Page 22 of Catch My Fall

9

Something has changed, I know that much without even having to open my eyes.

Something feels different.

As the cogs in my mind begin to turn and the haze of sleep wears off, I notice the air smells fresh and clean, unlike the stench of stale air, body odour and piss that I’ve been used to for I don’t know how long. The silence is replaced by a steady beep somewhere beside me and the sound of rain pattering against a window is comforting. The bed I’m in feels like I’m lying on clouds, and my head sinks into the plush pillow beneath me.

I go to reach for my face, but something stops me. I peel my eyes open, letting my eyes adjust to the harsh white light of the room I’m in.

I’m in the hospital.

Relief washes over me, but I have to take a moment to make sure I’m not dreaming.

Tiny flashes of images flicker in my mind.

I remember the room I was locked in… I remember Ollie and Austin fighting… Austin shot him! Did he live?

I remember the pain in my stomach, I felt like I was dying. My hand stretches over my belly which is sore and bruised under my touch. I remember being weightless in someone’s arms, then waking up here.

I glance down to my hand to find it clasped in somebody else’s as it rests at my side on the mattress.

“Sierra? Princess?” I know that voice, it’s a voice I’ve been dreaming of hearing for so long, but as my eyes search for the source of the voice, my blood runs cold.

The face staring at me isn’t the one I thought it would be. The one staring back at me is a face from my nightmares.

“No!” I breathe out, snatching my hand out from under his.

“Sierra, it’s alright. It’s me. I’m not going to hurt you.” He reaches for me.

“No! Get away from me!” I scream, my voice rough like I’ve swallowed a piece of sandpaper. It’s dry and scratchy.

I desperately try to shuffle across the bed, but the wires that hook me up to the machines beside me and the pain that slices through my abdomen halt my movements.

I lean too heavily on my left arm and wince, noticing the cast that binds my forearm.

“Princess, please.” There’s only one man who calls me princess, and this man’s face doesn’t match up that his voice.

What is going on?

“No!” I cry.

The door swings open and two more men pile in.

“What happened?” one of them asks. I know that voice too.

“She woke up and started freaking out,” the man to beside me explains.

“Sierra, calm down. You’re safe,” the other says.

“G—get out! All of y—you! Leave!” I cry, my breaths jagged and strained.

A nurse bursts into the room. “I think you should all leave now. You being here is disturbing your sister. She’s scared and confused. You can come back when she’s more stable.”

The three men reluctantly leave the room, the one whose hand was holding mine peering over his shoulder briefly before following the other two out.

The nurse makes her way over to me. “It’s alright, sweetie. You’re safe.”

∞∞∞

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