16

ALEX'S POV

I quickly shot up and woke up at 3:02 AM in sweat and thinking about the nightmare I had. I noticed I was in Mom's room at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I guess I stayed asleep after the plane ride. I looked at Mom on the other side of the bed. I didn't want to wake her so I walked out of the room. I went into Grandma and Grandpa's room and saw they weren't there and I panicked. I heard the TV downstairs and I ran down there.

"Alex? Why are you awake?" Grandma asked as she was sitting on the couch next to Grandpa.

"I.. I had a nightmare.. and I didn't want to wake Mom up.." I choked out quietly and I'm surprised they heard me.

"Aww. Come here, baby girl." She held her arms out indicating for me to go to her, so I did. I sat in between the both of them.

"Do you want to watch anything till you fall asleep?" Grandpa asked looking over at me.

"Camp Rock?" I said as I had a cheeky smile and smirked. They laughed quietly and turned it on. Not even halfway through the first movie I fell asleep in between them.

DEMI'S POV

I woke up at around 9:00 AM and I noticed the spot next to me was empty.

"Alex?!" I panicked and looked through the whole house before going into Mom and Eddie's room. "Mom, have you seen-" I stopped mid sentence and I saw them both awake and Alex sleeping in the middle of them.

"She had a nightmare last night.. and she didn't want to wake you.." My mom whispered and pushed some hair out of Alex's face. "She is burning up, Demi."

"She had a nightmare? She's still burning up?" I asked. Mom nodded. I sighed before saying, "You guys can get out of bed if you want. I'll stay here with Alex." They both nodded and got out of bed. I got in bed next to Alex and held her. I felt her forehead and it felt worse than yesterday.

ALEX'S POV

"Mom! Can you get me the thermometer!" I heard Mom's voice shout. I flinched and then relaxed in her embrace.

"M-Mom?" I spoke quietly. She looked down at me and she looked worried.

"Here, Demi." Grandma handed her the thermometer.

"Open, baby. I need to check your temperature." She said with worry lacing her voice. I let her put the thermometer in my mouth and after it beeped she took it out and she let out a gasp.

"What is it?" I asked quietly. She didn't say anything and quickly scooped me up in her arms while sliding on a pair of sliders on both of our feet.

"Mom! I'm taking Alex to the ER! It's pretty bad!" She said in a panicked voice which made me panic a bit. I saw Maddie and quickly pointed at her. "Do you want Maddie to come?" She asked as she was about to walk out. I nodded and Maddie quickly got ready. She put me in the back of the car.

"M-Mommy.. my tummy hurts.." I whispered. She gave me a sympathetic look.

"Here.. just in case." She handed me a bucket. Maddie got in the back with me. Mom then quickly sped off.

I was about to say something but I threw up in the bucket. It wouldn't stop.

"Dems! She threw up!" Maddie exclaimed as we pulled into the ER parking lot.

"My poor baby. Come here." She picked me up out of the car and carried me inside.

"I.. I'm sorry.." I choked out as we were taken back. She rubbed my back as we entered the room.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Garcia. What seems to be the problem." A woman came in. Mom was about to put me on the bed thing but I held onto her tighter. "You can sit with her." The doctor told my Mom.

"She has a high fever. It was 104.6 F°." She held me in her arms. The doctor checked my temperature and wrote it down.

"Any symptoms?"

"Yesterday she said her ear, head, and throat was hurting. She threw up on the way over here." Mom explained to the doctor. Dr. Garcia looked inside my ear.

"She does have an ear infection. All I really can say is I think it's just the cold and the flu. Anything else you guys need?" She asked.

"Also last night.. she was.. uh.. s-she lost her innocence.. forcefully.." Mom choked out.

"Okay. I'll check down there. If you can just let me look, sweetie." The doctor said, referring to me. Mom set me down on the table. I quickly shook my head and panicked.

"N-No!" I screamed and held onto Mom.

"Baby, breathe. I promise it won't take long. We just have to make sure nothing bad happened. I'll be here, okay?" She cooed as she held my hand. I nodded so the doctor could do her thing. I looked at her and panicked as she started looking. "Hey, baby. Look at me? Okay? Just focus on me." She made my face look at her. She started singing quietly until it was over.

"It doesn't look like there's anything wrong. I'm going to prescribe some ear drops for her infected ear, and some special antibiotics for a couple days so it won't get infected or anything down there." Dr Garcia explained. Mom nodded as she picked me up. I rested my head on her shoulder. We walked out to the car and she put me in the front seat this time as Maddie got in the back.

"You did great, baby girl." Mom said as she got in the car. We went through the drive thru of the pharmacy. As we were waiting for my prescriptions Mom pulled out her phone and started filming. "We have Miss Maddie in the back."

"Hi!" Maddie waved and then did the middle finger.

"Maddie!" Mom laughed. "Then there's me, obviously." She filmed herself. "Last but not least, we have little miss zombie." She filmed me.

"I'm not a zombie!" I whined and covered my face.

"Someone's not in the mood." Maddie laughed.

"Shut up!" I cried out because my ear was hurting a lot. "It hurts! Mommy, make the pain go away!" I screamed as I sounded like a little kid.

"Baby.." She stopped filming. "Would cuddles with mommy make the pain go away?" She asked as we pulled up in the driveway of Grandma and Grandpa's. I nodded as she took me out of the car.

DEMI'S POV

"I'm not a zombie!" Alex whined as she covered her face.

"Someone's not in the mood." Maddie laughed from the back.

"Shut up!" She let out a cry. "It hurts! Mommy, make the pain go away!" She screamed as she sounded like a little kid.

"Baby.." I said as I put my phone away. My poor baby girl. "Would cuddles with mommy make the pain go away?" I asked her. She nodded as I got her out of the car. We walked inside as I still had Alex in my arms.

"How is she?" Dallas asked as she saw me. I'm surprised Dallas is up before noon.

"Not great.. but cuddles with mommy will take the pain away. Right, baby?"

"Mhm.." She let out as she was about it to fall asleep. I carried her to our room.

"Come on. Let's change into something more comfortable." I said as I looked through her dresser. Something metal fell out of one of her shirts. I gasped when I saw it was a blade. I would ask her about it now.. but I'll wait till she feels better.. I don't want my baby going down that path again. "I picked out some comfortable clothes, baby."

"Mhm.." She let out again and she didn't move.

"Do I have to dress you myself?" I asked her. She did the same sound. I pulled off her jacket and I saw fresh cuts on her arms. I quickly covered my mouth to stop a sound from escaping. Alex noticed and looked guilty. "It's okay, baby.. we'll talk about this later.." I spoke softly. I helped her get changed into one of my old AC/DC shirts and an old Paramore hoodie I had. I also gave her some black pajama shorts.

"If you get hot, make sure to take the hoodie off." I told her as I got in bed to cuddle with her. I turned on the TV in our room to the ID channel as she fell asleep.