Until I Swim

Chapter 3

When I wake up, someone is sitting in the chair next to me. "May seem like a dumb question, but who are you?"

"Your Uncle Leon." I don't know for sure, but it seemed as though he ran his hand through his hair. "Your clumsiness costs me a lot, you know."

"Not like it matters. You could probably buy California with your bank account." I wish I could read his expression right now. He was silent after my comment. I took a moment to wonder if I could see clear underwater. I don't know the whole sciences behind the change of eyes underwater, but I do know that it changes lenses, in a way. "Hey, do you know if they have to take a blood sample?"

"I think so," he said.

"Yes. We do," the doctor said as he walked in. He frowned when he saw my face. "Is there a problem?"

"When do you have to take it?" I tried to keep my cool.

"We'll go through a whole checkup before you leave."

It's not a horrible thing. It gives me time to plan my escape. "Okay," I said simply.

"And as for the update I came to give you, you fractured the back of your skull along with the concussion." And with no further explanation, he left. This is why I don't like doctors

. They doesn't seem to give a crap.

"So is your vision any better, Lizzie?" My uncle asked, interrupting my internal ranting.

I sighed, "No better that before."

"I'll let you get some rest." He walked out of the room.

Instead of sleeping, I planned my escape. My first thought was the window, but I have no clue what floor we are on.

So that left winging it. Great. Partially blind, running through a hospital with nurses, doctors, patients, and security. Also, may I remind you, it's in freaking overpopulated San Diego!

I decide on one more nap, in hopes my vision will clear at least a bit.

When I opened my eyes, I see strange machines. I try to sit up, but I'm strapped down to a table. There is a figure in a white coat standing over me. He is bringing a syringe closer and closer to my arm. Another figure to my right is holding a scalpel. "No, please, don't do it!" Tears were streaming down my face, and my eyes blurred as the syringe touched my arm...

I snapped out of it fast. My heart is pounding and I struggle to slow my breathing.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" It was the high pitched voice of the nurse.

I check my surroundings before replying, "Yea, I think so."

"You have some guests outside the door."

"Okay, send them in." I was happy to see Aurora, Alex, and Bruce. "Hi guys! Wait, why are... how did they... how did you know I was here?"

"We came to your house, but your uncle said you were here. So we came here," Bruce said.

"And he knew who you guys were? I mean, if strangers came up to him, asking where his niece was, he wouldn't just tell them."

"We just told him the truth. That we are friends from school. He understood," Aurora said with a wink.

"Okay, that's fine and dandy, but I really need to get on running away." It was then that I realized my vision was way better. "Can you guys help me?"

"Of course," Alex and Aurora say the same time Bruce says, "Fine."

"Okay, what floor are we on?" I ask.

"Third, so we can't use the window," Alex says. "But, we can go through the doctor's office across the hall, which has a hall leading to the elevator. Plus, it's a back way, so we won't get much company."

We all gape at him.

"What? I did my research! You're all lucky I did, too."

"Uh, okay let's go," I say. So I slowly get out of the bed. When I am on both my feet, I fall over into Alex's arms. "Sorry, so sorry!" I feel my face turn red.

"It's okay." He puts my arm over his shoulder, Aurora taking the other.

"Now we go," Bruce mutters.

It was a slow start, maneuvering around the room, and when we got to the hall, we saw the doctor coming towards us. "Okay, so a slightly bumpy start," I say as we hurry into the office. Bruce locked the door behind us.

When we got to the elevator, Bruce hit the down button continuously until the door opened. We filed in and, again, Bruce hit the one button until we got to the first floor. The door opened to a busy lobby. We made our way to the nearest door. Right as Alex reached for the handle, I saw my uncle making his way towards us.

"I have an idea. There's a bridge. The Coronado Bridge. It's very risky, but if we jump, they could think we died," I suggest.

We break into a run. "How will we get there?" Bruce asks.

"A... bus," I say in between breaths.

I look back and see Leon speed walking, yelling words I can't understand. I see a taxi across the parking lot. "Or a taxi!" I point at the yellow car. When my uncle sees us making our way to the taxi, he breaks into a full sprint.

"Okay, hurry!"

Bruce suddenly grabs me and flips me on to his back. "Your clumsy acts are not going to be the cause of mermaid discovery," he says.

I must say we practically doubled our speed.

We made it to the taxi. We filed in and closed the door with my uncle only a few yards away. "To the bridge," I yell. The driver looked at me in surprise. "Please?"

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So I decided on shorter chapters. Hope you like it. If you didn't, please tell me why. It's the only way I can fix it, after all!