Can't Say No

Chapter Three

The next morning I felt like crap. My head was spinning and I had nausea like no one's business. When a nurse came in with another tray of food, I nearly barfed all over the floor. Instead of doing that, I ran to my bathroom. The nurse seemed to get the message, and hastily took the tray away. Later in the morning, when I could at least sit up without throwing up everything in my stomach, a doctor came in to check up on me. "Kayla?" He asked. I nodded. He sat on the end of my bed, holding a clipboard and a pen. "How're you feeling my darling?" He asked. I shrugged. "Like food is a curse." I said. The doctor laughed. A bit insensitive, as I was telling the truth, but whatever. "Yes, well. That's expected, as you have a head concussion." "I do?!" I felt my head, and on the side was a huge bump. "Yes, you do. And some other bruises on your arms and legs. And a nice black eye. But other than that, you're perfectly fine." I had a black eye too? That's just great. Wonder what people will say when I go back to school... "When will I be able to get out?" I asked. The doctor checked his clipboard. "In a couple days. We have to get you eating again, and we have to find your family." I tilted my head to the side. "Didn't they drop me off here?" I asked. The doctor shook his head. "No, we found you on the steps outside. You had your phone in your pocket, and a bag of possessions by your side. No note, no nothing. Do you have any direct family we can contact?" The thought of my adoptive parents as my direct family made me giggle. "No, only adoptive parents. But if they didn't call, you're not going to find them." The doctor stands up and walks out the door. "We'll see about that." He says as he walks away. Rolling my eyes, I click on my phone and text Ellen. "Hey." I say. Immediately she texts back "Where the hell are you and why haven't you called or texted in two days?!" Two days? That must have been how long I was out. "Sorry, I'm in the hospital." "What?!!!!" The many exclamation points makes her worry all the more humorous. "Yeah, I've apparently been here for two days. You busy?" "Yeah, but I'll try and stop by later. Ttyl." After talking with Ellen, I realized I had nothing to do. Being bed ridden was terrible, because there was nothing to do! I could only lie in bed and listen to my music. Least I had good songs. I was listening to the song 'Break' by Three Days Grace, when I heard something creak. Looking up, I saw Toby sitting in my window pane, hatchets and all. Though this time he was blood free, which was a relief. I doubted I could get out of bed to clean up his mess again. "Sup." I said, taking out my ear buds. He nodded and glanced at my tray of food. "Help yourself." I said, stretching my arms and yawning. I still didn't want to eat, though I had started drinking again. Toby jumped into my room and took an apple. I watched as he took away his mouth mask and took a bite of the apple. He actually looked pretty normal. I still hadn't seen his eyes, but his whole face looked fine. Not disfigured, just plain normal. "What're you looking at?" Oops, I was caught. I lowered my gaze to my phone. "Nothing in particular." I replied, opening up my browser. I checked my school's blog, but nothing important had happened. "You have anything else?" I heard Toby ask. Looking up, I saw he had already finished off the tray. "Sorry, that's all I get till dinner." Toby seemed disappointed. "Why did you come back here?" I questioned. He shrugged and kicked at my bag of clothes. "I got bored, and you're the only one who's not afraid of me. Plus, I was hungry." I laughed, making him jump a little. "Glad I am of assistance." I said, rolling out of bed. I climbed out onto the window pane and onto the ledge. "Wait-" I laugh and hold up a hand. "Easy, murderer savior. I'm just sitting on the ledge. Not gonna jump, or fall." Toby hesitates, then climbs out after me. Now we're sitting side by side on a ledge, three stories up. I look in the direction of the woods, where I would have loved to be. I could ride my bike through the trails, camp out in my old tree house, and just plain be free. Yet here I was, sitting on a ledge next to a murderer. Who didn't seem that bad. Toby sometimes twitched, but who didn't have their own problems? I tuned my hearing into the woods, and I was gone. I could hear deer breathing in the shade, a bird flap over a brook, the trees swaying in the wind. It was all so peaceful, it was amazing I had felt this same way last night. Which reminded me. "Toby... Why did you stutter last night, when now you really don't?" Toby looked away. I might have been mistaken, but I thought I saw a tiny hint of red to his otherwise pale face. "Just how this stupid twitch works." He said gruffly. Taking the hint, I didn't ask anymore on that subject. "Where do you live?" He asks out of the blue. I look around, then point to the seemingly middle of the woods. "My adoptive parents live...there I think. I don't really know." Shrugging, I lean back into the wall. It felt weird, talking to Toby. He seemed normal, but he was also strange. Mysterious. Like a light at then end of a long hallway. Suddenly, I heard the door to my room open. And Toby was gone. Like, disappeared out of thin air gone. The nurse screamed, and I was suddenly hauled back into my room. "Why were you going to jump?!" She screeched, looking me over. Pushing her away, I said "I wasn't going to jump. I was getting some fresh air. The nurse wasn't convinced, but she left the room after a minute. Turns out she was just bringing me a clean pair of clothes. Like I was wearing those. I had my own clothes. I went into the bathroom and changed into a white t-shirt and grey shorts. Toby was still gone when I came back, so I decided to continue listening to my music. "If you can't stand, the way this place is. Take! Yourself! To higher places!" After a minute, I started singing along to the chorus. It was such a good song. I sang as I cleaned up the small little hospital room. "Break! Away from everybody! Break! Away from everything! If you can't stand, the way this place is. Take. Yourself! To higher places!" I smiled as I sang, as I loved the song. I didn't care if I sounded bad, I liked to sing and that was that. The song was just ending when I heard something. It sounded high pitched, and it sent goosebumps down my arms. I removed my ear buds, and I heard it again. A scream. It was terrifying, and I immediately rushed to the window. Far below on the street, I could just make out the body of a woman. Blood was rushing from her side and her neck, and she had gone limp. And taking off the street, was none other than Toby himself. I quickly closed the window and locked it tight, making sure to close the blinds as well. No one was coming in tonight.