Amber Grimes

Thirteen

Maggie came back into the bathroom with Patricia, a small med kit in her hands as Maggie locked the door behind them. " Amber, I'm not gonna lie. This is going to be painful, but I need to clean the area before I look for any tears in the skin." I nodded my head and grabbed Maggies hand as Patricia put gloves on. I took a deep breath and squeezed Maggies hand as Patricia wiped me down with cleaning alcohol on a constant pad.

Tears were streaming down my face as she sighed, " I see the tear, I'm gonna have to put you under anaesthetic.", " No, do it now." " Amber, I can't do this with you awake.", " I can do it, just give me something to bite on." Maggie gave me a small face cloth to bite down on, holding my hand tight as Patricia began to stitch up my tear. I bit down onto the cloth as tears streamed down my face. " You can do this, Amber, only three stitches left."

I let out small, muffled screams as Patricia started the next stitch. There was a knock on the door, " Who is it?" Maggie asked, " It's your father, I need Patricia downstairs. What's going on in there?". Maggie opened the door and let her father in, closing and locking the door quickly. Hershel froze when he saw the position Patricia and I were in. " What in gods name is going on here?".

" Amber was attacked daddy, she has a tear, and Patricia is stitching her up." " When did this happen? The attack?" Hershel asked. I turned my head away and let out another muffled scream as Patricia finished the last stitch. " That's it, but she needs to be on bed rest for at least twenty-four hours so I can keep an eye on it."

" Amber, I am very sorry this happened to you, but I need to know when this happened, your parents need to be informed." ," No," I cried, dropping the cloth. " They need to worry about Carl, not me." ," I understand that, but you are their daughter. They're gonna want to know that their daughter was attacked."

" It was Shane, but she doesn't want her parents to know, I think she's scared of him." ," This can't be allowed, I'll tell your parents and have him kicked from my property." ," No," I grabbed Hershel's hand, " Please, let me at least wait until Carl is better," I cried. The sweat ran down my forehead, " I don't want them worrying about me until Carl's okay."

Hershel sighed. " Fine, but you are to stay in this house, and that man isn't allowed near you. Do you understand?"I nodded my head." Thank you, Hershel." ," Patricia, make up some pads with cooling gel in them. She has to change them every two hours. It'll help heal her faster. On the count on three, we're gonna pick her up and carry her into the closest bedroom."

On three, they all picked me up and carried me into the bedroom, laying me down and covering me with the blanket while Patricia went to make the cooling pads. " I'll have to tell your parents that you're not well." ," Please just tell them I have a fever." ," Alright, I'll wait until Patricia is done with the cooling pads, so they won't be suspicious."

Once Patricia had given me a pair of fresh underwear with the cooling pad it in. My mom and dad ran into the room. " Amber, are you alright?" Mom touched my face." She's burning up. ", " I'll get her a wet cloth for her head, " Maggie said, leaving the room. " What happened? You were fine when you got here." Mom spoke up, Hershel standing in the room, waiting to hear when Shane had attacked me.

" I don't know, I went on a walk with Shane and suddenly felt really sick." ," You just stay in bed okay, we'll look after you.", " No, go be with Carl. He's the one who needs you right now." " But Amber, " " No, dad, I'll be okay. it's just a fever. " I smiled at them." I'll be okay."

Maggie stayed beside me all day, " I have to go downstairs and make dinner.", " Okay, thank you for staying with me, Maggie.", " Of course, try to get some rest, and I'll wake you with some dinner." She left the room and closed the door behind her. I snuggled into the pillow and closed my eyes to try and get some sleep.

The door to the room opened, and I turned slowly, jumping up and hurting myself when I noticed it was Shane that had walked in. " Ouch," I winced, lying back down as the pain shot through my stomach and private area. " What the hell is happening in here?" Shane asked, " I get told you have a fever, and I'm not allowed to come near you? What did you do?" He spat.

" You hurt me, Shane," I said, taking in a deep breath. " You tore something inside of me when you raped me." Shane grabbed my throat." What did you say? I never raped you." ," Shane let go," I choked, feeling his fingers tighten around me. " Shane, if you don't leave now, then I'll scream," I threatened. " You're gonna threaten me?" He asked, an angry look on his face.

" Show me," He spat, " You said I hurt you, show me." He let me go, I took in a deep breath before pulling the sheets off my legs and slowly pulling down my underwear. Shane's eyes widened at the small amount of blood in my pants. " Patricia had to stitch me up." I cried, pulling my underwear back up. " You've hurt me, Shane. I don't want anything to do with you anymore." " What are you talking about?" Shane asked.

" I don't want to be with you anymore Shane, leave me alone.", " No, no , no, you don't mean that," Shane began to mumble. " Shane, go." ," No, you love me. You need me. " He grabbed my arms." You are all that I want Amber. If I don't have you, then what am I gonna do with myself?" ," That's not my problem, Shane." " Is this because of Glenn? Is that why you're leaving me? So you can get fucked by him?" " No Shane, I just don't want to be with you anymore."

" No, you ain't leaving me!" Shane yelled, grabbing my arm tight, " Do you hear me? You are mine!". " What is going on in here?" Hershel asked, walking into the room. " Just a little argument," Shane smiled at Hershel, " Nothing for you to worry about." ," Amber is my patient, I would appreciate it if you didn't hurt her," Hershel said, gesturing to her hand around my wrist.

" Aren't you meant to be leaving with Otis right now to get supplies for Carl?" " Yes, I just wanted to check Amber was doing okay before I left." Shane turned to me and stroked my cheek." I'll be back soon. We can talk then, okay?" Shane stood up and left the room, tears falling down my face once he was gone. " Are you sure you don't want your parents to know about this?" I nodded " They don't need to know, I'll sort this out myself when Carl is okay."