Foreign |l.r.h au|

0.8

"Remington, wake up." I barely could lift my eyelids, but somehow, I manage. I see Archie standing in front of me, at the foot of the hospital bed with a nurse at the door, with a wheelchair beside her.

Before my surgery, he apologized for being an asshole and I forgave him, deciding that holding a grudge would only add to the amount of stress I was enduring.

The surgery, according to my doctor, went well. He said it was a really rare surgery to have (typically antibiotics treat pelvic inflammatory disease, but I hadn't gotten treated because of Alex), but there were ovarian cysts and scarring that had to be removed.

"You ready?" I got to leave the hospital today, as it had been almost five days since I went in for the procedure. They kept me longer for eating purposes, as I could not eat any foods without a tube. Yesterday had been my first solid meal.

"Yeah, will you help me?" I ask him. I could walk regularly. A day after I had my surgery, the nurses had me get up and walk and kept encouraging leg exercises. Despite being able to do all the normal things, I still had a hard time getting up without assistance.

Archie comes around to my bedside, and held out his hands, quickly pulling me up to my feet. The nurse comes around with the wheelchair and I slowly ease myself into the seat.

My parents had collected my items from the hospital last night before they left back to the house. I had been visited by some family members, along with Luke and some of his friends.

"Why is your hair red?" I questioned the pale boy, sitting next to Luke.

"Why is the sky blue?"

I smile at the memory that occurred two days after the operation, as the nurse wheeled me out of the room with Archie alongside me.

~

"Is right now a good time?" I can hear my mom respond to the person at the door. It's been a week since the surgery and I've done well. Though, since the doctor recommended that I took two weeks to rest, everyone in the damn house has been holding me hostage.

No one would let me do anything by myself unless I was going to the bathroom. But even then, someone would stand at the end of the hallway until my return.

"Ma'am, we must speak to your daughter." this time it wasn't Detective Pacheco's voice and I can't help but frown. I look and watch my mom open the door more, to let the female detective, with another male following behind.

"I'm gonna go," Luke says quietly. He had been good company for me since I got out of the hospital. I want to tell him to stay, but before I can, he exits the living room and in through the kitchen door.

Both detectives sit across from me.

"How are you feeling, Remington?" the lady asks me. I recognized her from the station, and I believe that it happened to be detective Pacheco's old partner. She had notable bags under her green eyes and her black hair was wrapped into a bun. She had a sharp jawline and low cheekbones.

"Better," I admit, watching as she takes a seat on the coffee table to be face-to-face with me. The male detective stands back, by my mom but soon disappears with her through the kitchen door.

"Remington, there's something you need to know about Bella's autopsy.." she trails off.

"Alex, this isn't a good idea," I repeated. I've said many times, but this time it earned a slap across my cheek. Bella looked at me, fear in her eyes. Jason shouldn't have trusted Alex. Alex was a terrible person and Jason knew that. But he was scared that she would get caught up in the business, so he asked for Alex to supervise her.

If Jason knew what Alex was planning, he'd kill him. But Jason was in Wyoming and we were on the streets of New York, about to be sold.

"Put these on," Alex demands, throwing lingerie at us. Bella and I stood there, staring at each other. By the way her hands trembled, I knew that she held the same gut-wrenching fear as I did. Something would go terribly wrong, we both knew it.

"--If Alex is found, he will be charged with manslaughter." I could not process her words. Nothing was adding up.

"How's that even possible? I was with her before she left, she was fine." I argue. As fine as she could be in that moment. When the incident happened, my mind would replay the same look consternation and dread she gave before entering that motel.

I spent months without sleep, my head trying to comprehend everything that could've and should've happened. Her death, which was so sudden, made me only wish that I had gone in there and not her.

It wasn't to spare an innocent life, but rather for selfish reasons. I wanted to die, more than anything. I found it unfair that the world took Bella because she got better, she had found the man her heart belonged to. She wanted a marriage and to have kids, as I knew I never stood a chance down that road. I had nothing.

For weeks, I'd imagine myself in her scenario and constantly question if I would have fought back or not. Even finding myself with men (that my body was sold to), I would wonder if they planned on slit my throat or beating me to the point of death. At times, I'd find myself praying that God would have someone take my life already so I wouldn't have to do it myself.

"They said that there were pills in her system, that traced back to the man who murdered her. She took Oxycontin minutes before." the detective's words were almost foreign to me, as I could hardly grasp the fact that Bella had initially killed herself.

Silence loiters and all you can hear is mumbling come from the kitchen, between my mom and the other detective.

Something wet falls onto my leg and I snap out of my trance. I can feel the tears on my face, yet I couldn't understand why I was crying. Bella had been dead for awhile, and even when I saw her body, I did not cry.

I dab my eyes with my red long-sleeve, trying to minimize the number of tears coursing down my face, and trying to prevent newer ones. I can hear my brain pounding against my skull, my stomach feels like it had leaped from the tallest skyscraper.

"Remington, we need to know where Alex is."

"Mexico."

guys, i had a great video call with (@dani-m) she's pretty rad. we're looking at doing a story together. check her out xx