The Bruises She Hides

Chapter 17

The sight that greeted me when I walked in is one that will haunt me forever.

Dani lying at the foot of the stairs, bleeding, unconscious and covered in bruises. All I can see his red as I sprint up the stairs and bash the shit out of this fucking sorry excuse of a father. I don't stop, I keep going feeling his blood smear over my knuckles, his face barely resembles what it looked like only seconds before but I don't care. This fucker deserves everything coming his way and more.

He's probably blacked out by now but that doesn't stop me, my fists continuing to slam into his face repeatedly. "FIN!!! She's not breathing," Izzy shouts from downstairs. I finally disregard the crumpled piece of shit in front of me and head straight to Dani. Izzy cradles her bleeding face in her lap as she calls the police with shaky hands and a trembling voice.

Tears pour freely down my face at the sight of the undeserving girl in front of me. Her skin is marred in cuts and scars. There are bruises all over her face some darker than others. A particularly open one right above her forehead that has blood dripping from it.

I feel numb on the way to the hospital. Sitting in the ambulance next to an equally traumatised Izzy as we watch paramedics rush around the tiny space frantically, all surrounding Dani. My brain barely registers the whirring of the siren or the speed of the van instead all I can see is that dreaded sight when I had first opened the door.

Once we get to the hospital she's rushed straight into the ICU while me and Izzy are forced to wait. Neither of us capable of saying anything but holding back the remaining sobs. It's not long before both Alex and Morgan storm inside, I can hear Alex screaming at a nurse. Morgan seems to notice the two of us first apologising to the nurse before pushing Alex our way. He looks livid, his fists are clenched tightly and his face a mix of worry but predominantly anger.

Morgan rushes to comfort Izzy who has started sobbing again. Alex on the other hand is pacing back and forth in front of me. I just sit there, too shocked to really process anything. Even though I'm fully aware that we are in the hospital right now, and the smell of disinfectant surrounds me I can't help but feel like I'm hallucinating. For years I've had my own suspicions about Dani's home life and now I feel so stupid for not noticing any of the signs earlier.

Her unwillingness when it came to hugs and physical contact in general. All her bloody injuries over the years that I stupidly ignored and dismissed as her being clumsy. Her constant days off of school. Her inability to make eye contact some weeks. Even recently when she fucking fainted. How could I have been so fucking blind. How could I not have noticed the signs. How could I have not seen that she was suffering every day.

And because of my ignorance she's somewhere in this dreaded building fighting for her life.

. . .

It's been hours now and nothing's changed. We've gotten no news from any of the doctors and nurses and are forced to wait still completely clueless about the full extent of her injuries. I can't help but feel hope whenever I see someone dressed in white walk our way to only turn and greet someone else.

It's probably 3am about now but I feel wide awake. My body won't start functioning normally again until I know she'll be fine. Both Izzy and Morgan have passed out leaning on each other, the stress of waiting finally getting to them while Alex is beside me in a trance like state. He looks awake but he's been staring at the wall in front of him blankly, probably trying to calm himself.

Me, I can't do either. I can't sleep or zone out or think straight because every single thought I have leads me back to Dani.

And I know I'll stay here as long as it takes.

"Danielle Warren," I stand up so fast my head is spinning. They're all awake now and behind me in an instant surrounding the nurse. "Are all of you family?" she asks somehow not picking up on the desperation in our faces to hear the results.

"I'm her older brother but there practically considered family," Alex quips, clearly irritated.

"She's alive," I feel a smile spread across my face for a fleeting second but it drops the second she continues "but barely. She's suffered multiple fractures, breaks specifically a crack in her femur. She's lost a lot of blood from different cuts but the most worrying one was the gash on her head. We believe she was pushed down the stairs and that had caused blunt head trauma" She pauses for a second studying our faces before adding "which caused a coma. She's on life support now but we can't guarantee anything" Coma. Life support. No guarantee. What if she... no but what if... "Would you like to see her?"

We all murmur in agreement as we follow her down the hallway. She reaches room 204 before stopping and turning to us "I'm warning you she's attached to a lot of machines now and it is a lot to take in," she opens the door slowly and we follow her inside.

My heart catches at the sight of her. She's laying on the hospital bed attached to more machines than I thought was even possible. A breathing tube is taped to her mouth, an IV in one of her wrists, her left leg has a thick cast covering it and her head is wrapped in bandages. She looks so small, so fragile lying there surrounded by all this high tech medical equipment. The only sound in the room is the beeping of the monitor, the only thing that's proving she is alive.

"We're not sure how long this could last, I suspect it could be weeks but it could always be longer. It's all up to her now really. With every day her chance of waking up decrease by about 1-2%. There is possible long-term effects such as developing a stutter, lack of spatial awareness, maybe even visual loss but things like that will be treated if she wakes up," If she wakes up, not when if. What if she doesn't wake up? What if this is where she spends the rest of her life, unconscious not able to do anything on her own.

I sit next to her carefully holding her cold lifeless hand in mine. "We'll get through this," I hear Alex whisper from across the bed.

"You have to," I say selfishly. I don't ever want to leave her side until she is awake, I'm not leaving until I know she'll