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"Chloe, I-"
No knock, no nothing, not a single fucking warning, and my mom bursts in.
Rachel and I immediately pulled away from each other as quick as we possibly could, even though it was very clear what we were just doing. I stared at the ground as my face became hotter, and I was certain I was very red.
"Oh...my goodness..."
I could tell my mom was in shock, and I really couldn't blame her. I didn't know what to feel either as we had just gotten busted during a super fucking private and very secret moment, which was now completely exposed to my mother. My heart starts to race and I feel tears rushing to my eyes, and without thinking, I charge to my door, pushing past my mom, ignoring her calls to me. My mind feels like it’s going numb as I scramble down the stairs, making my way to the glass door. I see David sitting at the table out of the corner of my eye and I dart to the sliding door as quickly as I could.
We had fought earlier in the day and he had threatened to take my truck away, which I strongly objected to and spat many curses at him. He had stormed off to the garage and I had gone up to my room before I saw what he actually ended up doing with my keys.
"Chloe, what the-"
I run past before he can finish what he’s saying, hearing his indiscernible growls behind me. I rush to the glass door, forcing myself out and I am immediately greeted by the freezing fall breeze. I push myself to run faster as tears start to stream down my face as I start to realize more and more what had just happened.
"....no, no, no, no, no, no, they fuckin’ know now..."
I muttered to myself over and over as my body seemed to operate on autopilot. I wasn't too sure myself where exactly I was going, I just knew I needed as far away from the house as possible, and that I needed to get to my truck before David could catch onto what I was doing. I make my way through the yard and scramble to my truck, seeing the keys still sitting on the console. I was so fucking thankful that the dumbass ended up not taking my keys away. Without thinking much more, I get in, start the truck up and my tires make an audible skirt as I rush out onto the street. My gut tells me that David is gonna kill me but I don't give a fuck at the moment, and I slam my foot on the gas.
"No! No!" I cry out, smacking my hand off of the steering wheel as hard as I could over and over as I progressed down the street, recklessly taking turns and making my way toward a familiar train track. Everything that had just happened was now replaying in my brain and I couldn’t stop it, I couldn’t stop seeing my mother walking in and how hard my hea-
SKREEEEEE
A sudden, terrifying shriek wails from my truck and I slam my foot down on the brake, my truck skidding through the mud. I could hear the train tracks screeching against the side of my truck as they made contact. I'm thrown to the side as my truck crashes into a fallen log and my head bangs against my window, immediately causing pain to pulse through my body. My truck sputters and dies and I rest my head on the steering wheel. The piece of shit was so old that the airbags wouldn't deploy and since I was cheap, I didn't bother fucking with them. I felt a smidge of regret as my ears rang relentlessly and I could feel a warm spot forming on my skull, letting me know I fucked up enough to bust open some skin. I inhale deeply and reach up carefully, wincing at the pain in my arm. I gently touch the area and audibly gasp as I feel that its a nasty gash and heavily bruised.
I smack my hand against the steering wheel again and start sobbing.
First Rachel and I got caught, and now this bullshit, and now I’m going to have to get this stupid shit checked out and I fucked the truck up…
I shake my head and bury it between my hands, my body heaving. My left elbow cries out in pain and I feel more blood seeping through the wound in my head with every heartbeat. I know I’m not in good condition and I have to get up, but everything is screaming for me to just lay in the truck and die, as nothing usually seems to go my way anyhow.
I wipe my face and rest my head against the now bloodstained windshield, watching the subtle waves of smoke arising from the hood of my car. The ringing in my ears has become outstanding and I’m starting to feel nauseous from the shock as everything is starting to affect my body at once. I do my best to open the door and get out, but I end up slipping on the aluminum and fall on my already injured arm.
I cry out with a loud yelp and I can feel tears immediately brimming in my eyes. I feel something warm coming down my arm now and I react accordingly, tears streaking down my face.
“NO!”
I scream, as loud as I can and as long as I can sustain it for. I’m gasping for air. I’m freaking the fuck out because I think I’m about to fucking die all because I had to be stupid and reckless and do all this dumb shit and fuck up so ba-
“…Chlo…e..!!”
I hear my name.
It’s subtle, but I can hear someone calling me.
I struggle to look in the direction of the voice, which seems to be coming from behind me. I’m in too much agony to move very much though, and I can tell that my vision is starting to get a little hazy. I really don’t feel very good.
I hear a clamoring of footsteps, a sudden slip, possibly from shock of seeing me in the condition that I am. I wince and instinctively try to curl up, wondering if it’s my mother, knowing that it would fucking kill her to see me in this state right now.
I really can’t keep doing things like this to her.
“Jesus! Chloe…!! What the fuck did you do?! How did this happen…?”
It’s Rachel.
She’s still exclaiming various things and she’s right next to me now, examining my wounds. She digs a knife out of her pocket and I see her makeup running down her face, and I know that she’s really upset right now. My body feels numb and my mind feels disconnected, and I can’t really tell what’s going on.
But I just want to talk to her. Just for a little bit.
“I’m….really…sorry…I did thi..this…to…”
“Chloe please stop…you’re j-just making it w-worse for yourself, I h-have to help you, I have to stop this bleeding and you’re not helping right now!!” Rachel exclaims, trying to get me to calm down, which I do. I close my eyes, feeling myself calming down. I didn’t realize how tired I was.
I feel a sudden slap on my face.
“Don’t fucking sleep!! You’re not dying!! …yes…? Hello? Yes! My gi…my best friend got into a r-really bad accident and she’s…!”
I think she’s on the cellphone now with what seems to be a local hospital and she’s clutching my right hand, which seems to be the one with the most feeling at this point. My left arm really hurts, but I’m so numb that all I can do is quietly moan as I shiver with pain.
Rachel keeps squeezing my hand to help try to keep me awake, and she keeps asking me to squeeze her hand back, trying her hardest to keep me awake, and it’s mostly working, but I keep wanting to fall asleep. Only when I try to get myself up to I realize how poor of condition I’m in as I shriek and fall back to the ground.
I hear what sounds like approaching tires, and I immediately hear a pair of slamming doors. More footsteps are coming toward me and I hear someone yell to get a bed, or something like that, and I look up with as much strength as I can muster and I see a man coming toward me, and he gently pries Rachel away from me even though she’s basically refusing to let go. She watches him like a hawk as he carefully picks me up from my right side, trying his best not to hurt me. However, the sudden movement was enough to get pain pumping through my body and I cry out in pain, and I hear Rachel protesting.
The man makes his way with me to the bed his associate had set up, and he places me as carefully as he can into it. Of course, my arm makes impact, and I’m immediately shocked by the absolute pain of the wound.
I cry out in pain and I immediately look over to my arm and all I see for a split second is what seems to be a shattered piece of jagged bone that had replaced where my elbow once was.
All I remember was screaming, then drowning in a choking darkness.
I knocked at death’s door and welcomed his embrace.
…
I wake up for a moment, I don’t recognize my surroundings.
I try to look around, but my head feels so blurry and my vision is so hazy. I try to lift my hand, but I feel myself tethered down by what seems to be…cords emerging from my hand.
I try to ask where I am but I can only weakly whisper.
I slip away again.
…
“…’m here with Chloe…we’re in the hospital at…yeah…yeah, no I’m…”
I hear bits and pieces of a conversation that seem to be coming from Rachel.
I wonder if she’s talking to my mom.
I feel a weight on my chest, and it feels like I can’t breathe. I feel pain for just a moment, and I’m out once again.
…
“…David, I’m not going over this with you again. She’s fragile right now, she can’-“
“Jesus I fucking get it, the girl crashed her fucking truck because she’s afraid of being a fa-“
“Do not speak like that! I will not tolerate that kind of language here!!”
I can tell hear David and mom shouting from the hallway and I know it’s about me. As much as I try to block it out, I can’t force it away.
Suddenly, I feel a touch on my hand. I look over, and I see Rachel. She’s looking at me with such warmth, such grace that I can’t tear myself away. The shouting even seems to start to fade.
“Just focus on me. It’s okay. You’ll be better soon and we’ll be out of here. It’ll be okay, I promise…I promise…”
Rachel caresses my palm with her thumb and her warmth is so pleasing to me. I muster a smile and I feel my eyes close once again, my body drifting away.
…
“Ms. Price?”
I hear someone calling me, but my eyes struggle to open.
“Ms. Price, sorry to disturb you, but I need you to wake up. Need to do some checks on you.”
A soothing voice rouses me, and I see a passed out Rachel in the chair next to me. I see my mother also curled up on a chair in the corner, a blanket lazily tossed around herself. I don’t see David, and I’m almost relieved.
“It’s…okay. Where…where am I?” My voice feels so weak as I struggle to speak, barely uttering above a whisper.
“Oh, sweetie…you were in an accident. You crashed your truck and I’m afraid you broke your elbow in the process and banged yourself up pretty well.”
The memories come flooding back. I remember slamming my head off the steering wheel and the awful screeching that the truck had made and I remember the terrible pain in my arm. As I’m thinking, I can feel it pulsating now as feeling is starting to come back to me.
“Ack…yeah, now I remember. Fuck…” I mutter to myself, looking down at my hands, which tugs on the IV in my arm. I wince at the sharp pain and the nurse tells me to settle down, positioning herself closer to me.
“Sorry honey, I don’t mean to bother you, but I have to ask you a few questions and get your vitals and what not. Would you mind giving me your good arm?”
I cringe at her saying that, wondering if my other arm was going to be okay. I wasn’t brave enough at the moment to take a look, but my curiosity burned.
“How bad is it?” I spurt out before I have a chance to stop myself. The nurse looks at me and gives me a gentle smile, rubbing my hand as she prepares to take my blood pressure.
“It’s going to be okay, honey. You’ll take a little bit to heal and there will be some scars, but you’ll heal just fine. You won’t need to recover very long either, thankfully your nerves weren’t damaged in the accident, but you banged up your bones pretty good. Don’t be worried.”
Her words do somewhat soothe me, but I’m wondering if she’s secretly just saying it to make me feel better.
“Alright, your vitals look good. Let me just check your pulse real quick…”
The nurse sets her fingers on my wrist, checking her watch. I watch her cautiously as she mumbles numbers to herself, nodding.
“Pulse is good too. Now, I’m going to check how your arm is recovering. Let me know if you feel this.”
The nurse reaches under the covers and taps my arm. I immediately feel it and try to pull away, only to be greeted with a sharp pain.
“Ouch!” I cry out, cradling my arm with the other. The nurse immediately pulls herself away and rubs my shoulder, profusely apologizing.
“No, no, shit, it’s okay…I’m just glad I can feel the stupid thing…” I tell her, rubbing my arm.
“…mm…Chloe, are you okay?”
I hear Rachel calling to me and I see her craning her head over the nurse to look at me, her face splashed with worry. I smile, appreciating her concern.
“Yeah, I’m okay, thank you.” I reach out to her and she reaches back to me, holding my hand and smiling at me. I forget for a moment that my mom is there, and as soon as I remember, I snake my hand away, blushing and looking away.
“Chloe…” Rachel whispers, sounding defeated.
“It’s okay, honey. There’s no judging here,” The nurse tells me, writing things down on a clipboard. She nods her head at a few things, and seems to sign her name.
“I’m just going to tell you now, at some point, there will be a psychiatrist coming in to give you an evaluation at some point today. It seemed that this accident may have had some self-injurious tendencies and we need to make sure you’re okay.”
I roll my eyes. I really do understand why they need to, but it’s still just as annoying.
“Thanks for warning me…” I mumble, my throat still weak. The nurse smiles at me and leaves, and I appreciate her courtesy. I notice that she had brought in some juice and some breakfast with her as well, leaving it on a tray by my bedside. I look at the pale eggs, my stomach still in knots from all that’s been going on, and I know that I won’t be able to eat for a little bit.
“Do you want me to get that for you?” Rachel asks me, seeing me looking at the food.
“Ah…no, thanks…those eggs don’t look too good anyway…” I try to joke, attempting to lighten the mood. She chuckles, appreciating my poor attempt at humor. I see her reaching for my hand again and I accept it, keeping an eye on my mom.
“You know, she…she’s not like that you know…your mom doesn’t mind.” She squeezes my hand. I look at her, and I believe her.
I know Rachel would never lie to me.
“I…I know, it’s ju-“
“Get off my daughter!”
I immediately rip myself away from Rachel as David storms into the room. I see mom get scared awake and she looks angry as soon as she realizes David is in the room.
Rachel grips my hand, staring him down defiantly.
“No. I won’t get off of her.”
David is standing in front of my bed now, fuming. His face is so red I think he’s about to explode.
“Yes, you will young lady. You’re the one who perverted her mind and-“
“David, stop! Just knock it off with that language righ-“
“Joyce, I am so goddamn tired of you trying to police me. I can speak my mind, I can say what I want and you know that I’m right.”
“You do not speak for me.” My mom gets right up to David and stares him down, pushing him away from my bed.
Rachel grips my hand again and I don’t refuse it this time. We simply watch and I don’t know what to do.
For once, I’m too afraid to speak.
“Get out of here, David. Right now. I don’t want to see you right now.”
I hear something get thrown across the room as it clatters along the floor, the banging ringing in my ears.
“No. I’m not going to leave. I’m going to speak to Rachel and you’re going to let me.”
Mom looks at him with absolute rage burning in her eyes. She crosses her arms and stamps her foot, huffing angrily.
“I’m getting a nurse. I’m not letting you stay in here.”
Before David can get a word in, my mother storms out of the room, pacing down the hall. David knows his time is limited and he gets right into Rachel’s face.
“Ever since you came into her life, she’s been getting worse. And then her mother catches her doing those shameful things with you?! What the hell is wrong with you?! Get the hell away from my daughter and stay out of our lives, I’m sick of you ruining our family.”
Rachel is gripping my hand hard enough to make it hurt, and I see her eyes welling up with tears. However, I can tell she’s enraged. Before I get a chance to soothe her, she bursts.
“Fuck. You! Fuck you! What we were doing wasn’t shameful, we actually love each other, and I’m sorry you can’t accept that! Maybe your daughter is being who she always wanted to be and maybe that’s not something you want! And you know what? Maybe you are ruining your own family with your shitty behavior!”
I feel David pull Rachel away from me and she screams. At that moment, I hear my mother and someone else clamoring in the room, and I see a uniform on another person who comes in. There’s more screaming as David is getting pulled away by the authorities, mom is crying and so is Rachel, and it’s all too much for me.
“Please, please can everyone just leave me alone!” I cry out with as much energy as I can muster, and my voice breaks off toward the end. I just can’t stand all of this chaos anymore and it makes me so sick knowing that I’m the cause of all of this. The room suddenly goes silent as all in the room look at me, and an attending nurse understands the cue, ushering my family and Rachel out of the room.
Tears pour from my eyes before I can stop them, and I’m wailing.
I can’t do this anymore.
“I don’t want this! I never wanted this! I just wanted to be happy…!” I cry out to no one in particular, feeling the strength leaving my body. I smack myself on my injured arm and cry out in pain as it radiates through my body. I feel darkness swallowing my eyes as I grow weaker and weaker, slipping into the deathly grip of sleep.
…
I’m outside.
I don’t know how I got here, but I’m wandering around outside. I can smell a fire burning and I can hear it crackling in the air. I see a familiar figure standing over the fire, lighting a marshmallow.
It’s my father.
“Dad…” I call out, running to him. My arms envelop his body and he chuckles, embracing me back. I’m so relieved that my arm is okay and that I’m okay and with my father. Everything will be okay now.
“What’s wrong, sweetie? You never run up to me like that unless something is going on.”
Dad always knew me so well.
“Yeah…things have really sucked lately. Rachel and I got caught and I crashed my truck and I hurt my arm…”
“Aw, sweetie. Wait…got caught? Doing what?”
I blush and I don’t look at dad.
“We were…well, we were kissing and touching and…mom kinda…walked in on us.”
“Oh dear. Well, that’s embarrassing. You know mom and I love you no matter what, right?”
It really comforts me to hear him say that.
“Yeah, I know. I really appreciate it, dad.”
I see a crow land on his shoulder. I don’t like where this is going.
“Ah, honey…it’s getting to be about that time. You know how we like to keep a schedule around here.”
Dad looks down at his marshmallow, taking a seat on a log that’s positioned by the fire. I sit down next to him, dreading what I know is going to happen.
“Dad, don’t go, please…just…just stay a little longer. I need you now.”
He only smiles at me, and the crow plucks into his eye, goring into it, and yanking pieces of it out. It tears into his flesh and I can see white starting to poke out as gore pours from his eye, soaking his face in a red carnage.
“It’s time for our cue, sweetie.”
I don’t have time to scream as I feel the impact of the car and dad’s body is smashed right beside me, and I can see my arm being torn apart from the car. I watch as my bones tear through my skin and a horrible pain makes its presence well known, radiating up my arm.
“Dad!”
It’s all I can cry out before I feel my neck snapping and I’m drowned in darkness.
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