Bethany Ford - A Young Justice Novel (Robin/Dick Grayson Romance) [Completed]

Chapter 2: How to Throw Your Life Away in One Step

0000 The first thing I felt was icy cold concrete underneath my back. I cracked my eyelids open just a bit to take in my surroundings. My internal clock said it must have been 12 o'clock in the morning. I had been unconscious for about 3 1/2 hours. The sky was pitch black. The only light there was, was from a nearby lamp. I was laying in the middle of what looked to be a deserted parking lot surrounded with thick trees and bushes. I must be in the parking lot of a park. In the near distance, tall buildings and skyscrapers were crammed together and towered over racing cars.

To my surprise, I saw my duffel near me and the small glow of the alien box. So it was a teleporter? That makes sense, but to where? Am I dead? I remember not being able to breath when I ... jumped into a wall? I started to slowly get up. How did-

"Ow!" I cried sharply. I looked down at my left knee. It looked like it had concaved in and the sides of my knee had swollen up. My elbows were skinned raw and I could feel the blood running down my forearms and to my fingertips. It would seem that I fell on my knee and bounced off and landed on my elbows. But where did I fall from? The only way for my knee to have concaved at all is if I had fallen from a tall height.

I looked at my swollen knee again and almost threw up. It looked horrible! I felt horrible! If I kept my knee slightly bent, I wasn't able to feel my knee at all. It was like it was totally disconnected form my body.

I felt sick to my stomach. I felt like I was going to throw up on myself. The trip here must have taken it's toll on my stomach, or it was just the ugly view of the big pool of blood I was laying in.

I stumbled to my feet, wincing as sharp pains raced through my body from my left knee, elbows, and my churning stomach. Ignoring the fact that I was probably handicapped on my left leg, I picked up the softly humming metal box and threw it into my duffel and started limping towards the city. Where there's a large city, there's bound to be a hospital.

A hospital. I need a hospital. The realization hit me. I am incapacitated in one leg, I can barely bend my arms, I don't have anywhere to go, and I don't even know WHERE I AM! I didn't even realize that tears had started rolling down my face. I started whimpering uncontrollably. What was I thinking? Leaving my only shelter? To do what? To go where? I didn't even make it to Stage Two of my escape! Why did I leave in the first place? I'm going to die. I can barely walk, I'm going to die. Either I die because of too much blood loss, or I starve to death because I can't find shelter. This wasn't thought through enough. I shouldn't have even planned this in the first place. I can't survive on my own! I couldn't stop crying. I can't even stop-

No! You will stop crying. Push through this pain! If you could withstand all those beatings, injuries, and lashes your whole life, you can and will get through this! Don't worry about the future right now. Your first prioirity is to get healed at a hospital, then worry about shelter later. I wiped my eyes with a shaking hand and started hobbling towards the city.

Then, all of a sudden, I heard a slight rustle in the bush behind me and a quiet whisper. My heart racing, I shuffle as quietly as I could to crouch behind a metal trashcan. It wasn't the win, because there was no wind, so it had to be something else... or someone else... because squirrels don't whisper.

My knee started throbbing and I let out a small whimper. I decided, whoever it was int he bush already knows I am here, the trashcan is only here to buy me more time. I tore a thick strip from the bottom of my shirt and swiftly wrapped it around my knee, putting pressure on certain parts of it. Just a little trick my dad had taught me when I fell off my bike.

The air ticked my exposed stomach as I peered over the trashcan at the bush that concealed my pursuers. Maybe there wasn't... - No. There's definitely someone there. I just saw a small and quick reflection. Someone there has... what? A knife, a gun?

About a dozen scenarios crossed my mind, but only one fit the job. Since I was badly injured, there was no way I could fight. I wouldn't be able to run to the city in time and hope that the publicity and crowd could help me. No, I would need a distraction, so I reached for my dad's handgun on my upper thigh, but remembered that it was unloaded. Shit, I didn't master the skill of loading it fast, so I wouldn't have it ready in time. I needed a different distraction to make my escape.

So I grabbed the first thing I had in front of me, and threw it as hard as I could at the bush. Perfect aim, Bethany. Perfect aim. Perfection.