Annette P.O.V.
Now I really am having Déjà vu of the same event for the second time.
As my brain slowly registers the tell-tale stench of disinfectant and death and I hear the rhythmic beeps that alert me that I am alive I can’t help but wonder how I had only lasted two weeks out of the hospital. And how I could have possibly survived again.
My head feels like it’s weighed down by a ton of bricks, my mouth is numb and I can taste dry blood clotting in my cheeks, and I feel detached from my body –unable to move and in unspeakable pain. Everything hurts; from my teeth right down to my toes I feel pain that I can only guess is subdued by the morphine.
I try to say something, anything as my eyes slowly crack open between the layers of crust on my lashes. Bright fluorescent lights welcome me and I squint, starting to panic as I begin to recall everything that had happened leading up to this point.
Breaking up with Adam. Ava noticing my bruise. Packing. Charlie’s room. Uncle. Banging on the door. Shoving me. Falling… Falling…Falling…
Oh god
I whimper deep down in my throat and am immediately met with a strangled gasp. My neck won’t cooperate with me, so I have to wait until the person is in my direct line of sight to see where the noise came from. Disheveled honey hair falls into my eyes as I am met with the horrified, grief-stricken, and slightly relieved face of my mother.
She lets out a wracked sob and leans her face down to plant soft kisses all across my sore and bruised cheeks. I am taken aback by her sudden burst of affection –so out of character- but when I see the agonized guilt in her iris I know exactly why she was acting this way.
She knows.
“I am so sorry, Netty. I am…” Another sob garbles her words and she has to stop herself as the tears rain down her cheeks and onto my own. I yearn to say something, anything as my gut twists in pain, but the doctor walks in then, breaking the uncomfortable tension in the room.
“Welcome back, Annette. We thought we lost you for a while. You’ve been out for two days. Ah, don’t try to speak just yet. I’m afraid that you lost a tooth and bit down on your tongue during the fall. You’re ribs also cracked again, you dislocated your shoulder, broke your leg, and have another concussion. I know this all sounds scary and you will be sore for a while. But, you are very lucky. Extremely lucky to have survived.”
He speaks in a jumbled rush, obviously in a hurry to leave the room. Either because he has places to be or because he feels he intruded in on a moment between my mother and me.
“The police will be in here to talk to you whenever you feel you can speak again. I suggest you get plenty of rest and try to move as little as possible,” He breaks his rushed words to look at me with eyes filled with sympathy, “I really am sorry, Annette. I feel as if you live here in this hospital. It’s a real shame.”
He sends me one last warm smile before leaving the room and me in a state of panic. He didn’t even explain to me what happened after Rob pushed me. Is he here now? What happened to Ava and Adam? How long have I been here?
The monitor slowly begins to pick up its rhythm and my mother looks to me worriedly. She wipes her tears and asks me what’s wrong, but my tongue throbs and I just send her a confused glance. She seems to understand what I ache to know and she tucks my hair behind my ear before sitting down next to me.
YOU ARE READING
Yin & Yang
Romance*Trailer on the side* Annette and Adam have always been close; first as friends, then as lovers. But growing up means growing apart and they find themselves hanging on by a thread. That thread is severely snapped by one mistake and by one phone call...
