Run (#Wattys2016)

12

I woke up to the throbbing in my head.

“Ow,” I muttered mostly to myself.

“Sorry,” came a voice. I blinked my eyes open. Emily was standing next to me. I tried to move my hand to my forehead, but couldn’t. 

“What happened?” I asked Emily. Which translated to: How did I get here?, Where am I?, and Am I restrained or just can’t move?. 

“All I know is that Aaron came in here carrying you a little after he told us to leave. Then he strapped you to this salon chair and left. Little bit after, one of his guys came in and helped Ariel get you ready for the day. He just left a little bit ago. We’re going to be starting soon.” I nodded and immediately regretted it. 

“Gosh, what’s the matter with my head?” I asked through gritted teeth. 

“I don’t know quite yet. But you’ve got a nasty bump back there. Probably from when Aaron hit you yesterday and knocked you out today.”

“Does it look serious?”

“Not concussion serious. But like I said, I don’t know.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I volunteer at the local hospital. Do you have a feeling of pressure in the head?”

“No.”

“Are you feeling drowsy or did you have a hard time waking up?”

“Im tired does that count?” She laughed.

“No, did you have a hard time waking up?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Then I think it’s safe to say that you don’t have a concussion.” 

“Well, I guess that’s good.”

“Yeah. Hey girls,” she asked to the room, “are you ready yet.”

“Emily, we’re almost done,” came a snappy voice that I knew as Kala’s, “Just let us actually pamper ourselves!” Emily chuckled at this. 

“They take a really long time to get ready,” she whispered to me. I managed a small grin. But even that was hard since I felt so miserable. 

There was the sound of a door opening. I saw Emily stiffen. That meant Aaron had just walked in the room.

“Emily,” he asked in a calm voice, “are you ready yet?”

“Yes,” she replied with a tremor. 

“Good,” he said walking over to her, “Have you diagnosed Lekia yet?” Emily went a deadly pale, “How did you know I checked her over?” Aaron just looked at her. She couldn’t hold his gaze for three seconds. 

“I didn’t just choose you randomly. I didn’t choose any of you randomly. But that’s not a topic you need to know. I thought I might need medical care for some of the girls if anything ever happened. And I’m not taking you to a hospital. No, you were a girl on the list that volunteered at the hospital. Exactly what I need. So, what do you say? Concussion or no.” Emily looked about ready to faint. 

“No concussion,” she mumbled. Aaron nodded, “Good.” He started to walk away. “But,” Emily said suddenly, with more authority, “you can’t hit her on the head anymore. Otherwise, she will get a concussion.” Aaron stopped, turned his head, and looked at her. 

“Okay,” he said, “I’ll keep that in mind.” Then he walked out of the room. 

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” I commented to Emily. She kinda jumped a little and looked back at me.