The Makeover

22

"Hey girl. Open your walls. Play with your dolls. We'll be a perfect family."

Dollhouse, Melanie Martinez

22|Family bonds

The first thing I felt as I regained consciousness was the ache in my skull. My head pounded loudly and it made the darkness even less bearable than it had originally been. The inky blankness surrounding me was unsurprisingly frightening. I felt like I was drowning in an ocean, the part of it where no light could reach.

I stirred slightly, and as soon as I did, I heard a murmur of voices coming from beyond the darkness. I couldn't completely make out the words but I could hear the undertone to the voices. There was concern, hope and gratitude.

A hand was suddenly gripping mine. A voice was whispering in my ear, but I couldn't make out the words. The darkness was too consuming, too loud. The callused hand squeezed my smaller one.

Even though I was too numb to move, despite everything, a small smile tugged at my lips. A gasp was heard which was followed by more murmuring. The pain was still resonating through my head, but the feeling of being comforted and having someone near, made the pain subside slightly.

The pounding in my head dimmed and I let out a shaky sigh of relief that I could now rest. The darkness wasn't as scary or intimidating anymore.

The pain was gone.

The words being whispered in my ear, were finally audible and the voice, familiar. The person was repeating the same words over and over again, in hopes that I would catch them. Desperation was laced within them.

"Please open your eyes." Was what they said, repeatedly.

I did as they asked, and let the light take the previous darkness away. My eyes were momentarily blinded by the lights hanging from the ceiling, but soon after they adjusted and I could make out figures.

The first thing I saw clearly was my sister, Kayleigh, sitting on the edge of -what seemed to be- a bed. A bed that I was laying in.

Her eyes were wide as she watched me in astonishment. Relief flooded her eyes, before she closed them, her long lashes fanning over her cheeks. Her arms were clutched together in front of her as if she had been praying. I noticed that her cheeks had black tear-stains on them.

She had been crying.

The last time I had ever witnessed my sister shedding a single tear had been at our grandfather's funeral, which had been when I was 14 and she was 15. In other words, Kayleigh never cried. She tended to keep her emotions hidden and most of the time her face was pulled into an unreadable mask.

When her eyes opened again, she smiled at me sadly, before moving to my side to hold my hand, but she came up short when she noticed the white bandage wrapped around it. I gathered that it must have been the hand that I slashed on the desk in that moment of panic.

"Hey." She said instead, and offered me a smile. She sat down in the chair beside my bed and with great surprise to me, she kissed my cheek affectionately.

My eyes basically popped out of my head. The last time that Kayleigh had ever shown me any affection had been when I had turned ten.

I squinted my eyes in confusion. If Kayleigh was getting emotional, something must have happened. Something serious.

I was about to ask her what was going on, when I felt a hand squeeze mine; the uninjured one. I turned my head, but winced and closed my eyes when I felt an ache go through my skull again at the movement.