Atlas Grove, once a dancer with dreams of dancing under the stars, now lives petrified in the shadows of abuse. To escape her living nightmare she must keep her head down and work hard, being her senior year this is her last chance to get out. Altho...
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The sun sets again, the tiny window in her room providing the only piece of humanity in the cell-like structure. Machines beep in time to the rhythm of her heartbeat, the sound of air whooshing through tubes into her body. The scent of flowers mixes with the chemicals coating the walls like a toxic slime, blossoms of all colours stand by her bedside. The days have passed like years this whole week, wondering if there will be another breath after the last. No one's left the hospital, they go home to sleep and wash but no one has been back to school, they can't bear to walk the halls without her. Vixxie snores quietly in Brady's lap, neither of them even go home to sleep, they stay here with me watching her pale blue gown move up and down.
"Thank you." The first words that leave my lips in days, my throat is so dry they croak.
Brady's eyes move to meet mine, black lines his undereye. "For what?"
"Just being here B, I appreciate it and I know she does. I appreciate all of you being here." Her hand is cold in mine resting on the bed, I've tried my hardest to remove the blood and mud from beneath her cracked nails but it's like a brand that's been imprinted into her skin.
"We're a family Blaze." He smiles. "No matter where we go or what we do in life, we will always have each other."
"You know I love you B-" A shrill beeping pierces the air, all of us turn to look at the machines, lines going haywire on the screen. Atlas's body convulses on the bed.
"Atlas! Atlas!" I squeeze her hand and lean over her, VJ runs out into the hall screaming for some help. She starts coughing, gasping for any kind of air. "Atlas breathe, open your eyes." Nurses and doctors come running into the room, throwing me and Brady back as they prod and poke at the wires. Tears run down VJ's face, she's screaming at them to tell us what's going on. I can't speak as I watch them surround her. One of her doctors kicks us out of the room when VJ gets too hysteric.
We wait outside her room, doctors coming in and out, Vixxie clutches to my side, tears soaking my hoodie. After what feels like hours, a nurse walks out of the doors straight for us. I can't read the lines on her face, my heart stops and a cold chill sweeps through my jarred bones. The collective silence is deafening.
"She's awake." The words hit me like bullets, the cold settling deep in my bones, "She reacted like that because of the tubes helping her breathe, her body was rejecting them as she came around and she started breathing on her own."
"Can we see her?" I demand.
"One at a time, she's extremely weak and is still recovering from her injuries. She may also be a bit confused but it seems like her brain function is normal, we still have tests to do to determine if there is any lasting damage but," The nurse pauses and smiles, "We don't usually see people go through this level of trauma and blood loss and wake up. She's a strong girl."
That she is. A cat with nine lives my girl.
"You go in first Blaze," VJ says, wiping under her hopeful eyes. I don't even fight them and follow the nurse into the room, only minutes ago these four walls felt like a prison cell, leached of life, now the flowers feel like they've bloomed, and the remaining bit of sunlight skitters like a golden glow across the bed and I can taste the life born again in the air. My eyes close in on the girl sitting on the bed, she's sitting up, propped by pillows. Wires are still plugged into her skin but not as many, her skin is still mottled by bruises but the colours have dimmed a bit this past week. Her stitches aren't as stark against her skin and she has a splint on her arm. I move closer towards the bed, and her eyes follow mine, crystal clear and alert.
