They Just Don't Know You

Chapter 36

Jade's POV

Friday, October 11

I want to open my eyes, but the light is too bright and painful. It's quiet except for a soft beeping sound, and the air smells faintly of bleach. I try to raise one hand to the agony that's my head, but it won't move properly. Something's stuck in it, or to it.

"Can you hear me?" asks a low voice. A cool, dry hand presses against my cheek. "Jade? Can you hear me?"

I try to say yes, but it comes out more like a groan. My throat hurts almost as much as my head. 

"I'm sorry. Don't talk." The hand leaves my face and curls around mine. "Squeeze if you understand me." I do, weakly, and something wet drips on my arm. "Thank God. You'll be alright. They've used hyperbaric oxygen on you and...Well, I guess the details don't matter right now, but things look good. You look good. Oh, my poor girl."

My arm is getting wetter. I crack my eyes open a slit and see the faint outline of a room. Walls and a ceiling, blending into one another with clean white lines, lit by the pale blue glow of fluorescent lighting. A grey head is bent in front of me, framed by shaking shoulders. "How?" I ask, but it doesn't sound like a word. My throat is as dry and rough as sandpaper. I try to swallow, but it's impossible without saliva. "How?" I rasp again. It's still unintelligible, even to my own ears, but my Grandmother seems to understand.

"Your brother saved you," she says.

I feel like Norma's character in The Defender. That does not compute. How did Karl wind up in the Pinnock's basement? But before I can ask another question, everything fades again.

----------

The next time I wake, pale sunlight is streaming into the room. I try to sit up, until a figure in a nurses attire covered with cartoon boats gently forces me back down. "Not yet," a familiar voice says.

I blink until Holly Robinson's face comes into focus. I want to talk to her, but my throat is on fire. "I'm thirsty," I croak.

"I'll bet," she says sympathetically. "Just a few sips of water for now though, okay?" She raises my head and puts a plastic cup to my lips. I drink greedily until she pulls it away. "Let's see how you do with that before you have any more."

I'd protest, but my stomach is already rolling. At least it's a little easier to talk now though. "Perrie?" I manage.

She places a comforting hand on my arm. "In a room down the hall. She'll be alright. And your Mother is on her way."

"Norma? But she's not supposed to leave Hamilton House."

"Oh, honey. Nobody cares about that right now."

Everything about me feels as dry as dust, so it's surprising when tears start rolling down my cheeks. Holly perches on the side of my bed and snakes her arms around me, folding me into a hug. My fingers curl on to her scrubs and clutch tight, pulling her closer. "I'm sorry," I rasp. "I'm so sorry about everything. Is Mr Pinnock..." I trail off as my stomach lurches and I gag.

Holly raises me into more of a sitting position. "Throw up if you need to," she says soothingly. "Right here is fine." But the moment passes, leaving me exhausted and coated in clammy sweat. I don't say anything else for a long while, concentrating on getting my breathing under control.

When I finally do, I ask again. "Where is he?"

Holly's voice is pure ice. "John's in jail, where he belongs."