Broken (The Siren Series #1) (7 page)

“
One, two, three!” I pulled the needle
out with a sharp pain, placing my hand over the mark to stop any
bleeding. Sliding to one side, I tried to get out of the bed. Both
legs felt like jelly. I tried to steady my balance but I fell to my
knees.

“
Crap!” I cried. “I need to see
Kate.”

Forcing myself up on the edge of the bed, I
noticed someone standing by the door. My view was blocked by the
hospital bed. I looked over and saw that it was that woman again.
Her high heels clicking as she walked towards me. My first
instincts were to quickly wake my Dad. I dragged myself towards him
and started shaking and tugging at him.

“
Dad it’s that woman, she’s here. Wake
up!” I yelled.

“
I’m sure your Father is very tired
Ellie, he needs his rest. He’s been watching over you for a few
days.” she said.

“
What have you done to him?!” I
yelled.

“
I think it’s better if we have some
privacy.” Rhea gave a heartwarming smile.

That smile didn’t convince me at all. I had a
feeling that this woman was bad news. I struggled to stand and
grabbed hold of the bed to steady myself, Rhea held her hand for
support.

“
Don’t touch me.” I said through
gritted teeth.

Rhea grabbed my uninjured hand and I saw her
eyes light up. I tried to pull away but she had a strong grip. My
heartbeat quickened as if someone just shot me full of adrenaline.
I could feel Rhea’s heart slowly beating to its own tune.

“
What power you have Ellie.” she said
with a smile.

I snatched back my hand holding it to my
chest. Why didn’t she go crazy, she wasn’t wearing any gloves?

“
I’m sorry Ellie but I had to know.”
said Rhea.

“
What’s happening to me? Where’s Kate?
Is she ok?” One after the other question began to flow freely. I
needed answers.

“
Ellie, please sit.” She gestured
towards the bed.

At that moment, the words that passed her
full lips were going to be bad news. I settled down onto the bed
waiting for her words.

“
Ellie.” she said my name with such
sadness. “I’m so sorry but your aunt Kate has died.”

Her words hit me like a brick wall. No, I
must have heard it wrong but the look on her face, it seemed
sincere.

She carried on talking. “I’m so sorry, and
you’ve been in a coma for three days.”

“
No, please not Kate, please. Please
tell me this is a dream.” I cried. My hands started shaking. My
eyes burned with tears. Rhea came and sat down on the bed but she
stayed her distance.

“
You’re lying. Why are you lying? This
is your fault!” I screamed.

“
I’m sorry Ellie but it’s the truth, I
would not do anything to harm you.” She said.

Rhea got up from the bed and looked back
towards me “Take care Ellie.” As soon as the door closed behind her
the atmosphere in the room changed.

“
Dad.” I cried.

He shot up from his uncomfortable chair and
saw me crying.

“
Is Kate..?” I couldn’t finish my words
but he knew what I was going to say. He hesitated for a
moment.

“
Kate died Ellie.” He said
grimly.

I cried into his chest while he held me, my
sobs began to grow louder and uncontrolled. My lungs hurt with
every breath I took. My eyes burned from the many tears I cried.
Dad started to hug me tighter, I was in physical pain hurt but I
needed him to hold me.

“
H-how did she..?” He cut me
off.

“
It was a really bad accident Ellie,
you’re lucky to be alive. A truck smashed in to Kate’s-.” He
choked on his own words.

“
I’m sorry Dad.” I sniffled.

He looked confused. “What are you-” He
quickly stopped. “This wasn’t you’re fault Ellie.” He said.

“
If Kate hadn’t been taking me to
school she would still be..” My mouth could not form the words I
needed. It was almost as if I didn’t believe it, but, deep down it
was true. Kate had died.

“
Do not say that Ellie, it was just an
accident.” He held me tightly again.

Something inside me wanted to push my Dad
away and scream. I killed Kate it was my fault, my fault that she
was driving, mine, my fault.

“
It’s my fault, mine, that’s she dead!”
I yelled. My Dad tried to calm me down but the rage inside me grew.
“It’s my fault. I have to see her, Kate!” I screamed with a cracked
voice.

At that moment doctors and nurses swarmed
into the room and pinned me to the bed with gloved hands. They
called for me to calm down. I wriggled and fought against them on
the bed. One of them pulled out a needle. I could feel my heart
thumping throughout my entire body. Closer the needle drew towards
me. As I struggled, the tighter they held me down.

“
No don’t” I screamed. “Dad tell them.
Please!” I looked at him. His face was full of shock.

Closer the needle came towards my bare naked
skin. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I fought against the many hands
forcing me down. The nurse injected the needle into my skin.
Something inside me snapped.

I let out an otherworldly scream that
exploded around me. The doctors and nurses flew against the wall,
and the windows shattered, showering everyone with glass. The floor
cracked around me and the entire room began to shake with force.
Everything around me slowed to a crawl and I saw everyone’s stunned
faces. My Dad’s face was full of horror as if his nightmares had
come to life. The room around faded and I felt the effects of the
sedative as the soft bed caught my fall.

My head was foggy as I walked barefooted
along a road still in my hospital gown. I looked around, everything
was fog, and nothing was visible, except the long dark road that
lay before me. Pieces of metal scattered to the ground as I walked
through the wreckage of a car crash.

“
Hello!” I shouted out into the
darkness. “Did I sleep walk out of the hospital? There’s no
way.”

“
Ellie.” whispered an all knowing voice
into my ear. I spun around to find no one. “Ellie.” It spoke
again.

This time the voice was calling from down the
road, closer and closer I walked towards the familiar voice. In the
middle of the road, there was a figure lying with its back to me.
Next to unknown body was the destroyed car that I knew very well. I
quickly ran towards the body with teary eyes, it was her. I knelt
onto the hard asphalt road. Slowly, I peered at Kate. She was lying
lifeless on the road. Her face was all bloodied, and her eyes
staring into nothingness. It was my worst nightmare, and I was
living it.

“
Kate!” I screamed “Please wake up
Kate, its Ellie.” I started to cradle Kate still body. Please tell
me this is a dream. “I want to wake up!” I cried.

I brushed some matted hair from her face and
closed her eyes. I lowered down and planted a kiss onto her
forehead. One of my tears fell onto Kate’s cheek. Hoping, like in
fairytales, a tear would wake her up, but this wasn’t a fairytale,
this was real.

Slowly I opened my heavy eyes. I was drenched
in sweat. Looking around, I saw the room broken and destroyed. The
floor around me was covered in cracks and the windows had been
broken. Did an earthquake happen? I tilted my heavy head towards
the chair. Dad was resting. From now on I would need to be there
for him.

I’ll take care of him
Kate
I thought.

I pushed the hospital blankets back and got
to my feet. The floor looked as if it had been smashed attacked
with hammers. What the hell had happened? I gently touched his
shoulder. He opened his eyes.

“
You should be in bed Ellie.” he said
with worry. He placed a gentle hand to my face.

“
I’m fine now Dad,” I lied. “And what
happened to the room?”

“
They say it was a mini earthquake, but
never have I experienced
that
before.” he said.

He helped me over to the bed and sat down
beside me. His face got all serious.

“
What’s wrong?” I asked with a dry
mouth.

“
Ellie it’s.” He cut himself off. His
face deepened with worry. There was more horrible news on its
way.

“
The doctors said they are worried
about your brain,” He said. “When you were sleeping, they didn’t
think you would wake up.”

“
But I feel fine now,” I said. “Well
apart from my injuries.”

“
I’ll just got get a doctor quick.” He
ran off out the room like a shot.

I got back into bed to wait for his
return.

I felt ok-ish’, I didn’t want people fussing
over me. I just wanted to go home.

Dad came back with a young male doctor. As
soon as he came into the room, he pulled a stethoscope from around
his neck and leaned in. I gave a small jolt when the cold metal
touched my skin. The young doctor gave a little chuckle and warmed
up his equipment. I noticed he had the bluest eye’s I’ve had ever
seen in my life. He had thick light brown hair that I just wanted
to run my fingers through and it smelled amazing. For a second I
was engrossed in him.

“
What happened in here then?” The
doctor asked.

“
They said it was an earthquake.” My
Dad mumbled.

I quickly snapped out of it when the good
looking doctor took a step back. He replaced the stethoscope around
his neck.

“
Sounds all good as far I can tell.” he
said. He smiled showing a perfect set of white teeth that kinda’
sparkled. (I must have imagined that part) He picked up my chart
and studied it with eagle eyes.

“
It looks like your due to have a MRI
scan.” He said and he ran his hand through his thick
locks.

I did not like the sound of that at all. He
saw my hesitation straight away.

“
Don’t worry Ellie, it like having
photos taken of your brain, no needles at all.” He said.

I swore this guy just walked out of a Jane
Austin novel, all he needed was a wet shirt and that would be it.
(But I wouldn’t say no to that).

He placed the chart back down and left. He
immediately came back into the room and said.

“
Oh yeah, my names Dr Logan Moss.” He
then left again before my Dad could say his thanks.

“
So a little bit of good news then?” I
said but as soon as I said it I felt the knot of guilt hit my
stomach.

He just nodded. “I just want you home Ellie,
that’s all.”He tried to smile but it fell apart. I breathed a deep
sigh but knew it was a bad idea as pain struck through me.

“
Ouch.” I said through gritted
teeth.

“
Are you ok?” Dad asked. He got up to
see to me but I waved him off.

“
Just need to take my time.” I replied
while rubbing my side.

I wanted to ask about what’s going to happen
to Kate? What about the funeral? Kate only had my Dad and me. Both
of their parents were long dead (sadly I never really knew my
grandparents). What about the money for the funeral? These
questions were going to need answers, but for now I needed to rid
my mind of those annoying doubts and focus on getting my Dad
through this and myself as well.

The MRI scan was easy. I just had to lie down
in a massive machine and wait while they looked at my brain. Thank
god there were no needles involved, but the machine did make very
loud noises, so they gave me headphones to listen to, (the choice
of music was poor, but it beats listening to a loud noisy
machine).

I was wheeled back to my room by a lovely
African woman named Bella. She told me all sorts of story’s to try
to lift my mood, they were about some of the patients who came
here, some were funny some were kinda’ gross. There was one about a
man came in claiming that he fell onto a carrot and, well you get
the picture. (Yuck). Bella had a laugh that could lift anyone from
the darkest of moods.

“
Here we go.” She said pressing the
brakes. My body was still weak, but I pushed myself up from the
wheelchair. Bella stood next to me for support. I shuffled towards
the bed and pulled the sheets right up to my chin.

“
Looks like you’ll be leaving me soon.”
She said.

“
Yeah looks like it, I just want to go
home, back to my bed.” I replied.

“
Yep, there’s nothing like your own
bed.” Bella chuckled. I loved it when she laughed and found myself
smiling.

My happy smile faded within seconds. I felt
the guilt rise in my stomach like bile. I had no right to
smile.

“
Hey.” She said. “Where’s that smile
gone?”

“
Sorry it’s just that I shouldn’t feel
happy right now.” I sadly said.

“
Come on now Ellie, what happened was
an accident. And if your aunt was alive she wouldn’t want you
feeling like this would she?” The African woman said.

“
No she wouldn’t.” I
muttered.

“
Anyway the doctor will be round any
minute to see you.” Bella said.

“
You mean the one with the bluest
eyes.” I asked. My face felt flushed just thinking about
him.

Both of her eyebrows shot up. “Ah so you
noticed have you?” She laughed. “Yes he sure does get a lot of
attention around here. Maybe that’s to your taste, but not for me
sweetie. I like em’ rugged.” She left the room with a laugh that
bellowed down the hall.