Page 74 of Fractured Mind
With all my strength, I force my eyelids open. I’m lying down now. Ruby’s with me, and one paramedic is standing over me. She’s talking, though I can’t hear anything. I try to respond, butmy tongue can’t move. My eyes can no longer stay open. The darkness pulls me under once more.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
MIA
I waketo find myself in a sterile white room. I blink a few times to get used to the bright lighting. I lift my hand. I’m connected to machines. My head throbs as an annoying beeping sound echoes throughout the room.
“Doctor, she’s awake,” Mom yells out the door.
I rub my temples. Her voice makes my brain rattle inside my head.
“You are not talking to her now,” Mom hisses just outside the room.
I shift my head to see who she’s talking to, but I can’t see anyone.
“She needs rest. When she’s better, we’ll be there to make a report.”
I’m distracted when Ruby rushes to me and folds her body over mine in an awkward embrace. As she stands, I feel a tender kiss on my temple, and it’s from Nana on my other side. Her eyes are red and puffy, like Ruby’s.
I’m trying to sift through the events from last night, but I’m coming up blank. It makes my heart stop. “Has it happened again?” My voice cracks. “Have I lost my memory?”
A man with glasses and a receding hairline, wearing a white coat, stands by my bed. “Mia, my name’s Dr. Lipp. You were rushed to the hospital last night because you lost consciousness.”
This can’t be happening, not again...but I remember Ashton, my nana, and my friends. Everything is a blur as I try to piece together what occurred last night. “I don’t understand. How did I end up here?”
“Your friend suspected someone gave you a date-rape drug. We examined your body and found a puncture wound on your back. We conducted a blood test while you were unconscious and detected the drug ketamine.”
I look away. It’s like I’m outside my body looking in. It’s hard to grasp that this situation is real. Mom’s eyes are watery, but she keeps blinking as if she’s trying not to cry. A different tension fills my body. Both Nana and Ruby are watching me with sad eyes.
“Was I...?” I can’t say it, but it doesn’t feel different down there.
“You were at a party. Your friend has assured me that you weren’t alone for long and that you were outside in public. We can do a medical examination if you like.”
My eyes flick to Ruby. “After I went to the bathroom, I couldn’t find you, so I got the guys to help me. You were with Theo?—”
I shut my eyes momentarily. “Please don’t tell me it was him.”
“No!”
My shoulders drop an inch in relief.
“The guy must have left when Theo approached you.”
As I scan the room, my instincts tell me something isn’t right. Alarm bells ring in my head. “Where’s Ashton?”
“One thing at a time,” Mom says, but it only emphasizes the hollow feeling in my stomach.
He wouldn’t leave me in the hospital.My eyes return to Ruby. “Where is he?”
She winces. “At the police station.”
“What?” My head pounds, but I try to ignore it. “Why?”
“Um... Ashton found the guy who drugged you and...” she drifts off, letting my imagination run wild.
I gasp loudly. “Is the guy still alive?”