Why?
Hearing a movement come from the far corner of the hospital room, she knew he was awake, so she decided to take the distance between them to her advantage.
Chloe didn’t open her eyes as she began to open her mouth, afraid if she did, her hysteria would take over, and the cruel cycle would start again.
“I-I don’t like to be touched anymore,” she whispered as best she could.
She heard what sounded like her father starting to get up.
A face flashed in her mind as she felt invisible hands wrap around her throat.
“No!” Her eyes shot open to reveal the dim hospital room. Chloe took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice even, to remain calm. “Don’t come closer … please.”
After a moment, her father sat back in his chair.
The room was eerily quiet. She didn’t understand why he wasn’t asking her questions, wondering what had happened or, more importantly, who had done this to her.
Does Dad already know? Is the man locked up forever?
She figured she would start with that first.
“You know what happened to me, don’t you?”
The look on his worn out face gave her the answer.
Her father held up his hands and slowly stood. “I’m not going to touch you. I just want to come closer. Is that all right?”
Trying her best to stay strong, she nodded her head, holding her breath as he slowly walked toward her. She only slightly relaxed as he stood by the bed, making no attempts to touch her.
He looked down upon her, taking in this new sight of his daughter.
When her silent questions still went unanswered, she forced herself to whisper the words, “Did you catch him?”
A bushy eyebrow rose as he stared at her blankly. “Catch who?”
Shocked, Chloe blinked a few times, wondering if she were in a dream before the stinging on her face told her it wasn’t.
“Who did this to me?” she choked out.
“Chloe, you were in a car accident.” It sounded as if it were rehearsed.
“There was no car—”
“You were in a car wreck; that’s all you know.” His voice was calm and collected.
Chloe began shaking her head violently, her eyes brimming with tears. “No, I wasn’t. He hurt—”
“You were in a car wreck. No one hurt you.”
“N-no!” she screamed as her cheeks started to burn again from the tears.
“You were in a car wreck; that’s all you know. You were in a car wreck. No one hurt you.” He was beginning to sound hypnotic.
Not only her head, but her body began to violently shake. “NO! NO! NO!”
This time, a lone nurse came in the room with a needle, closing the door behind her.
Her father stepped forward, holding her down, as Chloe tried to scream as loudly as her throat allowed, fighting off their hands as much as she could before the needle pricked her skin in the sore spot of her arm.
He spoke over her with the same, melodic sound in his voice. “You were in a car wreck; that’s all you know. You were in a car wreck. No one hurt you …”
Three
Does The Sight of Her Just Sicken You?
Sitting up in the hospital bed, she hadn’t moved, hadn’t spoken. She merely sat there, doing the same thing for hours: staring. The white wall in front of her was the only thing she stared at. It showed her past, her nightmares.
I was in a car wreck.
Hearing the click of kitten heels getting closer and closer to the door didn’t bring her out of her trance.
A woman with short black hair and dressed in business attire entered the room. Not a hair on her head was out of place, and the pearls wrapped around her neck perfectly gleamed. It was the first time she had seen Chloe since the “accident,” so she took a few moments to look her over.
“It’s a shame they—I mean, she got her face marked. I think we could use it to our advantage and turn this situation into something better.” Her beady eyes travelled down. “However, I think she should keep her arms covered; we don’t want people to feel too sorry for us.”
That’s all I know.
Turning, she walked toward Chloe’s father, who was staring out the window.
“Why don’t you go home and get some rest, Maxwell? You look tired. I’ll go back to the office and keep taking care of everything. Let the nurses do their job.”
Maxwell didn’t even turn to look at her. “Did you ever love our daughter, or does the sight of her just sicken you?”
“We’ve talked about this.” Chloe’s mother sighed.
Turning his head, he looked at her with disgust. “How does the sight of her look to you now?”
I was in a car wreck.
“Please don’t bring this up here in front of her.”
“What do you see in her, Elaine? Your sister or the pride you lost in your womanhood when you found out you couldn’t have a child naturally?”
“Yeah, well, I guess you picked the wrong sister,” Elaine huffed.
Maxwell resumed staring out the window. “I know I did.”
Elaine stormed off toward the door. “I would tell you to leave me for her, but you can thank your daughter for killing her.”
The snap of the door closing had him looking away from the window to Chloe.
A single tear had slid down her cheek.
“Don’t listen to her.” He stood, going to her bedside and opening a medicine bottle.
No one hurt me.
He placed a little, white pill in the dip of a spoon and held it to her mouth. “This will make it all better.”