The beeping was driving her crazy. It was a constant, not very loud, but absolutely annoying noise and she wanted it to stop. “I think she’s waking up.” At the sound of his voice Emily forced herself to open her eyes. “Hey sleepyhead,” Mick smiled at her from a chair beside the bed.
“What happened?” She asked, trying to think back to what had caused her to wind up here.
“What do you remember?” Mick asked. The doctors had mentioned possibly memory loss, and he wanted to make that didn’t happen.
“Um… We were at my house…” she broke off for a second as everything came back. “Oh my God, my dad…where is he?”
“He’s not going to hurt you ever again,” Mick promised. “How do you feel?”
“Sore, but I’m okay.”
Mick’s mother entered the room, followed closely by little Maddie and a doctor. “Hello Ms. White, I’m Doctor Thomas how are you doing?”
“I’m okay,” she answered as the doctor began to check her vitals.
“Do you remember what happened?”
Wow, I feel like I’ve had this conversation before, Emily thought. “My dad…” she trailed off, not wanting to say what everyone already knew. “Last thing I remember is a cop coming back into the house, and then I woke up here.”
Doctor Thomas nodded. “We believe you had a panic attack, combined with the minor trauma you received to the back of the head.” Until then Emily hadn’t noticed the pain emanating from the back of her skull. “When you arrived doctors decided it was best to keep you unconscious until we learned the extent of your injuries. Upon further tests we learned that it wasn’t too serious and stopped the medication that was leaving you out so we could see how you were. That being said, are there any spots in your memory that seem blank? Anything you think you should remember but just can’t?”
Emily shook her head. “Sometimes I wish I could forget,” she said quietly and the room smiled at her sympathetically.
“Any dizziness, confusion, or excessive pain?”
“No, it hurts a little but it’s tolerable.”
Thomas looked over his clipboard before looking back up and smiling. “Well, you seem to be doing just fine, a nurse will probably come in in a few hours to check on you. You’re lucky to have a family that cares so much about you.” With that the doctor left.
Family. Sitting there with possible brain injury, Emily felt loved. These people had waited for her, anticipating her waking so they would know if she was okay. Looking around she could see the relieved faces, and the tears streaming down Maddie’s face as she took the doctor’s place beside her bed. Her dark hair was up in two messy pigtails, water spots on her pick sleeve from where she’d wiped her eyes. “Hey Maddie, what’s wrong?”
“She was really worried about you,” Mick answered. “When she learned you were gonna be okay her words were, ‘I’m really glad she’s okay, I would have been mad at her if she wasn’t.’”
The whole room chuckled except for the little girl who’d climbed a chair so she could hug the sister she’d never had and Emily hugged her back. “Hey, I’m okay Maddie, you don’t have to cry.”
“I love you Emily,” the girl said, and Emily’s heart swelled. Besides Mick she had never heard those words aimed at her. Who knew four small words from the mouth of a small girl could have such a big impact?
Mick came up behind his sister and lowered her to the floor so he could see Emily. “And so do I,” he smiled, and kissed her softly.
“I love you both,” Emily answered.
* * *
A couple days Emily was at Mick’s house, lying in bed. The Kingsley’s had insister she stay with them, at least until she was feeling better. Unable to decline their offer she’d asked Mick to grab some of her things and bring them to the house. They were now sitting in the living room watching TV, and for the first time in a long time Emily was completely at ease.
