Together We Survive

Take Me Back

I slowly opened my eyes at the sound of the engine cutting off, and I heard the door next to me open a moment later before I was hauled out of the passenger seat.

'Ow,' I mumbled, grasping my chest with my free hand as the stranger ignored my complaints and continued to drag me up the few steps that led to the front door of a house, pushing it open to pull me inside before kicking it shut with ease behind us. We moved through to the sitting room where I was deposited onto the couch, the girl retreating through to a different room where she dropped the car keys on a table with a clatter.

I cast my gaze around the dark interior of the house, taking note of the dusty photos spread throughout the room as the blonde girl opened some windows to allow fresh air to circulate through the stuffy building. Shifting into a more comfortable position sent another wave of pain through my chest and I squeezed my eyes shut as I waited for it to pass, opening them once more when the blonde girl lowered herself onto the couch beside me, a small bag in hand.

'Lift up your shirt,' she told me bluntly, raising an eyebrow when I regarded her cautiously and made no move to do as she said.

'I'm not going to steal your damn organs, lift up your shirt already,' she instructed a second time and slowly I did what she asked, holding it out of the way as she lent forwards to probe my chest gently, only removing her touch when I jerked back in pain.

'Ow!' I exclaimed, wondering if she even had any idea what she was doing.

'You've got a cracked rib, here,' she said briefly, removing a tub of painkillers from the small bag and chucking it into my lap. 'Don't go over the dosage.'

With that she stood abruptly and without another word left the room to disappear upstairs. I watched her go with a frown, I knew nothing about this girl but here I was doing everything she told me without question, what the hell was wrong with me?

Another wave of pain prompted me to open the plastic tub and swallow two of the pills with some of the water that the blonde had placed on the table beside me. After a quick look at the dosage I took a third as an afterthought, fed up of the aching in my chest. I soon regretted that decision when I was overcome with tiredness, the mixture of painkillers and lack of sleep taking effect. The last thing I wanted was to leave myself vulnerable in this strange, unknown place but there was nothing I could do as my heavy eyes shut and I fell into a deep sleep.

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Upon waking I had no idea where I was, my sleep had been deep with none of the usual nightmares that plagued my mind, my slow return to reality met with confusion as I stared up at the painted ceiling above me.

'Well look who's finally awake, took you long enough,' a voice sounded close by with a familiar Australian accent. I tipped my head the slightest bit to see my rescuer sat with the back of a chair facing me, her legs wrapped around either side as she rested her head on her wrists.

Slightly disconcerted to find her staring at me, I pulled myself slowly up into a sitting position, having stretched out over the couch at some point during my sleep. My chest held a dull ache that matched my throbbing cheek where the man had backhanded me yesterday. I brought a hand up to feel the tender area, running a hand through the mess that was my hair and groaned at my predicament.

'You've been out all of yesterday and last night, talk about rough,' the blonde girl commented from her position on her chair, an eyebrow arched when I threw her a dark glare. This was not how I had planned things to happen, I should've been back with my family by now, not here with this stranger. I jumped slightly when a cereal bar flew through the air to land beside me, startled by the unexpected movement.