The Rising (final book of The Call series) ~ TMNT Fanfiction

Chapter 13: To Mend

I wake up to a comfortable silence, warm sheets, and no dread in my stomach. From this alone, I know that I'm home.

And when I open my eyes and find that I'm in my bed again, that hunch is confirmed.

Relief rushes over me all at once like cold rush of water. How long have I been out for? How long had I been locked away? And where is everybody?

"Hello?" I try to say, but it ends up sounding like a very weak croak. I doubt anyone hears me. I'm exhausted. In fact, I have to take a few minutes to catch my breath enough to say it again. "Hello?"

Nobody comes.

I look around my room and I feel a wave of comfort rush over me. My window is closed, and the blinds are shut, but I wouldn't assume anything different, knowing my mother as well as I do. After being kidnapped and finally returned safely home, I would hope that she wouldn't leave the blinds and windows open for anyone to see.

I try to focus on the injuries I can feel, but everything sort of blends together, so it's really hard to decipher.

I search around my bed for my phone, but the sheets are smooth and it's nowhere to be found. I suddenly remember that I had dropped it when the Maneuver Man snuck up on me in the cemetery.

There is a shooting pain in my stomach, and I go to clutch it, letting out a light groan. I press my lips together, but that hurts too, as I can feel dried cuts on my lip. The area around my eye hurts immensely. My face feels puffy and swollen, and my wrists and ankles are sore. When I lift up the blanket, I notice that there are dark bruises around them.

I need to use the bathroom, so I swing my legs over the side of the bed to stand, but when I put any weight on my legs, my ankles give out and I almost go tumbling. I catch myself and fall back onto the bed. I silently groan in pain and wait for the aching in my ankles to fade away. I knew that Melinda had me chained pretty tightly, but I guess I wasn't ready for the consequences of that. Still, my ankles don't feel broken or anything; they're probably just sore for now.

I try a few more times to get up and eventually I'm able to hobble over to my bedroom door. When I open it, the rest of the apartment is completely silent. I poke my head out, but don't see anyone in the living room. After I use the bathroom, I find myself looking back at my reflection in the mirror.

I don't think that it's possible for me to look worse than I do now. I've got two black eyes although one looks worse than the other and scratches all over my cheeks and forehead. My lip is in fact busted open and my neck has dark bruises around it from all the times that I was strangled by either Melinda or Sullivan. My hair is matted and has traces of blood in it. I reach up and press against a few strands, trying to brush out the clumps of it. It crunches between my fingers and floats to the floor. I look back up at my reflection. Even my skin has a blueish hue to it like it would if I was very cold, except I'm not.

I look like I am just moments away from death. It finally occurs to me that that very well might have been the case.

"Lexi!"

I turn towards the hallway and find my sister standing there wide-eyed. She's still in her pajamas, but she's wearing a full-face of makeup like she's ready to leave the house at any moment.

"Hey," I say, and then we just stare at each other for a few moments. I laugh even though there's nothing really funny about of this; I just don't know what else to do.

She comes forward and wraps her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. But after just a few seconds, she abruptly pulls away and has an apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry, I hope that didn't hurt you," she says. "I just...well, I'm really glad that you're awake. And well...alive." She swallows and then her eyebrows furrow. "How are you feeling?"