Loving Ashlynn (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 13 - Intense, But No Panic (Faith POV) Pt.1

A/n: Not Thoroughly Edited.

Chapter 13 – Intense, But No Panic (Faith POV)Pt. 1

"You were nothing more than a mistake Fatima," the abstract woman with cold eyes told me as she held Andy against her chest.

"You'll never know what you've cost me," her eyes where her mouth should be, her ears on her forehead, and her mouth near her left cheek. "I'm paying for his actions – but I'm going to let you pay too," the coldness of the voice, makes me shiver and I feel confused, I don't understand what I'm being told. I don't know who he is – I don't understand what I did wrong.

I wake with a start, the dream vanishing the woman gone and the cackle of a laugh, that mocks me disappears, I'm in the Conrad house, I'm in the room they gave me, and I'm waiting.

I just don't know what for, I think before darkness takes me under again.

.

.

.

I woke again, weak, to silence. Kalenah nowhere in the room.

Sighing, the pain leaving me, the pins on my back sensation dialed back slowly, only leaving the tingling responsiveness where I was burned. Closing my eyes, I inhale but after two seconds, I find myself coughing, my throat burning making my toes curl. Wincing, I pant until the ache fades and I'm only shaking. Weakly, I try to push myself to a sitting position but my head feels as though it weighs buckets and buckets of water and I quickly put myself back to my original spot.

I've just closed my eyes when the stairs announce that I have a guest and the door is slowly pushed aside, revealing Kalenah and her hopeful expression. "Oh sweetheart, you're awake," she takes care to say softly, her voice a calming tone. Thankfully she's not asking a question or being redundant.

Only able to blink, my throat scratchy, painful to even swallow, I just blink at the caring woman.

Wait. Caring woman? The thought knocks me for a moment. I was still a bit feverish, I admit in my sleepiness. "When they kids aren't feeling well, to keep them hydrated with these?" she holds out two different colored sticks that appear to be a mirror-imaged size of rulers – although coated in plastic. "They're popsicles – they may even help with your throat, Trevor checked you over and said your throat was a bit inflamed," she tells me, still holding out the popsicles. I knew what popsicles were of course and though I rarely ate anything given to me by Kalenah, I slowly reach forward, my mouth watering in anticipation for the coolness slipping down my throat.

My good hand still tethered to a needle, I wince at the weird position but otherwise just look at the bag attached.

With the popsicles in my hand, it's only then I note that Kalenah was even carrying other items in her free hand, a small caddy in fact. While I find the 'open here' top of the popsicle to rip the plastic top, Kalenah speaks again in the same soft-spoken tone, "I brought you an icepack for your burns, in your sleep you were mumbling that it hurts," she says as she lays a blue icepack I was familiar with on the bed. Though I'd never normally let her or the others know it was, in fact, something I liked having, now, I carefully put the plastic popsicle in my mouth to hold it as I reach forward to grab the blue ice pack and carefully place it over my gauzed-covered burns.