All That I've Got
An Old Friend
"Carys, it's Frank, can I come in?"
I honestly had to blink three times before I realized I wasn't dreaming. I recognized the voice immediately, and it seemed to be a reflex of it's own acting as I got up to open the door.
Now Frank had changed. He was now obviously two or three inches taller than I was. His short hair had been dyed black and hung in his face while his bottom right lip was pierced and glancing down for a quick second I could see the tatoos on his arms, but I did see something that hadn't changed at all about my best friend, his eyes. They were the same hazel color that could always calm me down and hold my attention, and despite the changes in Frank, I knew he hadn't changed much on the inside.
I stiffened when he suddenly wrapped his arms around me, slowly relaxing when I realized he wasn't trying to hurt me. One thing I had noticed from this unexpected hug though, Frank was certainly stronger than I remembered.
"Sorry about that," he said quickly when he'd felt me go tense. "I've just really missed you Car," he said, using the nickname he'd given me when we were kids.
I nodded my head, slowly pulling away from his iron grip to look up at him. While my mind was screaming countless protests, I did what I felt was natural, I hugged him back.
Don't Carys, he's just like that other one, he'll hurt you and you know it!
Maybe my parents had pulled me out of the asylum a bit early, there had to be something wrong with me if my mind was warning me of non-existant danger, but why was I feeling...dizzy?
"Carys..Car, are you okay? What's wrong Car?" Frank asked worriedly as he looked down at me.
It had just occured to me that I was shivering, but I wasn't cold, Frank's chest was quite warm actually. I don't know what happened next, all I know is that I went limp and everything went black. Frank's worried voice was the only thing I remembered before blacking out, maybe even for the last time.
Some time later...
My eyes snapped shut as soon as they opened, and I held in my scream from the sudden impact of white, white walls...it couldn't be....
"She's awake!" my mom cried out from somewhere inside the room. I tried to sit up but was pushed down by gentle, firm hands. I was looking up into my dad's eyes when I finally decided to brave the overwhelming brightness of the room, looking around in confusion. I only calmed down slightly when I realized I was in a hospital room, but then the fear factor went right back up, why was I even here? And then it came back to me, I'd blacked out, but why?
"Could I please have a word alone with you, Mr. and Mrs. Winters?" a doctor asked my parents, already leading the way out of the room. My parents exchanged worried looks before they followed, and looking down to see that I had a needle in my hand was probably enough to push me over the edge.
"Calm down Car, it's just pain meds," Frank explained calmly when I'd made a move to pull it out.
I hadn't realized that he was in the room until I looked to my right, and of course he was sitting right beside the hospital bed, legs folded under him in the style I usually sat. I breathed out and felt a sharp pain in my side, averting my eyes to the ceiling, hoping whatever had just poked me was anything but another needle.
"The asylum informed you that they had Carys on medication? Do you have any idea what was in it? Mr. and Mrs. Winters, what they injected her with on a weekly basis was enough to put a grown man into a ten year coma. Had you left her there any longer, your daughter would be dead."
I immediately stiffened when I'd heard the doctor speak those words from outside the room. Clearly they weren't meant for my ears, but knowing that my suspicions had been right all along, made it all clear, that asylum wasn't trying to cure me.
"Shhh Car," Frank said standing up, leaning over the bed's low railing to hug me tightly. "You're safe now, they can't do that to you anymore. We're not gonna let that happen to you again," he whispered into my ear.
I gave into the pain at that moment, a year and a half's worth of unshed tears was released, and I didn't realize I had a death grip on Frank's shirt until he sat on the edge of the bed so that he wouldn't hurt his back as he hugged me carefully.
But even as all this went on, I still had one thought speaking louder than all the screams of misery in my head: The asylum could've killed me whenever they pleased and blamed it on suicide, why didn't they? What was the point in keeping me alive if I only wanted so desperately to die, to leave this hell that was just now getting slightly better?
I honestly had to blink three times before I realized I wasn't dreaming. I recognized the voice immediately, and it seemed to be a reflex of it's own acting as I got up to open the door.
Now Frank had changed. He was now obviously two or three inches taller than I was. His short hair had been dyed black and hung in his face while his bottom right lip was pierced and glancing down for a quick second I could see the tatoos on his arms, but I did see something that hadn't changed at all about my best friend, his eyes. They were the same hazel color that could always calm me down and hold my attention, and despite the changes in Frank, I knew he hadn't changed much on the inside.
I stiffened when he suddenly wrapped his arms around me, slowly relaxing when I realized he wasn't trying to hurt me. One thing I had noticed from this unexpected hug though, Frank was certainly stronger than I remembered.
"Sorry about that," he said quickly when he'd felt me go tense. "I've just really missed you Car," he said, using the nickname he'd given me when we were kids.
I nodded my head, slowly pulling away from his iron grip to look up at him. While my mind was screaming countless protests, I did what I felt was natural, I hugged him back.
Don't Carys, he's just like that other one, he'll hurt you and you know it!
Maybe my parents had pulled me out of the asylum a bit early, there had to be something wrong with me if my mind was warning me of non-existant danger, but why was I feeling...dizzy?
"Carys..Car, are you okay? What's wrong Car?" Frank asked worriedly as he looked down at me.
It had just occured to me that I was shivering, but I wasn't cold, Frank's chest was quite warm actually. I don't know what happened next, all I know is that I went limp and everything went black. Frank's worried voice was the only thing I remembered before blacking out, maybe even for the last time.
Some time later...
My eyes snapped shut as soon as they opened, and I held in my scream from the sudden impact of white, white walls...it couldn't be....
"She's awake!" my mom cried out from somewhere inside the room. I tried to sit up but was pushed down by gentle, firm hands. I was looking up into my dad's eyes when I finally decided to brave the overwhelming brightness of the room, looking around in confusion. I only calmed down slightly when I realized I was in a hospital room, but then the fear factor went right back up, why was I even here? And then it came back to me, I'd blacked out, but why?
"Could I please have a word alone with you, Mr. and Mrs. Winters?" a doctor asked my parents, already leading the way out of the room. My parents exchanged worried looks before they followed, and looking down to see that I had a needle in my hand was probably enough to push me over the edge.
"Calm down Car, it's just pain meds," Frank explained calmly when I'd made a move to pull it out.
I hadn't realized that he was in the room until I looked to my right, and of course he was sitting right beside the hospital bed, legs folded under him in the style I usually sat. I breathed out and felt a sharp pain in my side, averting my eyes to the ceiling, hoping whatever had just poked me was anything but another needle.
"The asylum informed you that they had Carys on medication? Do you have any idea what was in it? Mr. and Mrs. Winters, what they injected her with on a weekly basis was enough to put a grown man into a ten year coma. Had you left her there any longer, your daughter would be dead."
I immediately stiffened when I'd heard the doctor speak those words from outside the room. Clearly they weren't meant for my ears, but knowing that my suspicions had been right all along, made it all clear, that asylum wasn't trying to cure me.
"Shhh Car," Frank said standing up, leaning over the bed's low railing to hug me tightly. "You're safe now, they can't do that to you anymore. We're not gonna let that happen to you again," he whispered into my ear.
I gave into the pain at that moment, a year and a half's worth of unshed tears was released, and I didn't realize I had a death grip on Frank's shirt until he sat on the edge of the bed so that he wouldn't hurt his back as he hugged me carefully.
But even as all this went on, I still had one thought speaking louder than all the screams of misery in my head: The asylum could've killed me whenever they pleased and blamed it on suicide, why didn't they? What was the point in keeping me alive if I only wanted so desperately to die, to leave this hell that was just now getting slightly better?