Goodbye Midnight

~2~

The room was white. My eyes felt dry and stung, along with a rhythmic drumming in my head and a splitting pain in my side.

'What's going on?' 'Why am I here'.

A machine to my left rapidly beeps. Painfully, I turn my head to see what it is.

It's a heart monitor.

'Why is there a heart monitor?' I panicked. 'Where the hell am I?' I screamed silently, whipping my head back and forth trying to get a clear view of where I was. A sharp pain shot through my side and up my chest, making me cringe and bolt upright.

'How is it possible to hurt this much?'

I let loose a laboured breath.

'Where was everyone? If something had happened to me this bad where were my family and friends? Who where my family and friends?'

I tried to think back to the days before but it did nothing other than let loose a splitting headache that violently drummed on my temples.

Looking up from my gurney I can see the door leading to my room creak open slowly. A man enters. Judging from his pristine white coat I can gather that he is either a doctor or scientist of some sort.

"Miss Treaty. How are you feeling?" He asks in a cold, nasally voice.

He looks like a mouse. A patronising mouse. He had stubbly whiskers and a thin sharp face that looked as if he were hiding something, as if he knew everything about you. Knew every thing about you and every inch of blackness and corruption present in your soul. With his dark hair and an even darker eyes, I couldn't sidestep the feeling of guilt, or was that fear?

"What the hell's going on? Where am I? Where are my family? Why does everything hurt so much?" I ask quickly, bombarding him with unanswered questions.

Most people tend to step away when I'm like this but he just looks sad.

Why?

"Your at St Alberts Hospital and your here because of an accident that occurred almost two weeks ago". I stare at him in shock. The doctor looks down at his wooden clipboard before looking into my eyes and continuing with a pained expression.

"We couldn't find your family, apparently you have no living members." I look at him in shock. "W-what do you mean I was with them only a few hours ago?" I muttered rubbing my head and wincing at the pain. "Wasn't I?". He just gave me a sorry smile before continuing on to my next question. "You have two broken ribs, shattered spine ..and..". He looks down as if hoping to avoid the question.
"And what?" I demanded. "Tell me!"
"Judging from the tests it would have happened three weeks ago."

"Three weeks ago?"

*****

The alcohol's flowing freely. Pizza and cigarettes are being handed around like candy. The boys, even some of the girls, aren't wearing any shirts and the taste of my cherry lipstick clings to my lips. Jace is the drunkest he's ever been, so drunk I think he had been drinking before he even arrived. He never really is sober these days.

We've been dating for a few months now but never really 'done anything'. Yet. I spot him across the room, away from the grinding bodies scattered around the lounge room. I squeeze my way towards the couch through hot and sweaty bodies and sidle up next to him, my skirt shorter than Mr Lero's patience. He smiles and offers me a drink like the gentleman he is. I take it, smiling in thanks. I take a sip, amber liquid warming my throat.

Music blares, making my heart thump to the tune as people dance to the rhythm, pressing their bodies closer and closer together. "This party is to ordinary, wanna ditch?" I said to Jack as I put my drink down on the coffee table and made my way outside as Jack followed close behind, stumbling this way and that while tripping over every few steps. This would probably be the stupidest thing I'll ever do.

"Wanna go for a drive?" He giggles. "I'll drive" I said a little to quickly. He can't even get into the car and I didn't really feel in the mood for a crash. "Ashley, I've got something to tell you" he said, serious now that he was positioned in the passenger seat.

I blushed.

"What is it?"
"I..."
"Hey Jack!" Dylan called out from the deck, a cocky smile on his face. "Gonna show Ashley a good time? Nice one mate!"
"Screw you Dylan." He yelled back as he flipped him off. Dylan just giggles madly in response before spewing up a nasty cocktail of beer and pizza on the front lawn just as we reversed out of the drive way. "How 'bout we go round to my place?" He asks me. I nod in agreement, red lightly dusting my cheeks.

*****

I looked at the doctor.

"What happened three weeks ago?" I stuttered, the fear evident in my voice. He let out an uneasy sigh. "I'm sorry, we did all we could but..." He licked his lips slowly as if contemplating how his next words would forever change my life.

"Ashley, you've lost the baby"