Behind Your Walls

41 | as long as this heart beats

three days later:

"How's she doing?" a male voice asks, a little familiar and a little unrecognizable.

"She should wake up soon," Mom answers and it makes me flutter my eyelids.

I have been awake for the past fifteen minutes now yet I didn't make any attempt to open my eyes. My body feels too tired and I long to sleep a little more. The first thing I see after opening my eyes is the plain white ceiling above my face. It takes moments to adjust to the light after being in darkness for God knows how long so I blink my eyes to clear my vision.

"Maya?" Mom calls my name and I groan, lifting a hand and running a cold palm over my face.

I turn my head to see Mom beside me.

She is wearing a black and white dress. Her hair is tied up in a bun and she is sitting on a stool beside my bed. I am in a hospital room with whitewashed walls, a white bed, and a saline solution is being registered to me.

"M...om?" I wet my lips with my tongue to get rid of the stickiness when I speak.

Mom puts a hand forward and touches my face. She smiles and I put my hand over hers, savoring the touch of her skin.

"How are you feeling, Miss Sommers?" the somewhat familiar voice speaks again and I spot Mr. Thomas standing beside Mom dressed in a black waistcoat like the other day but carrying a fresh look otherwise.

"Mr. Thomas?"

"Please call me Shaun," he reminds me with a smile as he takes a step forward and crouches down so that he can face me.

"What are you doing here?"

"He's a family friend, love...your father's," Mom replies instead. "He just transferred here and has taken our case."

Case

Memories flash through my head. Panther, the basement, the gun...Carter. They are rapid and my breath quickens just at the thought of them.

"Carter," I whisper, looking at a blank space in the distance and then look back at Mom. "Where's he?"

Mom bites her bottom lip and steals a glance at Shaun. From the corner of my eye, I see him give a nod and stare at them, puzzled.

"He is in an observation home," Mom says and my breath catches my throat. "We have the first hearing this Wednesday."

"No," I utter, the word feeling dry in my mouth.

I try to pull myself up but my side hurts and Shaun pushes me back on the bed gently.

"Miss. Sommers, relax," he commands. "That's not the whole story."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you everything but you need to rest now." He stands up and whispers in Mom's ear before proceeding towards the door.

Mom looks at me and squeezes my hand while Shaun opens the door to the room and walks out, closing it slowly behind him.

"Sleep for a while more, love."

Mom stands up from the stool and places a soft kiss on my forehead.

"But...Carter..."

"He'll be safe." She caresses my cheek and I feel my eyelids growing heavy again in need to sleep. "I promise."

I take her promise and close my eyes, drifting back to sleep again.

***

When I wake up later, I feel more refreshed and find myself face-to-face with a nurse who is checking my pulse rate. She doesn't look much older than me and when she sees me looking at her, she smiles.