The Girl in the Window

Chapter Nine

Athena, after calming herself down, asked her brother to stand outside her door so she could get ready. She didn't want him too far away in case a panic attack came. She was prone to them as a child and knew the warning signs of one start. She was beginning to feel one start in her head. She sat in the shower letting the warm water hit her back. She covered her eyes and just cried. Her leg was hurting, but she was able to put weight onto it and limp to the bathroom. She was lucky that it wasn't broken. The headache that was forming earlier was getting worse. It was forming in the middle of her forehead, but she could feel it spreading. 

She looked down at her leg and a little cry escaped her mouth. The skin around her knee and down to her shin was covered with blue, purple, and green bruises. Her knee was swollen and the color around her knee was darker than her shin. Athena reached out and touched it gently. She let out a relieved sigh when she didn't feel anything out of place. It hurt like hell, but she would get through it. She needed something to help her get off of her knee for a little bit until it healed, but she'd figure that out later. 

I must have just sprained it, she thought to herself. It's a bad sprain if that's what it is. 

After taking a shower and slowly getting dressed, Athena walked out of her room and met her brother outside her door. He was leaning on the other side of the hallway with his arms crossed and head down, chin touching his chest. He looked like he had just been sleeping when he looked up at her with small eyes. "There's breakfast waiting downstairs if you want any," Derek told her. He walked slowly in front of her and kept checking back to see if she needed any help. She was a little slow because of her limp, but she was able to manage. He stopped to hold out his hand so she could walk down the stairs and led her into the kitchen. A stack of waffles was waiting on the table for Athena. It had just the right amount of butter and syrup. 

She smiled at her brother. "Thanks, Derek." She walked over to the plate and began to eat, her mouth watering at the sight. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until she saw the large stack of waffles sitting in front of her. Derek sat down in front of her and ate his share of waffles. They made small talk while they ate and avoided any talk about the asylum. After a while, Athena got up and cleaned up the kitchen slowly; Derek kept a watchful eye on her. He knew to let her do things herself. If she needed help, she would ask him. She wasn't someone who always needed help. If she could move, she was going to do her chores herself.

He has to be exhausted, Athena thought to herself as she washed the dishes. He looked as tired as she felt. She was sure that she probably looked worse than he did. 

Once the kitchen was cleaned, Athena limped over to the living room and sat on the comfy sofa, propping her leg up on the coffee table in front of her. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. She just wanted the extra noise. During breakfast, she could have sworn that she heard a little girl's voice in her head. She couldn't tell what the voice was telling her, but she needed the noise from the TV to drown out the voice. The air around her was cold again. She turned around, pulled the blanket off the edge of the couch, and wrapped it around her shoulders. She was still shivering even with the blanket around her. Her subconscious kept warning her that something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what it was.  

Derek carefully sat down next to her, bringing with him an icepack and a towel. "You should perhaps start writing your report for Mr. Schneider," Derek mentioned to her slowly as he handed her the icepack. She mumbled a thank you as she wrapped the towel around the icepack and then wrapped it around her knee, tying it in place. She didn't want to start writing the report, but she knew that she needed to. It would be good for her to make herself distracted. 

Tell them everything that happened to you, a little girl's voice taunted her in her head. No one will believe you. She could have sworn that she recognized the voice that was talking in her head. She couldn't tell if that was her thinking or not. Although, her headache got worse whenever the voice popped in. She placed her hand on her forehead and pushed against it as if that would alleviate the headache.