My Little Murder

Chapter 18 - When He Wakes

(Rye's P.O.V)

The first thing I heard was the beeping. God, it was so loud; I just wanted to shoot myself. I decided against it, however. Until I found out where I was and what the beeping thing was, I had to hold off on the guns and the knives. Instead, I attempted to open my eyes. My eyelids felt like they were glued together, but I managed to peel them away from each other, blinking heavily as my breathing elevated. Everything was blurry and bright; I couldn't make out any shapes whatsoever.

Where the f*ck was I?

I heard a groan somewhere around me, and it took me a few moments to realise that it came from my own mouth. How strange.

The next thing I noticed was the pain. It came slowly, gradually, but when I moved it came all at once, and I swore out loud. My voice didn't sound like my own; it sounded deeper than usual, more strained. Like I hadn't spoken in a while. My throat was dry and my left arm was on fire. Literally or figuratively, I had no idea.

Then the rest of my body kicked in and my breath hitched in my throat. My legs were aching, my head felt like someone had taken a hammer to it, and my torso felt so bruised that I suspected a few of my ribs weren't intact.

"Rye, oh my f*cking god," was the first thing I heard, and I recognised the voice immediately. It actually made me want to smile, if my face muscles weren't also very sore.

"Hey Charlie," I croaked, the gruffness in my voice sounding like I had just slept for a week. I turned my head to find my step-sister standing by my side, looking like she wanted to cry. Her red hair hadn't been washed in days, her eyes were bloodshot and she looked unhealthily pale. I frowned, slowly dragging my gaze around the room. It was unnaturally white.

"I actually thought you weren't going to wake up," Charlie sniffled, a hand over her mouth as though she was still in shock.

"Where am I?" I rasped quietly, moving to sit up. Something flared in my chest though, drawing a sharp shout from my lips that made me stay exactly where I was.

"Don't move," Charlie ordered, wiping her nose as she struggled to get a hold of herself. "I'll go get a doctor in a minute."

"I- what happened?" I asked blankly, and Charlie shrugged, folding her arms over her chest. She was upset, of course she was.

"I don't know exactly," she admitted, unhappy about her answer. "Liv won't talk about it, and the other driver only saw what happened after the crash."

"I... I crashed?" I shot back alarmingly, looking around quickly. Memories were flooding back, but all in the wrong order.

"No, someone drove into you," Charlie corrected. "You were out of the car; why were you out of the car?"

I frowned, raking my memory for whatever could've happened.

"We were at mum's place," I mumbled, my brow furrowing in confusion. "Liv was there, right?" I paused as a couple of headlights flashed in my eyes, making me flinch. I was out of the car... Liv was out of the car. She got out. "Her dad..." I murmured, looking up quickly. "Her dad; she spoke about her dad. Oh my god, where is she? Is she okay? Is she hurt? What happened?"

"Calm down, Rye," Charlie ordered. "She's fine." I saw the hesitation, though, and I narrowed my eyes.

"You're lying," I hissed. "What happened; where is she?"

Charlie sighed, sitting down. She was nervous, of course she was. I could see it. My heart thumped in my chest.

"She's not fine," she admitted finally, her voice small. "After what happened... she's far from fine. She didn't get hit, if that's what you're asking," she added quickly, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I'm still not sure who got the worst part."