We're all ugly when we cry

Chapter 22: Nobody said it was going to be easy

My eyes slowly adjusted to the light that was actually coming from the torch in the doctors hand... Wait... Doctor? I tried to sit up only to only have a gentle hand press my back against the soft mattress. Pain rocketed up my spin, I hissed as I placed my head back on the pillows.

"Where am I?" My mouth felt like sandpaper, my voice hoarse and caught within my throat.

"You're in a hospital, you were found in the woods with a young boy..." He faltered slightly, as realisation hit me...

Cal...

Frank...

Daggers...

BEN.

"Ben... BEN!! WHERE IS HE? BEN!"

They must of expected this reaction from me as immediately, five different nurses including the doctor grabbed ahold of my protesting body, holding me down as my emotional state tried to catch up. "Please, let me see him." Tears streamed down my face as I whimpered in agony.

"You can't see him, your still healing yourself..." The pity in his eyes was sickening. "We're so sorry for your loss." My body went ridged... salty liquid kissed my cheeks trying to provide me with some sort of comfort...

Gone... he was gone...

First Jack, now Ben. Gone.

"Yasmin... Before your parents come in, the police will need to talk to you, about what you witnessed. But we need to tell you something..." I tensed up as the doctor flicked his eyes towards my legs...

My leg... Hesitating I pulled the sheets away from my body, my frame was shrouded in a hospital gown, yet I knew my body was bandaged up from the tense feeling on my torso. I trailed my eyes down. There it was. Where my full leg should of been, a stump was in its place, not even the knee was saved.

They had amputated my leg above my knee so only my thigh was left. As I cried the nurses left. Just leaving me and the doctor who had been talking...

"I know you probably don't want to talk right now, but I promised the police that as soon as you came round that they could talk to you." He smiled meekly at me before walking out. A woman in her late 30's walked in wearing a police uniform. He blonde hair tied back into a slick ponytail. I shuffled down into my sheets hiding from her view in a child-like manner. She giggled at me before speaking up...

"It's ok, I won't stay long I promise. I'm Inspector Sadie and I'm hear to talk to you about last night."

I nodded and untangled myself from the sheets slightly...

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After half an hour of intense crying and forceful tying down, I had told the entire story to her. She hadn't judged me, just listened to it. I started with Jacks death and explained the events that had unfolded after. When she was satisfied with the story she nodded and wrote a quick summary in the notebook she held.

"Your description of the brothers... There have been similar cases. Murders in the woods, people hearing screaming. We never find bodies only a few witnesses explaining seeing a group of boys in there late teens maybe early twenties? Each time the group is different but either Cal or Frank is with them."

She continued to explain...

"You see the thing is, we can't find this Cal and Frank we believe they go by different names to protect their identity from us. Are you sure that's there real names?"

A faint memory crossed my mind, my eyes widened as I realised I did know. "No, that's not their real names. They're nicknames." A smile played across my lips. I could take them down.

"Cal is short for Caleb and Frank is actually Fredrick. They're rich, very rich." The words started to flow like a waterfall.

"Wait, are you saying..."

"Yes, Caleb Christopher Douglas and Fredrick Sebastian Douglas." The insepector went went white in the face then quickly red. She thanked me for my cooperation and left. The adrenaline soon left my body and left me realising the truth of what I had just said. What was I thinking? They're a rich family they can bribe their way out, or worse. Just as I was drowning in my own thoughts, my parents walked in.

They looked awful... but the smile that lit up their faces at seeing me, must of been worth the lack of sleep. By the time they had reached my bed we were all in tears clinging to each other. We had never been a perfect family, in fact we were pretty broken. Yet every painful moment made us closer.

This.... I wasn't sure if they could take it.

My dad was the first to pull out of the hug and stepped back wiping his eyes to get a proper look at me, when they reached my leg he winced and looked into my eyes again.

"Yasmin... What happened?"

So yet again, I told the story I had kept so personal till now. When it got to explaining about Jack I almost stopped from the looks on their faces... yet they begged me to continue wanting to know desperately about their little boy who was taken so early from them.

My mum gave me another hug pulling me close. "It's ok the police will get them now."

My dad nodded in agreement, his knuckles white and tensed from bottled anger, they had no idea the true horror these brothers could cause.

I laughed at their stupidity... I couldn't help it. Part of my sanity had been lost along with my leg.

"You think he police will just rock up and arrest them?" I laughed again, my mum took a step back, I could feel the fire, flickering in my eyes.

"Don't you?" She whispered.

"They're smart, too smart if money won't bribe the police. Prison is just another activity for their brains to work out. Another puzzle piece, So no, there's no way I'm ever going to be safe from them again."