You'll Be Alright - Taylor Swift

Part 6

Everything hurts.

That is the first thing I notice as my brain starts to wake up from an utterly dreamless state.

Next, I notice that my leg feels heavy, and one of my arms is pinned to my chest. Not to mention, something is touching my other hand, which I don't like at all.

I'm reasonably sure that a groan passed through my lips as I tried moving, knowing that if Cory found me wherever I was, I would be an easy target, although given how my body feels right now, I don't think I can move. Maybe if I stay still and quiet, he won't notice me, and I can figure things out before he comes back.

The last thing I remember is coming home and Cory being furious. More angry than I have ever seen him before, and believe me, I have seen Cory angry.

I'm torn between keeping my eyes closed and sleeping off the pain that is drumming against my head and opening them so I can figure out where I am and how to escape.

Although opening my eyes wins when I remember how Cory was grabbing Mommy when we came in, I need to ensure she is alright. I need to get up and help her. Fighting against the pain in my head, I force my eyes open, although what I see is not what I was expecting.

This is definitely different from the flat. The walls are pale blue here, not the grubby white that the apartments are.

Maybe Cory hit me so hard I have finally lost it. The more I look around the place I am, the more confused I get.

Wait a minute, I'm not on the floor right now. Or my bed, because my bed is just a mattress flung into the corner of my room, whereas wherever I am is raised, like a real bed. This isn't right. This is not right at all. Where is Mummy? She will explain.

Maybe we have finally left Cory, and she has us somewhere safe. Yes, that must be it. That's the only thing that makes sense. Mummy must have found us somewhere safe, somewhere that can help us.

Actually, I think that must be it because the more I look around, the more I realise that this is a hospital room. I have been in enough while I was little to work that out. Plus, the heart thingy next to me is enough to tip me off on that. I would have realised sooner if I could hear it beeping, but my ears were still ringing, so that's why it took so long to notice.

Someone moving some hair on my face brought me out of my thoughts as I turned to face them, expecting to see Mummy sitting next to me.

However, when I turned to face the person, it wasn't Mummy.

But it was someone that I think I recognised.

She looks younger than Mummy. She has blonde hair and blue eyes like me, though, and I can 

see that her lips are moving, a soft, comforting smile on. Wracking my brain, I try to remember who I know, the lady sitting in front of me.

And then it hits me.

After the beating, Mummy woke me up. We went on the train to somewhere really busy, and then Mummy hugged me really tightly and disappeared. I tried looking for her but couldn't find her. Then this woman came over and took me away from all the people.

She gave me Woof, and I tripped, but instead of getting mad, she just held me close. She gave perfect hugs, even better than Mummy's. When Mummy hugs me, which hasn't been very much over the years, she always squeezes me too tight, but the lady is soft and careful. She just felt safe, like she wouldn't hurt me.

Which is weird because everyone hurts me.

The more I look at her, the softer the smile becomes on her face, her lips stilling as she just stares at me caringly. I think that is the look in her eyes. Her eyes look like mine but prettier. They look just like the water I used to look at when we lived near the sea. So pretty and calm. However, the more I look, the more I realise that she looks tired, which makes me frown.