Hot Ink

Chapter 2

The sterile smell of the hospital sent Mina's heart racing and stomach churning. She walked as quickly as she could without running, her purse swinging at her side like a battle weapon. She forced down a wave of adrenaline as she stopped in front of an information desk and asked the receptionist where she could find Jessica Carson. "I'm Mina Lee, her guardian."

The receptionist studied her computer screen for a few moments and gave her a room number.

An elevator ride and two corridors later, Mina was greeted by a particularly strong wave of antiseptic smell as she stepped into the coordinating room. It brought back memories she would have done anything to avoid revisiting. That was impossible though, and her heart and body both ached as she was transported back in time seven years, to the most miserable weeks of her life. "Oh God, Jess, what happened?"

Jess was sitting in her wheelchair, her face pale in comparison to an alarming patch of crimson at her hairline. A nurse was at her side and an unfamiliar mousy woman satin a chair in the far corner, presumably the teacher who Jess had said had driven her to the emergency room.

"Did you fall out of your chair?"

Jess shook her head. "No, I hit my head on the corner of a locker bank at school. I'm okay."

"You're her sister?" the nurse asked.

Mina nodded.

"It's not a very large wound," the nurse assured her. "It should only take about three stitches to close."

Large or not, it looked painful. A stream of blood began to streak over Jess's forehead and the nurse dabbed it dry with a towel. The sight was far too familiar. Mina kept her eyes wide open, refusing to even blink. If she closed her eyes, she knew she'd see blood and glass everywhere, the memory painted across the back of her eyelids. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to focus on the present. "How did you hit your head on a corner if you were in your chair?"

Jess's gaze strayed from Mina and she folded her hands in her lap as she examined the large jars of cotton balls and tongue depressors that were lined up on a nearby counter. "Someone bumped into me."

"Someone? Your chair weighs over ninety pounds, and that's not including you."

"Okay, a group of girls bumped into me.I was on my way to the art room after classes ended and they ran into me in the hall. It tilted my chair and I hit my head."

Mina gripped the edge of the counter,struggling for the right words as anger began to replace the panic that had filled her as she'd raced to the hospital. How the hell did an entire group of girls accidentally run into someone in a wheelchair with enough force to tilt the sturdy base and throw the occupant's head against the locker bank? "Was it an accident?"

Jess appeared extremely fascinated by ajar full of wooden tongue depressors, but her fidgeting hands gave her away. "I don't think so."

"Who did this?" Mina asked through clenched teeth.

The woman in the corner finally spoke up. "Ms. Carson, I can assure you that I'll be looking into this and that appropriate disciplinary action will be taken if it's determined that your sister was deliberately harmed."

"It's Lee," Mina replied,"not Carson. And what do you mean if? Do you know how hard you'd have to bump into her to tilt her chair like that?" She'd hefted the chair in and out of her car's trunk often enough to know exactly how heavy it was. It wouldn't be easy for teenage girls to tip unintentionally, especially not while Jess was sitting in it. "If she says it wasn't an accident, it wasn't an accident." She turned to Jess. "What are the names of the girls who did this to you?"