Coffee, a strong scent that infiltrated my nostrils and I scrunched my nose in protest. The smell reminded me of my grandmother and her love for coffee. I opened my eyes expecting to see her only for me to shut them together a millisecond later.
The bright light against my eyelids struck fear in me, am I dead?
Beep-beep-beep, the sound encouraged me to try to peer my eyes open again. I blinked away the tears and tried to adjust to the bright light.
I had woken up to a doctor and a nurse surrounding me, the sight leaving me confused and startled.
That explained the bright lighting in the room and the noise machine, but that didn't explain why I was there. That part was still blurry to me.
The doctor was cleaning my arm with a cold liquid and she looked over at my face once she noticed I had woken up. " She is awake, but I don't know if she has the energy to talk yet." She said alerting the nurse who was heading out of the room.
" I will let the officer know." The nurse nodded and exited the room.
I groaned out in pain as the painful headache made it hard to speak. Gunshot, I could hear that sound ringing in my head and panic shot through me.
" J-jack." I managed to blurt out, my throat felt as dry as the desert. My headache worsened as I tried to grasp the blurry memory of my brother running away from me.
The doctor press a button on the side of the bed and it began to lift my upper body a little. She then brings a cup of water to my lips and I take a small sip out of it.
She places the cup down by the table near my bed and grabs her chart." You will need to drink more, I will leave it here."
" My head," I winced, what's going on?" Where is my brother?"
" Ms.Benson, it will take a moment for the medicine to kick in and we have already alerted your guardians, your brother should be waiting outside for you." The doctor stated once she looked up from her chart." I'm Doctor Pauline and I will take care of you in the meantime."
I tried to sit up but struggled to lift myself up, the doctor placed a hand on my shoulder and offered me an assuring smile." Please rest for a while, you need it."
I wanted to see him, I had so many questions to ask. I tried to shake my head but it was to no use, my head felt like it weighed a ton. " No."
" Hazel, you have mild consciousness and trauma to the head, you have to stay in bed, " She sighed, I could only stare at her in disbelief. I swallowed feeling lost in a nightmare. "I know you got a lot of questions but we have to wait until you're a bit better, I'm really sorry."
The doctor turns her head back to the door where we could hear people rushing through the hall.
" My sweet baby," My grandmother's soothing voice made wanna cry like a baby and the horrified look on her face almost drew tears out of my eyes.
My grandmother was the most glamorous person I knew and she never missed her hair appointments, but here she was still in nightly protective hairstyle. I could even tell that she had just thrown on the first dress she had seen in her closet because I remember her telling me
she was going to wear her pink dress for the brunch this upcoming Wednesday, it's Sunday today.
" This why I always said no to sleepovers, please be alright." I felt guilty as she was blaming herself for something that was out of our control. I used to butt-head a lot with her when I first started to live with her but that changed when I learned about her childhood, she grew up very sheltered as a child andher strictness stems from that.
I knew my tears would only worry her more so I restrained myself from crying my eyes out. She moved past the doctor and cupped my cheek, which made me hiss out in pain and she quickly withdrew her hand."Oh my-doctor she is in pain, my little girl."
" She is medicated ma'am, it takes a while to take effect so don't worry about that." The doctor explained to my grandmother, " Now if you excuse me, I will get the officer."
" I'm fine Grandma, where's Jack?" I said.
Her dark eyes widen and she clutches onto her pearl necklace." Hazel, you're not fine! Jack is in Boston."
" Doctor said he is here," I said, too tired to explain I wasn't experiencing memory loss.
" Where? I only saw Little Rosewood in the hall and had Kent drive him home," She rambled on before we both came to the same relaxation, she sighed in relief and I held my breath." The doctor must have thought he was your brother, Oh dear I can breathe now."
I can't, Jack was gone and nobody seemed to know where he was. Was I tripping? Had I imagined him there?
A knock on the door catches our attention and my grandmother moves to the side, two officers step in.
" Good morning Mrs. And Ms.Benson," The taller officer greets us first with a warm smile" How are you feeling?"
" Awful," I answered truthfully.
" I understand, I'm Officer Dwayne and this is Officer Pine, we want to find whoever did this to you and only you can help us with that." He introduced himself and then pointed at Mr. Pine, he too smiled at me. I recognized him from Erica's party, he had come by early to let us know the neighbors wanted us to tone it down.
My grandma nodded, her hand patting mine." I'm glad to hear that, this is not acceptable."
" Good, I have to ask a few questions and I want you to think it through." Officer Dwayne continued.
I nodded in answer. I had some questions of mine too. Officer Pine opened his notebook and gestured for Officer Dwayne to start.
" So take us back to yesterday, where and who were you with?"
" I was at my friend Erica's beach house and we had a party, with friends." I recalled looking over at Officer Pine, in an attempt to ignore my grandmother's disappointed gaze." We were being a bit too loud and had a visit from Officer Pine, I stayed inside for another two hours before I decided to leave."
" Ah, I see and did you notice anything weird? Did see anyone following you?"
Officer Dwayne's question was a simple one yet it shocked me to my core and had my heartbeat race. 'Beep, beep-' the machine went off again.
The nurse rushes to me her gaze flickering between me and the monitor. Half of my body feels hot and the other half of me feels like I'm in a freezer. I had felt watched a lot lately but had no evidence of that to be true and the more I tried to think back to the party the more my head hurt.
I could recall what I ate at breakfast and what I and my friends were talking about. But everything after I left the party was quite blurry to me and I hated that, I was used to having great recollections minute by minute but that was taken away from me.
" Hazel, breathe please take a deep breath."My grandmother panicked and pointed at the officers." Doctor Pauline said she should rest, where is she?"
" She will be here soon," The nurse answered before she turned her attention back to me." Keep taking deep breaths and breath out."
One, two, three counted trying to stabilize my breathing. My vision sways and it takes a moment for me to notice Doctor Pauline entering the room with quick steps with equipment in her hand.
" Doctor what's wrong with her?" I barely hear my grandmother's voice as she is hidden behind the officers who are trying to get her to sit down somewhere.
Doctor Pauline flashes a light on my eyes and I can't even flee from it." Can you see me? Can you hear me, Hazel?"
I could hear and see her to some degree but my body wasn't listening to me. I could only roll my eyes back in defeat.
The doctor didn't waste any more time to question me." I suspect it's a side effect of the medication, Carla come here and draw some blood samples."
" Jack, find my brother Jack." I breathed out once I found my voice, and the doctor nodded.
"I will let the officers know right after I'm done helping you, alright?"
That was all I wanted to hear and it made me want to be calm so that I could get out of this situation. So I was stuck staring at the teal-green roof above me while trying to breathe properly. My eyes hurt, my head hurt but my heart ached was the main culprit of my suffering at the moment.
I didn't flinch when I felt the needle going through the skin on my forearm. Instead, I focused on the two more voices entertaining the room. My grandmother was calling out my father's name but he was busy questioning the officers. I even hear a third voice in the background talking to the doctor.
" Doc, what happened to her? Will she be alright?" Once again it's Kai's voice I hear right as I lose my fight against this unnatural drowsiness.