Everything around me was blurry, the crowd, the lights, the booths, it was like seeing through hard prescribed glasses that wasn't your own. I continued stumbling through the heavy crowd of people, not knowing where I was headed; I just needed to get far away from Brandon. My head my pounding, and the piercing ringing in my ears were starting to irritate me even more.
Even though I couldn't feel the extent of my injuries due to the sudden rush of adrenaline I experienced, I knew I needed to leave. I needed to go home because I didn't know how much longer my body would allow me to stay conscious after all the stress it'd gone through over the last 24 hours.
I reached in my pocket to grab my phone to call Stella, letting her know that I'd be leaving, but it was empty.
"Fuck," I muttered to myself, running a trembling hand through my blood-smeared hair, remembering Brandon smashing it to bits against the wall.
I spun around for the third time since I left the alley, scanning the crowd to make sure I wasn't being followed again before stuffing my hands in my pocket and lowering my head to blend in. And to my luck, there in my other pocket was Stella's keys she told me to hold when we first arrived at the Carnival. If I wasn't in shock, I would've cried tears of joy.
I quickly stumbled into the parking lot, knowing exactly where Stella parked, and hopped into her bright car, locking the doors behind me. I took a deep breath and slouched down in the seat, taking a moment to gather myself. My vision was still a little blurry, but I could see objects in front of me, which was all I needed to make it home safely.
30 minutes later, I was back at my penthouse, limping into the lobby after parking her car right in front of the building. The adrenaline began to die down, and I could feel my brain starting to shut down from the immense amount of pain shooting throughout my body.
"Give these keys to Stella when she comes," I mumbled, dropping the keys on the front desk.
"Oh my god, Miss Faye, are you okay?" Jeff asked, leaning over the desk with an alarmed expression on his face.
I winced and nodded as I made my way to the elevator, not having time to stop and chat about what happened. "I'm fine."
As soon as the elevator stopped at my floor, I staggered out and collapsed onto my living room floor, pressing my cheek against the cool marble floor to ease the nauseating feeling invading my stomach. And as soon as I closed my eyes, my entire body shut down, and the pain was no more.
~
"I think we should call him now; it's been two days," a soft voice whispered from beside me.
"She wouldn't want that," another voice spoke up, a deeper one.
Why am I hearing voices if I'm dead?
"You know he'd want to know Carter," the soft voice whispered harshly.
Carter? How'd he get here? And who is this he they're referring to?
"It's not your call Stella, wait until she wakes up."
Stella's here too?
"Fine, but it's your funeral," Stella muttered.
"Guys?" I tried to speak, but my voice was stuck. I tried to swallow and clear my dry throat, but it felt like a surge of electrical jolts were penetrating my skin with every ragged breath I took.
I cracked my dry eyes open and was instantly blinded by the bright lights above. I squeezed my eyes shut and blinked rapidly, adjusting them to my new surroundings.
Where was I?
"Stazi? Stazi? Can you hear me?" Stella asked frantically, her face inches away from mine. I blinked again, focusing my eyes on my friend in front of me until my vision became completely clear.
I nodded slowly and scanned the unrecognizable bright room, wondering where I was. The last thing I remembered was collapsing on the floor in my penthouse and then immediate darkness.
Stella placed her palm on my forehead, and I leaned into her cool touch. "You're at the hospital Stazi, we were so worried about you," she whispered softly as tears streamed down her face.
"I'm fine," I wanted to tell her, but my voice was still gone.
"We freaked out when you didn't meet back with us, we tried calling your phone a million times, and when you didn't pick up, we searched the entire park looking for you," she sniffled, swiping her manicured hand under her eyes to wipe away the tears but more took its place.
"Right before we called the police, Jeff called and told us that you were back at your place in bad shape and that we needed to get to you as soon as possible. We found you blacked out on the floor, and your pulse was so weak we thought you were dead."
Tears welled up in my eyes, imagining how scary that must've been for her.
"You've been asleep for two whole days," Carter revealed, announcing his presence. I shifted my head and found him standing a few feet away from the hospital bed I was lying in with his arms crossed and brows furrowed in worry.
Two days? How is that possible?
"Nice to see you're finally up," a man in scrubs voiced as he opened the door to my room with a wide smile on his face.
I attempted to smile back at him, but an explosion of pain erupted throughout my face, and I winced and threw my head back against the pillow, hoping it would go away.
"Careful, careful, you suffered a nasty concussion; take it easy on yourself," the man in scrubs informed me as he patted my shoulder gently.
"I'm Dr. Bailey; it's nice to finally meet you, err.." he quickly glanced down at the chart in his hand before looking back up. "Anastazi."
I nodded, acknowledging his words, wishing I could speak.
"If you don't know already, you've been here for the last two last healing from the concussion you suffered. You did have a cut on your head, but it wasn't deep enough, so you didn't need stitches, and the bruises around your neck and wrists seem to be healing as well; you're one lucky gal."
I'm far from lucky, I wanted to tell him.
"Are you feeling well enough to tell us what happened?" He asked with a concerned look etched across his face.
My heart rate immediately spiked as I shook my head, not wanting to relive that traumatizing moment just yet.
"Okay, okay, that's fine, whenever you're ready, Anastazi."
I nodded again for like the 50th time since I woke up.
"I reckon your throat must be feeling a bit dry by now; the water will help." He nodded his head towards the cup of water sitting on the stand beside the bed.
Stella happily grabbed the cup and shoved the straw in my mouth, allowing me to sip its contents. The cool liquid felt like heaven sliding down my parched throat, quenching my long-awaited thirst.
"Thank you," I whispered, my voice hoarse from being asleep for so long, but it felt good to finally be able to speak again.
Stella nodded with a soft smile on her face and moved out of the way so the doctor could continue speaking to me.
"When can I leave?" I asked wearily, wanting to get out of this suffocating hospital and back home so I could put all of this behind me.
Dr. Bailey rechecked my chart before tucking it under his arm. "Your vitals are looking strong, and your injuries seem to be healing nicely. I'd say you can leave no later than today once the nurse checks you out; how does that sound?"
"Perfect." I shot him a thumbs up the best I could with the IV stuck in my arm, restricting my movements.
"Wonderful, I'll bring the nurse in now."
"Thank you."
Dr. Bailey gave me one last pat on the shoulder before leaving me alone with my two worried friends.
"Stazi, I think we should call Nathaniel," Stella whispered, fiddling with her fingers.
"No!" I grunted heavily, shooting up out of the hospital bed too fast. There was no need to bring him into this, especially now that I no longer worked for him; my personal life was none of his business.
Deep aches shot through my body like a bullet on fire, and I had to clench my jaw to contain the scream that threatened to escape. It felt like a train had collapsed on my body multiple times after getting hit by a few buses. Just breathing alone felt like torture, but I had to push through it if I wanted to go home.
"Stazi, I think—"
"Stella, she said no," Carter spoke sternly, shooting daggers at her.
My eyes widened slightly, surprised at Carter's behavior. I've never seen him get angry at Stella before, and as soon as I opened my mouth to question the newfound animosity between the two, the nurse, Dr. Bailey called, entered the room.
"You must be Anastazi," the female nurse smiled as she grabbed my chart hanging on the end of the bed.
"That's me," I nodded.
"Wonderful, I'm Amanda; let's get you checked out so you can be on your way out of here."
I nodded eagerly and sat back as she pulled her stethoscope out and placed the cool instrument on my chest listening intently for any strange sounds that could possibly keep me here longer than I wanted. After shifting the stethoscope around my chest, listening to my different organs, she finally pulled away with a smile and wrote something on my chart.
"Alright, so your heart and lungs sound great, which is good. Next, I'll be checking your pain, and then you should be good to go."
"Okay," I whispered, giving her my best smile while trying not to wince.
Amanda wrapped her stethoscope around her neck before pressing gently against my abdomen. It took everything in me and then some not scream out in complete agony as her fingers massaged my belly.
"Do you feel anything?" She asked as she continued to torture me.
All I could do was shake my head because if I opened my mouth, the only thing that would come out was a blood-curling scream.
"Great."
After what seemed like hours, she finally stopped and clicked her pen to write more notes on my chart.
"Okay, Anastazi, it looks like you're good to go, all you need to do is rest your body, and in about 2 weeks, you should be completely healed. During that time, if you ever feel discomfort or an intense amount of pain, please don't be afraid to come back. Dr. Bailey has already prescribed you pain medication, and it'll be available for pick up tomorrow; any questions?"
"Nope, sounds good to me, thank you," I managed to choke out.
"My pleasure, take care of yourself." Amanda shot the three of us a bright smile and disappeared out the door.
"Get me out of here," I grumbled as soon as we were alone.
"Here, I brought you some clothes from your place," Stella announced as she tossed me a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt.
"You're an angel."
"I'll be right outside," Carter spoke, making his way towards the door to give me privacy so I could change out of this itchy hospital gown.
Stella did most of the work, helping me into my clothes while I sat there helplessly watching her. My body was still too sore to move, which is why I was very grateful to have her here with me.
"Ready?" She whispered, wrapping her arms around my shoulder to help me up the hospital bed as soon as she finished.
I took a deep breath and nodded, giving her the green light. And as soon and I stood up and took my first step, my limbs screamed at me to stop, but I couldn't; I had to push through it.
Every step I took felt like I was walking on a floor covered with bear traps. By the time we made it to the car with Carter's help as well, my breath was coming out in small pants, and beads of sweat began forming on my entire face.
"See, that wasn't too bad," I chuckled nervously as I got situated in the back seat of Stella's Range Rover.
They both rolled their eyes simultaneously as Stella peeled out of the hospital parking lot, finally taking me home.
--