Beep, Beep, Beep, is what I hear as my eyes flutter open. Bright light shines above me making a clear view of the hospital room I'm in. "Remi?" A familiar soft voice asks. My eyes shoot towards Jen and take in her motherly worried look.
"J-Jen?" I ask.
"Oh My god Remi! I thought you were dead!" She bursts into tears.
"Why would I be dead? Why am I even here?" I look around white room that smells like bleach.
"You don't remember?" She asks. I shake my head then wince. Jen grabs my hand. "You were found by an old farmer in the woods near his house. He thought you were a bear or something." She pauses and lets me take this in before continuing. "You had cuts and bruises all over your body and your ribs were broken. The doctors weren't sure if you were going to wake up. They said you had some serious head trauma." I stay quiet not remembering any of this. " Remi, did one of your parents do this to you?" Jen asks in a whisper.
"N-No?" I stutter. "I-I can't remember but I haven't seen my parents in days." She looks like she wants to say more but shakes her head instead. A nurse walks in with a clipboard in hand.
"Hello Remi. I'm nurse Hailey." She greets. "I'm going to ask you a few questions about yourself okay?" I nod slowly. " Do you know your full name?"
"Remington Elizabeth Scott." I say immediately.
"Good!" She praises. "Now what's your date of birth"
"05-16-2002." I tell her. She writes down something then looks back at me with a smile.
"Well you seem to remember everything important. Now can you tell me what happened last night?" She asks. I think hard, flashes of dark figures and yellow eyes is all I see when I close my eyes.
"There was a man with yellow eyes." I keep my eyes closed and try to think harder. Then with a sigh I open them. "I can't think of anything else. Just those eyes." Both of them have a worried look on their faces.
"Okay. That's okay sweetheart." Nurse Hailey tells me with a pat on the hand. "The police have requested to talk to you but if you don't want to I can send them away." I nod and lay my head back on the pillow.
"You'd think your parents would be here." Jen grumbles. I laugh a humorless laugh.
"The only reason they'd be here was if I was on my deathbed and the only thing they'd want to know is where I hide my money." Jen doesn't find this funny.
"This is serious Remi!" She nearly yells. "You almost died and they're not here!"
"Jen, I promise It's not a big deal." I whisper. She huffs but says nothing else.
I'm let out of the hospital the next morning. Jen begged me to let her get her parents to take me home but I brushed her off saying I was fine and plenty capable of walking home. It took a while but she finally let it go because whether she likes it or not she needed to go to school.
My mom's car is in the driveway next to mine when I walk up. My lungs wheeze and my ribs hurt but I still manage to walk inside. "Your home." My mother doesn't say it as a question.
"Yes mother, I'm home. Miss me?" I snap back with an unnatural force.
"Don't have an attitude with me." She snaps back. "I only came home to see if you were okay. Since you are, I think I'm going to go back to work." A laugh leaves me.
"You don't work mom. You cheat on dad everyday for money." Mom surges forward and grabs me.
"Don't talk to me like that!" She yells. I rip myself away from her and shove her to the ground with strength I didn't know I had.
"Don't touch me!"
"What have you done to my daughter? She would never disrespect me like this." She's right, usually I just coward in the corner and wait for them to calm down or leave. But after last night I have a strength and confidence I didn't know I had.
"You're never home anyways so why don't you just go back to 'work'." I throw back sarcastically as I walk to my room. A few minutes later I hear the door slam and my mom's car pull away. A strange feeling of loneliness creeps over me for I realize that my dogs aren't with me like they always are. "Duckie! Rex! Come here boys!" I shout. Nothing. Standing from my bed I make my way out to the main room, where I find both dogs laying on the floor. "Come here boys. Let's go watch a movie together." Duckie lifts his head and growls at me. "What's wrong?" I take a step toward them and they both jump up to cower away while growling. "Rex?" I whisper trying to reach for him. He snips at me. I back away while tears threaten to pour. "W-what's gotten into you two?" They both stay in their skittishness. Before one of them can attack me again I bolt to my room and lock myself in.
In the morning my alarm goes off. With a groan I turn it off and roll out of bed. It feels almost cold without my dogs laying with me and I was restless all night but they still won't go anywhere near me. I dress with less care in the world than a man who knows he only has seconds to live. Eating felt impossible, especially when Duckie and Rex refused to eat the food I poured for them. So instead I just go, get in my car, and drive to Jen's house. She gets in and nearly slams the door closed. "I told you not to come to school today Remi! Why can't you listen to me?!" She lets out an angry grunt.
"And I told you if I want to be able to get a good job so I can make enough money to move out, I need to go to school." I give her a look.
"Fine." She says after a few tense moments. "But if you feel sick or get a headache you tell me and I'll make sure you go home." This time she's the one to give me a look.
"Deal." I laugh.
YOU ARE READING
Wolves Den
RomanceRemi has always loved the forest, the different sounds, smells, the way she could get lost in it and never have to go home to her non-existent parents. She goes in and out of her life with her best friend everyday just waiting until they're both old...
