BROKEN SILENCE

Chapter Eight

My eyes started to flutter open before I noticed where I was. I looked around confusingly as my mom rubbed my fingers. When I realized that it was a hospital I was in, I immediately sat up and started to freak out. 

"Riley, it's okay. They ran a few tests and you're fine. We just have to do one last thing, okay?" My mom said calmly to me as she held my hand.

"One more thing? One more thing like what?" I wanted to scream as I looked at Mia and my father by the door.

"An MRI but it's fine. You just have to lay still, okay? Can you do that for me?" 

I nodded and about fifteen minutes later, I was shakingly laying on a hard white bed as it slowly moved into a lighted tube. 

I breathed heavy, but I knew I had to stay calm. I wasn't gonna ruin this day more for everyone in my family. They just wanted to go home, and so did I. While laying there, I listened to music through my headphones, which they instructed was best for this procedure. And I couldn't help but crying. This can't be life, I thought. Why is this my life? What did I ever do wrong?

Suddenly, a gun-shot ricocheted throughout the hospital. I sat up in a quick panic, hitting my head on the top of the scanner. They kept coming, shaking my whole body, and everything slowed down. My body pulled itself out of the machine, and into the room full of my family members. My dad reached for me and hugged me close as my mother and Mia huddled near. The gunshots kept  getting louder, followed by echoing screams. My face drowned itself in tears and the tears seeped into my open mouth. Mia hid her face in my fathers huge coat, and my mom started to pray. We edged into the corner, all together in one piece. I jumped everytime it happened, the rumbling sounds began to be more than that. They were more of a feeling now, through my spine and to my toes. I could feel it. 

I heard one last roaring shot, and everything went black. There was nothing, but I could still think. Is this the afterlife? Is this where Hannah has been for five years? 

But the silence was broken, with the sound of my name.

The shaking returned, but it was more gentle. The blackness descended into light.  I saw my moms eyes brighten, and she pulled me close into a hug. I tried my hardest to be happy, but once I came to, I realized maybe that forever nothing wasn't such a bad thing. 

"Riley, baby, I'm so sorry. I, we didn't mean to scare you." My mother said into my ear, still holding me in a tight grasp. But I just began to cry. I couldn't help it. I didn't know why I was crying either. So many things were happening and I felt so bad. I felt so bad for screwing up this family. 

"It's not fair! It's not fair for you, it's not fair for Mia, it's not fair for everyone here and it's not fair for me!" I yelled while crying hysterically, "I don't wanna be like this, I don't wanna be this way!" I looked at my little sister with her big sad blue-grey eyes, and I lost it. She looked scared, she looked sad, she looked miserable. Mia looked terrified. "I'm just so.." I sighed, "I'm done."