Burning Revenge

5

When I opened my eyes, I immediatly shut them again. This is much too bright..

I opened them to slits and sat up. I was lying in white bed with a very thin matress. Two large glass windows were on the right side of the room and right next to me a machine was peeping. That was when I realized that I had a needle stuck into each of my arms. Probably against the shock, I thought warily running through my hair.

I felt filthy. My hair was definatly greasy and I could still smell the stench of burned wood on me.

I slowly slid to the side of my bed and was just about to pull the needles out of my arms when all of a sudden I heard a deep voice from behind me. "What are you doing?"

I jumped at his voice and turned to glare at him for scaring me like that. But my eyes were to swollen and my face was too pale to be looking furious. So I just slowly sat back in the hospital bed and looked at him, waiting.

When he didn't say anything and just went to sit down in the seat next to me, I decided to take matters into my own hands. "Why are you here, Officer Eveland?" I croaked, holding my throat immediatly after that. Ouch.

He took one last sipp of his Latte Machiato and put it down, turning towards me.

"I'm here on the Inspector's orders. He seems to think that you and your sister are in danger."

A shiver went down my back and I pulled my knees to my chest. "Because of the fire right?" I said my eyes getting wet again. "Because someone wanted us dead."

He nodded and I let a single tear go down my cheak. I didn't even bother to wipe it away.

"You're a smart girl," Officer Eveland said smiling sadly. "So i think you know why I'm here."

I did. Deep down I knew me and Jemma couldn't stay in a hospital forever. But my only aunt died a few years ago of cancer, I had no godmother, my only grandparents were dead too and my dad was an orphan. He had no family.

I took a deep breath and looked at him, my voice shaking a little when I said: "You're taking us to an orphanage."

He nodded, and the full weight of what I had just said reached me. An orphanage.

"I don't want to go there," I said quietly. "I'm not- I can't-"

"Yes you can Olivia. I'm sorry, but you have no other options. And nor do I. Inspector's orders," he said shrugging slightly. I frowned, and he must've noticed my confusion, because he carried on "Inspector Black knows that there is someone out there looking for you. You're supposed to be dead afterall, and he thought it was better to keep you safe."

I sat on the edge of my bed again and leaned closer to him and asked as loud as I could manage: "How is an orphanage safer?" Officer Eveland stared at me a few moments and then suddenly took my hands in his and held them tight. "Olivia, I can assure you that this orphanage is the safest and most secured orphanage in the whole of England. It's just outside London, and I heard you really enjoy London," I smiled although I was a little confused. How did he know that?

I cast the thought by side, when he let go of my hands and stood up out of his chair. "I'm going to go call a nurse so she can get those needles out of you. Take a shower if you want, I'll go check up on Jemma," he said quietly and rushed out of the room.

I waited for the nurse to come and stared at my feet. At least five minutes had passed and I couldn't deal with the silence anymore. It was making the hollowness in me get bigger. I was just about to shout for a nurse when a plump, young Indian-looking woman came in smiling. She took my bandages off and checked my lungs. Then she slowly pulled out the needles and stopped the bleeding with a plaster. I smiled at her thankfully but it hurt too much to smile for long. Without the needles in my arm I felt a lot better and slowly stood up. The world was spinning a little so I held the side of Officer Eveland's chair for a moment to steady myself.

My right leg had been stitched up and now only left a scar the length of a hand on my thigh. My left leg had healed fully, thank god it hadn't been scorched by the flames fully, I thought to myself, slowly leaning onto my right leg. When I could keep my balance for longer than a minute I decided to go and have a quick shower. I was pleased to find that the bathroom next to my hospital room also had a shower. I quickly took off the smeggy pjamas I was wearing and stepped into the shower, turning on the water. I let the warm water splash and soak my skin and hair, closing my eyes. For the first time in a while I thought of nothing. It felt good to not think. Why couldn't we humans just turn off our brains for a while?

I opened my eyes, noticing that I had started thinking again and huffed. When I had finished showering I stepped out and towel dried myself. When I had finished, I turned and jumped at the site of myself in the mirror. Do I really look that bad?

I held my dark brown curls between my fingers and noticed how my skin looked even paler because of them. My friends at school would always say that it made me look elegant and pretty, especially with my big grey eyes. Allthough many people said so, I could never fully believe them. Because for me, I hated my hair. I always had to straighten it and in the rain it always got even curlier. I was a decent size for a sixteen, nearly seventeen year old and my body had a lot of curves in the right places, which I was happy about. The real problem when I looked into the mirror was my face. I had dark, big rings under my eyes that made me look like a zombie.

I sighed quietly to myself and turned to walk back into the hospital room to put some close on when I noticed I hadn't been given any. I was just about to turn to the door and call a nurse when I noticed a small heap of clothes and a pair of chucks on the chair next to the bed. There was a note on the pile. Thought you might need this, it read and I shrugged and thought it must've been Officer Eveland. I quickly slipped into the dark, skinny jeans and pulled the white and blue flowered top over my head. The only problem was that it laced at the back, but in a few minutes time I was dry and ready.

As I sat on the hospital bed, I stared down at my new black chucks and thought of how I would be walking around in an orphanage with them soon. I let the tears fall silently until I heard the door creak open and two people walking in.

"Livvy!" Jemma cried and jumped into my arms. I held her at armlength and smiled. This girl truely is a joy to my heart, I thought, quickly wiping the tears from my cheaks and looking as happy as possible. "Hey, sweetie!" I glanced at Officer Eveland and asked "did the Office Eveland tell you where we were going?"

"He said we're going somewhere to live with other children! He said I could have a cuddle toy if I am a good girl," Jemma said her eyes glinting. I pulled her to sit on my hips as I went through the door Officer Eveland was holding open for us. "Of course you'll be a good girl!"

As Jemma babbled on about what cuddle toy she wanted and what she would call it I couldn't help but notice that I was the now officially the only thing she had. And that she was the only thing I had.

I hugged her tighter to me and gave her a kiss on her forhead and she smiled in return. Officer Eveland led the way towards the exit, and we entered the parking lot. He led us to a blue mini Ford and I buckled Jemma up in the children's seat. Then I got into the car aswell and gave Jemma a kiss on the cheak before Officer Eveland asked: "Are you ready?"

It sounded like he ment a lot more than just the journey to the outskirts of London. I let out a shaky breath and remembered I had to be brave for Jemma. "Yes."

Officer Eveland nodded and drove out of the parking lot, leaving the huge, white hospital buildings behind us.