Lilith

by Ashley Jeffery

  There was so much pain I was drowning in it, I could feel the skin being ripped apart. I hadn't heard Dean reach us, the sound of his feet was muffled by the crashing waves and the heavy breathing of my attacker. I screamed, thrashing my hands trying to wound the heavy body.

  I must have connected with some vital part because they whined and hissed in pain. Dean was pulling me from the ground before I could get a good look at them. All I saw was my own hair blocking out the darkness. All I felt when it was on me was the pain still throbbing at my neck and shoulder.

  When we reached the truck, Dean threw me into the passenger seat. He locked the door and ran around to the driver’s side. He threw the truck into drive. I placed one shaking hand on my neck afraid of the damage. My neck burned in pain at the touch. I could feel the wet torn skin underneath my fingers. It had to be bad. I looked down at my wet hand and saw the bright red blood.

  "Oh God, Pacey, are you okay?" He pulled over against the screeching tires and blaring horns of oncoming traffic into a parking lot.

  It was lit up brightly and full of other people. He was dialing his cell when he came around to the passenger door. He took off his black button up shirt and pressed it against my neck. I tried to shoo him away so he wouldn't ruin his nice shirt, but my eyes were drawn to his bare chest.

  I started to feel a little dizzy and I asked Dean if I could lay down, just for a moment. He kept yelling at me to keep my eyes open, but the warmth was pulling me down into the welcoming waters. My eyes fluttered shut and everything went black.

  When I woke up I was laying on a gurney being rushed down the hall of what I assumed was a hospital. The bright lights hurt my eyes so much I had to keep shutting them to keep out the burning pain. Dean was running along beside me. His shirt was still gone, I smiled when I opened my eyes and saw him.

  "Dean, you're hot." I whispered.

  The nurse snickered. "Nice to see you're awake Miss O’Brien. Do you know where you are? Don't try to speak just blink"

  I looked up into her soft face. She had jet-black hair and soft green eyes. I'd never seen her before, but I'd never been in the ER either. I tried to move my arm but it felt strangely numb. It moved but fell down beside me in a thud.

  "You're going to feel a little out of it, we gave you something for the pain."

  I looked down at my arm and saw the intrusive IV sticking out of it. It itched terribly. I reached over to try to scratch and she stopped my hand.

  "Don't that's the only reason you're no longer out. We're pumping fluids into you. You're lucky you didn't lose more blood."

  I was pushed through an open doorway into a brightly lit up room. Dean was stopped when he tried to follow me in.

  "Stand here Dean. We need to check her injuries." The nurse that had been speaking to me came forward again, she held my hand and squeezed gently.

  "You're going to be fine."

  People were all around me moving and using terms I'd never heard of. I felt a tug on my neck and closed my eyes, the warmth was everywhere surrounding me. It was like a warm bath, pulling me into its soothing waters. I felt myself slipping deeper and deeper inside it. Until I no longer heard the voices around me.

  My eyes flashed open and I saw the bright lights above me again.

  "She's back. Get me more sutures and flush the wound. There, you see it a small jugular hematoma. We must have unclogged it during initial examination. I think we've got it. Get me another bag of O neg and some platelets."

  I could feel something pulling on my neck but it wasn't painful, just strange. My whole body felt numb, like I couldn't quite wake up and make it move. I closed my eyes against the bright lights, and someone pulled on my lids. I wanted them to stop it didn't feel right, intrusive.

  I tried to speak but couldn't. The sounds faded away again but the warmth, the nice inviting warm water never returned. It was too bad it didn't it felt so good, so calming. And everything went black again, I was falling deeply into the pools of black and nothing.

  When I woke up again the bright lights were gone. Something wasn't right I tried to speak but something was lodged in my throat. It felt horrible. I tried to touch my neck but someone had my hand.

  "Connor, Connor she's awake go get a nurse...hurry." My mom's voice was wrong, like she'd been crying.

  I felt someone else touch my left hand and tried to look over by my neck felt so heavy and stiff. Dean leaned closer so I could see him; he had on a blue scrub shirt. Guess the nurses didn't want him distracting patients or female Doctors. When he'd been shirtless, I couldn't take my eyes off of his yummy stomach. It hurt when I tried to giggle. Dammit, what was wrong with me.

  My dad must have come running into the room because I heard him yelling.

  "See, see she's awake take that horrible thing out of her dammit."

  I rolled my eyes, even now, I knew he was being a butt head. You don't speak to Doctors like that. A nice looking middle-aged man came forward and looked into my face. He had soft brown eyes, and a stark white lab coat.

  "Pacey, can you hear me, no don't try to talk." I watched him shine a small flashlight into both of my eyes.

  "If you haven't guessed yet, you're in the hospital. The reason you can't speak is because you had to be incubated. But I can remove that now if you're ready. No don’t try to move blink once for yes and twice for no."

  I blinked once and he reached forward unhooking the tubes.

  "Now I need you to take a deep breath and breathe out on 3 ok, 1, 2, 3." The horrible intrusive thing was pulled from my throat. It itched and ached terribly inside, like I'd been screaming for hours.

  "That better?"

  I blinked once again and tried to speak.

  "Yesses." My voice was raspy and soft.

  "Oh thank God. I was so worried." My mom’s voice was shaking, I looked over into her crumbling face.

  "Mom."

  "I'm here baby."

  "Do you remember what happened?" The doctor asked softly, I looked back over at him and blinked twice.

  "When you first got here your wounds had been successfully blocked, thanks to Mr. Charleston here. I fear that if he hadn't been with you and seen so quickly to your wounds you might not have made it."

  My mom sobbed harder at his words. He glanced at her and patted her arm.

  "After you were picked up by the ambulance you were brought here. Upon examination, we accidentally unblocked the small nick in your jugular. We were able to stop the bleeding and you should be just fine. We had to stitch up the worse of the damage. I'm afraid you'll probably have some pretty big scars."

  I rolled my eyes, like that even mattered.

  "But like I told your family and boyfriend, you should be fine. There's no reason to think otherwise. The worse of your injuries has been mended. Your voice will probably be rough for a few days, but that will go away with time. Do you have any questions?"

  I shook my head no and he patted my uninjured arm.

  "You're a real trooper. They say your heart stopped twice on the way over. You're a very lucky girl."

  My mom sobbed again and I sighed. The doctor left the room and a nurse came in to look over my wound. It was the same one from before.

  "Ah so you remember me do you."

  "Yea." I said.

  She looked over at Dean.

  "Sorry, it was hospital protocol, nobody gets to go shirtless, not even someone that’s so fun to look at."

  Dean flushed and I giggled. I guess I had said that out loud.

  "You scared the crap out of me Pacey." Dean said.

  I looked over into his face and frowned. "Sorry."

  He sat down and moved closer. "Geez, don't be sorry, you didn't do that to yourself. I'm sorry I ever took you out there." His eyes went down in shame and I whispered.

  "Hey, it's not your fault either. I don't even know what happened."

  My dad cleared his throat and walked into my view. "They say you were attacked by someone they think has been threatening you. The d
octors aren't even sure what caused your wound, they said it was...pretty bad."

  "Hey daddy. Sorry I didn't make it home by 9:30."

  He frowned then looked at me in anguish. "Baby you don't ever have to have a curfew again if you promise me to never, ever make us worry like this again. I---" He rubbed his face with his hand. Mom got up and hugged him.

  He came closer, kissed my head softly, and whispered. "I love you baby."

  My mom motioned for him to leave the room.

  "We're just going to go get something to drink, do you want anything Dean?” He shook his head no and squeezed my hand tighter.

  "I was so scared." He leaned down and kissed my hand.

  I moved my fingers up and motioned for him to come closer. I puckered my lips and then smiled. He got the hint and stood up and bent down, kissing me softly on the mouth.

  My whole body felt like it was on fire and not in the just been kissed good way either. I opened my eyes and groaned in pain. The morning light was creeping in through the blinds covering the window. When I stared down at my ugly hospital gown I remembered where I was.

  The IV in my arm was pumping ugly yellow liquid into my open vein. It felt like glass was moving up my arm. What kind of hospital pumps you full of stuff like that? I itched at it hoping it would somehow lessen the horrible feeling. The door to the room opened announcing someone's arrival.

  "Hi there Pacey. I'm going to be your nurse for the day. I'm Gina."

  I stared at her and nodded, immediately missing my nurse from before.

  "Do you need to use the restroom at all?" Gina asked.

  I groaned. "Yea."

  "Here I'll help you." She said.

  My eyes opened like saucers when she came around the side of the bed to help me stand.

  "No no, I can do it by myself."

  "Here just let me unhook you from the IV, and I'll wait in here. You can just pull the cord or holler if you need help."

  I was grateful she wasn't going to watch me. It was creepy enough I had to walk around in the stupid gown. Why did hospitals fashion them that way to begin with did they need to have your butt hanging out for a reason. I walked back into my room and sat down shakily. Sweat was pouring off of me.

  "I need to check your blood pressure, and temperature, then I'm going to clean and redress your wounds. If you want, I can show it to you then too. They say it’s a doosey. Rachel, that was your nurse from last night, she said your heart stopped twice too. You're pretty lucky."

  My heart was beating into my throat. I could feel my mouth water with nausea. I was going to be sick. The new nurse must have noticed because she grabbed a pink little kidney shaped bowl to put in front of my face. She went into the bathroom and brought out a wet washcloth.

  "You feel really warm." She came forward with a thermometer. I opened my mouth and she placed it under my tongue.

  "Uh oh, 103, keep this on your head." She reached down and pressed a button but I'd already started shaking.

  "105, I need some help in here." The room filled with people, and everything went black.

  When I woke up again I was freezing, even though I could feel piles and piles of blankets covering me. I reached out and touched my bandaged shoulder, it felt fine, and it didn't hurt anymore. Was I dead? I could still feel the cloth under my fingers and tried to lift it to feel my wounds.

  "She's awake." My mom’s voice was strained. She grabbed my fingers and held my hand still, keeping me from my inspection.

  "Thank God, Pacey, sweetie can you hear me." I looked up at my dad.

  "They say you were running a very high fever from a complicated infection. The doctor isn't quite sure what happened but they think your body was allergic to the antibiotic they gave you. They're going to have to keep you for a while, hopefully they can get everything under control so you can leave in a few days."

  I groaned, I wasn't exactly enjoying the time I'd already spent there. I had to have the absolute worse luck too. First, my car was destroyed. Then I got some crazy death threats, and then someone attacked me on the beach. I had lord knew how many stitches in my shoulder and now I was allergic to the damn antibiotics they'd given me. I was glad to be alive, but it sure felt like my number was being called.

  I slept for a few hours and woke up feeling even better. My stomach growled.

  "You hungry?"

  I looked over at the questioning voice and smiled. Dean was sitting back in the chair on the left side of me holding my hand.

  "Starving."

  "I hear you scared the nurses again."

  I sighed and closed my eyes. "Yea, I feel better now though." And I did, it was surprising. I sat up and smiled. God I wanted a shower.

  "Your mom and dad went to get lunch. They left you your own clothes. I'll call the nurse." I groaned when he pushed the button, he didn't have to do that. I didn't want to be a bother.

  "Hey Pacey, you're not going to cause more chaos are you?" Rachel walked through the door and smiled.

  "Nope I feel way better." My stomach groaned again and she chuckled.

  "Want me to get you some food?"

  "Definitely." I said.

  "How bout you lover boy, you hungry too?" Rachel asked.

  Dean smiled. “Sure.”

  "You can shower if you want Pacey. But I'll have to cover up your bandages first."

  I stood up and pulled my gown closed behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at Dean and saw him staring.

  "Hey sparky, you mind?"

  "Sorry.”

  I shook my head and followed Rachel into the bathroom. Rachel tapped plastic over my bandage and told me to be careful. She said she'd have food there when I was done. I don't know why, but that shower was the best damn shower I've ever had in my life.

  After everything that had happened. The hot pulsing water felt like heaven. When I got out, I tugged on my jeans and a baggy t-shirt. I couldn't believe how good I felt. My shoulder didn't even hurt.

  "Oh my God, I'm so pissed at you." Rhiannon was standing in my room stomping her foot.

  "Didn't anybody think to call me. I've been worried about you for hours."

  I went and sat down at my bed and reached for the table holding my tray of food.

  "Pacey, hello?" Rhi said.

  "Give it a rest Rhi; we're lucky she's even alive." Dean, the voice of reason piped in.

  "Butch, butt out. Pacey?"

  I was propelling food so quickly into my mouth I couldn't speak I looked up at her and shrugged. She just stood there staring.

  “Just let her eat Rhi, she needs it.” Dean said.

  “When I want your opinion butch, I’ll freaking ask for it.” Rhi hissed.

  I swallowed and said. "Rhi, don't talk to him like that. He’s right I’m starving." I shoveled another forkful of Jell-O into my mouth. The food in front of me could hardly be called food. It was all soft and mostly liquid. Broth, juice, and Jell-O. Rachel had told me if I kept it down that I’d get real food later.

  "What the hell Pacey?" Rhiannon's voice raised another octave.

  My good mood was already wavering. "The world doesn't revolve around you Rhi, I couldn't call because I almost died, actually, from what they say I did die, twice. So shut the eff up and let me eat in peace ok."

  Rhiannon's mouth opened and closed before she stormed out the door. I didn't care, I'd had a bad enough couple of days not to even be phased by one of her stupid tantrums. Dean sat next to me on the bed and ate silently.

  I only missed three days of school. Two days after my fever spiked, I was discharged from the hospital. They gave me a bottle of pain meds and antibiotics. I didn't think I'd need the painkillers though, I hadn't felt even a sliver of pain in my shoulder since the fever. Whatever had happened to me left me feeling stronger, and more clear-headed. I even started thinking I could see better, and hear farther. It was like something inside of me had been awakened.

  I got ready quickly and headed down the stairs to the kitchen. Mom and dad stared at me in su
rprise.

  "You're not going to school Pacey it’s too soon." My mom said.

  I sighed and shook my head. "I feel fine, honest, and didn't the doctor say I could go back to school as long as I didn't lift anything or put any pressure on my shoulder. He's a doctor if he says it’s okay it’s okay, right?"

  My parents looked at each other. My mom was whispering to my dad. Fortunately since I got home, I'd been able to hear their whispers. I smiled secretly and listened in.

  "Connor, she almost died, please, just keep her here for a while, until we know what happened, if anything happens to her, I'll...please just keep her safe."

  I could hear the fear in my mom’s voice, I felt bad, I was playing devil’s advocate, and dad usually sided with me.

  "Come on Maggie, I know you're scared but she's right, the doctor said---"

  My mom’s angry voice cut off my dad’s words. "No Connor you always side with Pacey, even when you know you shouldn't. The doctor said she could go back to school, not that she should."

  "You're going to have to let her go eventually sweetheart. She's 17 years old, and in three weeks, she's going to be 18, and then we don't have a say at all. She wants to go back, she needs...some normalcy after all of this. I'm sorry."

  I felt even worse now, dad was siding with me, and it was hurting my mom. Damn it.

  "Pace, you can go back to school on two conditions. One I take you to and from school. And Two I call and have an officer follow you and watch you while you're there."

  I closed my eyes and groaned, yea having a cop as a shadow was every teenagers dream.

  "Fine."

  Fifteen minutes later my dad was driving me to school. A black and white squad car followed closely behind us. I rolled my eyes and stared out the window. I hadn't even thought about Lexie Vega until then. I wondered if she'd been missing school too, or if she'd spent the time, I was gone spreading awful rumors.

  As we pulled into the parking lot, I got my answer. Standing with her arms crossed over chest was Lexie Vega, and shockingly she didn't seem pissed at all, in fact, she was actually smiling

  Chapter Six