The Elite

Chapter 4

*Ember's POV*

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lily double checks with me as she and James hug me goodbye.

It had taken us a further fifteen minutes to get back to the main road where we all parted and went our separate ways back to our families.

"Yes I'm sure," I smile at the both of them right now I just want to go home, "I'll see you both tomorrow, okay?"

They both nod and smile, and we all go our different ways. I pull out my phone plugging in my earphones and shuffling my favourite playlist, music helps me to drown out my unwelcome thoughts.

It's a nice evening and so everyone is out and about in their cars, I make sure to look both ways before I cross the road. But I don't make it.

Everything happens too quickly, one minute my feet are on the ground and the next I'm being thrown up into the air. I hear a number of screams above my music and for a moment everything seems to happen in slow motion, that is until I hit the hot tarmac and completely lose touch with reality.

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I see bright white lights and hear raised voices around me, I feel a hot searing pain shoot straight the way down my body.

Everything is a blur as I try to focus on one point in my vision but it fails and suddenly I feel a deep ache in my arm, I'm out once again.

The entire time I'm out I can hear people talking, I can hear my mum, my dad and even Lily and James. I want to scream and tell them all that I'm okay as I listen to them all sob over me.

"Are we planning on waking her up?" I hear an unfamiliar voice ask, "she can't know it isn't time."

Know what? What have I missed? How long have I been out for?

"She'll wake up when she's ready," a female voice replies, "she only has a week to go anyway until she would have found out, everything will be fine."

I have some serious questions to ask, and I plan on asking them very soon.

I feel a tingling in my toes, I try to wriggle them but it only sends the sensation further up my body until it reaches my eyes causing them to fly open.

I lunge forward gasping for air but I only throw myself backwards again when a sharp pain shoots straight through my ribs and chest. I feel a bit smothered realising that I have an oxygen mask covering my mouth, I raise my arms feeling the ache course through them before ripping the mask from my face.

"Ember no you can't do that," the owner of the unfamiliar voice speaks up, he's wearing black cargo trousers and a light grey scrubs top, "keep it on."

He hands me the mask and places it over my mouth once again as I take in my surroundings, the walls are all painted a dark grey but the room is well lit making me squint slightly, this isn't a hospital. No way is this a hospital.

Where the hell am I? What is this?

"Where are my parents?" I ask feeling freaked out and taking the mask off again, "I need to see them. Now."

He sighs but nods leaving the room for a split second before returning with my mum and dad at his heels.

"Ember darling," my mum coos, "what happened? We thought we'd lost you!"

I watch as a tear slides down her cheek and realise that my mouth is way to dry to conjure up a complete sentence, I look around the room for some water and I notice some sitting on one of the cupboards. I point to it and the guy who I can only presume to be a nurse returns with a cup, I wheeze from the lack of oxygen in my body, before gulping down the water at a record speed.