My Life in Rosewood

Chapter Forty-Nine

I'm in and out of consciousness for a while during the ride to get me to the hospital, hearing Sam's voice echoing in my ears as he tries to keep me from falling asleep. When the ambulance stops I hear the sound of the doors flying open, a voice of a woman asking what they have.

"Female, 16, kidnapped and beaten." Sam tells her as he helps wheel me into the hospital, my good eye being forced open as a light shines in it and I blink.

"What's your name, sweetie?" The female doctor asks as she tries to check the other but I wince and she realizes it's swollen shut.

"Jessie...Brant." I say weakly, seeing the bright lights of the hospital shine down at me and I remember this from when I was rushed in after the car accident.

"Jessie, that's a pretty name." She tells me, "I'm Dr. Garcia and I'm going to help you, okay?"

I blink slowly again, my head swimming a little but I manage to say, "Okay."

Once I'm placed onto a hospital bed she searches me for injuries, asking me more questions to make sure there isn't any memory loss. When she gets to my stomach and presses down on both sets of my ribs I yell out in agony and I jerk a little from the pain. She apologizes as I get held down by her staff and then she has me follow the flashlight and her finger, which I do with very little effort. She seems satisfied but then says, "Get her a head and body CT to make sure there's no internal bleeding and then stitches for the deep cut on her cheek." She tells one of her assistants as she places a strip of medical tape onto it for the moment. "I'll see you when you're out. Don't fall asleep."

I wish everyone would stop telling me that, because it's easier said than done obviously from how tired and weak I am. But I don't argue as I'm put into a wheelchair now and rolled away from the trauma center to be taken to another room as they set me onto a table, strap me in a bit and then the table moves into the machine to scan my brain and body for internal injuries. It feels like forever I'm in here, the sound loud and making my head throb into a headache.

When that is over they check to make sure my nose isn't in serious shape as well. But when they finish checking me I'm told that everything came out fine, just a small concussion and bruising on my ribs and nose, but nothing more severe. So I'm placed into the wheelchair again and they bring me to a private room to fix me up and watch me overnight.

I'm pretty sure I didn't last five minutes into being treated for the stitches and ice to my nose, because I'm positive that I passed out almost instantly after being put onto the bed to the room. So much for staying awake.

---

"Sweetie." I hear the voice come to my ears, a hand pressed to my head and seems to be rubbing it gently. "Jessie, honey, I'm right here."

I take a soft breath, my vision foggy as I open what I realize is one eye and glasses not on. A white ceiling comes into view, the lights hurt a little as I put a hand up to block it before my head turns to the voice when my name is called again. There's some tubes connected to the arm that I used to shield my eyes, but I smile weakly when I see a blurry figure sitting beside me and forget all about it. "Aunt Ella." I feel the heat of my breath swarm me, noticing an oxygen mask on and my voice is slightly muffled out but audible.

She smiles back at me, her eyes a little bloodshot from what I assume had been crying as she leans in and kisses my forehead. "Hi, babygirl."

Slowly my brain catches up with the memories when I shift a little and feel my ribs rocket in pain. I wince a little bit, taking a hard breath and groan. I realize I'm in the hospital, I was hoping that had all been a dream.

"Don't do too much at once, sweetheart. The doctor says you need to keep still. There's a lot of bruising so you'll be sore for a while."

I blink slowly at her and half smile, "Do I at least look badass?"