Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
What the fuck was that noise?
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Ever so slowly, I started regaining control of my senses. I tasted nothing on my mouth, but smelt plenty of disinfectant that could only come from one place. Even shut, my eyes squinted at the bright light of the room, making me uncomfortable. The beeping wasn't helping either.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeeee-
OK. I've had enough.
My hand shot out from under the covers in auto-pilot, sending the offending machine flying and making give off one final funereal beep before it shut up once and for all.
Hallelujah.
Sighing contently at the peaceful silence, I nestled back into the cushions, wanting to continue sleeping.
"Rose! Thank God you're okay. Does anything hurt?"
Lissa's angel materialised on top of me, distressed and worried out of her wits. She was dressed in her dancing attire, with her hair untouched and her eyes frantic; so much so that is she were to set her gaze on an unmoving object, her eyes would appear to be vibrating. Taking her all in, I came to one conclusion;
No more resting planned for me.
"I'm OK, Lissa. What- How long have I been out?"
She smiled, relieved, which settled her face back again into its familiar patterns.
"Just enough to get carried here."
I nodded, confused and disorientated for a second. With a quick glimpse, I checked out that she had to be right; I was still dressed in my work-out clothes, and hadn't been changed to that horrible demon-blessed hospital gown.
"What happened?"
Her brow furrowed. I didn't like that expression on her.
"You really don't remember? Rose, you fainted."
Thinking about it, the memories came back in a compact tidal wave. The surprise, the anger, the fear. The letter. Where was the letter?
"Lissa," I grabbed her arms, shaking them slightly, "Where's the-"
The door to the stark white room opened and a middle-aged woman in a long white lab-coat trotted in, holding a clip-board. She looked ready to face anything, but when she saw me seating upright on the bed, her rapid pace stopped short.
"I see you're already awake," She said, staring bemused at the fallen heart monitor. "How's my favourite patient?"
I stared.
"Doc?"
Doctor Olendzki smiled.
"That's right, Rose. It seems you gave your friends quite a scare. How are you feeling?"
When I was little, my time was equally invested in two places; Kirova's room and the infirmary. I was usually a couple of times a week in the infirmary, having splinters in my hand for punching a tree or a broken finger from slapping a butt-head. Either way, it turned out to be my second home, and Doctor Olendzki the healer version of a mother.
"Fine."
She nodded to herself, writing some things down in that unreadable doctor writing.
"That's good. I want to watch you for a couple of hours, but then you're free to go."
Offering us a brief smile, she departed the room, leaving me with a still distressed Lissa.
"Rose. Oh my God. I can't believe you're okay. The rest of the gang-"
"Liss. Wait. Where's the letter?"
She frowned.
"Which letter?"
I resisted the urge to groan in impatience. I didn't have the right to take this out on Lissa, and yet, something dark was welling up in my stomach. It urged me to snap at her, to blame her for everything, and I had to admit that the offer was quite tempting.
"The letter Adrian gave me. Remember?"
Her face relaxed in understanding.
"Oh! Yes, Dimitri's got it. Why?"
"Because I'd like to keep the contact," I lied, winking.
She laughed, shaking her head. When she opened her mouth to retaliate, a voice from the door did it for her.
"Rosie. I didn't know you were into bad guys."
Christian stepped into the room wearing his ever-present smirk, followed by the whole dance team. They all came over, surrounding my bed until I couldn't see past their dancer bodies.
"I'm not. I just may need one to help me kill you."
"Why? Can't do it on your own?" His smirk widened.
"No. I just don't want my hands getting dirty."
"Fucking bit-"
Lissa's hand shot up in a powerful silencing gesture, telling us of as if we were no older than a couple of kids. Christian immediately shut up, and to my astonishment, looked sheepish.
"You're totally whipped," I told him, smirking.
Christian's mouth opened indignantly. "I am not whipped."
I huffed. "No. You're not whipped. You're what's next to whipped."
"Enough! Rose, you aren't laying a hand on my boyfriend. And Christian," I grinned, satisfied that Lissa was finally telling dear old Chrissie off. "What if she was into bad guys? It's none of your business."
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"She's into bad guys?"
I sighed in exasperation.
"Oh, shut up! It's none of your business!"
The words came out harsher than intended, and I self-consciously fumbled with my fingers when I saw hurt cross Adrian's face. Even the gang looked shocked at my outburst.
Damn the darkness.
It had been pushing on for a while now, making me explode when I didn't take it out on a punching bag. Now that I was dancing restlessly with the team to prepare for the Montana competition, there was no time for gym or quick runs. I didn't think I'd want to be out in the streets alone either, as stupid as that sounds.
But it's the truth. I'm weak, just a shell of the bursting personality I had before. And I didn't think I'd be able to get it all back, even if I somehow moved on from this ordeal. I think I'll always look behind my shoulder, at least until I know that the bastard is behind bars; which, by the way, isn't going to happen. Even if I testified to the council, they wouldn't believe that- They wouldn't believe an unpromised dhampir.
"So," Sydney cleared her throat. "How are you?"
I tucked my hair behind my ear. "Fine."
They were all shifting uncomfortably on their feet, their faces tense. Sharing a look, I saw them decide on something before suddenly everything in the room was more interesting to look at than me.
"Rose. What happened?"
Dimitri's silky voice wrapped around me like a flour tortilla would a burrito, as weird as that sounds. His forehead was creased with concern, concern directed at me. It made my heart flutter pathetically, seeing that he cared; but then, it was his job to care. I was a dancer in his small team, and so he was practically obliged to watch out for me.
"Nothing. It's just the stress."
The lie fell practiced from my lips, and yet my stomach churned with guilt. How could I lie to Dimitri, the person that had taken me in into his team, sheltered me away and given me a new opportunity to restart my life? Why lie?
He didn't seem to believe me anyway.
The same familiar itch made an appearance behind my ear, telling me to confide him my secret, the last two years of my life. But that was only a very small part of me. The rest didn't want to see the disappointment in his face, or his disgust. My heart was mending; I didn't want it to break again.
Eddie, who had been quiet throughout the whole conversation, suddenly frowned.
"Does it have anything to do with the envelope?"
The question hit close to home, and even if I kept on a perfect blank face, I was panicking inside. Dimitri looked deep into my eyes while I kept avoiding his, and before I could protest, he had taken the paper out and was reading it.
"Who's J?" His voice was low and void of emotion, making me flinch.
"Uh- He's my colleague from my work position in Colorado. Wanted back the- uh- shampoo," Shampoo? What the fuck? "And he's coming to pick it up."
Dimitri raised a brow.
"You're saying that J is your former colleague who's coming all the way from Colorado to Montana just for his shampoo?"
I nodded, and if Christian's loud snort was of any indication, I was in deep shit.
"Rose?" Came in Lissa's hesitant voice. "I thought you went to Florida?"
Fuck. Fuck.
"I went to Colorado for a new work position for a few weeks," I said, fighting to keep my voice level.
How could I have been so stupid to dig a hole in on myself? They were all staring at me, disbelieving and confused with my lies. And I thought I was a good liar.
What a bloody joke.
Before anyone could say anything, a girl around my age dressed as a nurse came into the room. I stared at her from above Jill's slim shoulders, watching as everybody turned to the intruder. The nurse looked agitated, her face distraught, making her seem older than she had to be. When she saw all the other people in my room, she went ballistic.
"What are you doing here?! Miss Hathaway needs to rest! Out! Out!"
Her shrilly voice made everyone jump. They looked at each other and me before shrugging and leaving, Lissa, Adrian and Dimitri hesitating the most. You could see the doubt in their eyes, and when Dimitri met my gaze, I knew he hadn't forgotten about my badly created lies.
"Can't any of us stay for a bit?" Lissa asked, confused.
The nurse turned her jumping blue-grey eyes to my best friend.
"No!" She shrieked, a vein popping in her head.
While Lissa looked taken aback, she didn't dispute it. Adrian was still staring weirdly at the nurse, as if trying to figure her out. The moment came and went, and he simply shrugged nonchalantly before exiting after Sydney. I shared one final promising look with Dimitri before the door closed, leaving me and the nurse alone.
"Hello, Rosemarie," She said, a creepy smile at her lips.
Her fingers were fumbling with her greasy black hair, tugging at it. When her hand came back to rub her cheeks, loose locks were knitted around her fingers like creepers.
Why did it seem like this girl was better as a patient than as a nurse?
"Hi." I said tentatively.
She took a step towards me, looking around wildly before her crazed eyes landed on me and her smile widened. The nurse was like a hungry cat about to pounce on a forbidden fruit, and she wasn't very inconspicuous about it.
Something clearly wasn't right.
She continued her strides, staring at me as if I were a gold-mine about to be conquered. When she put her hand inside her bra and took out a syringe, I leapt from the bed.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I growled, never taking my eyes from the white liquid inside the container.
She bared her teeth, lifting the syringe up.
"Come back here, Rosie," She cooed.
Then, she emitted an animalistic war shout, running towards me with her arm raised and the needle pointing towards me.
"Crazy bitch," I hissed.
She then aimed for my body, stabbing the air as I speedily avoided her. When she saw she wasn't getting anywhere, she growled and jumped at me, falling flat on the ground when I stepped out of her reach.
I was about to incapacitate her when I spotted them under her raised skirt.
The scars.
They ran all the way around her legs, thin and deeply ingrained, forming abstract and sophisticated patterns. Lines in every inch of her pale skin, contributing all to the big picture; the final work of art. A piece that wasn't yet finished.
It wasn't finished.
I took a step back from the girl, feeling the colour drain off my face in horror. She used my obvious distracted state and stood up again, fixing me still with her eyes.
"Not so tough now, are you, Rosie?" She smiled cruelly. "We're going to have so much fun."
I swallowed, trying to gain time before she went animalistic out of control.
"Who are you?"
She looked crazier than ever when she replied, and I would've laughed if it wasn't my life at stake.
"Your worst nightmare."
And she pounced.
A/N
Ever been scared of a crazy nurse? There you go!
So, this is next week's chapter! What do you think? Good, bad? Again, thanks for the reads, favs and follows! It's amazing to see people like the story, and it only makes me want to write more!
See you around ;)