Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, I had to be sure this was perfect (even though it's not, but it's as close to perfect as it's gonna get). Enjoy!
Part II
"Mom, I'm home!" Kendall called as he walked through the door of apartment 2J for the first time in 11 days.
"My baby!" Kendall was smothered in his mother's embrace, "Oh, my babies!" Mrs. Knight cried, wrapping an arm around Anya.
"Kendall!" Suddenly Katie was there, too, her arms wrapped around her Big
Brother.
Mrs. Knight stepped away from her children so she could have a look at them. They were dirty, emaciated, and hurt. But they were alive.
"Let's get you two to the hospital," she said, wiping her tears of joy and grabbing her coat.
"But Mom…"
"No buts."
All seven of them piled into Mrs. Knight's minivan, and she drove them to the hospital.
Kendall had to admit, he wasn't feeling too hot. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, he was exhausted. His body ached, both inside and out. Kendall felt as if he were on a boat the way the world tilted back and forth.
When they got to the hospital, Kendall and Anya were immediately whisked away as Mrs. Knight called the police to inform them that they had been found.
Kendall was hardly aware of the doctors and nurses as they performed tests on him. They poked, prodded, x-rayed, and CT scanned him before coming to the final verdict.
"We need to get this kid into surgery, and fast!"
And suddenly everyone was gone, save for a single nurse who continued to monitor his vital signs and inject things into his IV.
Then everybody came back and Kendall was being pushed into a different room. Someone had probably told him what was going on, but it was difficult for him to focus. Not that he really cared.
A mask was placed on his face and his limbs began to feel all tingly and detached. The room began to swirl around him and soon he knew no more.
Anya sat quietly on the hospital bed as a nurse stitched up a particularly bad cut on her arm. The nurse had already helped her get cleaned up—Anya reveled in the feeling of being dirt-free for the first time in a week and a half.
"All done!" the nurse said, cutting the thread. Anya followed her out into the waiting room, where her family was.
"We're all done here!" the nurse told Mrs. Knight. They talked while Anya went and sat down next to James.
"Where's Kendall?" she asked.
"In surgery," Logan said, "They just have to stitch up some internal bleeding. No big deal."
Anya nodded and the five of them sat there, talking quietly about nothing in particular. Nobody mentioned Anya and Kendall's imprisonment, for which Anya was grateful. She wasn't ready to talk about it just yet.
Another nurse came over to the group. "Are you the family of Kendall Knight?"
"Yes," said Mrs. Knight.
"He'll be entering the recovery room shortly. If you'll follow me…?"
"You'd better stay here, boys. You, too, Katie," said Mrs. Knight, standing.
"Can Anya go?" Logan asked, "Kendall will feel a lot better if she's there."
"I suppose," said Mrs. Knight. Anya stood up and gave Logan a small smile of thanks before they followed the nurse to the recovery room.
"He'll be out in just a few minutes. The surgery is almost done." The nurse left.
"Will Kendall be ok?" Anya asked timidly.
"Of course he will," Mrs. Knight assured her, "He might be a bit out of it at first but he'll be fine."
Kendall pried his eyes open. Why was he so tired? He had never been this tired in his life. He could hardly keep his eyes open.
"It's all over. Surgery's done," his mom's overly cheerful voice came from somewhere over to the right.
Surgery? Oh, that must've been what had happened. Kendall couldn't say he was surprised.
"How do you feel?" This voice belonged to Anya.
"Better than I've felt in a while, that's for sure." It came out scratchy and thick. Kendall suddenly realized that his throat was dry.
"Well, I should say so!" said Mrs. Knight, getting angry, "Finally clean and safe for the first time in ten days!"
"Eleven," Anya said quietly, but nobody heard her.
His mom was right. He hadn't noticed it before, but he was no longer covered in dried blood, sweat, and dirt. His hair still felt like a dead grease weight on his head, but that didn't matter. He was clean.
"The doctor said you need to stay here for about a week or so, possibly longer. Anya's free to go home today."
To Kendall, it was just a jumble of sounds. He stopped trying to keep his eyes open and allowed himself to drift off to sleep once again.
The next time Kendall was really awake, he was in a hospital room. He knew he had woken up a couple times before but he couldn't really remember anything else. He just hoped he hadn't said anything stupid.
James, Carlos, Logan, and Katie had gone home a while ago. Logan had come back some time later with some things for Mrs. Knight—a change of clothes, a toothbrush, a book. She was staying overnight with him.
"How do you feel?" Anya asked. She was there, too.
"Better," Kendall admitted, looking at his girlfriend for the first time since they'd been separated hours earlier.
She looked a lot better, too. She was clean, finally free of the dirt and grime that Kendall had almost come to know her by. Her arms were now covered in bandages and she had stitches in a couple of places.
Kendall felt awful. This was his fault. He hadn't been able to keep her safe. He hadn't been able to protect her. It was because of him that Anya had even ventured into the warehouse.
Kendall looked away. He couldn't face Anya with the guilt he felt.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"For what?" Anya asked softly.
"For this whole thing," Kendall said, "If it weren't for me none of this would have happened."
"Kendall…"
"I'm serious. If I hadn't allowed Ethan to kidnap me…or if I'd fought back…"
"Then you would be dead," Anya said seriously, "Kendall, I've-I've seen Ethan kill people before. He would have had no problem killing you."
Kendall looked into Anya's eyes, eyes that had seen more than anyone should see their lifetime. What other atrocities had she been through?
"Besides, it's my fault."
"Anya, there is no way that this is your fault."
"It was because of me that Ethan showed up in the first place."
Kendall didn't have a response to that.
"It was me he wanted, not you. You shouldn't have even been involved."
Kendall was silent for a moment.
Anya was scared; what if Kendall decided that she was right? What if he didn't like her anymore?
"How about we just say it was Ethan's fault and leave it at that, ok?" he finally said.
Anya smiled. That was a good idea.
Kendall shot a glance at the other chair in the room and saw that his mom was asleep.
Come to think of it, it was late. Kendall was still pretty tired and Anya had to be exhausted.
Kendall scooted over in his bed and patted the empty space next to him.
"It's not home, but at least it's a bed," he said.
Anya looked back and forth from Kendall to the space he had made.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Of course I'm sure. Come on."
Anya got into the bed and curled up against her boyfriend. Soon they were both fast asleep.
Author's Note: I recently wrote a micro fiction (aka a flash fiction) for English class so I decided to post it on fiction press. If you want to check it out, here's the link: www . fictionpress .-c-o-m-/ s / 3060929 / 1 / My-Vacation (the spaceless/dashless one is on my profile). (You can log into fiction press with your fan fiction account.)
Reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated!
