Hide and Seek in the Dark (Being Rewritten)

Chapter 23

23

Soft, steady beeping woke me up, followed by the smell of antiseptic and hand sanitizer. I opened my eyes, looking up at the white ceiling, then the window with the curtains pulled shut, and finally the heart monitors beside my bed with their incessant beep-beeping.

I stared down at my wrapped up hands for a moment. Then, hesitantly I gripped the soft white sheets that covered my body and pulled them off, and I pulled up the night gown I had been dressed in. My body was a mass of violet and puss-yellow bruises leading from my feet to...well, everywhere. Band-Aids were placed here and there, along with a few small pieces of gauze. I didn't care about any of that, though. What I did care about was my stomach, the entirety of which was covered in two large white masses of gauze. One where Len stabbed me, the other where Karnayna had branded me like I was some sort of livestock. I could still remember how badly it had hurt when that hot metal pressed into my skin, I could still hear the sizzle as it burned through.

I grazed my finger tip over the gauze that hid the brand and instantly a burst of pain ran through my body, lighting nearly every nerve ending I had. I cried out, clutching the bed sheets with my free gauze-wrapped hand began to lessen, but only slightly. The heart monitor I was hooked on to sped up, the annoying beeping becoming even more ear grating.

I couldn't help it. I cried. In what were just a few short weeks I had gone from going to rescue Benjamin to being kidnapped by the enemy myself I was chained up, beaten, deprived food or drink, locked in a dog cage, beaten even more. I was covered in so many sores and bruises I might as well have been the new mascot for the Baltimore Ravens! I buried my face in my hands and cried, not caring one damn bit if anybody heard me, not even Gabriel.

There was a soft knock on the door and then a woman in scrubs and a lab coat peeked behind the door. "Oh, you're finally awake. That's good." She stepped forward and placed a glass of water onto the table that sat beside my bed, opposite that of the machines. Upon further inspection of my face she seemed to notice that there was a dash of red added to all the black and blue and then it clicked. "Oh, Honey, why are you crying?" She proceeded to pull my dress back down and tuck me back in. "You must be hurting, huh?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I reached for the cup with shaky hands once she was done pulling the sheets securely over my body and gulped down the icy liquid.

"I'll be back with some pain killers," she told me and then promptly exited. After a short second, as if it was a second thought, she poked her head back in. "Hun?"

I looked back at her, being careful not to hurt myself as I wiped my hands across my swollen eyes.

"We're all very happy you're alive. You honestly don't know." And then, with a small smile, she left, closing the door softly behind her.

I was happy I was alive, too.

After a moment I opened up the small drawer in the bedside table and pulled out a remote, leaned back in the bed, flicked on the tv, and turned it to channel seven.

"-seems as though last month's serial kidnapping victim, high school student Christine Thompson, has turned up earlier this week alive. We have been told by reliable sources that, although Christine was brought in with stab wounds, major burns, and even a concussion she has been responding well to treatments and is expected to make a full recovery.

The brave man who found Christine and brought her to the hospital himself chooses to remain anonymous. Among further questioning he said, and I quote: 'I found her lying there, bleeding, and I couldn't just leave her. I was just doing what any other decent man would. I'm no hero.' Well, we can tell you this, Sir. You are a hero today, and I'm sure Christine Thompson would agree whole heartedly. Next up on Channel 7 News, A woman's life was saved by this heroic dog when her car crashed into the river! Stay tuned."