Chim - Make You Stay

Chapter 44

Kimberley

I just lay in silence, Cheryl holding my hand tightly. We can't think of anything to even say at this point, and we're both crying. I want to hug her more than anything, but I can't, I feel like I'm going to break apart. Everywhere hurts and I still feel on edge.

Finally we hear sirens outside and Cheryl gets up and goes to the front door, calling the paramedics upstairs. Two men come through with a stretcher, both tall and fairly good looking.

"What's your name darlin'?" the blonde one asks me.

"Kim" I reply quietly.

"Okay Kim, we're going to lift you onto here as gently as we can, then take you down and into the ambulance, okay?"

"Can Cheryl come?" I ask quickly, panicking.

"Of course" he smiles.

Both of the men move me on to the stretcher as I hold my breath, wincing from the pain. They begin to carry the stretcher out of the room and downstairs, Cheryl following and locking the flat up behind her.

It's so surreal, being carried into the back of an ambulance. If I was in a film, I would have blacked out by now. I would black out and wake up again hours later in a comfy hospital bed. But this isn't a film. I wish it was, because I don't black out. I lay awake through every excruciating moment, every bump in the road and every sharp turn in the ambulance, making me jolt around and gasp in pain.

Cheryl sits beside me squeezing my hand tightly throughout the journey, like she's scared to lose me if she lets go. The minutes drag, going by slowly, and I realise that I don't even know where the nearest hospital is and I have no clue where we're going.

After what seems like forever, the ambulance pulls to a stop and the two paramedics stand up, so Cheryl does the same. The back doors open and I'm lifted out and carried into the hospital, down various coridoors. I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing they would carry me more gently.

Finally, we reach a large, white, empty room with a bed in. The paramedics stop and lift me from the stretcher to the bed, and Cheryl comes to my side, pulling up the duvet and trying to make me comfortable. The two men leave and a woman comes in, who I assume to be the doctor.

"Kim, am I right?" she asks me, a kind smile on her face.

"That's me" I reply, smiling meekly.

"Okay Kim, we're going to have to run a few tests, give you some x-rays and see what's going on. Then we can fix you up and put you on some pain relief. Sound good?"

"Okay"

She turns to Cheryl and smiles again.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait outside for a bit, but I'll send someone to come and get you once we're all finished. Okay?"

Cheryl just nods, but I can tell that she isn't at all okay with leaving me. She gives me a soft kiss on my forehead and leaves the room, the doors closing with an abrupt bang behind her.

****

Cheryl

I pace up and down the corridor, waiting. I can't think straight, my emotions going wild. Anger, fear, worry, hurt, guilt. Maybe this is my fault? Sh!t, of course it is. He's my ex husband, and I'm the one who left Kimba on her own. Of course it's my damn fault. And I even believed that Kimba was cheating on me. For a good five minutes after I walked in that room, I thought that she had cheated on me. That makes me even more sh!t.

And to think that if I had been even 5 minutes later, what would have happened...No. It's unthinkable. How could he even do that, treat another human being in that way.

I find a plastic chair and sink into it, placing my head in my hands. This can't even be real. Tears slowly run down my face as it all sinks in, the crazy situation. And the worst part is, when I had walked in this morning, the door was double locked. That means Ashley must have locked Kimba in with him, no chance of escape.

How did he even find us? He must have stalked me home from when we went to London. The thought makes me feel sick, that was ages ago. And we went to Barcelona, he must have been waiting that whole time.

I look up at a clock. It's been half an hour and it feels like they're taking forever to run the tests. I just want to know if she's okay, and what exactly he's done to her. The more I think about it all, the angrier I get. This is not okay, he can't get away with this.

I pull out my mobile and report the incident to the police, explaining we're in the hospital. I'm told that someone will come and question us later to gather information and evidence. I put the phone down, more determined than ever that I have to get him put away. The last time he messed up my life wasn't worthy of jail time, but this was.

He's messed up my past, but there's no way I'm going to let him mess up my future.