Are You Afraid of Musicals?

Chapter 7.8(2): Girlfriend

Dani's pov:

My parents.

They walk in without even glancing at me, my mom talking to the doctor with a tense and angry tone that makes me feel like I'm 10 years old again even when it's not directed at me, sounding exactly how it used to sound when someone was going to pay for something.

The doctor beside her is trying to explain something, calmly but almost... pleadingly? I'm not sure, I only catch a few words, dangerous, weak, but I'm not able to process their full conversation as I watch how my dad trails behind them, silent but with his eyes shifting between them.

I can catch the worry in his face, the guilt, but before I can even try to wonder what's happening, someone else enters the room.

A nurse walks in looking straight in my direction, her eyes full of something that looks like hope that's almost completely being swallowed by worry until her eyes lock with mine.

Because the moment she realizes that I'm awake? Her whole demeanor changes.

Her eyes light up at the realization and something that seems like relief completely takes over her expression as she smiles at me to then start walking towards my bed.

She looks at me like she knows me...

And I don't, at least I don't think I do, but there's something about her... about the way she looks at me with such warmth, about the way her smile is not the practiced one nurses usually give you... no, it's different.

It's real, tender, familiar in a way I can't explain... like I've seen it before.

But I don't have time to finish my thoughts as she walks towards me quickly, careful but certain, glancing at the machines by my bed before sitting down in the chair Gina was in before.

-Hey, sweetheart... Welcome back.- She says softly, her voice low but so full of warmth and tenderness that my brain struggles to realize that she's talking to me.

But she is, and she's smiling, and she seems happy to see me, and her words... I don't know, everything feels so familiar about her, I feel like I've seen that smile before, like I've heard those words before. I feel like I'm staring at a puzzle that's only missing one piece, but before I can put it on it's place, the world blinds me.

The lights come on all at once, too bright, too sudden, making my vision explode into white as I flinch and shut my eyes tight. The sudden movement makes pain shoot through my body once again, my chest, my shoulder, my arm... all burning and screaming and making my breath catch for a moment.

I can feel movement beside me again, hear a quick shuffle, the nurse's voice low but rushed as the lights seem to be dimmed again, but the damage is already done.

It's too late to stop the way the light throws me backwards into somewhere else entirely, the way my head spins and my eyes sting, and by the time I open them again, everyone's looking at me.

The doctor, my dad... but the only thing I can see is Mother's sharp gaze on me, looking at me up and down with such coldness that I can almost feel it in the air, making a chill run through my body.

Because she's looking at me with disgust, with anger, almost... offended? And I don't know why.

I don't know why...

And that's terrifying.

Because me not knowing what I had done wrong never stopped the punishment, it only made it worse.

So I try to think, I try to understand what should I be apologizing for, but only trying to think about it makes my head hurt, not the kind of pain that comes from the light anymore, no... the kind that comes from memory.