Volume 4
Possibilities
The halls echoed with coughs, children sobbing and calling mindlessly to their mothers, fathers or respective guardians; pained and helpless groans joined the unnerving chorus of undesirable music. The room at the end of the hallway was possibly the most disturbing; the patient laid there with her lifeless body limply sprawled out on the hospital bed. The girl’s waif-like arms were almost unrecognizable do to the obscene amount of swelling and bruising that now claimed their residence on her skin. Her breathing was shallow and labored, hardly registering on the heart monitor. The girl’s face was pale and corpselike and small razor cuts could be seen in erratic patterns across both of her cheeks. However, in her abdominal region near the base of her ribcage she had carved, in deep gashes with the blade of a freshly sharpened meat cleaver the word “WORTHLESS” The gash was bound in blood splattered white gauze in an attempt to stop the profuse bleeding.
Kami opened her eyes groggily and looked around. Her head pounded and a surge of pain shot down her arms. She attempted a blood curdling scream, but only a strangled grunt escaped her dry, cracked lips, followed by blood that spurted out and splattered onto the corners of her mouth and a very large drop made its way down her chin and onto the front of her blue and white hospital gown. Her hand absently made its way to the bandaged region as the wound burned with pain. Through her blurry vision she could see Brandon sitting in the chair near the foot of her bed with his head in his hands; his silver hair shielding his eyes.
“B- Brandon?” She managed to squeak in a raspy voice. The young boy’s head snapped up and his mouth curled into a relieved smile as he made his way over to her.
“Thank God you’re alive. I thought I lost you.” Her boyfriend said as he carefully put his arms around her and heavily kissed her lips. Kami managed a small smile and took his hand in hers without saying a word.
“Wha happen?” She questioned in an almost infantile voice, more blood came up out of her mouth and again stained her hospital gown. Brandon met her eyes and frowned before beginning to recount the terrifying story. As he did this he got a damp rag that was on the bedside tray and started to gently clean the blood off the girl’s face.
“Your aunt called and asked me to come over to watch you to make sure you didn’t hurt yourself after your father called and called you a crack whore and other things she refused to mention. When I came, you were passed out on the floor of your kitchen in a bikini with a bloody meat cleaver next to you; the blade was blunted and covered in dark red blood. Then I saw the cuts on your face and started to wash the blood off when I saw the cut on your stomach and then called the ambulance and they took you here. I assume the bikini was so it would make it easier to cut where you did. The doctors said you were probably going to die if I hadn’t called them, they could barely manage to stop the bleeding from your stomach because you had severed a lot of blood vessels.” The boy explained in the calmest voice he could muster.
Kami blinked a few times as her hazy memory struggled to recollect the horrific event; she saw static images of her standing in the kitchen viciously slicing away at her body that was begging her for mercy. She then saw, as if she was outside of her conscious self, her bleeding and mutilated bod
Kami blinked a few times as her hazy memory struggled to recollect the horrific event; she saw static images of her standing in the kitchen viciously slicing away at her body that was begging her for mercy.
She then saw, as if she was outside of her conscious self, her bleeding and mutilated body violently smash against the black and white checker pattern tile of the kitchen. Kami closed her eyes exasperatedly as she struggled to put together the remaining pieces of the puzzle that could have led to her demise. She let out a low growl and glared at Brandon.
“You should have let me die, it would have been so much easier, and then that way no one would have to care about me. You know people do what they do for me only because they feel obligated to do so.” The girl quipped. Brandon’s stormy eyes flashed with rage and he gripped the girl’s chin and pulled it up to his face until they were a breath’s distance away from each other and simply said,
“No, I will not under any circumstances let you kill yourself. I love you too much to watch you throw your life away so rashly.” Brandon said in a serious, but gentle voice before lowering her head back to the pillow. The girl sighed and gave a shaky breath just as large tears made their way down her cheeks, stinging the cuts on the way. She stayed quiet and rolled onto her side and hugged herself. Brandon covered her with the thin blanket and returned to his seat at the foot of the bed. It was evident to the young man that they had hit some sort of breakthrough that had the potential to change them both forever.
