Faceless Love

Chapter 2

Melissa could see bright white, harsh light. It caused her to squint. Where was she? The last thing she could remember was falling asleep, and... oh no. The fire. She must be in a hospital. Her lips were cracked and dry. "Hello?"Melissa asked hesitantly. At that moment, a nurse bustled in. She had short blonde hair and startling blue eyes. She looked nervous. "Melissa Deans?" the nurse asked quietly. "Yes," Melissa answered. "What has happened?"

The nurse nodded nervously. She perched on the edge of my bed and began to tell the reason why Melissa was in the hospital.

"You see, there was a terrible fire at your house. It burned everything. Luckily, you have insurance, so all the costs should be covered. The fire was exactly...six months ago today."

Melissa Melissa gasped. She realised that she had missed six months of her life. The truth hit her like when you are standing in the ocean and a wave comes crashing down on you. At first, you will feel shocked. Then, panic. This sense of panic gradually increases until it takes you over, and you can't think straight anymore. Then the sea will claim you as its own. The nurse waited for her to compose herself, then continued. "You have had roughly twenty surgeries. The fire affected you badly, especially...facially. You are lucky to have survived, but you will never look the same again."

Melissa didn't want to see the new face that would constantly remind her of her new future. However, the nurse brought her a mirror. But she couldn't help it. Melissa looked in the mirror. She gasped.

Her lip had been dragged downwards and was cracked and swollen. Her eyes tilted dramatically downwards, and she looked very slightly cross-eyed. Her nose had changed dramatically too; the nostrils have been drawn into slits, not unlike the nemesis of Harry Potter, she thought. Melissa put the mirror down. Her own face was giving her nightmares. She started to shake; this was all too much to bear. The nurse looked even more anxious than before-if that was even possible. "Other than that, you woke up at a good time. The damage done to your house was unfavourable, however, the insurance company is happy to get you a small flat in the city. Your physical injuries are practically nonexistent, your face was most damaged. I just need to take some blood and run a few tests, but you should be free to leave tomorrow."

This was too much. It was all happening too fast. Melissa had just woken up from a six-month coma, and now she was to go tomorrow? She thought about what the nurse had said. A small apartment was fine, Melissa had no problem with living in a flat. But in the city? At least in the countryside, there was an opportunity for her to hide away from the rest of the world, hide her hideous face. In the city, people would stare at her everywhere she went. She would always be the woman with the ugly face.

Melissa sat up and stood. "This is the first time I have been off this bed in six months," she thought. Then, Melissa collapsed back on the bed and started sobbing. Her whole body racked with fear, grief, despair. Melissa's whole life had been turned upside down, and there was nothing she could do about it. Her whole body racked with helplessness, loneliness, misery.