August, 2007
Michelle Garland
Michelle could hear a faint beeping and hushed voices whispering around her. She tried to open her eyes but a blinding white light made her squeeze them shut.
Michelle slowly opened her eyes again and looked around the room.
"Michelle?" She heard a woman say.
She looked over and saw her parents sitting in plastics chairs next to the big bed she was in. Both of her parents looked different from the last time she had seen them.
Her mother's hair had grown from a bob that reached just below her ears to almost reaching her shoulders. Her eyes looked red and puffy as if she had been crying and she had bags under her eyes. She wore a simple green blouse and jeans and looked like her usual self.
Her father's hair looked like it had been tousled which was unlike him. He also had a lot of stubble on his chin, almost enough to be considered a small beard. And he looked as if he had been crying too. Her father was wearing a wrinkled button down shirt and wrinkled khakis.
"Mom?" Michelle said hoarsely, her voice cracking from not using it.
Her mother let out a sigh of relief and stood by her bed. Her father left to get a doctor.
"Where am I?" Michelle whispered.
Her mother quickly got her a cup of water while moving the bed into a sitting position.
"You're in the hospital sweetheart." Mrs. Garland said, pushing her hair away from her forehead as she slowly took a few sips.
Michelle could feel something squeezing her head. She reached up and felt bandages.
'What happened?' She thought.
Mr. Garland returned shortly with a female doctor. She quickly checked her over before turning to the parents.
"I'm sorry but I need to speak to Michelle alone." The doctor said.
"My daughter just woke up and you want me to leave her?" Mrs. Garland said, grabbing both of Michelle's hands, looking from the doctor back to her child.
"I know you don't want to leave her, I wouldn't want to do the same to my own child, but I need to speak to her alone." The doctor said looking between the mother and father.
Mr and Mrs. Garland reluctantly left the room, the doctor shut the door after them.
"Hello Michelle, my name is Dr. Jazmine Hazelett. I have been watching over you for the past two years." She said, turning to look at the girl.
"Two years?!" Michelle yelled out. She couldn't believe that much time had passed.
"Yes, do you remember what happened to you?" Dr. Hazelett asked, choosing to ignore her outburst.
She moved to stand next to her. Michelle tried to think back to what happened, which caused her head to throb painfully. She could remember her animatronic friends and two boys as well.
'Jeremy and Mike.' She thought.
"No." She said sadly hanging her head.
"That's okay. You had serious head trauma and had to get stitches in your forehead. We've taken some of them out but the rest of your injuries haven't healed properly so they'll need to stay in a little longer. I can take your bandages off if you want?" Dr. Hazelett said softly.
Michelle couldn't say anything so she just nodded her head.
The doctor reached over and gently unwrapped her bandages. When she was done she threw them away. Michelle reached up and felt the stitches and flinched away from her touch.
"Can I see what I look like?" Michelle whispered.
"I don't think-" Dr. Hazelett started.
"Please." Michelle pleaded.
She needed to prove to herself that this was real and not some sick joke.
The doctor hesitantly grabbed a handheld mirror from the bedside table. She handed it to the now ten year old.
Michelle gasped looking in the mirror. Looking back at her was a strange little girl with a thin pale face and bags under her eyes. What really caught her attention was the big red stitches running across her forehead and parts of her hair that had been shaved off.
"The scars in your forehead will most likely fade away after a couple of years, but the ones in your head will leave permanent scars." Dr. Hazelett said.
Michelle felt tears streaming down her face.
"I'm going to let your parents back in now." The doctor said opening the door.
Her mother was quickly at her side and tried to wipe away her tears. Her father stood on the other side of the room and quietly talked with the doctor.
"What did you talk to her about?" Her father said in a hushed whisper.
"I simply asked her what she remembered about the accident, but she couldn't give me any details." Dr. Hazelett replied.
Her father nodded and went to stand on the other side of Michelle's bed.
"When can she come home?" Mrs. Garland asked, looking back at the doctor.
"We'll need to run a few tests and make sure she's healthy, so she may need to stay for another week or so." Dr. Hazelett said. Mrs. Garland turned back to Michelle.
"Oh, I'm never letting you out of my sight again." She said kissing her on top of her head, being mindful of the stitches.
Michelle never replied, she just sat there staring at nothing.
AN: This chapter is a little shorter, but I hope you all like it.