Issues [Frollie]

Chapter 3

“I’m fine, really,” Mollie said for the fifth time, shaking her head in bemusement as the doctor continued checking her vital signs and probing at the wicked bruises that had purpled the skin around her temples. The wound itself was buried far beneath her hairline, but the damage had spread out far beyond it to blacken the edges of her face. Despite that, the girl was smiling up at Doctor Masen, whose eyes had yet to lose the incredulous light they had gained when Mollie had ‘miraculously’ woken up from her coma.

Frankie had stayed by her side the entire time, long after she should have gone home, and though the circles around her eyes were as dark as Mollie’s bruises, she was smiling more widely than she could ever remember doing. Sarah was a picture of beaming happiness, continually touching Mollie’s arm and hugging her like she couldn’t believe the luck she had in having her son returned to her. All of the girls had bounced around the room ecstatically once she awoke, shouting and screaming and crying with joy until they were called out by the staff for making too much of a racket.

However, they were shuffled out of the room much sooner than anyone was happy with. The nurse talked about ‘letting Mollie get her rest’ and of ‘you can see her tomorrow’ but it had little effect on those visitors while Mollie was blinking her wide blue eyes and smiling weakly at them all. Sarah shed a few tears as she left, kissing her daughter warmly on the top of her head and holding her hands tightly while she whispered her goodbyes and admonishments for making her worry so much. Mollie apologised very contritely for what she’d done and promised not to do it again; she even managed to brighten the room while she lay in a hospital bed. Soon enough the hospital room had been emptied – or so it seemed.

Mollie craned her neck as she watched the nurse leave. She paused at the door, raising an eyebrow at her, and she stayed there until she leant back against the pillows, ostensibly settling in to get a good night’s sleep. Mollie let her eyes close. Her head slumped, and the nurse shut the door behind her with a quick, satisfied nod.

A few seconds passed, and then Mollie’s voice sounded in the dim room. “Frankie,” she hissed. “It’s clear – you can come out.”

Frankie paused a few moments to fish out her mobile before she remembered that she had turned it off when she’d come into the hospital. Seeing no other alternative, she flicked on the bathroom light and left the door a just a tiny bit ajar to let a sliver of light illuminate the darkened hospital room. The fluorescent brightness stung her tired eyes.

“Frankie?”

“I’m coming,” she murmured, and crept out of the bathroom toward her best friend. Mollie was smiling again as she made her way over, and the shadows cast over her face hid most of the damage that had been done to her. Now, but for the small visible bump in her hairline, the girl hardly looked different than she normally did. The light blue and white of the hospital gown made her tan more noticeable in comparison, and even in the dim light she sat in, Mollie absolutely shone with health. No one would have guessed that she had just – just – woken up out of a coma, such was her glow.

“Don’t trip on the cords,” Mollie whispered hastily, a laugh in her voice as she watched Frankie pick her way over the floor to the bed. “I don’t want you setting off an alarm or something because they think you’ve killed me.”

“Shh,” Frankie replied, biting her lip to keep from cracking up laughing. She was feeling a bit slap happy now, and her mind felt disconnected from her body as she carefully walked the tiled floor like it was an obstacle course. “That’s not funny.”