Operation Sector 17

Chapter 8:

I woke up to Guri patting my face. I looked around and saw my yard. I was at home! I tried to sit up, but Guri put his arm over my chest so I couldn't.
"No, Catia. We need to have some strength so we can pop you back into your room," he said.
"And how am I going to get back into my room?" I asked.
"Well, see that tree?" Guri asked.
He didn't need to finish; I already knew. I gritted my teeth, pushed Guri's arm off of me, and tried to stand up. It took three tries, but I finally managed to stand up. Then I almost fell back down, but Guri and another man grabbed my arms and pulled them over their shoulders so I could half-walk, half-stumble towards the tree. I was glad for my height of five foot, eight inches or this might have not worked.
Once I made it to the foot of the tree, I let go of Guri and the man that was stabilizing me. I wrapped my arms around the tree branch that was closest and could hold my weight.
I pulled myself up, and tried to wrap my legs around the trunk of the tree, but my short leg put a shot of pain up my leg, and I cried in protest. Gritting my teeth, I pushed through the pain and kept scaling the tree.
After all the pain and gritted teeth, I had finally made it high enough to go back into my bedroom through the window. I waved towards the rebels and they waved back, so I knew that they knew I was safe. I took off all my layers and changed back into my pajamas. I checked on my leg. The bullet was out, but the wound looked deep. I decided that I would tell my mom and dad that I thought I was bitten by an aciebug; the wound did look like the pictures of their bites, and aciebug bites have been documented to look indistinguishable from gunshot wounds. Perfect.
I winced- the pain in my leg was excruciating! I got off my bed and checked the clock. It was five-thirty. Wow, I must have been out for a while! I thought as I crept through my room and into the hallway to wake my parents up.
    My siblings were really light sleepers, so I was careful to not let my injured leg land too loudly, and to not scream out in pain.
    When I had finally made it to my parents' room, I crept to my dad's side of the bed and whispered, "Dad, wake up!" I tapped on his shoulder.
    I got no response, so I tried again, a little louder: "Dad! Wake up!" I shook him, and it worked.
    My dad woke up and squinted at me. "Cat, what's up?" he asked, still half asleep.
"I think I was bitten by an aciebug! My leg really hurts and I have a deep hole in my leg!" I said, stressing.
"Wait, Catia, what time is it?" he asked.
"Five-thirty, Dad, why?" I asked.
"Oh no!" my dad said, mumbling under his breath."To both things, sorry Cat. Could I check it out now?" he asked.
"Please do!" I whimpered, my head starting to get foggy again. Oh no! I thought. Then the fog got worse and I slurred my words,"head foggy..." and I went down, blacking out again.

   
"Catia. Catia! Can you hear us?" I weakly heard, my eyes still sealed shut.
I opened my eyes, but a blinding light welcomed me. I squinted my eyes shut. I was in a room with white walls, and a very bright light above my eyes, and my brain raced to figure out where I was, but I had no clue. 
Hmmm, bright lights, white room? I wondered... it took me a minute  then I realized, I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL! My eyes widened, then shut again from  the blinding light.
"Oh my gosh, thank the lord she is awake!" I heard my mom say. Well my step mom.
Then it hit me: if she knew I was in the hospital, did she know that I was a part of the break-in? It must have been on the news.
    I went to get up off the bed, but then a sharp pain went into my leg. Oh right, I got shot. 
    "Hey Mom, could you get me something to eat? Also, where's Dad?" I asked, the name mom feeling weird in my mouth.
    "He went to get me food before you woke up. Also, you're hooked up to an IV, and I want to know what happened," she answered.
    "Um... I-I don't remember," I started, hoping my wide eyes didn't give it away. "Did you guys take me here?" I asked.
"Yes we did, once your dad woke me up, in the morning...  then we carried you down the stairs," she said, looking ashamed.
I spotted a screen on the wall. I tried to come up with an excuse so I could get my mom out of the room.  I'm hungry! 
"Hey Mom, I'm a little hungry, could you go get me some food too?" I asked, "I don't think the IV is doing much."

    Once she left, I reached for a remote that was on my bedside table and pressed almost all the buttons until the screen turned lit up.. A highly made-up news reporter was yapping on the screen.
    "Last night there was a break in, in sector 17's Board of Trustees' building. According to the law enforcement officers that entered the building, there were about fifteen citizens that broke in. The officers said that the citizens were armed, and one of them was carrying a Clidcin rifle. Law officers shot at the crowd, but all the rebels escaped." Then I heard a beeping, and I turned to see my heart rate monitor spiking. I realized I had been holding my breath the entire time the reporter was talking about the operation. Knowing that a nurse would go to check on me, I tried to even my breathing and look as calm as possible.
    I slapped around for the remote, and pressed the button to shut the screen off, right as the nurse and my "mom" hurried in.
    "Catia, are you okay?" my mom asked.
    The nurse looked at my vitals and said, "She's fine, the machine must have just thought that something changed. But honey, did you feel any stress or anxiety right now?" 
    "No, not really. Besides waking up in a hospital, I think I'm okay," I said quickly. I still hoped she or the nurse didn't realize that I had turned on the TV and was lying.
    "It looks like you were bitten by something, maybe an aciebug," my mom said, looking worried. I'm glad I was shot, and not dealing with a aciebug bite; most patients die from them. 
    "Well, I did see a tiny shadow before I had a sharp pain in my leg..." I answered her, examining the bullet wound farther.
    "Well, honey," the nurse said, "have you been near any aciebug habitats lately?"
    "No, I love going into the purple forests for hiking, but I make sure to avoid the orange brush. Plus, the last time I went was last weekend, so it couldn't have just bitten me now. Could it?" I asked.
    The nurse just kept examining my vitals, but then she said, "We need to stitch up your bite, and inject you with a serum that will help you heal, then need to rest for a couple of days at home, then we will call you back for a check-up and you should be good! You should be able to go home by tomorrow."  Then she left the room with a clipboard with notes of my vitals.
    Oh crap! I didn't actually have a bite. The medicine could put me in an even worse condition. I came up with a plan.
    "Hey Mom, where is Dad with my food?" I asked, hoping to get her to leave the room to find him. 
    "Good question..." my mom pondered. "I'll go look for him"
    Perfect.  "Thanks Mom," I said, smiling.