enemies | rc

trente-six

charlotte's point of view

i lost count of how long i was unable to control my body. i do know how many times richard visited me; twice. the first time, when he poured his heart out to me. when he basically begged me not to die. the second time, he didn't talk. he barely even touched me, a kiss on the back of my hand when he arrived and another one on my forehead when he left.

i didn't know if i felt relieved that he wasn't risking himself, or if i was mad that he didn't even try to visit me again.

i don't even know how i finally regained consciousness. i just suddenly opened my eyes and was finally able to look at my surroundings. i expected to be alone, but i found christopher all curled up in the small chair beside my bed. his forehead was pressed against my bed, he looked very uncomfortable. i tried to raise my arm to shake him awake, but they felt too heavy. i barely moved it an inch.

i sighed and looked around the room once again, this time paying attention to everything. it seemed to be early morning, the sun wasn't at its brightest yet.

the door opened and a nurse walked in with a clipboard in her hands. she looked at her watch, then wrote something down. i supposed she was taking notes of the time she came to check up on me. she looked up at me with a surprised look on her face when she saw me wide awake.

"oh, you're awake!" she grabbed the stethoscope around her neck as she walked up to me. "you have no idea how worried your family was." she smiled sweetly at me. she seemed pretty young, like straight out of college young. i was surprised by how nice she was being to me. "especially your cousin."

she glanced towards christopher and i swear i saw her blush. i resisted the urge to smirk. well, at least one of us had fun while i was half dead.

she grabbed my arm and started checking my elbow, my wrist, my fingers. she let go of it, and my arm dropped to the bed. she frowned and held it up again, then it dropped just as hard as earlier. i had no strength to hold it up long enough to make it fall softer against the bed.

she stared at my arm for a second, then moved down the bed and repeated the process with my leg. she bent my knees and slowly brought my leg up to my chest, then just as slowly straightened it again. she let go of it slightly up in the air, it fell just like my arm. she looked at me and i did not like what i saw in her eyes. she smiled, as if trying not to worry me.

"you're a fighter... charlotte?" she grabbed the clipboard again to make sure it was my name. "yes, charlotte. my memory is so bad." she laughed and wrote something down. after a couple of moments she told me breakfast would be up in half an hour and make her way out of the room.

i took a deep breath and closed my eyes. i was alone again, and being alone meant i had nothing else to do besides thinking. which could be traduced to overthinking. right now, i was overthinking the look the nurse had when she checked me. i thought back to a month ago, when everything happened.

gsw to the stomach. no exit wound, we're afraid it may be near her spine. she needs surgery. now!

near my spine. near my damn spine. one wrong move by the surgeon, and i'd be paralyzed for the rest of my life. i tried not to overreact before the doctor came, but he was taking so long i couldn't not overreact.

without even thinking about it twice, i raised my arm and smacked christopher on the back of his head. when i realized what i had done, my eyes widened. he sat up abruptly and quickly rubbed his eyes before looking around the room, finding the cause of his disrupted sleep.

his eyes widened when they met my own. i smiled and he threw himself onto me. "holy shit, holy shit, holy shit." i laughed, but then i started coughing because he was crushing me. he immediately apologized and leaned back onto his chair. "you're awake. holy shit."

i bit my lip. "how... how's everyone?"

my voice came out way more hoarse than i expected. christopher poured me a glass of water and handed it to me before answering.

"my dad's been acting more secretive ever since this happened. more paranoid, too. he was really worried about you. we all were." he looked down and grabbed my hand. "for a moment there i thought we would lose you."

i bit my lip. "you..." i took a deep breath, it was still difficult to talk. "won't get– get rid of me." i smiled. "anytime soon."

he rubbed his thumb on the back of my hand. "i know, lottie." he suddenly let go of my hand and fetched his phone from his pocket. i stared at him with a frown etched upon my face. he excused himself, saying he was going to call liz to tell her that i was awake. in my opinion, that was a load of bullshit.

i had no option but to stay in bed, it's not like i could move anywhere. i tried to move my arms again, this time i could finally move them at least a couple of inches. they still felt like i was carrying a ton on each arm.

"we have so much to catch up on." christopher blurted out as he walked back into the room. "but for now, get some sleep and let's wait for the doctor to discharge you."

i scoffed. "i just woke up from a month long coma." i looked up at him. "i doubt i'm getting discharged today."

"well, never say never. plus my dad wants to get you out of here as soon as possible, the police is going to get involved."

i nodded. "you're– you're right." i cleared my throat and closed my eyes. even though i had just woken up from a coma, i still felt tired as if i hadn't slept in years.