Repressed (Wattys 2014 Winner)

Chapter 12

“Milla! Come on, stop!” Alex followed me down the pavement, it was dark outside and the streets were empty, I glanced over my shoulder he was picking up pace.

“Shut up, you are annoying, I can’t believe this. Why didn’t you tell me?” I shouted over my shoulder.

“Honestly, I don’t know. It just slipped my mind. MILLA!” He shouted.

“Shut up! Slipped your mind, it seems.” I said.

I could hear that Alex had stopped following me, he called out, “MILLA! MILLA!” And this time I knew something had gone wrong, I turned around. His voice was filled with panic.

Oh no.

There was a large bulky man, who had his face covered, he hit Alex’s head with a baseball bat, I screamed and ran towards him, but the man was quicker and stronger, he wacked Alex three times in the head before Alex blacked out, he was bleeding and the man ran away.

 I screamed, “HELP! SOMEBODY!” I cradled Alex’s bleeding head in my hand. Oh God, my tears began to flow, I checked Alex’s pocket, Please, please. Alex have a phone.

He did and I quickly called the ambulance.

“Milla?” A voice called out, I immediately recognized it as Shane’s. Shane drew closer, he was dressed in a dark blue suit with a light sky blue shirt.

“SHANE! OH MY GOD, SOMEONE HIT ALEX!” I cried and screamed, as I kept my hand over Alex’s heart to make sure that his heart was still beating. Shane bent towards Alex, “Oh fuck! What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know,” I wailed, “One minute Alex was following me and the next he was being bashed in the head by some cloaked and covered bastard.” Alex’s blood was soaking my hoodie, “Oh God! Alex, baby, stay with me!” I screamed. My heart’s beats could outrun Usain Bolt, and that I was convinced of. Cold sweat ran down my body, I was scared. More scared than I had ever been in my life.

The sound of sirens drew closer as the ambulance rushed to us, Shane waved, “HERE!”

***

The trip to the hospital was torturous for me, I kept a firm hand on Alex’s heart. As he was rushed into the operating room, I cried and stumbled, falling into Shane’s arms. I had called Zara and she was on her way to the hospital.

“ALEX!” I screamed from behind the OP room, convinced that he would hear my voice and come back to consciousness.

“MILLA! YOU BITCH!” I heard a screech as I laid eyes on Zara, running towards me, she grabbed me by the collar of the hoodie, “I told you to keep him safe, I told you that if anything happened to him, you’d have to pay the price, I told you…” But Shane cut her off as he pulled her away from me, “Hey, I saw what happened, some random guy began hitting Alex, and it wasn’t Milania’s fault at all. He had already delivered three blows before she realized what had happened.”

Zara’s eyes narrowed to slits, “And who the fuck are you, mongrel?” She spat out with so much venom that even a King Cobra would run away from her. I winced at her last word. Shane backed off, clearly offended and shocked at her use of vocabulary to describe a complete stranger, “Just a passer-by…Mind your language, madam. Such words do not…” But Zara cut him off, advancing towards me,

“As of now, I barely give a fuck about my vocabulary. My brother is in the bloody OP room due to this fucking bitch and her insolence.”

I recoiled from Zara, looking down, my eyes filled and over flowing with tears, “Zara, this didn’t happen on purpose, I swear, I don’t even know what happened. I love him, Oh God,” I fell to the floor, as sobs racked throughout my body, I was having a panic attack and a nervous breakdown.

“Oh now, look what you’ve done!” Shane bellowed to Zara, as he grabbed my waist and pulled me upright, “Stay strong, baby!” He whispered in my ear. He made me sit on a chair as Zara stared at me stonily, tears pouring down her face, “I can’t believe you’d let this happen to him.” She said.

“I didn’t know, if I had I would…” I said and trailed off.

“The man was too big for Milla, to handle anyway. Zara, there wasn’t much Milla could have done to save him.”

Zara, shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes, “All I know is that on this girl’s watch my brother was attacked. She is guilty…I hold her responsible. I told her, nothing should happen to him, especially if she is around, yet she defied this…In my eyes, she is to blame.”

“BLAME?” Shane shouted and I noticed Zara flinch, “You wanna’ know something you prissy bitch? Had Milla stepped in, she’d probably have ended up in the same condition in which Alex is in. Thank your stars nothing happened to her, otherwise they both would have probably just bled to death on the sidewalk and I think none of the Londoners would like that sight.” 

 Zara sharply exhaled, “Milla, I understand but as of now, you will sever all your ties with my brother, I do not want you near him, at all. Do you hear me?” I nodded, my heart was breaking with every word she said and continued to shatter even more as she continued, “You can wait till, the doctor comes out with the news of Alex and then you have to leave. I don’t want you here, please take everything and get out, just leave.”

And I broke down, the OP room opened and I rushed to the doctor, “What happened?” I tried to speak out.

The doctor exhaled, “The patient is stable, but he’s had a massive head injury and we’ve had to put him into a medically induced coma. The swelling he took when the object hit him is too much. We could let him be, but without the coma, he could possibly die.”

“No!” I screamed, “Will he heal?”

The doctor pitifully smiled at me, “It is a brain injury. No two brain injuries are alike, it is hard to say, but yes, he will recover…with time.”

With time…

That’s all it took for my heart to burst, I cried harder than ever, and I felt Zara slap me, in front of the doctor, “This is all your fault,” she snarled at me.

I felt numb, hence the impact of her slap didn’t really make a difference to my senses. Zara stormed off, in order to call the management of Alex and to tell them that he had had an accident and that he was now in a coma with no sign of a speedy recovery. Alex’s dream of joining Real Madrid, would have to be put on hold.

I cried on and on till I could no more and slowly I felt the darkness enveloping me, “Alex…” was the last thing I said before the abyss claimed me.