The Shattered

Chapter 2: It's official I hate the infirmiry

I opened my eyes to find myself staring at an ugly grey ceiling. I lifted my head to look around, and then promptly put it back down when the world started to go black again. I waited until my skull stopped feeling like it was going to splinter, and then I slowly tried to flip over onto my side. I nearly screamed in pain, and lay still until the sharp stabbing sensation in my stomach went away. I noticed that I was on something soft, and that my head was all wrapped up in a soft cloth. Deciding that trying to look around the room or flip over to a more comfortable position was going to cause me more pain, so I carefully felt down my body to find if anything was broken. I managed to get to my upper thighs and then I had to stop because the pain of trying to sit up was too intense. I lay still for God knows how long, and finally, I heard voices coming from my right.

"She's awake!" a hushed voice exclaimed, and then someone else promptly shushed them.

"Shh! Don't talk too loud or you'll give her a headache!" this voice was much quieter than the first. I suddenly realized that my throat felt like it was sandpaper.

"Water." I croaked, and licked my lips, though the amount of moisture that it had didn't do much to help soothe their cracked surface.

"Baby?" a worried voice asked, and suddenly my mom's face was blocking my view of the ceiling.

"Mom." I managed to whisper. My throat burned when I tried to speak again, so I waited and hoped that they would have water for me soon. True to my hopes, I soon felt something cold pressing into my lips. I opened my mouth, and water flowed down my parched throat, soothing and healing it. All too soon, the water was taken away, and I cried out for more.

"No dear. You'll get sick if you drink any more right now." A kind voice said quietly to me. Suddenly, I remembered what had happened the last time that I was aware.

"Ethan?" I asked, louder than I should have been this time. I even made the mistake of trying to sit up again, which caused more pain, plus someone gently shoved me back into a resting position.

"He's fine. He's been as worried about you as I have." My mom answered, again appearing in my field of vision for the second time.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, suddenly remembering how dark it was in the room. I knew that I must have been out for at least a day, because it had been morning the last time that I was aware, and when I was trying to sit up, I caught a sight of a dark window.

"Three days." A honey toned voice answered, from the direction of the doorway.

"Ethan!" I cried. He really was okay! Even though my mom had told me that, it was nice to know first hand, for myself. I tried to remember seeing him after the snake had sent him flying, but found that everything beyond that point was hazy. His face appeared next to my mom's and he was smiling, I noticed that one of his hands was bandaged, and that he had some rather nasty scrapes and bruises on his face.

"Ethan! You should be in bed! You look terrible!" He put up his hands in mock surrender.

"Hey, I'm not the one that was out cold for three days. You had us all worried! The doctor said that you may be comatose. If it hadn't been for all of that, I would be in bed right now." His eyes crinkled as he smiled, and I found myself smiling back at him, unable to remain even slightly annoyed at him for any amount of time.

"What happened?" I asked mom.

"Well, I heard you scream Ethan's name, and I assumed that you were in trouble. I grabbed my bow and woke up the hunters. We were all out in the forest looking for you. John found your footsteps and we followed those up the path until we heard the snake. Then we split up, killed it, and saved you guys. By that time, Ethan was back on his feet from his fall, but you weren't so lucky. Oh Brianna, I'm so glad that you're safe! One second later and I would have lost you." My mom's eyes welled up with tears.

I scowled playfully at her, and the tears disappeared.

"Aw come on! I was dealing with it just fine without you! And you know that I hate it when you call me Brianna. It's Rinnie." I smiled at her, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Oh my god! Why does everyone keep doing that? That is so not fair!" I scowled and looked up to see Ethan dying of laughter in the corner of the room.

"What's so funny?" I asked, feeling my scowl deepen.

"You're funny, Rin." He replied, practically wiping tears away from

"Aw come on. He can call you Rin, but I can't call you Brianna?" my mom whined.

"Mom, he's been calling me Rin since we met."

"Brianna, I've been calling you Brianna since you were born." I rolled my eyes at her.

"Where's Anna?" I asked. I hadn't missed my sister up until that point, but suddenly, her absence seemed to be staring me in the face.

"She didn't want to see you in pain so she stayed at home." My mom replied, grimacing. If there was any chance of blood, my sister stayed as far away as possible.

We chatted for a few more minutes before the nurses that had brought me water shooed them away and told me to get some more rest.

"You're going to be in bed for a few more days. Try not to move too much or it may make your injuries worse, or you'll have to stay in bed for even longer." The youngest nurse told me. She was about my age with straight brown hair and pretty green eyes. The oldest nurse was watching my face very closely. Suddenly, I realized that she was staring at my eyes. They were a deep shade of purple, and they tended to scare people who hadn't seen me before. When we first got here, none of the other kids would play with me because they were scared of my eyes. I was lonely until Ethan showed up. He thought that my eyes were pretty, and we hit it off pretty good. From then on, we were best friends. Over the years, almost everyone has gotten used to my eyes. Some people, like the oldest nurse though, still hadn't seen me, or noticed my eyes, despite the fact that we had been on this island for ten years. Without much more talking, the two nurses pulled a few more blankets over me and told me to just call if I needed anything. They got up and walked towards the door, but I was asleep before they even opened the door.