Hiding

Chapter 12

Everything was black. I reached my hand out in front of me to feel for something that might give me a clue to where I am. All I feel is the cold air that surrounded me. I shiver slightly and take a few cautious steps forward. I don't know if I really see a light far ahead of me or if my eyes are playing tricks on me. I focus on the small light and continue to walk with my arms wrapped around my torso. The closer I get the brighter it gets around me. I look around again and see that I'm walking in a hallway. I take a closer look at the walls. There's pictures hanging on the walls, covering the walls. I recognize one. It's me, Jay, and Mom on my 6th birthday. I have a face full of icing from my cake. Mom's smile is wide as she looks down at me. Jay is trying but not succeeding to sneak a swipe of icing from my cake. I can feel myself smiling while studying the picture. The next picture I see is one from when I was older. I was about 13 or so. My hair was in a ponytail. I looked closer and I saw that it was when I had braces. My face showed that I was in pain. I laugh at the face I was making and walk a few more steps to another picture. This one is from very recent. I see myself from when Sam and I were on a date one of the first nights he had been here. I look at the picture confused. I didn't remember taking a picture that night. I continue to look at the picture. Sam was leaning back in laughter. I had my eyes closed with my hand over my mouth. I smiled as I remembered what we were laughing at. Sam was telling me about his plane ride. He had encountered a little girl that had insisted that he was her Dad and when he told her that he wasn't she started screaming and clung to his leg. I started walking to the next picture but when I got there it was blank. I continued walking. Every picture after the one of me and Sam is blank, just white. I look back at the light at the end of the hallway. I see a figure standing there. It turns around and I see the face of my mother. I let out a sigh of relief. "Mom?" I call out.

She turns around and she's holding a baby. "Hi Dear."

I start walking faster towards her but she's still far away. "Mom where are we?"

She puts one hand up towards me as if telling me to stop. "We're going this way. But you. You need to go back. You don't belong here yet."

Out of confusion, I stop. She then begins to walk away. "Mom! Wait! What do you mean?"

She smiles as she looks down at the baby in her arms, "Darling, we must go. We'll see you soon."

She then disappears and I'm left alone in the darkness.

I start to get feeling of my body again. I hurt everywhere. My eyelids are heavy but I try to open them anyway. As I open them slowly, I see a dull room with painted flowers on the walls. I'm confused about where I am until I see the IV in my arm. I'm in a hospital room. I blink a few times and look to my right and see a guy sleeping in the chair. I keep looking. After a few moments I realize it's Jay. 

I lift my hand and rub my forehead. When I put my arm back down I wince due to the pain in my side. I hear Jay stir. I look at him and he's sitting up yawning. I try to speak but my voice doesn't allow me. When Jay heard the noise his eyes dart to me. He immediately jumps up and is at my side. "Scarlett. Oh my god. You're awake." 

I try to speak again but it comes out as if I've lost my voice, "What happened?"

Jay sits down at my feet. "You don't remember what happened?"

I shake my head but stop quickly due to the pain. Jay sighs and looks down. "You were in a car accident, Scar."

I begin to worry. "Wait. Is everyone okay?"

"Not really. You're the only one that was seriously hurt. The people in the other car just had a few scraps and bruises. You, on the other hand, broke a few ribs."