapped his arms around me.

  “Yay,” I whispered, snuggling back against him. He laughed and tightened his arms around me.

  I went back to watching TV, until I heard a camera click. I groaned and looked over at the three people sitting in the corner. I glared at them while they squirmed under my hard stare.

  “Whatever,” I mumbled, and turned back to Hayes, who was laughing.

  “Can someone call Nash back here? I need someone to make me laugh,” I mumbled into Hayes’s chest.

  “Aren’t we funny?” I could practically hear the pout in Cameron’s voice.

  “Ehh,” I teased. I heard all three of them huff. I saw that Hayes was asleep, so I texted Nash. About five minutes later, he walked into the curtain room, as we were calling it, looking flustered.

  “Those people are so annoying. I almost had to physically fight them to get back here until I told them I was with you. What was that deal?” he asked, looking confused.

  We all burst out laughing, while Nash stood there looking like a lost puppy. “Um, we kinda had a problem while they were taking out the piece of plate in my foot.” I giggled, looking down at my wrapped foot.

  Nash looked at my foot with a sad face. “Are you okay, Auts?” he asked, concerned.

  “It could be better,” I mumbled.

  “Well, I have something that will hopefully make you happier. Mom and Johnnie are home from their extra-long trip, and they’re in the waiting room signing papers right now!” he said, clapping his hands excitedly.

  I shot up, probably waking up Hayes in the process, and clapped my hands enthusiastically. “Really?!” I screeched.

  He nodded and grinned.

  “Well, can they come back here?” I asked anxiously.

  “Only four visitors allowed, babes,” Cameron said, probably knowing exactly what I was going to say.

  I stared at him. “I love you, guys, but I miss my momma Elizabeth,” I said sassily to Bailey, Ella, and Cam.

  “Okay, fine. But only ’cause they’ve been gone for a while,” Ella huffed. I smiled widely and hugged each of them as they walked out.

  “What’s going on?” Hayes asked groggily.

  I giggled. “Your mom and Johnnie are here.” He shot up, his eyes wide.

  “Where?” he asked excitedly.

  “They’re coming right now.” Nash smiled, leaning back in one of the uncomfortable chairs.

  “Oh, hey, Nashty.” Hayes smiled at him.

  “Hey, bud.”

  “You know what would make this ten times better?” I asked.

  “What?” Nash smiled at me.

  “Ice cream,” I stated. “Oh, and Will. I love my Grier boys.” I smiled.

  Hayes wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed my cheek. “Two more weeks,” he sighed.

  “Yeah,” Nash mumbled.

  “Aw, you guys! He’ll be home soon for the summer, and we’ll have lots of fun! Isn’t he coming to the first few FAM Tours with us?” I laid my head on Hayes’s shoulder.

  “Yep! I’m really excited.” Nash jumped up and sat on the end of the bed. I looked at him, puzzled. “That chair was uncomfortable,” he said with a shrug.

  “Guess who’s home?” I heard the familiar voice of the one and only Elizabeth. She walked in through the curtain, holding out her arms.

  “Elizabeth!” I yelled.

  “Mom!” Hayes jumped up and hugged her.

  “I’m here, too,” a thick country accent pouted.

  “Hi, Johnnie.” I giggled when he came over to hug me.

  “How ya doin’, love bug?” he asked, holding me away just far enough to look me in the eyes.

  “I’ve been better,” I said, and smiled at him.

  “Oh, my baby girl is hurt and in the hospital,” Elizabeth said, her lower lip jutted out.

  She acts like I’m her daughter sometimes, and I don’t mind because I kind of don’t have a mom at the moment, but it’s weird because I’m dating her son . . .

  “I’ll be okay,” I giggled, hugging her.

  “You better be, because I have a huge surprise for you and the girls.” She grinned.

  “Oh, really. And what would that be?” I quirked my eyebrow at her.

  “You’ll just have to wait and see.” She laughed and we started to catch up.

  “Have those boys been treating you well?” Johnnie asked me, glancing at Nash and Hayes.

  “They couldn’t have been any better.” I smiled genuinely at him.

  “Good. Or else they would have to deal with—” He got cut off as the doctor walked in through the curtain.

  Oh no. This might be one heck of a joyride.

  Autumn

  After a long da
y in the hospital, we found out that the piece of plate had ripped through some muscle tissue, and I had to get twenty-five stitches. Oh, what a joyride . . . And now I’m on crutches again. Whoopie! So. Much. Fun.

  “Well, to make everyone happier, who wants to go to a movie?” Elizabeth asked as we got home. It was about nine p.m.

  “Yes! That would be so much fun! I call sitting with Autumn!” Skylynn screamed.

  “Okay, Sky, I guess you can sit with me, if you want to,” I joked.

  “We have to go to the airport,” Aaron and Alyssa said sadly, standing next to Alyssa’s stuff.

  “And I’m tagging along.” Gabby walked over to join them.

  “Okay. Well, I guess it’s just us, then?” Elizabeth looked at the rest of the group. We nodded and started saying our good-byes to Alyssa.

  “Love you, girl. Call us or we will hunt you down and kill you.” I glared playfully at her.

  “Yes, ma’am!” She giggled and saluted. I laughed and gave her one last hug.

  After they left, it was kinda depressing. Alyssa was the head mom of the house, along with the rest of the girls (except for Aly and me), and she kept us in order when Johnnie and Elizabeth were gone, but she was also sarcastic and funny. She could’ve been a thirty-year-old or a five-year-old. Whichever one, we all loved her. She was like a big sister to all of us, even though she was younger than some. I really hoped she’d visit us at FAM Tour.

  “What movie do you want to see?” Johnnie asked us later as we were standing at the ticket counter.

  “Earth to Echo!” Skylynn and I yelled. Everyone else groaned.

  “What? I really wanna see it! Pleeeeease! I’ve been at the hospital all day!” I begged.

  “So have we!” they all replied.

  “But you didn’t have to get your foot worked on by stupid doctors,” I said.

  They all finally agreed, and we bought the tickets and went to the concession stand. Hayes carried our stuff as I crutched to theater 6. When we got there, we sat in the middle, taking up an entire row.

  We talked until the lights dimmed. “Hush up, it’s starting!” I whisper-yelled to everyone.

  Skylynn was sitting on my lap with her legs curled up and her head on my shoulder. Hayes had his arm wrapped around me, and our fingers were fit together like puzzle pieces.

  After the Movie

  “Oh my God, Teo Halm is so hot, like, ahhh!” I gushed to Bailey, Aly, Shaelyn, and Ella as we walked out of the theater.

  “Oh girl, yasss!” Aly said, acting like a snobby teenage girl.

  We laughed and hopped into the car. We girls sat together in the back and just gushed our feelings about the amazingly hot Teo Halm.

  “You know, we can hear you back there,” Nash said through gritted teeth after five minutes of driving.

  “Yeah, your boyfriends are sitting right in front of you.” Daniel pouted, clearly annoyed.

  “We have ears, too, ya know!” Hayes remarked.

  “Oh, calm your tits—we’re teenage girls gossiping about an actor. We keep our mouths shut when y’all talk about Ariana Grande, don’t we?” I said, making the girls giggle.

  That seemed to shut them up because we didn’t hear from them for the rest of the car ride.

  At the House

  After I got my pajamas on, I hopped on the bed, curling into Hayes’s side. He looked at me and then turned away. God, is he on his man period or something?

  “Hayesie, what’s wrong?” I whined, lying on top of him.

  He completely ignored me, so time for plan B. I started poking him, playing with the little strings on his hoodie and purposely wagging it in his face.

  “Autumn, stop!” he whined, smacking my hand away and shoving his face in the pillow.

  “I just want to know what’s wrong, Hayes!” I groaned, rolling off of his back and flopping down next to him.

  I laid my head on his pillow and started playing with his hair until he finally looked at me. Annoyance was evident in his eyes, and he asked one of the worst questions you ever want to hear from your boyfriend.

  “Do you think that guy is hotter than me?” he asked, and I could hear the vulnerability in his voice. I realized with surprise that all the talk about Teo had actually hurt his feelings.

  “Babe, you are perfect in my eyes. He’s just one of those celebrity crushes who’ll never happen. I love you and only you, and no one can change that,” I said sincerely, pecking his lips.

  “Okay, good. I don’t want you to leave me,” he mumbled, pulling me into his chest.

  “I couldn’t if I tried.” I yawned.

  “Good night, sweetheart. I love you. Forever and always.” He kissed my forehead.

  “I love you, too, Hayes. Just as much as I love Sour Patch Kids.” I giggled.

  He laughed. “You must really love me.”

  I nodded against his bare skin. “Oh, I love you. Way past the moon and the stars.” I yawned again.

  “Good. ’Cause I love you more than you will ever know,” he whispered, and with those words echoing in my ear, I drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

  No one could replace this boy’s place in my heart—not anyone at all.

  One Month Later

  Autumn

  It’s been a month since the broken-plate incident, and I’m back to normal! My stitches are out, no more crutches . . . just a five-inch scar on the bottom of my foot.

  We were now at our first FAM Tour event. I was freaking out. My hands were sweaty, I was shaking, I didn’t know what was going to happen. Would I have an anxiety attack? Would I freeze up? I just didn’t know.

  I was wearing a red tribal-print sweater (because it was really cold in the venue), ankle-length black Boohoo leggings, and ankle-high combat boots from Charlotte Russe. My hair was in cute but messy spiral curls, and I wore a fedora on top of my head. Bailey and Shaelyn had helped me pick out my outfit, and Ella had done my hair since I was too freaked out to think.

  It was almost time to go onstage, and I was sitting in a corner just imagining all the bad things that could happen. I had my knees up to my chest, with my head resting on my arms, which were crossed over my knees. I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder and pull me close. I looked up and saw Cam.

  “What’s wrong, Auts?” he asked sweetly.

  “I don’t know if I can do this. There are so many people out there,” I whispered, still preoccupied with my thoughts.

  “You can do this, Autumn. You’re the funniest, strongest girl I know. You can get through this. I believe in you.” He smiled. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, resting my head on his shoulder.

  I can do this. I chanted in my head. “Okay, I got this. Let’s go line up.” I smiled. He grinned and pulled me up, and we walked over to the group. I stopped next to Hayes, and Cam walked over to Justin.

  “Did I tell you how beautiful you look today?” Hayes whispered in my ear.

  Everyone was lined up in the right order, all chattering to one another.

  I giggled. “Yeah, about ten times in the past hour.”

  “Well, I’ll make it eleven—you look absolutely beautiful. Stunning.” He kissed my forehead.

  “I love you, Hayes.” I hugged him, resting my head on his chest.

  “I love you, too, Autumn.” He kissed the top of my head, his arms wrapped around my waist tightly.

  “All right, lovebirds, we need you over here.” Justin smirked.

  We glared at him and walked over to the group. We did our little chant and then we were off. They started calling our names, and we went up onto the stage, one by one.

  “Cameron Dallas!” Cam ran down the line, high-fiving the front row. When he got up on stage, he smiled and winked at the crowd, making every girl swoon over him.

  “Nash Grier!” Nash ran out and did the same thing as Cameron, e
xcept when he got on stage, he hopped onto Cameron’s back and pulled a funny face. The girls all started screaming “Cash.”

  That’s how it went. As each of the boys got called up, they all ran down the line of girls, waving and giving high fives, each doing his own thing when he got onstage.

  “Autumn Brown!”

  And that’s when the butterflies kicked in. It felt like more than a million butterflies as I ran down the line, high-fiving, a big smile on my face—even though I just wanted to run right out the venue door and keep going. When I got onstage, I smiled and waved at all the fans. Hayes came over and wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek. All the girls freaked and started yelling, “Hauttie.” I guess that was our ship name.

  “How’s everybody doing?” Bart screamed into his microphone. The girls in the audience screamed back.

  “Well, we’re going to start off with Daniel Skye singing a little song for all of us. Y’all excited?” I yelled into the microphone. They all screamed high-pitched screams. I just wanted to go somewhere quiet and more spacious. I think I was getting claustrophobic, but I’d be okay.

  That was pretty much how our first day of FAM Tour went. It was crazy and we all did random things. For me it was very fun, but claustrophobic, and afterward, I went straight to my room and took a nap instead of going out like we were planning. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow, though. Hopefully it won’t be as hectic.

  I woke up at nine a.m., refreshed and ready to get the day started. It took me about five minutes to wriggle out of Hayes’s tight grip, then I went into the bathroom, jumped into the shower, and did all that shower stuff. After I got out, I brushed my teeth and washed my face.

  I tiptoed out of the bathroom, quickly picking out my outfit so Hayes wouldn’t wake up and see me in just a towel.

  I ran back to the bathroom with a blue tank top with deep cuts on the side for armholes, a black bandeau, black-and-white-striped shorts, red Dr. Martens, red lipstick, and sparkly cat ears that I stole from Bailey.

  I put on my clothes and straightened my hair. Then I slipped on the cat ears and walked out of the bathroom. Hayes was still sleeping, so I decided to give him a nice surprise. I jumped on the bed, landing right on his back. He groaned and opened his eyes.