Man in the Wall (Who is he?)

Chapter 25 - Mentally broken

I push myself out of Frank's arms and hurry over to her. "You're okay," I breath out once I reach her, mostly reassuring myself. She doesn't hear me as she's still coughing and I start rubbing her back in circular motion.

"I'll go and get some water," Frank announces and leaves without waiting for me to respond. He's the only one out of all the men here that actually care about the women, but even good hearts have there agenda's and Frank's is utterly monstrous. It's revolting, to say the least.

"Get her file and a pen. Let's do a full checkup on her. External and internal injuries." I urgently instruct the nurse and she gives a quick nod before heading to the desk to grab the file.

Vivian stops coughing, but her breathing is still strenuous, intense and irregular. Her hands clench onto the bed sheets as she battles to calm herself. "Hey, you're going to be fine. Okay? You have nothing to worry about. I'll be here the entire time. Nothing is going to happen to you," I reassure her, trying to make her feel as safe and as comfortable as possible.

I will protect her from Steven's abusive nature at all costs. He has gone far enough and neither Vivian nor I need to tolerate his frivolousness and shallow behavior any further. Whatever happens to her from here on affects me as well. I have lost two girls already. I won't lose a third. I hope that someone decent buys her.

"I heard she woke up," Steven announces as his head pops into the room. 

He stands in the doorway curiously observing her. Vivian's head snaps in his direction as soon as his voice invades her eardrums. Her eyes grow wide and her breathing becomes rapid and erratic. "Steven get o-" I begin, but all to quickly get distracted by a body falling back into my hand that's placed on it.

I instantaneously shift my arms around her body to hold her up, but her head falls back, revealing what I desperately hoped wasn't true. She passed out, collapsing straight into my arms. "Not again..." 

The nurse withdraws from the file and pen on the desk and rushes over as promptly as possible to Vivian's side. I recklessly lay her back, allowing her body to sink into the bed. The nurse immediately begins with CPR as we don't seem to find a pulse. Steven steps further into the room. 

"I can-" he begins as I remove the pillows under her head.

"No, you can nothing. Not a single thing. Get out! I am clueless as to why you're here in the first place!" I yell at him while raising her legs and placing the pillows beneath them, not bothering to waste my time to look up at him. 

"I'm trying to be useful." He sternly states as if he's tone will cause me to cave in and allow him to further roam about as he pleases. 

"Go and make yourself useful somewhere else! Now leave!" I shrill in bitter resentment.

He ignores my demand and steps even closer to the bed. Each strut causing a bubbling anger inside of me and I force that energy to be focused on Vivian since she needs it most. But Steven, being Steven, finds a way to trigger it back towards him. Like a whistling kettle reaching boiling point, my ears flame a hot red and if this were an animation one would see the steam emitting from them.

"Peggy, what's the problem? What can I do to help?"

"You! You're my problem! You're an insensitive prick who could give a rats ass about nothing and no one, but yourself!" I walk over to him and begin to push him out of the room, "If you want to help you'll leave, right now. I'm trying to save a life that you put in danger!" With that said, I turn around and rush back over to the bed.

Not caring at this point if he left or not, I push the nurse aside and begin CPR on Vivian. I do chest compressions down in the center of her chest, pumping hard and fast. I tilt her head back, pinch her nose, and blow my air twice into her lungs, before pumping again. All the while, the nurse gets the defibrillator ready. 

"Here's the water, I- what the hell happened now again!?"

I briefly look up to see Frank standing frozen in the doorway with a glass of water in his hand.

Steven is nowhere to be seen.

"She fainted as soon as she saw Steven," the nurse answers and I continue with CPR. Vivian needs to wake up soon. My heart can't stand such pressure. It hurts.

"Clear!" The nurse announces and I quickly step back. 

Her body jolts as the current zaps throughout her body trying to kick-start her heart. The blast from the voltage is so powerful, her heart instantly begins to beat as her eyes shoot open and her body continues to give off slight jerks.

She's awake.

I rush closer to her as she tries to get up. "Hey, relax. You lost consciousness for a while and we had to bring you back." I tell her as I softly push her back down. She obeys and falls back into the bed, her breathing still irregular. Her eyes shift from mine to the ceiling. Frank eventually recovers and speedily walks over with the glass of water. The nurse goes to the desk and grabs Vivian's file and a pen. I remove the AED Electrode pads from her chest and under her armpit then help her to sit up and take the pillows I placed under her legs, now behind her back.

She doesn't seem the least bothered to be sitting in just a bra and shorts while Frank is in the room unless she hasn't noticed yet. I can't have her in a state of panic and losing consciousness again. I quickly communicate with the nurse using my eyes, and she immediately knows what I'm referring to as she heads to the desk and grabs a hospital gown. I remove it from her hands as soon as it's in reach, then tie it around Vivian's neck and cover her exposed body with it. Frank hands over the glass of water to her, but she doesn't move to take it. She simply sits there. Her breathing now under control, calm and collected.

I remove the glass from Frank and bring it up to her chapped lips. As soon as the water makes contact with her dry skin, she opens her mouth and gulps it down within seconds. Once she's done, I hand the glass back over to Frank. 

"Anything else that you need?"

I take a moment to think about it while staring at Vivian. Her once prominent features now ruined by starvation and abuse. The rosy colour of her cheeks a pale ash, purple bruises cover her once silky smooth skin and her healthy hair now a filthy untamed birds nest. We're meant to enhance their beauty, not destroy it. 

"Get her some warm clothing from her closet and place it on the bed. Also, make sure that there's something ready for her to eat. I'm going to bring her to her room to shower as soon as I'm done with her checkup." I instruct him after snapping out of my daze. 

"Yeah... No. I don't think so. I think she's talking to you," he says as he turns to the nurse. 

She rolls her eyes and hands me the file and pen before leaving. I can tell she's not in the mood to protest. Her head pops back in as she questions what Vivian's room number is and I inform her without taking my eyes off of Vivian.

Frank grabs the chair and drags it over to where I'm standing, "Here. I think you'll need it".

I reluctantly sit down without looking at him and whisper thanks to which he most likely nodded behind me or something. Without saying anything further, he turns to leave the room. My attention solely on the damaged girl in front of me.

My eyes search for hers, but she just continues to stare into space. Her face stoic and her eyes lifeless. I search even deeper in them and find strands of someone who's lost and alone. Someone who has given up. Someone who's only breathing, not living. Someone who's mentally broken.

"Vivian. How are you feeling?" I dangerously question hoping to get an answer from her. Her state is honestly scaring me. She seems zombified.

Her head creepily rotates in slow motion towards me. She doesn't say a word. The room suddenly feels dull and gloomier than what it should. Her eyes lock onto mine and they are so empty, spiritless and callous, it sends ice cold shivers down my spine.

It is as if her soul escaped her body and left the shell behind. This girl before me, it's not Vivian. At least not the Vivian I have come to know. This is someone else. Someone darker.

Someone the market will love.