Something poked Dani gently in the shoulder, and with a groan, she opened her eyes to see who it was.
The room spun, and she closed her eyes tightly.
" Dani." A man's gentle voice prodded her, and with some effort, she opened her eyes again.
This time, she concentrated on focusing, until the blurry images came into focus, and she found she was in a stark white room, with a man in a lad coat hovering above her, a kind smile on his face.
She burst into tears suddenly, not really sure whether the dreams she had before awakening had been for real or if they really were just dreams.
" Shhhh." The man in the white coat soothed her, stroking her hair until she calmed down.
" You are safe now." He said gently, carefully checking on several monitors nearby.
" How is my baby girl doing?" Dani heard her mom's voice say.
It was sickenly sweet, and it rolled Dani's stomach to hear it.
" She has been though a lot, but I think in a week she should be able to go home." The doctor said.
Dani craned her neack and spotted her mother on the other side of the room, wearing what looked like a gallon of make up, all smeared like she had been crying.
Dani doubted it.
" Aww, I want my pwecious giwl howm now." Her mom whined, dabbing at her eyes.
Dani nearly puked, and the doctor suppressed a sigh as he repeated what he said, more firmly this time.
Then he turned to Dani and smiled at her. " You have lots of damage inside your body, some of which is older. Do you know of any reason this may be happening?"
Dani's heart nearly stopped as he mother drew her finger across her throat behind the doctors back.
" N-no." Dani stuttered, her eyes growing wide as her dad stood up from where he had been sitting, giving her a threatening look.
She had not seen him earlier, and it scared her.
" Are you sure?" the doctor asked gently.
Dani gulped and nodded, and the doctor nodded and made some notes on his clipboard.
Then he turned to her parents.
" She needs to rest; I must ask you both to please leave." he said firmly.
Protesting, both parents slowly got up and exited the room, the doctor right behind them.
Laying her head back, Dani wondered if the doctor suspected her abuse or not.
While she was contemplating this, a nurse came in and asked how she was feeling.
" Like crap." Dani muttered.
The nurse clucked sympathetically, then asked her is she was hungry.
" No, but thanks anyways." Dani replied.
The nurse gave her a cheery smile, then left, telling her she will be back to check on her every hour.
As Dani lay there, she was starting to doze off when the door softly creaked open.
Opening one eye, she saw a familiar head peeking around the door frame: Liam.
" Are you sleeping?" he stage whispered.
" Sure, but come on in." she replied as a grin spread over her face.