At Home

Chapter Twenty Two

"At, there is something I have to tell you." I say, sadness soaking my voice. Before he can respond, a nurse and doctor walk into the room. "Hello Ms. Mayfield. We are just gonna ask you some questions and check you out." The nurse says before turning to AJ. "I'm gonna have to ask you to go wait in the waiting room. I'll let you know when we're done." AJ nods, and stands. He bends to kiss my forehead again, and then walks out. The doctor closes the door, before crossing the room and sitting on the rolling stool next to the bed.

I feel my anxiety spike. I fucking HATE hospitals, and now I'm in here with people I don't know. I can hear the doctor talking, but the voice is muffled. The nurse is shuffling around the room grabbing supplies, and I zone out staring against the wall. The muffled voice gets harder and harder to hear. I hear something start beeping and see a blurry image of the nurse rushing towards me. She is saying something, but I can't hear her. Then the world goes black.

I open my eyes, and blink as the light floods my vision. When my eyes adjust to the light, I look around. Where am I? I hear a familiar voice coming from outside the room I'm in, but can't make out what it's saying. Oh yeah. Emergency Room. Moment's later, AJ is walking in. His eyes grow wide with shock when they meet mine. "You're awake!" He stutters. "Maya! Maya she's awake!" He rushes to my side and grabs my hand. "Hey gorgeous. We were so worried." I stare at his face for a moment. He has worry lines and looks like hell, but he is still so handsome.

"What happened?" I say. Maya bursts through the door and screams "Oh my god Car!" She rushes over and hugs me so tight I feel like I can't breathe. "Uh, My" I barely managed to get out. She keeps her grip tight, but I manage to continue, "I... can't.... breathe." She releases me and stands up, looking down at me. I can tell she's been crying. "S-sorry." She stutters and tears brim in her eyes. "I was so fucking worried about you." The tears spill over and start running down her face. "I'm so sorry My" I let out, tears threatening to spill from my own eye. "Don't EVER do something like that again." She semi-shouts before grabbing a chair off the wall and setting it next to my hospital bed. She sits down and takes my other hand in hers just as a nurse enters the room again.

"Hey Carter. I'm Natalie. I'll be your nurse, how are you feeling now?" It's not the same nurse from earlier and I wonder how long I've been out. "I'm... uh..." is all I manage to get out before the Doctor comes in. "Ms. Mayfield, you're awake." He states, then continues, "You had us worried there for a little bit. It's the same doctor who was in here before. "What happened?" I say in a low voice. "Well, we're pretty sure it was just an anxiety attack, but we're running a few tests just to be sure. We should have the results soon." He says, while looking at something on my chart.

It's then that I notice the IV in my arm. I must have panic in my expression because I hear Natalie's voice, "We drew some blood, and we have you on an IV drip. You were really dehydrated." I raise my eyes to meet her face, and she gives a small smile. The doctors voice meets my ears, "I know this is hard Ms. Mayfield, but I need you to tell me what happened." I turn towards him and the memories of the last couple days flash through my mind like a movie. I take a deep breath to try to calm my nerves, and then I begin to recount the barn fire, and old ranch house. I tell him how my kidnapper Ryan brought me food and water a few times a day and fed Blue too. I tell him about the car, and the watch... everything I can recall. Maya and AJ hold my hands, occasionally giving light reassuring squeezes. Once I'm finished, the doctor thanks me, and Natalie says she'll be back to check on me soon.

Once they leave, I turn to Maya and ask if she would mind taking Blue outside to go potty. "Of course" she says giving my hand a light squeeze before standing up. She walks out of the room, Blue following closely behind with a happily wagging tail. AJ raises my hand to his lips and kisses it. I turn back to him, and smile weakly. He notices, and his face looks scared. "What's wrong Car?" He says, concern in his voice. I take a shaky breath trying to figure out the best way to tell him his trusted friend is my kidnapper. Just rip off the band-aid. "It was Ryan." I blurt out. AJ looks at me in shock for a moment, before shaking his head no. "I'm sorry." I say quietly, dropping my eyes to the sheet covering my body.