KILL THIS LOVE | JENLISA

Chapter 128

A faint but pungent scent of chemicals entered Jennie's nostrils, similar to that of bleach or antiseptic. Her eyelids slowly pried themselves open, still heavy, slipping in and out of perception. But bit by bit as her vision came to be, the sight of a bright white ceiling soon became apparent to her. Suddenly, she was hyper-aware of every little sound in her surroundings; footsteps, metallic clinks, chattering and a soft but unceasing beep ringing right beside her.

Jennie craned her neck to the side, wincing at how strenuous the movement felt, perplexed as she saw a monitor in the periphery - the source of the regulated beeps. Just beyond it, a mint coloured curtain that kept her separated from the rest of the space. And it was just like that, Jennie knew that she was in a hospital.

She tried to shift her chest to draw her body up, but she found herself restricted by something. As soon as she glanced down her torso, her breath caught in her throat. There were thin little translucent tubes stuck onto her arms. It wasn't the presence of the ducts itself that sent the first wave of chilling fear into her brain, but the realisation that those tubes were connected to her skin with the help of a fine needle.

Small droplets of sweat instantly collected on her forehead as an overwhelming feeling of nausea took over her body, arms slightly trembling as she gazed at the needle. Suddenly, she wasn't in the hospital anymore.

She was back in her childhood home. She was back in front of the mirror, watching her mother brush her frizzy but long locks vainly. Then she was in her room, playing patty cake with her little sister, nectarine giggles going off in the air.

Then she was hiding behind the staircase with Ella, both wide-eyed, as they watched their mother with a strange man. The stranger was inhaling lines of a white powder from the kitchen table, while her mother injected something into her arm. And finally, she was back to that night. She was gazing down at Ella who wouldn't move or open her bright blue eyes, her angelic blonde hair stained red with the blood trickling out of her ears.

A flash of her mother lying unmoving on the floor with a syringe on her arm clouded her eyes for a millisecond, before suddenly it all stopped. Jennie stared at the little needle unfeelingly, lying still in the bed, as fright slowly but rapidly built up in her veins.

And it was precisely then that the thin line between fear and insanity started fading away. A loud, ear-splitting shriek winded out of her throat. She reached for the ducts, attempting to yank it out of her skin maniacally.

As they didn't budge, more desperate screams left her mouth as she thrashed around in the bed, trying to pull it out of her. She didn't hear the curtains being drawn back, as a nurse rushed in towards her bed. She screamed hysterically, "Get it off! Get it off! Get it out of me!"

She felt a hand hold her down by the shoulder staunchly, but she wouldn't stop flailing around like a rabid dog. She kept repeating the same phrase over and over again, her senses spiralling out of control, not realizing that more people were gathering around her.

The next two minutes were a complete blur, but Jennie soon felt her voice giving away. Her energy was diminishing and drowsiness was invading her brain again.

It was as she slowly ceased her vehement yelling, that she could hear just how loud and acute the beeping from the monitor had gotten.

She closed her eyes, an achromatic image enrapturing Ella's dulcet smile, the last thing she saw.