Mark sat in the chair and sighed, wearily rubbing his face and resting his head in his hands. It had been three days since the incident in the woods, and the young woman he had found was miraculously alive, but still unconscious. The medical personnel had told him numerous times it was not necessary for him to stay there, and that they would make sure she was well taken care of, but he could not in good conscious just leave, and never give it a second thought. He considered himself too involved, and had to make sure she was going to be alright.
He looked over at her and felt another pang of sorrow. The poor girl looked like she had been through hell. One of her arms had been completely crushed, and was currently encased in a bulky cast. One of her ankles had been shattered as well, which resulted in one of her feet being put in a cast. Her nose had been broken, and she had an eye completely swollen shut, along with a fractured skull and other much more minor cuts and bruises. He could not comprehend what, or who had caused her to go through this sort of hell, but he planned on trying to at least attempt to find out.
Mark was flipping through a motorcycle magazine, when he heard a noise. He looked over, and was surprised when he saw she was moving. He sat up straighter when she let out a small groan and, relief filled him when he saw her open her good eye, and start looking around the room curiously.
Brandy awoke with immense pain shooting through her body. She slowly opened her eye, immediately noticing one would not budge, and found herself confused when she found herself looking around at white walls. "Am I dreaming?" she thought to herself. She went to sit up, but the intense pain which immediately hit her like a ton of bricks and took her breath away made her stay put.
"I wouldn't move, if I were you," a deep voice said to her. She looked over and saw a man sitting there by her side, the site of him both catching her by surprise and causing a spark of fear to twinge her insides. He had long black hair, piercing green eyes, and tattoos covering his arms. It was also very apparent this man was very large, both in height and muscle. "He could break me in half," she thought nervously to herself, and couldn't stop the trembling which began to overtake her body. Did Tom send him to finish what he started? "Hey, are you okay? Are you cold?" he asked, concern both in his voice and on his face. "You're white as a ghost, girl," he added, and suddenly stood up, walking out of the room. Taking deep breaths, Brandy tried to calm her rapidly beating heart, and felt an instant wave of relief when a nurse walked into the room.
"Look who finally decided to join the real world again," the nurse commented in a joking manner, smiling at Brandy as she scrubbed her hands. "My name is Joanna, honey. How are you feeling?"
"Like I'm going to throw up," Brandy rasped, waves of nausea rolling over her as the pain intensified.
"Don't worry, we will fix that sweetie. On a scale of one to ten, where is your pain at right now?"
"Twenty," Brandy groaned, her voice wavering as tears welled up in her eyes.
"You just hold tight, Brandy. I've got some medicine right here that is going to make you feel a lot better," Joanna reassured her as she added some fluids to Brandy's IV. "The pain is probably what is making you feel so sick, but we have some other medicine we can get you if this doesn't let up." Brandy immediately felt a warm fuzziness flow through her veins, washing away the pain she felt and making her head foggy. When the nurse looked at Brandy, she smiled back sleepily, and she couldn't help but to smirk in return. "Feeling better already?" she asked, and Brandy nodded. "On a scale of one to ten, how is your pain now?"
"Two or three," Brandy mumbled, and yawned.
Joanna couldn't help but to chuckle. "Alright, Brandy. You woke up just in time to get in an order for lunch, so I'm going to go get you a menu so you can let us know what you want. After you eat, the doctor will come in and talk to you."
"Okay. Hey, wait. How do you know my name?" Brandy asked, her words growing slurred.
"We found a wallet on you. We assumed it was your ID in it, and that your name is in fact Brandy Williams. Is that correct?" Brandy nodded. "Do you want me to bring you anything else back with that menu?"
"Some ice water, and maybe another pillow."
"You got it, hon," Joanna replied, and walked out of the room.
Brandy looked over at Mark, and asked quite bluntly, "So who are you? Why are you here?" Before he could respond, the nurse came with everything Brandy needed, and Brandy asked the nurse, "Hey, who is this? Why is he in here?"
The nurse looked up at Mark, then back at Brandy, and hesitated before replying, "He saved your life. I think the rest you should hear from him. I will be back in about thirty minutes to get your lunch order, but hit that button right there if you need anything else before then."
With a frown on her face, Brandy watched the nurse once more walk out of the room, and looked back over at Mark again. "You saved me?" she asked, and Mark shrugged.
"I don't know if I would say I saved you. I haven't given you any medical treatment. I simply found you, and called an ambulance," he explained, his voice like silk on Brandy's ears.
"Found me?" she inquired, unsure of what he meant. The last thing she remembered was driving in her car.
"Yeah, you were in the woods behind my house...I'm sorry, do you remember anything?" Brandy shook her head. "What do you remember?"
Brandy thought hard, trying to remember past being in her car, but everything was just so hazy. "Driving," she replied simply.
"You were driving?" he asked, and she nodded. "Well, I can't give you any answers as to what exactly happened. All I know, is you were far from any road. You were probably about a mile from the road that goes by my property, to be completely honest."
"I don't...I don't understand..." she mumbled, a frown coming to her face as she became clearly distressed.
"Hey, don't think about it right now. We can worry about all of that once you are more recovered. Right now, just focus on resting and getting better," Mark commented, leaning forward and placing a hand on her shoulder.
She nodded, and yawned. "Are you going to leave?" she asked, looking back over at him.
"I can if you want me to," he replied. "Or, I can reach out to your family if you would like."
She hesitated, before commenting, "I don't have any family..."
"How about friends?" She shook her head, looking down in shame, and he saw a lone tear slide down her cheek. "Hey, girl, no crying, okay? You got me, I won't go anywhere. You just sleep."
Looking back over at him, she gave a small smile. "Thank you, that's awful nice of you. I couldn't ask that of you, though. I'll be okay from here, you can go."
"Quit talking nonsense, I am going to stay here. My mind is made up. I ain't about to leave you alone like this."
Seeing that arguing was pointless, she simply nodded, her eyes once more growing misty. "Thank you," she whispered, wiping at her eyes to avoid any tears falling. "Can I ask you something, though?"
"Sure."
She hesitated, before asking, "What's your name?"
Unable to help himself, Mark started laughing. "I'm sorry, I keep forgetting even though I know yours, you've been out cold all this time. It's Mark. Mark Calaway," he chuckled, and extended his hand to formally introduce himself. Giggling at this, she grabbed his hand and shook it. "Now that we officially know each other, get some rest. I'm going to go get myself something to eat, but I will be right back. Again, if that's what you want." Feeling comforted by his presence, Brandy quickly nodded her head, making him smirk. "Can I get you anything?"
"I don't have any money-" she started, when he held up his hand.
"Not important. Do you need hair ties, or maybe a book?"
"Some hair ties would be nice. Maybe a word search book, or a magazine. I'm not picky. And if it's okay with you...maybe some cards? If you wanted to play, of course."
"You got it, kid," he replied with a wink, and gave a small wave before heading out the door. Feeling safer than she had in a long time, Brandy finally allowed herself to fall into a content sleep, unsure how but knowing she had to in some way repay the man who had saved her life.
As Mark walked back into Brandy's room, he immediately noticed something was not right. Her heart monitor was beeping at a faster than normal pace, and when he really looked at Brandy he could see she had an expression of distress on her face. Sitting down the items he had bought, he stood next to her, watching her closely as she began to squirm.
"No...no...Tom, no..." she whimpered, her head beginning to thrash about.
"Hey, you okay?" Mark asked, placing a hand on her shoulder, when her eyes suddenly flew open, full of terror, and she let out a piercing scream. Shocked, Mark fell back, watching as she continued to move about. When he realized she was still in the midst of a nightmare, and was not actually awake, he stepped back over to her and started shaking her shoulder. "Brandy, Brandy wake up," he said, tapping her cheek as well, and when she didn't respond he repeated himself in a louder voice. When she continued to scream, he looked around the room, unsure of what to do, and when he saw the glass of water by her bed he without giving a second thought grabbed it and poured some of it on her face. She immediately began to sputter, and blinked a few times before looking at him. "I'm sorry, darlin', but you were screaming bloody murder. You okay?" he once more asked in a gentle voice, and nodding her face crumpled as she began to silently cry.
"Hey, what is going on? Is everything okay?" Joanna asked as she rushed into the room, looking back and forth between the two. "Brandy, do we need to call security?" she added, eyeing Mark.
Brandy immediately shook her head. "No, no, I'm okay. I'm so sorry, it was just a nightmare," Brandy commented, trying to stop her tears. "He didn't do anything."
Joanna continued to look warily at them both. "Well...alright. You're sure you're okay?"
Brandy nodded. "Yes, I promise. Thank you, though, for the concern," she replied, and forced a smile through her tears.
Finally, Joanna nodded. "You know how to get a hold of me," she commented, and with obvious reluctance walked out of the room.
"I am so embarrassed," Brandy whispered, hiding her face in shame.
Mark could see she was trembling, and placed a hand once more on her shoulder. "There's nothing to be embarrassed of, you can't help having a nightmare," he reassured her. "It sounded like a hell of one, too...want to talk about it?"
Brandy quickly shook her head. "No...not yet, anyway." She hesitated, before adding, "I remember now how I got here..." Looking over at Mark, she commented in a trembling voice, "Mark...I'm scared to leave this place."
Mark frowned, worried by what could have her so scared. "Well like I told you, I'm here now. I won't let anything happen, okay? Just rest up, and when you're ready to talk I'll listen."
Nodding, Brandy settled back in her bed, and once more drifted off to sleep. As Mark watched her, he could not help but to wonder just what had happened to her...