The Amazon

Chapter 6 - Kayleigh

Chapter 6 - Kayleigh      

  Someone's stroking my face - Mum. I open my eyes expecting to find my Mum sat beside me, instead I see James looking at me curiously and I realise I spoke aloud. He looks at me for a long moment a curious expression on his face as I try to work out how I ended up in what appears to be a hospital bed,

  “Well I guess I probably ought to thank you, since I presume it was you who carried me back to the complex?” I force the words out; hating the idea of him doing me a favour.

“Wow, she has manners?” his voice oozes with sarcasm and I glower up at him in response. If he was decent enough to carry me all the way back to complex and sit with me half the night, why is he trying so hard to aggravate me?

 I shake my head causing it to pound violently, I gasp as the world spins and blink frantically as James slides in and out of focus. Come on girl, you can’t go fainting again. Come on! The world comes slowly back into focus and I glance at James only to see a peculiar expression on his usually cool face. I raise an eyebrow; utterly confused but he just blanks his face once more and glares contemptuous at me. I hold his gaze, trying to remember what it was that made him look at me so strangely when I had first come round... Mum. I can feel the emptiness in my chest like it was yesterday. I swallow, holding back tears as I allow the anger and pain to fill my gaze for just a moment.  

 Maddie walks into the room looking as solem as I've ever seen her, but upon seeing that I'm alert and talking, she smiles and walks over to the bed.

 "So, how are you feeling?"

"Oh I'm fine, it's just a few bruises," I smile at her concerned expression.

"Yes just a few bruises, a concusion and a 4 inch gash on your forhead. So can you remember what happened?" I glance surrebtitiously at James and he gives me a look whose meaning is clear; "stay quiet!"

“I’m fine, stop worrying so much,” I smile weakly at her, "To be honest I don't remeber an awful lot, I think I ran off ahead and tripped..." He smiles slyly at me, I ignore him and give Maddie my full attention as she babbles about how worried everyone was and did I want her to call my dad? No? Why not? And the questions just go on and on and on.

Article .     The doctors refuse to discharge me, saying they want to keep me in "for observation", Maddie says that she has to go back to base for various reasons, James follows her to the doorway but she pauses and turns to him whispering something in a low voice. He frowns and nods sharply before walking back to my bedside, glowering at the floor.

 “What’s up with you? You’re pouting like a 13 year old girl who’s just been told she can’t marry Justin Bieber,” I laugh, and then I gasp as the giggles cause pain to shoot through my head. I cradle my head in my hands, willing the pain to go away but it just keeps spiking. I curl into a ball; trying to convince myself that it’s just pain, mind over matter, mind over matter I repeat this mantra to myself over and over until the pain fades to a bearable pitch. I uncurl myself, wincing as my stiff muscles stretch. James watches me with a curious expression on his serious face,

“In answer to your previous question, Maddie ‘requested’ that I stay with you through the night - she must think you’re scared of the dark or something.” His voice is neutral but something in his eyes is off; there’s an emotion there that I’ve not seen in them before - something apart from the anger and hatred I’ve become accustomed to. But no matter what is in his eyes, that last comment stung.   

“I’m sorry that I am such an inconvenience, please, don’t stay on my account,” I can feel tears welling from a combination of pain and hurt. I roll onto my other side breathing in sharply as I do so.