Surviving the Odds (Sequel to DTO)

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Layla

When I come to it, my ears pick up the slow beeping of the heart monitor, my nose smells the rotting flesh and burning in my memory, and I feel fingers slowly moving against my head, touching my hair softly. These fingers are small and skinny. Lily is touching my hair in comfort.

"Should we call the nurse in here?" Luca says, his voice thick with sorrow.

"No, no. Let her wake up first," my mother says, her voice as monotone as ever.

"She is waking up, though," my father points out.

"Shhh, she's sleeping," Lily whispers, pausing momentarily and then continuing to touch me softly. The room quiets again.

I find the energy to open my eyes and I see quite the spectacle in front of me. My parents sit on the two chairs in the corner of the room, Luca is perched at the foot of my bed, slightly on and slightly off, and Lily is next to me with her face to the right of mine and her fingers touching my hair. Luca's shoulders are slouched and his eyes are hollow; I can't imagine how much sleep he's missed.

"Good morning," Lily whispers, and removes her hand from my hair. I don't respond. Am I mute, like an Avox?

"How are you?" Luca asks hesitantly. I still, and his words replay in my head. I am not well, I am sickly and a thousand different tubes are attached into my veins and pumping liquids through my body. I am scarred. I am burned.

My hand comes up to my mouth, trying to figure out why no words seem to come to mind and instead of touching my lips they touch a clear tube. I look at it. It is latched onto my mouth, sucking the life out of my pure body and replacing me with a monster that I never wanted to become.

My hand closes around the mouthpiece and I try to pull it off of me, but Lily stops me.

"No, Layla," she says, "you need that to breathe. Your lungs are damaged." She puts her hand on top of mine and slowly removes it from the mouthpiece. I scream a thousand times over in my head with my sister's touch. Poison. Poison.

"Mom," Luca says slowly, "maybe you should get the nurse..." My eyes turn to him and he looks very startled. The look on my face must mirror my thoughts, or he can tell what is running through my head right now.

I block out my family and listen to the rapid beeping of my heart monitor. My breathing becomes labored as I suck in this rancid air and the terrible feeling in my gut sends shivers creeping down my spine.

"Layla, how are you feeling?" a lady asks as she steps into the room. Beep, beep, beep. I am silent. "Could you rate your pain on a scale from one to ten?" I stare at her with wide eyes as she checks the machines next to me. Once she realizes that I am quiet, she turns to me.

"Layla, it's okay. You can speak. The doctor is sure that your vocal cords are not severely damaged."

The room is so quiet that I begin to hear the clock on the wall ticking over the beeping of the monitor. I don't want to speak, especially not now while I have an audience.

"I'm afraid I can't do much if you're not going to cooperate, Miss Kimber," she continues with a sigh. She holds her clipboard in front of her and scans over it. I turn back to Luca, silently pleading for him to take me out of here.

"Um, do you know when she'll be released?" Luca asks the nurse. "Maybe she'll feel more comfortable around home. This may be a lot for her to take in."