TRAPPED

53

Celine

I wake up in bed. But my hands aren't tied to it and neither are my ankles. I move them, just to be sure, and when I find that I'm able to I let out a small, relieved breath.

     I open my eyes when I register the sound of quiet chatter. My dad is sitting on the edge of the bed on one side of me, and Léo is on the other side. My dad looks down at me and smiles, his expression softening. "Hi, baby."

     I squint, then yawn.

     "How're you feeling?"

     If I had a pound for every time someone asked that question and it annoyed me so much I wanted to smack them across the face, I'd be rich.

     I don't say anything. I just pull the duvet up on myself, closing my eyes for a moment before reopening them again.

     My mind fogs, and I furrow my eyebrows. I sit up, looking around the room before my head goes normal again.

     "Sit back, sweetheart." My dad says, slowly lowering my head back onto the pillow. I frown, blinking a few times.

     "Dad." I whisper.

"Hm?"

"My head hurts."

"You hurt it. Do you remember?"

I nod, frowning deeper. He tilts his head and takes my hand, rubbing small circles on the back of it. The familiar gesture makes my shoulders relax, and I close my eyes for a moment before reopening them. I smile. "Hi dad."

His lips tilt upwards, but his returning smile is weighed down by sadness. "Hi, baby." He says gently.

I scrunch my mouth to the side. "I'm sorry." I say weakly.

He furrows his eyebrows. "For what?"

"For being mean.. to you. I didn't want.." my eyes water, "my mum to hurt me again."

He furrows his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

My head begins to hurt and I space again. But this time the feeling doesn't go away. I clench my eyes shut, hoping to ward it off, but when I reopen them it's still there.

A tingling sensation starts in my fingers. I open my mouth to talk, only getting a choked, "I can't.." out before I tilt, about to cascade off the bed until my dad catches me. He pulls me back up as my body begins to convulse. I try to move, to cry out for help, but all I can do is stare up at my dad's terrified face while my limbs start to quake violently. He's shouting something as he holds onto me desperately. I groan, and he says something to me, but I can't hear it.

Adrien

Celine has two more seizures on the way to the hospital. After the first, she fell asleep. They were getting her into the ambulance when the second began, and getting her out when the third happened. She's sedated, and there's a tube around her face, as well as more in her arms.

I've decided to keep her in hospital. It's more reliable than a nurse at home, who doesn't have all the resources she needs to make sure my little girl doesn't die.