Fight to Forget (Sunstreaker x OC)

2

Somewhere I Belong - Linkin Park

☆☆☆

  Melissa woke up to hands gripping her forearms.

  Awareness instantly returned as sickening panic took over every thought. Instinct and years of training forced her to twist her body away from her captor, aiming a kick at whatever tried to follow her movements. She fell to the ground beside her bed with a crash, rolling blindly onto her stomach and propelling herself to her feet with her fists raised. It took a second of blinking before her vision cleared, and when it did, her stomach instantly dropped.

  Mia, the girl she was sharing a room with, was standing by the door, her hands over her mouth in shock and tears steaming down her face. Mrs. Hendrich stood beside her in her nightgown with her arms around the young girl's shoulders, her brows furrowed in worry and her grey-streaked brown hair a mess. Behind her were some of the other children Melissa had only recently met, all with wide, frightened eyes focused on her. Last and worst of all was the crumpled, groaning dark-haired figure on her bed, one of the oldest boys still staying at Mrs. Hendrich's, if she had to guess. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. She'd had another nightmare, Mia had called for help, and Melissa had kneed the boy when he'd tried to wake her.

  Yeah, she was some fucking hero.

  "I'm so sorry," she said to no one in particular, her voice hoarse. She glanced away from their petrified faces to the clock. 0300 hours. No way was she going to be able to go back to sleep now, nor should she. This just proved that she had to be out of the house sooner rather then later. She was too dangerous. She was just lucky she hadn't pulled the gun out from under her pillow.

  The boy on the bed groaned again, and she shuffled forward slowly, wincing when the younger girls at the door jumped back. She caught Mrs. Hendrich's eye, asking her silently for her permission, then gently reached for the boy's arm when the woman nodded.

  "Hey," she tried to whisper softly, but it came out as more of a grunt. She cleared her throat and tried again, grasping his arm gently and pulling him up as best as she could from her side of the bed. He protested, but she made him sit up anyways, then looked at Mrs. Hendrich and the girls in the door. "I've got basic first aid training, ma'am. I should verify if he needs medical attention."

  Melissa hoped that her eyes said what she really meant without her needing to say it aloud. What did I do?

  Mrs. Hendrich nodded to her once, her eyes sad, and turned to usher the girls out of the room before shutting the door and turning to face her again. Melissa was glad she stayed, and hoped the woman could see that. She didn't want to be left alone with what she'd done right now.

  What she had done could have been a lot worse. Might still be, if she'd managed to cause permanent damage. Because she was a fucking basket case.

  She turned to face the boy again, who was sitting on the edge of the bed looking extremely uncomfortable, and not just because he'd been hurt. Melissa almost snorted at his wary look, but her own stomach was churning and she felt sick with sudden guilt and the leftover adrenaline of fear. She approached him slowly, hands held up, and sat on the bed beside him carefully.

  "I'm sorry, but I forget your name, son," she said quietly, grabbing his wrist to check his pulse as she fell back into the far more comfortable role of friendly-but-distant soldier. She missed that role. Turns out, she sucked at being a civilian. What a shock.

  The boy tried and failed to clear his throat a few times. "Jacob," he managed finally, and she nodded encouragingly. Pulse, as normal as could be expected. "Y-you're no-not gonna... examine me, are you?"