Scarred For Life

Chapter 5

I opened my eyes slightly and saw my mum above me.
“Scarla? Hey honey… You’re ok, just have a little burn. Nothing major. Don’t get up darling! Go back to sleep…” She turned to dad. “She’s finally awake!”

Dad nodded. “How long has she been in the coma again?” He asked a doctor.
“3 weeks sir.” He answered.
3 weeks? Groaning, I sat up heavily and fell right back down. A sweaty hand came crashing down on my forehead. It smelt like beer. A tear escaped out of the corner of my eye.

“Keith! You’re hurting her! Get your hands away from her!” Mum exclaimed, shoving dad away. There were tears in her eyes as well. I reached up and patted her hand comfortingly. Then the world was nothingness again.

When I woke up again, a needle was in my arm. A nurse glanced quickly down at me then wiggled the needle around a bit. I whimpered and tried to push her away. I saw mum look at the nurse accusingly and brushed my bangs out of my eyes. *DING!*  I heard my phone and lifted my head to look around for it.

The nurse moved the needle around again when mum wasn’t looking and I felt a stab of pain run through my left arm. I flinched and looked out the window next me. I saw Brad kissing Jessica. Why was the world trying to hurt me?! Mum turned around and gasped.

“Scarla! Why are you crying?” She rushed towards me and mopped up my tears with her jacket sleeve. I hadn’t realised that I was crying. Turning away from the window, I looked up at mum.
“Can I go to the bathroom?” I asked.
She nodded and helped me get out of the bed. I looked down. Good. i was still wearing my clothes, and not a hospital gown.

When I reached the bathroom, I stared at my face in the mirror. I looked like a zebra, my mascara was in streaks all down my face from crying, and my face was paler than ever. I wiped off all my mascara, the smudges of lipstick around my mouth and tied my hair up. Glancing at my reflection again I checked if the coast was clear in the hallway and ran out the hospital doors. I peered down the street, searching for Brad and Jessica. Finally, I saw them, strolling down the pavement hand in hand. I marched up to them and crossed my arms.

“Hey guys!” I said with a big fake smile on my face. I noticed the surprised looks on their faces when they saw me, and how quickly they sprang apart.
Jessica looked at Brad nervously, then back at me.
Brad smiled weakly at me. “Scarla! I thought you were de-” He stopped.
It started raining.

My fake smile disappeared. “You thought I was what?”
Jessica breathed sharply in.
“I’m not dead, thank you very much!” I exclaimed, hands on hips. I looked up at the sky and let the rain fall on my face. “God! Tell these two-faced backstabbers that I’m not dead!” As I lowered my face to look at them, Jessica gave a little scream and Brad’s eyebrows shot up.

“Uh, Scarla… What happened to your face?” He asked.
I frowned. What boyfriend asks their girlfriend ‘what happened to your face’?
“Excuse me?” I demanded. “What do you mean ‘what happened to your face’?”

Brad took out his phone and started texting.
“Wait a sec, I’ll text you.” He said.
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t have my phone, idiot.”
“Oh.” He put his phone in his pocket and looked hopefully at Jessica. She shook her head slightly and started biting skin off her thumb. Brad sighed and pulled out a hand mirror from his back pocket. I took it from him gingerly and looked at myself. I screamed. I had a huge scar running down from in between my eyes to the side of my mouth. A long, dark, ugly scar.
Brad and Jessica looked at me anxiously. I looked at them, horrified.

I was scarred for life.