Lilies
A/N: And Chapter 10 has arrived. Adam had found poor Maddy! All by her lonesome self too! Eeeek! Suspense! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned Fruits Basket or any of its characters and I sadly never will. That happiness belongs to Natsuki Takaya. However, I do own my lovely Maddy Wilde.
Maddy's point of view
Chapter 10: The Crash Landing
He found me.
He found me.
He found me.
I was frozen stiff on the couch. I couldn't move a single muscle. I just stared at Adam, my torturer, even in my dreams.
"Come here," he commanded. I sprang up quickly and walked over towards him. I couldn't disobey him. I'd pay for it. I was already going to pay for leaving him. Hardcore payment.
Once I stopped directly in front of him, he cupped my cheek in his hand and raised my head so that I looked at him.
"Did you miss me, sweetheart?" he said in a horribly sweet voice with a sickening smile. I shook uncontrollably in his grasp. Tears were starting to well over in my eyes.
"Answer me!" Adam shouted and punched the side of my face. I collapsed on the ground.
And then something in me snapped.
I rose from the ground unsteadily and lunged at him. I knew he definitely hadn't been expecting that so he stumbled and fell on his back on the floor. I clawed at his face in a fury-filled adrenaline rush. I don't know what had come over me.
But anger quickly filled his eyes and he kicked my small stomach and I went flying off of him, landing in a heap on the floor. He rose slowly and menacingly approached me. He kicked my face.
"How dare you attack me!" Adam spat. He lifted me off of the floor and threw me over his shoulder. Then he walked out the door. I then realized that he was taking me. Taking me away from the Sohmas. Taking me away from Hatori. Taking me away from everything I have come to love.
I pounded his back with my fists and flailed my legs wildly as he walked through the rain to a car. I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"Let me go! Let me go! I don't want to leave!" I shrieked. Adam then threw me roughly onto the hard ground.
"Why? You got a man here? Don't lie to me, Maddy. I know you been cheating on me, and now you are so gonna pay for it," he snarled at me and picked me up again.
He tossed me in the back seat of his car. As soon as I hit the seats and the door slammed shut, I crawled toward the door and tried in vain to yank it open. Child locks, real mature Adam.
He got in the driver's seat and started driving. I never felt safe when Adam was driving. He always drove so recklessly and sped all the time. And when I say speed, I mean like thirty miles per hour over the speed limit.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked him. I had crawled as far away from him as I could get.
"Home," he said simply, a cruel smile on his face.
"This is my home!" I shouted at him. He flipped around in his seat and grabbed my hair and yanked me to his face. He slapped my face with his other hand while still holding my hair. I realized that both of his hands were off of the wheel and his eyes were off of the road.
"Home is where I say it is. Get used to it," he hissed.
I saw the blinding headlights of the truck far too late. All I could do was scream.
…
Shigure's point of view
That dinner with those publishers was so boring. I was finally at my own front door by 11:50.
"Maddy, I'm home!" I sang through the house. No response.
"Maddy?" I yelled. Again, no response. Now I was scared. I could only hope she was sleeping.
"Maddy! MADDY! Where are you?!" I shouted throughout the house. I searched in every crack and crevice of the house for her.
She was gone.
This had to be some kind of cruel joke. But I knew it wasn't
I sprinted out of the house into the now pouring rain. I ran right past my car, not even thinking of using it. How stupid of me. But all I could think about was finding Maddy.
I ran everywhere, searching blindly for the girl, calling her name every few seconds. I heard sirens of police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks. I drifted towards the scene, going towards all of the flashing lights.
I found a lone police officer and quickly approached him.
"What happened?" I asked him.
"Real bad car crash," he said, looking towards the scene, where I assumed the wrecked car was behind all the vehicles. Everyone was gathered around a steep slope.
"Do you know who was in it?" I asked nervously. He shrugged
"A guy and a girl. The guy looks about his early twenties, but we can't tell how old the girl is. She's real small," he informed me. My heart dropped about fifty feet.
"What did the girl look like?"
"Well, the most we really know now is that she has really long brown hair. We haven't even gotten them out of the car yet. Who are yo-"
That was all I needed to hear before I was shoving through the crowd.
"Let me through! Let me through! That's my little sister down there!" I screamed. I had to get to her.
I made it through the people and vehicles and saw the wreck the car was in. It was flipped upside down at the bottom of the hill. A part of it was on fire and firemen were trying to put it out. More firemen were using the Jaws of Life on the car doors to save any survivors.
I didn't even know if Maddy was alive
I slid down the slope. This reminded me scarily of when I had saved Maddy from that river. Strangely enough, this was where the river had been, but it had dried up. The car was just resting where the river used to be.
When I reached the car, they had finally wrenched the car door open and were pulled someone out. It was a man. He had sandy blonde hair and brown eyes. He didn't look that damaged. All there really was a few cuts. He looked at me and smiled. It wasn't really a kind smile.
He walked out of the fireman's arms. He could walk. He was perfectly fine. What about Maddy?
"She's a goner, man. She deserves it," he whispered to me. My eyes filled with anger. I grabbed his shirt and shook him.
"Who are you? Why did you do this to Maddy?" I shouted in his face. He only grinned evilly.
"I'm Adam, of course. She must have told you about me," he stated simply.
Adam. The guy who beat her and abused her constantly. The guy she had nightmares about. The guy Hari and I swore to get revenge on. I stared at him and did the only rational thing that came to mind.
I punched that asshole in the face.
I threw him on the ground, disgusted. Then, I turned back to the totaled car and saw that they were bringing Maddy's small form out. I sprinted over to see how she was, if she was even alive.
It was worse than I had imagined, and I had imagined the very worst. She wasn't dead; I could see her chest moving feebly. But her body was mangled and torn. She was burnt, scratched, bruised, broken, and bleeding.
The paramedics were at her side immediately, shoving an oxygen mask on her face and putting her on a stretcher to bring to the ambulance. I followed them quickly and no one protested when I climbed in the back of the ambulance with Maddy.
They could only make sure she was alive until they got to the hospital. I could only hold her limp hand and hope that she'd be okay. About halfway there, a paramedic questioned who I was.
"I'm her older brother," I didn't hesitate to answer with. He just nodded.
Once we arrived at the emergency section of the hospital, they rushed her straight in and through the emergency room double doors. That was as far as I could follow her before a nurse blocked my path.
"I'm sorry, but you can't go in there. Please wait in the waiting room," she instructed.
"But I want to see her."
"We'll update you as soon as possible about her, alright? Now please sit."
I reluctantly obeyed, knowing that they wouldn't let me in anyway. How could we all have such bad timing to be doing something on the day Adam finds her? How could God be so cruel as to hurt her and not Adam? He deserved pain far more than she did.
I don't know how long I sat there with my head in my hands before an important thought occurred to me. I had to call Hari. Of course he had to know. After him, I'd call Ayaa too. But Hari had to know first.
I took out my cell phone and dialed his clinic number. It was usually the best number to reach him by. Hopefully he was there and not still with Akito or asleep. The phone rang three times before he finally answered the phone. I could tell he just got back from Akito and was about to go to bed.
"What is it, Shigure?" he asked without even bothering to hide the irritation in his voice.
"Come to the emergency section at the hospital right away," I told him.
"Why? Please tell me it isn't Maddy, Shigure," he practically begged me to tell him that Maddy wasn't hurt. I wish I could say so.
"It is, Hari. Adam found her. Just come, I'll tell you more when you get he-" I would have continued, but I heard the phone hit the floor. I knew he had dropped the phone and was already on his way.
When Hari arrived, which didn't take very long, I still hadn't heard any news of Maddy. He stood over me and just stared at me, waiting for an explanation. I looked at him with sad eyes.
"Adam found her, Hari. When we all left, I mean. Talk about bad timing on us, right? Anyway, he got them in a car crash. He was fine. I punched him though. But it doesn't matter. She still looked far worse than him. She was alive the last time I saw her. I guess she still is since they haven't told me otherwise. But she looked so mangled. I'm just so scared for her, Hari. What did she ever do to deserve this?" I asked. I knew there wasn't an answer to my question because she simply didn't deserve it at all.
Hari just shook his head and sunk into the chair next to me. He buried his head in his hands. I wondered if he was crying. He probably was. I had already finished my crying and it had been a lot. Only after I had finished crying did I think to call Hari. Now I remembered to call Ayaa.
I put my hand on his shoulder and told him quietly," I'm going to go call Ayaa. I'll be right back." He didn't respond, but I hadn't expected him to. I walked away to call Ayaa so I could leave him alone for a minute.
Hatori's point of view
I can't believe I let her get hurt again. After I promised her that I would protect her. I lied and now she's in pain. I wish I could switch places with her. I wish I could at least know how she's doing.
It seemed like an eternity until Shigure came back, another eternity until Ayaa arrived, and then another one until the nurse came out and beckoned to us. I had had to wait three eternities to hear how Maddy was doing.
"The doctor would like to tell you how the girl from the accident is doing. He can speak with one of you."
"I'll go," I immediately said. She nodded and gestured for me to walk through the emergency room doors. The nurse came in after me and pointed to a doctor sitting on a bench outside a door. I walked towards him and he stood up when he noticed me approaching him.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Kanji. Would you mind telling me who that girl is?" he introduced himself and then asked.
"Her name is Maddy Wilde. I am Dr. Hatori Sohma. It's a pleasure to meet you," I replied. It really wasn't though. I wouldn't be meeting him if Maddy weren't hurt.
"Alright, so about her condition. The good news is she seems to have a pretty hard head. She had collided with the dashboard. Her brain isn't swelling at all like we expected it to be doing. The bad news is both of her legs are broken along with her left arm and…she seems to be in a coma. Really, it's a miracle since she probably should've died on impact. We can't be certain when she'll wake up or if she will," the doctor informed me.
While I processed all the new information, I felt like breaking down and just crying. But I could do that later. "May I see her?" I asked.
"Of course. Right through there," he said gesturing to the door next to him. I nodded and walked in.
Just seeing her mangled body was enough to put tears in my eyes, but I didn't let them fall. I walked up to her bedside and sat in the chair next to her. I took her tiny, fragile hand in my large one and held it to my face. I kissed it and let a few of my tears fall into her hand. I looked back at her distorted face, scratches, and bruises everywhere. She still looked like the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen, despite her beliefs.
"Hi Maddy," I whispered to her. I knew she couldn't hear me, but I somehow wanted to let her know that I was here. "I'm here. Everything's going to be alright. I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you from that monster," a few more tears fell now. "But…you're going to wake up, Maddy! I just know it! You have to, you just do…" I finally let my sobs take over, still clutching her hand.
I barely remember Shigure and Ayaa entering. I vaguely felt one of their hands on my shoulder. I didn't acknowledge them. My attention was only directed to my coma-induced girlfriend. I wasn't going to leave her side until her eyelids fluttered open and I saw her beautiful golden eyes or she was… dead.
Maddy's point of view
What happened? Where am I, anyway? I opened my eyes and saw a blue sky. I sat up and looked around. I was on a small hill with a pretty weeping willow next to me. The grassy, green hill was covered in bright flowers. How did I get here and why did I feel so free here? I felt like I could stay here for forever.
I stood up and walked over to the weeping willow and sat under it to think about what happened to me. I really wasn't getting anywhere with my situation when I noticed what I was wearing. It was a simple, flowing white dress. How did I even get in this? I don't even like dresses. Though, I have to admit, it was really pretty. I put my hands to my face and gasped.
It was completely scar and scratch free. I looked at my arms and legs. They were free of scratches and scars too. I lifted my dress to look at my stomach. I gasped again when it was completely unmarked, perfect.
I felt perfect. But that didn't last long before I wondered again where the hell I was and how I got here. My thoughts and trying to remember were again interrupted when I felt my hair. It was braided with small white and light blue flowers.
What was going on? It was like I could be unharmed, unmarked, and perfect here. But I was alone. All alone. I didn't like it. I'd rather have my ugly and scarred appearance back so I could have someone, anyone. Shigure, Ayaa, my parents, but mostly, I wanted Hari here with me. As if answering my prayers, I heard his voice from the sky it seemed.
I listened closely to him. He was telling me that everything was okay and that he was there. And then he started yelling about me having to wake up and that I just would. Then I heard him start crying. That broke my heart. Why was he crying? And what did he mean wake up? Was I sleeping? Why would that make him cry though?
That was when it all came rushing back to me painfully fast. Adam. The car crash. I faintly remember Shigure being there with me. I smiled when I remembered he had told the paramedic that he was my older brother. I think I blacked out after that and now I'm here I guess.
Is this real or is this all inside my head? (A/N: "Of course it's inside your head, but why should that mean that it's not real?" ~Dumbledore. Sorry, I couldn't resist. :D)
I looked to my left and saw a single, wilting white lily. As soon as I saw it, a shooting pain coursed through my whole body. I doubled over and breathed heavily. Once the pain ended, I looked back at the flower and somehow knew that I had to take care of it.
I looked around and saw a stream to my right. Water. Perfect for this near-dead flower.
I just knew that if I could make that lily grow again, that I would be able to return to the ones I loved. But I also knew that to do it, I'd have to do it the natural way.
A/N: EEEK. Poor Maddy! She really isn't the most fortunate person is she? Oh well. I know that you are all probably wondering about that last sentence, but don't worry! All will be revealed at some point! Continue watching out for the next chapter please! ^_^