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Chapter 21
Lilah
Beep. Beep. Beep.What is that noise?Where am I?I try to open my eyes, but they’re heavy. A bright, yellow light seeps through, though the effort to keep my eyes open is too great, so I shut them again.
There’s a dull pain across my entire face, then I remember why.Where is he? How am I alive?
My stomach tumbles around like a dryer and I suppress the need to vomit. I reach for my belly but a sharp prickling in the crook of my elbow stops me.
“Ms. McDaniels, welcome back. I’m Katie your nurse.” Her voice is low, like she’s afraid anything louder would scare me.
Did she say nurse? I got away? Did the man bring me here?The last memory I have is of his voice. He must’ve rescued me.
“Let me dim the overhead lights for you.” The light thumping of her shoes moves further away, then the room gets darker. “Okay, that should be better. How are you feeling? Any pain?” I bat my eyes but only one flutters open. A short, red headed woman stands at the right side of my bed.
“Medicine,” I mutter, my voice sounding hoarse like I’ve caught a bout of the flu. Another wave of nausea hits me and my stomach rolls. “Nauseated.”
“Okay, let me page your doctor because I can’t give you anything without her permission. I’ll be right back.” I close my eyes, hoping it calms my stomach, but it doesn’t. As I take a deep breath, my nostrils flare at the strong stench of antiseptic and Pine-Sol, which doesn’t help the nausea at all.
I try to distract myself by focusing on the intercom calling out codes I don’t understand, and the clacking of a keyboard somewhere outside of my room.
There’s a squeaking of shoes growing closer and closer. Turning my head toward the door, I open my eyes and find the nurse with a tall woman in a white coat holding a bright green folder. She pulls her brows together in concentration, her lips forming a sympathetic smile.
“Hi there, I’m Dr. Martinez, I heard you’re not feeling so well.” I nod.
“That’s to be expected. We’ll give you a little Zofran in your IV now, and you can rest some more.”
“Wait,” I beg. My brain is cloudy, yet I have so many questions, but only one really matters to me right now.
“How bad?”
She clears her throat. “I don’t want to overwhelm you with details now, but I want you to know you’re okay. Your nose was fractured but we fixed it, and your left eye is swollen. But right now, all I need you to worry about is resting and healing. We’ll talk more when you feel a little better, and I promise I will answer any questions you have, okay?”
I squeeze my hands into tight fists as my chin trembles, feeling my walls collapsing around me, the ones barely holding me together, the ones blocking out everything he did to me. “Say it—say it again. Please say I’m okay.” Tears rise up, drifting down my cheeks leaving a chill behind.
She moves closer and clasps my hand into hers. “You’re okay. You survived. You’re a warrior, remember that.” I push my head back against the bed and sob, breath ragged, gasping for life. She squeezes my hand, and doesn’t let go, not until every tear is dry, not even as I fall asleep.
* * *
I wake up to the steady beeping reminding me I’m still in the hospital. They must all know by now, probably here worried sick. I wish they didn’t have to see me this way, it’s probably a scary sight.
I feel around for the nurse call system and press my thumb against the button. A moment later, Katie arrives. “Hey, how are you feeling now?”
“I feel much better. May I have some water? My throat feels dry.”
“Of course. I’ll go get you some and page the doctor, letting her know you’re awake.”
I glance at the clock on the wall straight ahead.Six in the morning? How long have I been here?Katie returns with a cup in hand and walks over to me. “I’m going to put your bed in a sitting position first.”
“Okay.” The bed buzzes as my head moves up. When she’s satisfied, she hands me the cup, and after I drink the entire thing in a matter of seconds, she gets me another one.
Just as I finish, the doctor walks in. “I’m so glad you’re feeling better.”
I nod. “Is my mom here?”
“Yes, she’s right outside with a few others. They’ve been here the whole time. You have an army of support waiting for you when you’re ready.”
I take a deep breath. “My mom must be so angry with me. She didn’t know. She didn’t know what he was doing to me.” My lip trembles imagining how she felt when she first found out what happened.
