Alive | h.s

five

My eyelids lazily hang low when i open them, I'm sitting down but i can't feel my arms, are they even there? I wake up faster once i realize i can't find my arms. I look up, they're hanging behind my head, my hands are tied. Oh no. This can't be happening, this is another nightmare, i'll just fall asleep again, yeah.

What's going on? The room is way too dark for me to see anything going on, I can't hear anything either. everything feels numb, my breathing is hitched, and my throat is dry. I begin to see light coming from beneath a door, why are my wrists tied up? I'm scared. I don't know where i am or what they're going to do to me, i manage to slightly scream out before someone flicks the light on and they quickly cover my mouth. It's not Harry. It's not even Calum.  It's a guard I don't remember him either. I hear him grunt as he pulls me to stand up, my legs are still quite shaky. He pushed me to face the wall, he leaves for a minute. I hear a hard shift of a door closing, it clicks so I know it's locked. I let out a small, painful squeak when I feel something sharp and hard slash my shoulder blade, it feels like someone's hitting me with so,etching hard but not a knife? I turn my head to see the guard holding a long stick-like thing, a whip?, or what looks like one. My legs feel heavy and I'm hit again, I arch my back and grit my teeth as he hits me over and over. The pain is indescribable, it feels so rough and uncomfortable, I feel the cuts opening each time he strikes. I bruise easily so I'm probably black and blue in lots of places. I yelp once more and my knees completely give out, I'm curled in a ball on the cold tile floor, more footsteps from a different room join to this room and my arms are freed, they're blistered and cut around my wrists though. Gentle arms lift me up on to a hospital bed which takes me out of the horrid place I was just in, I'm given a needle in my neck and I think they're taking me to get stitches and more medication for the pain, I'm put to sleep again. Once I'm back in my usual room, sleep comes over me quickly and I'm left to heal.

I arise to the sound of my door closing, I look over towards the small clock on the wall, it's eleven am, six new pills are on my nightstand, I sit up, groaning in agony as my back stings like hell. It's so painful to move, I'm frozen in my position until I realize I need to get up and that I'm going to be late for group therapy if I don't get out of bed now.
Harry said it would never happen to me. I thought this was a safe place for me. I drag my legs across the bed to meet the cold floor. I realize how hungry I actually am and it brings my motivation to get up out of my bed higher. I quickly try to get dressed without tearing the stitches, it's hard but I manage somehow, I down the pills with a plastic warm water bottle and make my way to the cafeteria for lunch, it's twelve by now. After wincing after almost every step, I make it in time. I see Calum in the corner of the cafeteria, he's eating a sandwich with what looks like a salad on the side. I join the lineup, getting a turkey sandwhich as well as the salad, grabbing a water bottle too, then I make my way to Calum. He sees me from across the room and notices me struggling so he gets up to help me, carrying my tray over to where he was sitting.
"Uh, are you alright?" He asks from the other side of the table.
I quickly force a smile and nod a bit rapidly. I reach to the dry sandwich and bite into it, it's not terrible but food is really amazing right now.
The same girl who shoved me in therapy the other day walks behind me and slams her hip into my back, I fall forward and bang my cheek on the hard plastic seat before landing ,tears quickly flood my vision and I'm on the ground in pain once again, she stares down and just laughs. "She doesn't even talk, she deserves pain." She sneers.
Calum scrambles up from his seat to help me get up.
"Is it your back?" He mutters, full of worry in his voice. "M-may I see?" He asks. I nod.
We move over behind a table out of sight as he lifts up the back of my long sleeved, dark blue shirt.
I hear him inhale a deep breath and he backs away slightly, coming back he gently touches around a few cuts, he pulls down my shirt, putting his arms around me, he whispers. "It's going to be alright."
I feel safe with him at this moment. I also feel bad for taking up his time. We get up, go to our table and finish our meals in silence until I speak up.
"T-thank you, a lot. I'm sorry." I mumble.
He takes my hand, "It's no trouble, don't be afraid to ask for help from me, it's okay."
I smile at him, genuinely this time.
Being around him made me forget my pain, even if it was just two minutes.