Vulnerable

Chapter 34

Megan's POV

'Wake up, pumpkin. That's it.' My dad's voice said as I strained to open my eyes. 'That's it Megan, you can do it.'

A blinding light filled my vision and I squeezed my eyes shut again. Slowly becoming aware of my surroundings. An oxygen mask covered my nose and mouth, and my whole body was aching dully, probably from the pain medication.

'You're okay, pumpkin.' My dad soothed. 'You're okay.'

No. This wasn't meant to happen. It was meant to end, I didn't want to keep living like this. Tears filled my eyes, and I gripped the sheets beside me. How did they find me? I was drowning, I was going to be free.

'You're safe, Megan. You're okay.' Dad said squeezing my hand. I shook my head, but my whole body felt heavy and my body barely moved. 'I was so scared, Megan. I thought I was going to lose you.'

You were meant to be free of me, free of all my baggage. You weren't losing me, you were losing the stress and burden.

'You should have come to me, Megan. No matter what he threatened you with, you should have come to me.' Dad cried.

Slowly lifting my heavy hand, I tried to pull the mask from my face. Once my dad realised what I was doing, he helped me pull it the rest of the way off. After a few seconds I felt a strange pressure on my chest and found myself gasping.

'Shit.' My dad swore, putting the mask back on me. 'Your lungs are damaged, Pumpkin. We didn't know how much you could do on your own.'

Why did they have to find me? Why couldn't they have just let me die?

'Your Uncle and Cole have gone awol. The police came by and did a rape kit so they have that as evidence, and Logan went back there a few days ago to see if he could get any evidence but the whole place has been cleared out.' My dad explained. 'It's been a month, pumpkin.'

I'd been in hospital a month? Benji was missing? The thought terrified me. Had my mum come to visit? Did she still believe Benji?

'Pumpkin, we're going to get you help, okay? You should never have to feel like that again, I'll do whatever it takes.' My dad spoke, gripping my hand like his life depended on it. 'We'll move away. Go back to the city. I'm not going to let you down again.'

'Hey Henry how is-' Logan's voice started as he entered the room, holding two cups of coffee, which he dropped instantly when he saw me. 'Megan! You... you're awake!'

'She just woke up.' My dad said, not looking at Logan. I could tell from the thick tension in the air that dad knew about Logan tricking me. 'I was just telling her about how we are going to move back to the city.'

'What? No! You can't.' Logan said, coming to my side and gripping my hand.

'Logan, it's what's best for her.' My dad sighed.

'No! She needs help, she needs to be around people who love her.' Logan begged.

'She will be. She'll have me, and her friend Jess.'

'A friend that hasn't even checked in since you moved here. She needs Lisa, Frankie and Charlie. She needs me.'

'The last thing she needs is you. You didn't protect her, you handed her over to them.' My dad spat.

'Stop.' I squeaked from behind the oxygen mask. 'Just stop.' They both turned to look at me.

'Megan, you know how sorry I am.' Logan pleaded with me. 'I'm doing everything I can to help the police find them and lock them up.'

'Police? No.' I breathed. 'You can't.'

'It's okay, Megan. I told them everything, if they try and frame me, the police already know. As long as it gets them out of the picture, I'm willing to go to prison for you.'

'No.' I shook my head. I turned to my dad. 'No.'

'Pumpkin they're not going to get away with this again.' My dad sighed. 'Logan made his choice.'

I didn't know what to say. I could tell they didn't know what to tell me either. 'Mum?' I croaked and dad shook his head sadly.

'She came once but refused to believe us. Again. She's choosing not to believe you, the evidence is all there. I'm officially going to sue for full custody after Christmas, she's never going to see you again Megan.'

'Date?' I asked, unable to handle more than a few words at a time.

'December 5th. It's a Wednesday- Lisa, Frankie and Charlie will be coming by in an hour.'

They must hate me for what I did; turning up at a party and saying goodbye, without actually saying goodbye.

'Do they...' I whispered. Logan shook his head, knowing what was running through my head.

'They were mad. We all were. Angry with ourselves for not noticing, disappointment that you didn't think you could tell us. But we love you Megan. We were just scared of losing you. So scared.'

'I'm sorry.' I said, tears in my eyes. 'I couldn't...'

'You're okay.' My dad said. 'I'm here. You never need to go through that again, okay?'

'I'm not.' I cried, letting the floodgates open. 'It never stops.'

As I cried, I felt a strange pressure on my chest, like it was being crushed under a heavy weight. My gasps for breath had my dad panicking, and Logan ran out calling for help.

Doctors came rushing in, pushing Logan and my dad out of the room. They started asking me where the pain was, and when I pointed to my chest, they started doing some checks and tests.

'It's the pneumothorax again.' One doctor said to the other. 'It seems to be getting worse.'

'Megan, we think one of your lungs is collapsing. We've got to get you into emergency surgery, now.' The second doctor said, as the pain in my chest started to grow.

They wheeled my hospital bed out of the room and down the hall, my dad and Logan calling after me asking what was going on.

My head was cloudy with confusion, as I was anaesthetised, going into surgery.