Eyes Open

Chapter 1: Darkness

Chapter One

It's pitched black outside. Only the street lights reflect off of the car windows. I stare into the oncoming lights that pass by us on the other side of the road. I listen to my mom and dad talk softly in the front seat, hearing them talk about what their plans are for the week. I look at my dad peak back at me from the drivers seat and I smile at him. He then turns back to the face the road taking in a gasp as my mother let out a scream.

~~~

I wake, staring into the white lights that hover above me. I hear talking around me, hearing it echo off of the walls in the room. I can't move. I don't want to move. My head feels like I'm spinning, and I feel numbness and pain behind my left eye. I can't move my fingers, it's like a dream where when you want to hit something, it feels like you're going through Jell-o. I jerk as something touches me, it's warm and I look down to see it, a woman in a blue nurses shirt stood at the end of my bed holding my foot and poking me with something. As she pricked me, my foot twitched back. I watched and giggled to myself as she done it once more.

"Hi Molly, I'm your nurse, April. Now that you're awake I can tell you a bit about what happened."

I nod.

"So you were in an on-coming car accident and the result to that has left you in minor condition, and your parents in critical condition. Also the driver didn't make it out of the wreckage alive. Now you were brought here to the hospital and you've only been here for almost a whole day." She lowers her face to mine, and half smiles.

"Overall, you're diagnostics have revealed that you have a concussion, a broken wrist and due to your concussion, you might have short memory loss. We'll see how your progress grows before you're released from emergency care." She smiles fully and turns to check on the monitors.

April then turns back with a flashlight in her hand and shines it into my eyes. God that burns! I scream in my head feeling the pain from my injury. And I feel my eyes start to roll to the back of my head and I'm back into the darkness.

~~~

I blink. I blink at the bright light hitting my left eye. I try to look away from the light but I cannot. The light follows my eyes. And I jerk up from the pillows in the hospital bed.

"You're awake, good!" Another nurse flicks off the flashlight.

"I guess so," I say dryly and confused.

This is definitely not me. I turn to the nurse, astonished at my reaction towards myself.

"Short term, there lovely. You may be confused for a minute or two but you'll return back to normal." She shrugs, "Just give yourself time, and in a few minutes I'll let in some visitors that have been waiting for you."

"Alright," I cough out.

In five minutes time I start to come around and take deep breaths. The nurse peaks her head in and lets in a few other people that I don't know. There is a small child there and he's about the age of five. The woman standing behind him holds a clipboard and is wearing a suit. She approaches me with confidence and speaks in a mature tone.

"Hello Molly," She straightens her back. "Supposedly you're coming with me back to the foster home. I have been told that your parents did not make it out of recovery alive. And I would like to apologize for your loss."

I sit there frozen, staring into her cold eyes. I then move my eyes slowly to the nurse that is still standing in the room.

"You didn't tell me.." I quietly speak in anger.

"Molly, it was too soon!" She stands guarded by my anger.

"It was not!" I shoot up from the bed, having the chords from the machines tug from my arms and hold me in place. "Don't you dare! It was not, I should of been told!" I stop, grabbing my head in pain.

"I'm sorry, but.."

"But?" I glare through my fingers.

I sit on the bed staring up at the woman who still grips onto her clipboard.

"Check me out then, I'm done with this place."

The woman then turns to leave the room letting the nurse make sure that I am okay to be released. The little boy that was with her stands by the chair and I look at him, and twitch a smile. He then stares down blushing and smiling behind his brown hair.

~~~

"Molly, are you ready? We can pick up more clothes on the way to the home. Just tell me your sizes and I'll pick them up."

"Okay, I'm small in shirts and a size seven in pants."

"We will stop by the clothing store and pick out something for you." She then turns and exits the room.

The little boy follows after her and then stops at the door, holding his hand out for me. I take his small hand and he pulls me out of the door and to the elevator that the woman has been waiting in. He pulls me harder and we start jogging down the halls running into the elevator. As the doors close behind us the woman turns to me.

"I forgot, my name's Heather. Nice to meet you. And I'm glad to introduce you to Sam." She looks down and smiles at him. "He's a bit shy, he's coming into our care also, and I think you two would get along!"

Sam squeezes my hand. And I squeeze back. Then the elevator doors opened up to the parking lot. As Sam and I slowly followed behind Heather, we eventually find the car and we all jump into the cab. My hospital gown wrapping around me and I awkwardly stare out of the window. We all sit in silence and drove about the town finding a clothing store.

~~~

"Find something you like?" Heather asks.

"Not yet," I mumble. "Wait, stop. That's the place." I point out the window towards the outlet called Garage.

"Okay, let's park and go in."

When we pull over, we walk into the store. Heather picks out jeans, shirts and a black jacket. I try them on and pick out another few pairs of clothing. We pay and then crawl back into the car. Driving down the highway, I watch as we pass each lane. Watching the on coming traffic in the left lanes. I stare at the road and see headlights swerve over into our lane and speeding closer to the car, as the dark red vehicle gets closer to us in the darkness. I grip onto my seat belt and shut my eyes. Hoping for the worst. I wait for it to hit us. I lean back into my seat and grip tighter on the belt.

I jump forward to the gripping on my right arm. I gasp for breath, leaning forwards and coughing and blinking away the tears that fall down my face. I still feel the sensation on my arm.

I blink over to Sam holding onto my arm. "What?" I breath.

"Flash back.." He trails off, taking a hold of my hand.

I sit back, ringing his calming tone in my ears. Repeating what he said over and over, until I realized that the car was stopped. Heather was staring at me through the rear view mirror. I looked through the windshield at the foster home. Old Oaks Orphanage. It read. I sat up in my seat grabbing my bag of clothing and hearing the car door swing open, welcoming me to my new home. I grab the back of my gown and walk towards the front steps. And the dark wood doors swing open to a bunch of loud children surrounding me. Heather then grabs my shoulders and leads me up to my room.

"Go get changed, there is a set of pajamas and underwear for you in the top drawer, we have a big day tomorrow Molly. Get some rest." She then creaks my bedroom door shut and I prepare for bed.

Having my thoughts rush through my head, I lay there and fall asleep, going back into the darkness.