THE ROSE AND THE THORN

Chapter 39

I was lying down, but could hear the sound of a shopping trolley as it rattled on gravel. My body was vibrating in time with the shopping trolley, and I wondered if I had gone back in time. Back to when I was little and could fit in the trolleys at the super market. Back to when I was little and my family was happy.

"Has this happened before?" I heard an unfamiliar male voice say.

"Yes, I mean no. I don't know. She's fainted a few times, but she's never not been able to speak like that!" I heard a female voice say. Aimee, that was Aimee.

I tried to pry my eyes open, still unsure of where I was or what was happening. The trolley had stopped moving and I was being lifted into the air, the vibrating and shaking had now turned to a small shudder as I lay still.

"Does she have any medical history?" the male voice asked.

"She has low blood sugar," I heard another female voice say. It wasn't Aimee this time, it was someone else.

"Okay, whose riding with her?" the male voice said.

"Aimee, you go. I'll follow the ambulance," the female voice said, and I felt a soft hand brush against my face before hearing two doors slam shut. Even though my eyes were closed, I was becoming more and more aware of my surroundings. I could hear loud sirens above me as my body swayed left and right. I was almost certain I was in an ambulance but I wasn't sure why. The last thing I remembered was scoring a goal at soccer, and now I'm here.

I was vibrating again, back in the shopping trolley being pushed over gravel. The air suddenly turned cold and the sounds of nature were replaced with hushed talking and loud beeping.

"India Thorn, eighteen, female, history of low blood sugar, can't get a hold of the mother!" the male voice said.

"Her mother is in London. India lives alone," Aimee said.

I felt myself being lifted off the trolley and laid down onto something slightly more comfortable. I felt something thin and scratchy being draped over my body as my shoes and socks were pulled off. Soon they were taking off my soccer uniform and I wanted to scream at them, tell them that they couldn't do that. I felt my arms being placed through something thin, being tied up behind me. A hospital gown.

Sticky pads were pressed onto my skin and needles poked through my skin and into my veins. I wanted to tell them to stop prodding and poking me, but I couldn't talk. I wanted nothing more than to fucking talk.

"Aimee!" I heard the other female voice say.

"Miss Rose!" Aimee replied.

Oh. It was Ruby.

"Has she woken up yet?" Ruby asked.

"No, not yet. I'm so scared," Aimee's voice quivered as she spoke, and I wanted to reach out and hold her hand, telling her that I was okay.

"She'll be okay," Ruby responded.

"Well, if she's not, I hope you can live with the fact that the last thing you did to her was break her heart!" Aimee said bitterly. That's my girl.

"I...I didn...Aimee, you have to understand," Ruby stuttered.

"No, she's been a mess because of you. She hasn't been eating, hasn't been sleeping, she has been a sad excuse of a human for the past two weeks because of you!" Aimee cried.

"I'm sorry," I heard Ruby say.

"You're apologising to the wrong person," Aimee spat, and I felt a warm hand enclose my own.

I drifted off, back into blank nothingness, and then before I knew it I had come to. I opened my eyes, instantly blinded by a blurry whiteness. It was so bright it hurst my eyes and I groaned as I tried to shield my eyes from it.

"India!" I heard a voice cry.

I slowly looked to the left, my vision still blurred. I could make out a mix of black, skin colour and lots of small spots of reds, blues and yellows. I squinted, trying to better my vision, and as I did so I realised who I was looking at. Ruby.

"What happened?" I finally managed to say, my throat feeling dry and crackly.

"You collapsed at soccer, you've been out for hours. God, India, I was so worried," she said.

I took a good look at her. Her eyes were red and blood shit, dark circles had formed underneath them. She looked miserably beautiful, and for a moment I forgot that she broke me. For a moment I wanted nothing more than to have her lips on mine.

"Well, I'm okay," I replied. "So you can go now."

"Ind..." she began.

"No. It's okay, you've played the caring teacher act. Go home to your girlfriend," I said, rolling over in the hospital bed and refusing to face her.

"I don't love her," I heard her whisper.

"Okay," I replied, because I didn't know what else to say.

I heard her sigh before standing up. I heard no footsteps, indicating that she was still standing next to my bed. I felt her hand softly caress the side of my face but I didn't react. Then I heard her slowly walk out, pulling the curtain closed behind her.

Doctor after doctor came in and continued to run tests, coming to the conclusion that my blood sugar had dropped dangerously low and I needed to be religious about checking it and making sure it was at a suitable level before exercising. They explained the dangers of having a low blood sugar episode to me and it sounded a lot worse than what I had initially imagined. Later that night I signed myself out of the hospital and got a taxi to Aimee's house, not wanting to spend the night alone.

I stood on her doorstep silently, waiting for her to open the door. Once she did she burst into tears, pulling me into a tight hug. It wasn't until I felt two more people join that I realised that Connor and Scott were there too.

"I was so worried India, but they told me to leave. Miss Rose said she would stay, I was so upset with her, Inds!" Aimee sobbed into my shoulder.

"I'm okay, I'm okay!" I shushed her, rubbing her back soothingly.

That night I lay awake, thinking about what Ruby had said to me. 'I don't love her,' Why had she said that. Why did she want me to know that she didn't love the woman she left me for?