Cross Fire (Book #2) GirlXGirl

Twelve

My eyes struggled to open. The lights were bright. At first I thought 'this must be Heaven' but realized that couldn't be. I shouldn't be here. After everything I had done, God must've made a mistake.

But when I tried to move my arms, I couldn't. My eyes looked down and I noticed I was strapped to a stretcher.

Soon my hearing started to come back as I heard the yelling of what sounded like ten different people. Nurses. Doctors...

Then I heard the voice of my dad.

"She's bleeding internally," he claimed. "No, she's worse off than the other girl."

I tried to turn my head and realized I barely had any strength to do so. It fell to the side and I saw Melissa in the same position as me. Laid out on a stretcher, except my dad was right. She probably didn't look as bad as I did.

Her eyes found me at the same time and my heart fluttered. Yeah, I was still alive.

That's when I looked up to see my dad.

Everything stopped at the sight of his eyes locked with mine. He had tears in his. Was he crying because he knew I wouldn't make it? Because he would never be able to make things right with me once I died?

He ran alongside me. "Alexa, sweetie, I need you to keep your eyes open. Everything is gonna be okay."

For some reason I found comfort in his words even when I knew they weren't true. He was upset because I was gonna die. That's why everything was so urgent.

I was dying. And maybe I should.

That's when my dad disappeared and the walls started to close in on me again. They wouldn't be able to save me. I was going to die on the operation table and my family would be at risk without me.

No. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't die. Not until I knew Paige was dead. Not until I knew my family would be safe.

"Dad!" I cried out, but there was no answer. My voice didn't even sound like mine.

"Ma'am, don't move. You're hurt really bad," a doctor ordered.

I wanted to laugh. I couldn't move even if I wanted to, I was strapped to this bed.

My eyes struggled to stay open but it was so hard. Everything was telling me to let go. To just give in to the pain and let it take me. But my brain was fighting. God, my brain was always so stubborn.

Maybe that's the only reason I wasn't dead yet.

I could hear the ripping of my clothes as a bright light shined above me. A bunch of pricks in my arm let me know I would soon go under. I was sure I wouldn't wake up this time. If I fell asleep, I would die.

Everything became heavy again. My arms. My legs. And then my eyelids. I tried to fight but there was no use. It was time to go.

I surrendered and allowedthe darkness to finally take me.

* * *

The sensation of someone's hand on my head pulled me from my dreams. My eyes opened slowly, as if I had been sleeping for years. My head was tingling and nothing felt real.

That was until I saw my father sitting in a chair next to me.

"Alexa," he whispered.

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that he was here with me in this hospital room.