The unfortunate adventures of Sarah Richards

Chapter twenty-one ~terror and blindness~

Friday. Thea's last full day here. Her parents would be back from their cruise tomorrow and be ordering her home on the soonest train.
I didn't want her to go, and i don't think she was exactly eager to be back with her parents.
My mother and father had been able to notify the state about Thea getting abused in multiple ways. When her parents got back, there would be charges pressed and investigation that would hopefully lead to them losing custody of her.
Hopefully.
"Sarah, can you toss me my sweater?" Thea asked while the both of us knelt on the floor of my bedroom, trying to pack Thea's things since we didn't know exactly when she would leave tomorrow, we figured it would be better to be ready when and if her parents called.
I grabbed the thin black sweater (which, may i say, looks quite sexy on her) and tossed it so it landed on Thea's blonde head. "Thanks, love." She giggled before jamming it into her duffle.
"Is that everything?" I asked when i stood up to scan the room from a different angle. "I think so. I'm going to go take a shower, then i'm all yours for the night." Thea's voice sounded suddenly dry and scared. Should i be worried? The words she said and the wink she threw me could have deterred any hint of fear but there was something that didn't seem right. She'd been a bit off all day and flinched any time her parents were mentioned.
Maybe i was just over thinking things. I'm sure Thea was fine. I mean, she'd tell me if she wasn't. Right? Right.
"SARAH!" I heard my mother call from the kitchen and went racing down to see what she needed. "What?" I groaned sarcastically when i reached the doorway. "Take the dog out, will you?" She asked, pointing with the knife she was using for dinner towards where Doug was pacing by the back door. "Yep." I nodded curtly, attaching Doug's leash and slipping out the back door. My watch told me that Thea had already been in the shower for nearly forty minutes. 'What's taking so long?' I thought silently as i brought the dog back in. "Thanks, dear." My mother said to me when i shut the door behind myself. I tried to speak in response but nothing came out. All of a sudden my throat felt strangely dry yet like i had drank too much. It stung. I tried to gasp for breath to see if i just needed to cough but that only made it worse. I could barely breath now. I felt as if my chest were either being crushed or bloated with water from my lungs, out. I couldn't decide which. It felt like i was drowning. But i was standing on dry land and the only water nearby was in my mother's cooking pot. "Sarah! Are you alright? Speak to me!" My mother yelled as if she thought i suddenly couldn't hear either. I tried to speak but all that came out was a garbled croak so i simply shook my head, clutching at my chest as i slumped to the floor. Then it clicked. Thea! My phantom pains were from Thea! Oh god, no. What had happened? Had she fallen in the shower? Was my girlfriend okay? "Come on, sweetheart. I'll get you to the couch, then call an ambulance." My mother cooed, bending to pick me up. I shook my head violently. 'NO!' I mouthed. 'THEA' i mouthed again. 'HELP THEA' my mother was terrible at lip reading. Gasping for breath i suddenly had a shortage of, i got my phone from my pocket and struggled to type out what i needed to say.
I fine
Help thea
She in bath
Grammar and spelling didn't matter when it felt like you were drowning out of water and your girlfriend was probably in trouble. My mother nodded and got up but then bent down again to pick me up. "GO!" I managed a feeble croak and waived my hand at her to go the direction of the stairs. She nodded after giving me a terrified look and ran up to the third floor bathroom.
If she said anything to Thea while she was up there, i wouldn't know. If baby Orwell fell out of his highchair and started crawling around. Terror and blindness started to overtake me. My vision was blurry and i only took a breath about every ten seconds now. Though i was completely aware of my surroundings. If i felt this bad, what was happening to Thea?
All of a sudden my dad burst in the front door and went racing upstairs without shutting it behind him. That must have been on purpose though, because a cop and two paramedics followed him in with two stretchers. One stretcher was wheeled to the bottom of the stairs and the paramedics followed my father. What the hell was happening? The cop brought the other one in and put me up on it. I would have resisted but i didn't have much more strength than a kitten at the moment.
Then i blacked out.
When i woke up, i was in the emergency room in a hospital bed. There were bright lights everywhere and loud beeping machines.
I had an oxygen mask over my face and IV tubes in my arm. I slowly looked about the room to try and gain bearings in my surroundings. Then i saw her.
Thea.
On the hospital bed on the other side of the room. Her skin was wrinkled from being wet and far paler than usual. Almost greyish. Her eyes were closed but i could see her chest rising and falling with every slow breath she took. So she was alive. She had an oxygen mask on, IV tubes and was hooked up to a heart monitor. What had happened to her?
"Thea!" I tried to whisper (for that was the only sound i could still make.) But my oxygen mask fucked that up and i don't think she would have heard a whisper anyway.
"Ah, Miss Richards, you're awake." The deep voice of a male nurse sounded as he walked in the doorway.
I nodded and started trying to take my oxygen mask off. He held a hand up for me to stop before walking over and removing it for me. "What happened? Why am i here again? Why is my girlfriend here? Is she okay?" I started rambling a stream of questions.
The nurse took a deep breath, looking at me with sadness in your eyes. "Miss Larkin tried to drown herself in the bathtub last night..."