Don't look back

Chapter sixteen

I'm drowning. I'm in a pool of pain and misery and the freezing waves crash over me. Making me sink deeper and deeper into the ocean of despair.

The bird squeals in my ear. Eee Eee Eee...my eyes flutter and realization crashes over me. It's a heart monitor. Beep Beep Beep...that's even worse than the bird. My body is constricted around paper thin blankets. My bangs are sweaty and clumping together on my forehead. A cool hand brushes them away.

"Hey Everly."

My squeezed shut eyes open timidly and I'm instantly blinded by a piercing bright light. I blink rapidly until my vision comes back into focus. A worried Joy is sitting in a blue chair next to my hospital bed. Hospital bed...

"What...what happened?" My voice sounds hoarse. Like it hasn't been used in days. I focused my gaze on Joy and realized she looked horrible. She had bags under her eyes and her hair was greasy, as if she hadn't washed it in awhile. She smiled tiredly and answered.

"Well you...you know...you passed out. You've been in the hospital for the last three days. The doctors say you have PTSD."

"And the baby?"

"Completely fine."

I let out a sigh of relief that I didn't even realize I was holding. "You broke your left knee." Joy stated. I looked down and sure enough my knee was wrapped tightly and sticked out at a weird angle. They must have been giving me pain killers because I couldn't feel it.

Suddenly, Joy burst into tears beside me and I froze. "Everly...I'm sorry. I didn't know that it was him." She seemed incapable of speech after that and collapsed beside my bed sobbing loudly. I looked up at the ceiling and closed my eyes trying to block everything out.