AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 16
The first time I almost died, I had been nine.
Surprisingly, the blow hadn’t been delivered by Daddy or Mommy, but by a business associate of my father. His name had been Luka, but I would forever refer to him as Evil Bastard.
To EB, I was nothing more than a pawn to use against D.O.D.. I had tried to tell him that I meant nothing to the old fart, that the love he gave me was conditional at best. If, that is, you could even call it love.
That didn’t matter to EB.
I remembered his hand, steady on the gun, as he lowered it towards my stomach. I remembered how I begged for my life, begged for this man to understand that I was innocent in this battle between families.
A battle that I had yet to fully understand.
That didn’t stop the man from pulling the trigger.
For a moment, I had been stunned, unable to fully comprehend what had just happened. Had he really shot me?
My body lurched forward, and my hands instinctively went to my stomach. The fabric of my shirt was stained with blood.
There was so much blood.
* * *
My eyelids fluttered open,but immediately slammed closed again when a bright light blinded me.
Throbbing. My head was throbbing, as if someone was stabbing my brain repeatedly with a rusty knife.
I dared to open my eyes again.
The first thing I saw was the bright, pink cast on my leg. Turning my head, I noted the white bandages on my arm.
What the hell?
Taking in the rest of the room, I realized that I was lying on a small cot, with only a thin blanket wrapped around my waist. I must’ve moved at some point during my sleep. The pungent stench of bleach assaulted my nose. I always hated that particular smell; it reminded me of the frequent beatings I had been forced to endure and the numerous resulting hospital trips.
A hospital.
But not the resort’s hospital. No, I didn’t recognize this room with its opened blinds and assortment of medical tools.
For a moment, I remained motionless, listening to the steady patter of my heartbeat.
I tried to recall how I ended up in this sparsely lit room with its white walls and gray bedding.
Brad had tried to kill me, hadn’t he? Yes, I remembered that vividly. The bastard had wanted to feed me to Shannon! Fury churned in my stomach.
And then what happened?
I vaguely remembered gunshots, and then nothing. What had happened? How had I ended up here?
“I see that you’re awake,” a kind voice said. This voice belonged to a petite older woman with light blond hair and purple scrubs. Her expression appeared friendly enough as she checked my vitals on the screen.
“You seem to be doing better,” she continued, flashing me a smile. She fiddled with something, my IV, before pulling back. “I’m sure you have some questions.”
“Only a few,” I said with heavy sarcasm. She smiled again, undeterred by my bitterness. Maybe she was just one of those people that always smiled, even when the world turned to shit around them.
“The doctor should arrive soon. Fortunately, we were able to operate in time to save that leg of yours.” She nodded towards said leg, propped up by strings hanging from the ceiling. “We were able to stop the infection, and your wounds are healing quite nicely.”
“What happened? What’s going on?” I pressed my palm against my forehead, as if I would somehow be able to conjure memories back into my brain.
