[Not Just Any Other] Ghost Story

Chapter 23

Trigger Warning: Some readers may find the discussion about sexual assault in this chapter to be triggering. Please read at your own discretion.

Sarah awoke to a faint beeping. Squinting into a fluorescent glare, she saw tubes running from her body to nearby machines where digital numbers tracked her heart rate and blood pressure, while a thin, green line drew her lifeline. The air was also cold and smelled of disinfectant.

"She's awake! Nurse, come. She's awake." Jane's excited voice drew Sarah's attention across the room just in time to see her aunt bolt upright out of a plastic side chair.

Within seconds, an older woman in light blue scrubs rushed through the open door. "Welcome back, my dear. We were beginning to think you didn't want to leave the extra heavy sleep we gave you," she said, adjusting the bed to a more upright position before pulling out her stethoscope.

"What . . . what is she talking about?" Sarah croaked, only just then noticing how dry her mouth had become. How long was she out, she wondered.

Jane smiled uneasily and stepped closer to pat her niece's hand. "It's nothing to worry about now, but the doctors had to briefly put you into an induced coma," she said.

Sarah shook her head. None of this made sense. The last thing she remembered was being with Caleb at the Fall Festival. So how was she waking up now in the hospital?

"A coma?" she repeated, as if that would make the revelation fall into context.

The nurse moved the stethoscope from Sarah's front to her back and continued to listen. It mustn't have been too exciting, because she joined the conversation. "You were brought in three days ago with critical hypothermia. The length of exposure to the cold put your risk of brain damage high enough to warrant extreme measures in your treatment," she said.

"I . . . I could have brain damage?" Sarah asked as her stomach contracted from a sudden burst of nausea.

The nurse draped the stethoscope back around her neck and stroked Sarah's hair. "There was a remote possibility, but we've done scans while you were asleep to confirm that everything in here . . .," she said, patting Sarah's skull. "Is as good as before. Everything we can see, that is," she added with a smile.

This knowledge made Sarah feel a bit better, but she still had other concerns. "I was out for three days?" she asked.

"That's correct," said a new voice from the doorway. When Jane moved aside, Sarah could see that Officer Alex Quinn had joined them. With their legs spread and their hands on their police utility belt, they looked more serious than Sarah had ever seen them. Striding closer, they continued. "Which is why I need to speak with you as soon as you're up to it."

An inexplicable feeling of guilt overtook her, and Sarah tried to push herself up to an even more pronounced sitting position. But even that tiny movement made her entire body ache.

"Whoa, whoa. Take it easy," said the nurse in an attempt to keep her down. "You can't rush this."

"But I need to know what happened," Sarah replied, anger replacing guilt. It felt as if everyone else knew more than she did, and it left her vulnerable and that just made her even more scared.

Quinn sighed. "As do I," they said before turning to Jane. "As Sarah Corwin's current legal guardian, do you agree to let me speak with her in an official capacity?"

Jane drew the tip of her tongue between her lips in contemplation. Grabbing Quinn by the arm, she looked them in the eyes and quietly asked, "You'd let me know if there was a reason I shouldn't, right?"

Quinn nodded. "I swear that I would. But you have nothing to worry about. Sarah is the victim in this situation."

"The victim?" Sarah asked, shocked at the use of the word. "What the hell happened to me, Aunt Jane? You need to tell me."