Dark Running

Chapter 3

Beca's P.O.V

I open my eyes and I am welcomed to complete darkness. The first thing I notice is that my head is killing me. I lift up my hand and feel a damp piece of cloth around my head.

"Oh god, my head." I mutter.

"Beca? Is that you?" There is no mistaking Chloe's voice.

"Chloe, what happened? I-I can't see."

I hear shuffling on the bus before I feel a weight shift next to me. "The bus flipped, and you hit your head, Bec. It's about 3:00am, so none of us can see without a light. Can I take a look at your head?"

I move my body so I can sit upright. "Yeah, you can."

"Amy, can you come over here and shine the phone flashlight on Beca's head, please?" Chloe calls out to Amy.

"Sure thing, ginger." I hear Amy say.

I hear a couple footfalls and then a small section of the bus illuminates. I look over at Chloe and my eyes go wide. "Chloe, you're covered in blood!"

She looks down and sees the lower half of her shirt is soaked with blood. "No, it's not me, it is probably from your head, and I had to reset Cynthia Rose's tibia. I'm fine. It's okay."

"Is everyone else okay?"

Chloe's hands move to untie the piece of cloth surrounding my head. "You're not bleeding as much as you were but I need to stitch up the gash in your head. Stacie, can you bring me the needle, and thread it with black thread again, please? Don't forget to heat it. Lilly, I need more gloves."

Stacie comes over with the needle and Lilly m brings the gloves. Chloe takes a look at the gash and said, "This is definitely going to sting, but just please try to be quiet, okay?" She puts on her gloves and goes to move her hand, but I stopped her.

"Chloe, you won't answer me. Is everyone okay?" She sighs and looks away from me.

"Becs, I need you to not freak out. Okay?" I nod. "During the bus flip, Jessica, she... Her neck broke."

My mouth falls open. "Is she-?"

"Yes. She's in the back of the bus."

I nod, and stare across the room. Chloe turns my face toward her and whispers, "It's going to be okay. Just, let me stitch up your head, okay?" I nod again, and she bends my neck a little bit, so she can see. "Here it comes. Just be still and please be quiet."

When she said it was going to hurt, I didn't think it would be that bad. It's like getting multiple piercings in one spot, and when she m pulls the thread through, I can feel every fiber of it going through the hole. I start to whimper, but all of the sudden I feel a gloved hand over my mouth.

"Beca, please keep it down. I'm almost done. Just two more, okay?" I feel one prick, and then another. "See? All done. Let me just tie it." I feel a gentle tugging and then Chloe moves away from me, taking off her gloves.

"Thank you, Chloe. What do we do now?"

"Well, we've been waiting for everyone to wake up, so nothing for now. Lilly, do you have any painkillers for when Cynthia Rose wakes up?"

"I give drugs to the poor." Lilly whispers, as usual, before feeling her way to her suitcase then coming back with about four pill bottles.

"Amy, I can't read the bottle, shine the light over here." Amy does as she's told and Chloe squints as she reads the bottle. "Percocet, Vicodin, Demoral, and Morphine? God, we aren't trying to get her addicted, but she's going to need the Demoral. And she can't just take the pill, that would take too long. We'll need to crush a pill up and have her snort it. It will go straight onto her blood stream."