*AUTHOR'S NOTE* You guys never fail to amaze me. And quite a few of you said I nearly brought you to tears! I really appreciate you all. If it weren't for you guys I wouldn't be turning on my laptop at night to write and upload on a pretty much daily basis. Much love!

Chapter 25.

*KATIE'S POINT OF VIEW*

If I had to describe what it felt like trying to open my eyes from sleeping I would compare it to trying to lift weights that are almost way too much for you. The heaviness is unbearable and take quite a lot of willpower but you get their eventually.

I must have been sleeping for a very long time.

When I eventually accomplished opening my eyes the sight that hit me was so painful to my vision I had to squint hard. I was greeted by a bright white light that took me a while to adjust to.

Where the hell was I?

Was I still dreaming?

I cannot remember if I was even dreaming or not in the first place.

When my pupils had adjusted to the bright lighting I could open my eyes fully.

"Katie?" said a voice I couldn't quite put my finger on. If my body wasn't aching so much I would have jumped in surprise but exhaustion just over filled me.

"Katie?" said the voice again.

Who was Katie? I didn't know a Katie.

Wait. Why was I with a stranger?! I mean I recognised the voice but I couldn't match it with an identity. Man, I was confused.

Suddenly a figure stood over me and someone's head and neck came in to my visual line. It was a man with curly ruffled hair and the look on his face made him seem like he had not slept in days.

Then it hit me. It might have been one of Terry's men! What about if they had come to do his dirty work?

"You're one of them" I whispered.

"One of who?" the voice replied.

"Don't touch me!" I expressed still in whisper. For some peculiar reason I couldn't bring myself to shout.

Suddenly the figure of another person entered my eyesight. I didn't know who she was either but she was whispering frantically to the man who I could not put a name to. I tried hard to listen to the person whispering in his ear but all I heard was one word.

"Amnesia"

Why was she talking about amnesia? That was a pretty weird subject to bring up.

The man then began to cry and I couldn't understand why. His gentle features which were darkened in tiredness were now also crumpled in distress. What was going on?

But then the woman turned and faced me.

"Hello Katie I am Doctor Basovey and you're in Los Angeles hospital. You suffered an attack at your home and your boyfriend here was the one to find you and call for an ambulance. You have suffered cuts and bruises but more importantly a head injury in which caused slight brain swelling; resulting in us being forced to put you in to an induced coma. Your brain is fine now and you've just came out of the coma. You're currently suffering slight amnesia but soon the confusion will clear"

I didn't reply or nod my head. I just led there trying to recollect my thoughts. This woman had suddenly made things click in my head that I couldn't quite work out.

"Toby" I said at least.

The man who I could finally name as Toby, my boyfriend, leaned over once more and let out a relieved sob. "Katie" he replied.

"I'll give you guys a minute" said Doctor Basovey and Toby thanked her for her thoughtfulness.

All of a sudden it hit me why everyone was calling me Katie. I was given a new identity...I wasn't Kimberley anymore because of Terry. But why was I in hospital?

"Toby, I'm scared. Please hold me. What's happening to me?"

Without reluctance Toby positioned himself on my bed as much as he could and wrapped a loving warm arm around me. He kissed my forehead and stroked my hair attentively.

"Terry got in to the house and attacked you sweetheart. He...he cut your original name in to your stomach and somehow he caused you a head injury. Do you remember baby? Do you remember what happened?"

It was as if his words were the key to the lock inside my brain. Emotions and flashbacks suddenly filled my brain and it overwhelmed me past my limit.

I began to cry my eyes out "I remember" I admitted and cried for what felt like the longest moment in my life.

When I could finally stop sobbing my doctor came in again. She checked my details and decided I was getting on well. She altered the angle of my bed so I could sit up and face my surroundings better and gave me a drink of water. I gulped it down thirstily and Toby laughed sympathetically.

"Katie, the police are here to speak to you about what happened. I feel you are fit enough to do so. Are you up for it?" Doctor Basovey informed me.

"Yes I am" I replied "But I will only do it with Toby by my side". Protectively Toby grabbed my hand and held it tight to show he would be here with me throughout the whole thing.

"Okay" said Doctor Basovey "I'll send them in".

As the doctor left the room I looked up at Toby. He gulped and bit his lip. "Y'know Katie, when I found you lying there I was so scared I might lose you. I can't help but feel like I should have done something and this is my entire fault. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you like I promised I would"

"Toby" I began "this isn't anyone's fault but my so called father's. You give me hope and I am still glad I decided to stay here with you. I love you"

He leaned down to kiss me softly but we were interrupted by two police officers entering the room.

"Hello Katie we are glad to see you feeling better" said one of them.

"Thank you" I replied smiling.

"I'm Officer Nile and this is Officer Berry. We would like to hear your side of the story please"

I nodded. I knew how these interviews went and what exact information they needed. After all I did plenty of these when I was sending Terry down.

"At 11:00am Toby left for the grocery store. He asked me to come with him but I decided I wanted to stay home cleaning. I'm not making any money at the moment as the police gave me benefits to start with to keep me going in this new city until I was ready to look for a job, so I felt like I had to pay my way somehow for living with Toby. Anyway at around nearly 12pm I opened the front door to put some trash out in the bin. I assume Terry must have got inside when I left the front door open because when I got back in he was standing behind the door. I fell to my knees in shock and Terry greeted me and kissed me horridly on the lips. He then explained how he found me, his old friend Steve Arksworth, had been following me since I made it to Los Angeles. He threatened to hurt Toby so I shouted at him and in result he slapped me on my cheek causing me to fall on to my side on the floor"

At hearing this Toby squeezed my hand tighter and I could feel him trembling.

I swallowed and carried on my story. "Terry then continued to tell me how he was going to teach me a lesson for handing him in to the police. Before I knew it he yanked me by the hair and dragged me to the kitchen kicking and screaming. He left me on the kitchen floor as he pulled out a knife from the knife holder and told me I needed reminding who I really was. He held me down on the floor and straddled me as he carved my real name in to my stomach"

A tear rolled down my face and I took a deep breath. "The pain was unbearable. With every slice I felt burning within me. When he finished he dragged me over to the mirror so I could see what he had down to me to try and prove to me that I could never forget who I really was even with a new identity. Like I could forget! Suddenly on impulse I kicked my leg back to kick him in the groin and he let go of me to curl up on himself. I ran screaming to the back door for help and to try and escape but I didn't make it very far. I managed to open the back door but Terry soon grabbed me by the hair and threw me back on the floor. My head hit the table on the way down and I could feel a warm pool of blood forming quickly behind me. The last thing I remember was Terry running out the back door in fright and me blacking out"

As I finished my explanation I watched as the officers scribbled down on their notepads my statement. I looked up at Toby who seemed so drained.

Officer Berry then spoke up. "Thank you for your statement Katie. We will do our very best to track down Terry and put him back inside again. In the mean time you focus on recovering fully and we will get back to you with any more information. Thank you for your time"

Both colleagues then stored their notepads in their jackets and left the room. As soon as they left Toby burst in to tears.

He held me tighter and I enveloped in to his warmth and cried with him.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that; I'm so sorry!" he repeated.

I didn't reply. I just cried and cried with him.