The Girl With The Broken Smile (One Direction)

Chapter Two

It was raining heavily outside and I couldn't see much. I tried not to skid too much, but the rain was making the pavement wet and slippery, not helping my case. I kept my eyes on my feet, focusing, to watch for things that could possibly make me trip, instead of looking up, to see what was ahead of me. By the time I saw the car ahead of me, it was already too late. All I could do was hope that by some random stroke of fate, that I would be unhurt.

I covered my face and head with my arms instinctively and squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for the pain I knew was going to come. But even though I knew this, I couldn't stop the silly hope that flashed through me, praying it wouldn't hurt too much. That was stupid, I realised later, when I remembered the excruciating pain of the car colliding with my body, the driver inside, panicked and frantically trying to brake. When the car hit, my body was completely numb for about half a second and then, all of a sudden, I was painfully aware of each and every part of my body getting bruised and broken.

In just five seconds, I could feel both my arms snapping simultaneously, several ribs breaking and my legs giving way underneath me. Even before I felt the pain, I knew they were broken as well. I remembered how my head hit the cold, wet pavement with a loud crack and then feeling warm blood trickling down my face. As I laid there, unmoving, my body coursed with shocks of constant pain. From my neck, my head, my arms, my back, my legs, my chest. Everywhere hurt. And it was getting increasingly difficult to breathe.

I had done my best to hold on to my tiny shred of consciousness, trying to ignore the voice inside my head that was begging me to let go, to leave this painful world and to enter a new one, a happier one, one without a single thing that could harm me. A world of black where nothing would happen. Where nothing would hurt. 

But I held on. At least long enough to hear the driver of the car ringing the ambulance, his voice getting higher and higher with stress and worry until he was half sobbing, half shouting into his phone. The ambulance came moments later, its shrieking siren, which hurt my ears, its flashing lights which hurt my eyes. I wanted to raise my hands, to cover my face, so I couldn't hear or see anything , but my arms were dead weights by my sides, immobile and causing me a stupid amount of pain. Then, there was that little voice inside my head, whispering to me again. Leave, it told me. Leave. This time, I obeyed. Sighing quietly, I closed my eyes and slipped into a world of black.

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When I opened my eyes, my head was pounding painfully and there was something taped under my nose. Something that made an annoying whooshing sound every single time I breathed in and made my nose unbeareably itchy. I moved my arm to rip it off, but my hand felt numb and wouldn't obey me properly. Swearing quietly, I decided to ignore it for now.

I tried to roll over to my side, uncomfortable with the position I was in. But there were tubes and an IV hooked onto my skin, preventing me from moving. Ugh. I groaned quietly, trying to remember what had happened. Then, as I looked down at myself, clad in an ugly hospital gown, it all came back. The car. The accident. The pain. Then the blackness.

I tried to push the images out of my head and calm down my breathing which was getting more and more ragged by the second. The memories- my memories- flashed through my head, replaying back to me vividly. I let out a loud froan of frustration. All I wanted to do was to forget, to go back to my safe haven of sleep and dulled senses. But my stupid brain would not let me. I took a deep breath and tried to focus on other things.

I leaned further down onto my mountain of pillows and observed my surroundings.The furniture around me was simple, minimalistic to say. A single chair stood next to my wooden bed side table and hospital bed. I shifted myself slightly again, trying to get more comfortable. The mattress was thin and I could almost feel the steel suface of the bed frame. The pillows were hard and lumpy, making my neck ache as well.