A loud beeping was disturbing my sleep, it wouldn’t shut up. I thought I’d be in tune to New York sounds by now, this didn’t sound like street noise and it was too close, right in my ear. I’m sure my alarm didn’t sound like that and Amy was never up before me. A sterile smell wafted into my nostrils, which had me instantly suspicious, my apartment is never clean enough to smell sterile. Then the memories hit me like a freight train, what I saw, what happened after. The pain, not something I thought I’d ever forget. I slowly began to try to unstick my eyes, my vision blurry at first. It took a few minutes for the room to come into focus. I looked down the bed noticing one of my arms in a cast, the other was hooked up to an IV and that machine that woke me up. My gaze wandered to the corner of the room where a man in an army uniform was curled up in an uncomfortable looking sleep.
“Ian?” I rasped, my voice sounding like I smoked a pack of Marlboros last night. Which of course I would never do, regardless of the fact Carrie Bradshaw did. Yellow teeth and premature wrinkles? No thanks.
Ian stirred and then leapt out of his chair, at my side in a second. “Ace? Holy shit, you’re awake! Thank fuck for that!” He pushed a little red button beside the bed, eyes on me.
“Yes, but I think I might have to go back to sleep for a bit Ian,” I mumbled, suddenly feeling exhausted.
“No, Ace, just stay awake …”Ian pleaded, I didn’t hear the end before I drifted back into dreamland.
I opened my eyes to light streaming through the room and immediately realized I had to use the bathroom. I gave myself a moment to get my bearings then sat up.
“Holy fuckstick,” I whispered as pain radiated through my broken body, tears welled up in my eyes. I would not let them fall.
Gritting my teeth I swung my legs to dangle over the side of the bed, reaching out to the little IV trolley.
“Okay good work Gwen, now stand up,” I muttered to myself. I took a deep breath and gingerly reached my feet down to touch the cold tile.
“Ace!” My brother’s voice exclaimed with a hint of panic.
I glanced up to see Ian striding from the doorway towards me, arms extended. I lost my footing and stumbled towards the ground; strong arms caught me before I made impact.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? You could have hurt yourself even more!” Ian declared angrily.
“Well I was doing just fine until you distracted me!” I snapped.
My brother smiled down at me, eyes twinkling. “I’m sure you were little sis, but how about we wait for you to get a bit better before we try for any escape attempts.”
“I wasn’t trying to escape!” I cried.
“Sure, you weren’t trying to escape when you were getting your appendix out either, you were just ‘stretching your legs’ right?” Ian teased.
“I was!” I argued.
“In the parking lot?”
“It was a nice night, I liked the fresh air,” I declared, inwardly grinning. I hated hospitals. “I wasn’t trying to escape this time if you must know, I need to pee.”
“Um, hate to break it to you sis, but you don’t need to get out of bed for that,” he informed me, pointing down to a bag attached to me.
“Okay, ew.” I screwed up my nose, not that I was embarrassed in front of my brother, but that’s a bag of pee. Gross.
“Well I want to brush my teeth anyway, I feel like I ate a urinal cake,” I informed him.
“Okay Ace, let’s get you to the bathroom before I pass out from your urine breath.”
Ian scooped me up directing us to what I guessed was the bathroom. I winced and bit my lip trying to hide my reaction. Ian’s expression hardened immediately into a look I’d never seen before on his handsome face, one that didn’t belong there.
“I’m going to kill that motherfucker,” he muttered under his breath, voice shaking.
“Now what would that do to your impeccable military record?” I joked, trying to keep our exchange light, I wasn’t ready for reality to hit just yet.
He opened the door and gingerly set me down on the bathroom floor, his face was hard, tortured even. He looked me in the eyes and stroked my face, as if to make sure I was real. “Don’t joke about this Gwen, seriously, if I had lost you…” He shivered. “Mum and Dad are going to be heartbroken, I’m only glad they didn’t have to sit waiting for you to wake up. I wouldn’t wish that shit on anyone.”
“No! We are not telling Mum and Dad!” I tried to yell, but my husky voice was barely below a whisper.
I relaxed when I remembered they were away on some cruise and unreachable for three weeks.
Ian frowned. “We’ll talk about this later, now do your business. I’ll be outside the door, ok?” He kissed me on the head softly and walked out.
I spotted a brand new toothbrush amongst Barney’s entire cosmetic and skin care range. I guess a little fairy called Amy had been in here. I flinched mid brush as I caught my reflection. Both my eyes were swollen, black bruises lingered underneath them. A bandage covered my head and a scabbed over cut on my lip was tender against the brush. I touched my bandaged cheek gently, it looked like there were stitches underneath the bandage. A long, scabbed over gash decorated my neck like some kind of gruesome necklace. I didn’t look down any further; I gripped the edge of the sink with my one good hand, close to collapsing. An angry sob ripped out of my chest. Memories flooded through me, the pain, the faces of those monsters, and the fear, the paralyzing fear of thinking I was going to be raped and murdered. And by the man I thought I loved.