The Girl with Cat's Eyes

C H A P T E R 32

Disinfectant

And white sheets

Nurses uniform

Hospital heating

Can’t stop breathing

Was close to dyeing

Now death defying

C H A P T E R    32

I woke up, and the cold seemed to grip my bones. The room was white, and there were four beds beside me. It smelled so strongly of disinfectant that my nose seemed to burn from it. I looked to beside me, and there was Jesse, sleeping, head resting against my shoulder. He looked tired, and is deathly pale, his cheeks seemed hollow almost. Beside him was Sarah, and she was awake and for a moment she just stared at me, before she got out of her chair, so fast it fell over, waking Jesse up, and she ran over to me enveloping me in her arms.

I met Jesse’s eyes over his mums’ shoulder and then we both laughed- I think him more in relief than anything.

‘God, Kit Kat, we’ve missed you. So damn much.’

‘I’ve missed you to, Sarah, or at least I would have, had I not been out cold.’ My voice sounded raspy and unused.

‘You are silly Kat. Do you know how dangerous that was? You should have just called the police!’

‘I… No one would have believed it. And if they did, my Dad and Liam would have killed them all as soon as the police got there… It was the only way.’

I looked over at Sarah, pleading with my eyes for her to understand. She sighed. ‘I’m off to get a coffee, I'm exhausted. I only left you once, you know, in the last two weeks. Same as Jess.’ Then she lent over and kissed me on the cheek. ‘It’s good to have you back, Kit Kat.’

Sarah left the room.

I looked over at Jesse.

‘So, what’s happened since I’ve been out. How long, by the way?’

‘You were out just over two weeks. Worried sick, I was. Why didn’t you even tell me you were going?’

‘I didn’t want you involved, Jess. Now tell me about what happened. Are they all alright?’

A flash of pain flitted across his features but he quickly arranged them back into a mask.

‘I… I’ll tell you later. Let’s just talk about other things for now.’

I sighed. ‘Okay. So what’s been going on around the village?’

‘Well, for a start, Doctor Fields and Mum, finally got together.’

I squealed. ‘ I knew they would!’

‘Chelsea’s pregnant. No one knows who the Dad is.’

‘Oh… wow… I guess that was to be expected but… how’re her parents treating it?’

‘They were going to kick her out but James managed to convince them not to. He may not like her but he said she was still his step sister…’

‘Yeah…’ And we went on talking for half an hour. Lilly and Sam came to visit. They looked almost as tired as Jess. Lilly ran in and gave me a hug, and Sam just stood there, a small smile on his face. They left after a while, saying they had to do their homework, and catch up work- they were off for a week too. Once they left, I turned to Jesse.

‘It's later now. So tell me. What happened after I was shot?’

‘The police came. Someone must have heard the shots, and called them. You and Josh…’ his voice cracked at his name. ‘Were both unconscious. You were put in an ambulance, while James, Emma, Sam and Lilly were un bound and looked after. Lilly was her normal crazy self and started shouting as soon as they let her loose. Daniel, or should I say, Liam , was shot in the cross fire, between him and the police…’ He paused, to gauge my reaction. ‘He’s dead.’

 I didn’t know what to feel. I was numb. Liam, who killed Levi, was dead, at last, and I was slightly relieved, but at the same time, Daniel, our friend, the new boy, was dead. And I felt empty almost. I had lost a friend.

 ‘They bundled your  dad into the back of a police car, he was seemingly unharmed, but they would have thought him another victim, like Emma, or James, had Lilly not been recording the whole thing on her phone. They still don’t know everything. You’re going to need to tell them more. I’ve told them all you’ve told me, but I have a feeling some of it is missing. Am I right?’

 I nodded slowly. ‘How’s Josh?’

‘I… He’s…’ He looked at me. ‘Kit Kat, Josh died eleven days ago.’