CHAPTER 2

"BEEP"

The next few hours were flashes, snatches of moments fading instantly in Zella's vision. Dead leaves... a light shining straight into her blinking eyes... the faces of a group of people, staring... the inside of an ambulance...

As the oxygen mask was lowered over her nose and mouth, her eyes rolled upwards and back into their sockets once again. Everything was darkness. She dreamed, strangely, of the day before.

"See you later," said her father. He straightened his tie, gave her a quick smile, and then disappeared out of the front door. It slammed shut. Zella stood up and switched the radio on, then sat back down as a Beyonce song filled the kitchen. She took another scoop of oats and grinned.

The front door swung open again as Giulia bustled inside, a shopping bag gripped tightly in each hand. She shouted something that Zella couldn't hear over the music, before setting the bags on the tabletop and turning off the radio.

"I said... no music in mornings!" Giulia exclaimed. "You know this! Finish your breakfast. Lots to do. Monday morning busy."

Giulia began to unpack the groceries - mostly, Zella noted, vegetables. The silence was irritating. How was anyone meant to function on a Monday morning without a little pump-up music? She shoved her finished bowl into the dishwasher and stomped back into her bedroom.

"Happy Monday, Zella!" she said to herself, and swiped on a layer of mascara. "No thank you to you, God, for giving me these stupid short Asian eyelashes..."

She gave herself a one-over in the mirror. No need for foundation today... What else? Backpack, books, pens... That had been embarrassing last week when she had to actually ask someone for a pen during class. And homework? Well, she hadn't done any, so that would just have to be left here anyway...

"Zella!"

"Coming!" she screamed back through the open doorway. She looked back around the room with a sigh. Every morning, it was the same. I wish I could just stay here all day. In bed. Asleep. But unfortunately, her dad knew that was exactly what she wanted to do, so he had hired the lovely Giulia - to clean and organise the apartment for them, as well as do some shopping and basically just stay there all morning so that Zella had to go to school. Or she had to at least stay out of the house all day, anyway... It was a tough life.

She squeezed her arms through the straps of her backpack and left the room. Giulia was waiting with a paper bag in her hands.

"What's this?" Zella asked.

"I made you a lunch, earlier," she replied, giving her the bag. "Your father tells me you hate the school lunches, no?"

"Yeah, school lunch is super unhealthy," she said, and opened the bag to look inside. A cute little sandwich, an apple, a mini-salad, some vegetables... She felt her eyes start to tear up slightly. "Oh. Oh, Giulia, this is so sweet of you... thank you so much!"

"Not a problem, my lovely, now off you go to school!"

She was virtually pushed out of the front door, still reeling over the adorableness of the paper bag. No one had ever made her a school lunch before, let alone this... Nausea rose in a sharp wave into her throat. Guilt. Shit. She would have to go to school now.

"Zella Zaluski?"

"Present!" she shouted. A couple of kids sitting near her jolted in their chairs. Oops. Maybe too loud for Monday?

"Thank you, Zella…" said Mrs Wood, and as she continued the role call someone else sniggered. Zella shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Needless to say, high school wasn't her ideal environment for a multitude of reasons: too many angry, self-obsessed kids in one place; no friends; too much boringness; no fun; no escape...

Which lessons do I have today? She hadn't been to school on a Monday in a while. It was Statistics, French, maybe Social Studies...or maybe Phys Ed... Either way, the day's prospects looked fairly dire.

Mrs Wood began the lesson on Colonial American History. She talked and pointed at the whiteboard, and Zella's leg began to jiggle uncontrollably under the desk, and people raised their hands to answer questions she didn't even hear...

"Zella?"

"Mm?" she said, jerking upwards. A lot of people were looking at her.

"We were just discussing the diversity of our own classroom. As you know, most of the settlers journeyed from different parts of Europe. But members of our class today come from all different parts of the world. Where are you from?"

She got this question a lot. Probably due to her surname, right?

"Uh, well, my mom was from Beijing. My dad's family is from Poland, but he's just American now, I guess…" she said.

"Ah, I see. I wonder, does anyone have any thoughts on at what point someone can be called 'American'? There must –"

And at that point Zella zoned out. Mrs Wood was famous for her off-topic ramblings – that was why she was so popular with many of the students. But ramblings are so pointless! I'm not gonna be examined on this! And I don't care about all this philosophical shit!

She tapped her pencil on the desk.

Tap. Tap. Tap. When will this day end?

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Her eyes squeezed tight shut, once, twice, and then opened.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Her vision swam, clouded with lack of use...she saw speckled cream wallpaper. A vase of dark blue flowers on a side table. A single card. "Get Well Soon!"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

And there was the source of the beeping – a heart monitor, the line on the screen spiking regularly. That's good.

Hey. That's my heart monitor! That's my heart beat!

She lifted one hand clumsily, and groped at the tubes snaking around her nose and face.

"Zella...darling..." said her father, and she felt his hand slip softly into hers, gently tugging it down to rest on the blanket of her hospital bed.

She turned her head to see his face. It was him, sitting next to her, with a nurse standing slightly behind him.

"Urrgh," she said.

"I know," he said, and smiled in what looked like sincere relief. She remembered his brief smile at her yesterday morning, as he left for work. She smiled back, or tried to smile back, but her whole body began to feel heavy, like her limbs were melting onto the bed. She drifted slowly into sleep. As her eyes fluttered shut, she heard her father speaking to the nurse.

"Her face...her arms. The bruises. There are so many."

A/N: We're getting closer to SHIELD! Yay! Please please review if you can, or follow the story if you wanna see where this is going :) I have the plot on paper, so just have to write it now! And reviews are the best motivation ever!

Thanks for reading!