Chapter 1 - Waking up to trouble
This story would have begun with ‘Once upon a time...’ had the girl starring in it not been so pitiful...
“Mama!” A little girl screamed when the rough hands of an unknown man grabbed her from her iron platform, startling her from her sleep.
“Baby!” Her mother also woke startled. Their cell wasn’t usually visited at that time. She was not alert; her baby could get hurt!
“Mama!” The child cried again when the stranger’s grip on her shoulder turned bruisingly strong and roughly pulled her from her ‘bed’.
The woman got up quickly and desperately grabbed one of the girl’s hands with her left one while with the right, she tried to make the man let go of her daughter. She could not attack while he held her baby!
“Fuck off, bitch!” The man punched the lady’s head, making her stumble back, and hit her in the stomach, taking her down with the force of the blow on her weak ribs.
“Moma! Io wan my mama!” The child cried desperately as the man dragged her out of the cell. All her crying earned her a vigorous shake and a pair of slaps on her little face.
“Shut your fucking mouth, brat!” The man holding the cell’s door open yelled, and she got dragged out. Her longish blond hair covered her lowered face and got wet from the tears sticking to her face.
“Io wan mia mama!” She sobbed lowly but only got scolded more while her mama screamed from inside the cell and tried to reach her.
“Shut up, brat.” The second man lifted his hand to strike her but stopped when they heard the thunder.
The rumble made the walls vibrate and grew louder as the seconds passed.
Everyone knew what it meant. And while it held hope for some, it was a death warrant for others.
The men wasted no time guaranteeing what they heard before opening the cell and throwing her inside.
“It’s the Sinner Bikers. Run!” They locked the cell and ran through the corridors, leaving the brunette woman in distress. The little girl hit her head on the edge of the bed when she was thrown inside and lost consciousness. The mother quickly crawled to her and held her in her lap, trying to wake up the two-year-old.
“Sage. Sage, wake up!” She begged to no avail...
•
The images playing before me changed again. This time, I recognized them as my memories.
•
I don’t know how my mom always knew the date. Somehow, she managed to keep up with the time in our prison.
She always knew when my brothers’ birthday, February 14, arrived. We celebrated it every year in our own way, with mom telling me stories of them. She wanted me to know them despite never meeting them.
“And then, Diesel grabbed baby Vin’s head and pushed it onto the cake! Vin cried a lot.” She expressively told me the story. “He was fully covered in cake, and when I reprehended your older brother, he gave me a three-toothed smile and grabbed fists full of his own cake, shoving them into his mouth. It was their first birthday.”
“I wish I had been there to see it, momma. They sound so fun! I want to meet them one day.” The little girl that I was, only four years old, whispered with a grin on her face and cuddled closer to her mother.
“Yeah? I wish you could meet them too, baby.” Sage fell asleep, and Dalila sighed softly while gazing at the grey ceiling of their cell.
•
“Fine, if you don’t marry me, I’ll throw her to the tigers! I heard the newly arrived circus has a rather wild one with them, and it just so happens that I know the owner. I’m sure the tiger will be happy with the little shit.”
“NO!”
And thrown to the tigress, my three-year-old self was... But I didn’t die like he expected. On the contrary, I got adopted by the desolated feline who had lost her whole litter. My Mimi-Mama, as I called her...
•
My mom was unconscious after fighting against Vinico to prevent him from taking me. He banged her head on the ground until she stopped fighting and dragged me to a matted room to punish me.
That time, I really thought he had killed her.
“I sent you to school, and right on your first day, you get in trouble with your brothers!” He screamed in my tiny, fearful face. “Is that how you repay my generosity? Huh? By punching-” *punch* “-their–” *punch* “-fucking–” *punch* “-friend!?”
“I’m sorry!” I kept yelling and tried to avoid the hits. But he kicked me on my side and managed to keep me down. That day, he only stopped beating me when my blond hair turned crimson from the blood.
•
SAGE’S POV
The memories didn’t stop there. I wish they had. My head feels heavy with this throbbing pain.
Why am I remembering this now? Is this my penance?
Beep... Beep... Beep...
And what is this beeping?
Not even dead, I can rest in peace!
Beep... Beep...
Ugh!
I’ve had enough of this annoying noise!
With unexpected violence, she turned around and slapped a hand over her ear, messing up the things attached to her.
𝓜𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑒, outside her room, the conversation was another...
A plump honey-haired nurse exited room 333 with a troubled expression. The patient had been in a coma for years. Her brain activity was always high, and her CT scans never showed anything abnormal, but today, something was different. She needed a doctor to help her check her theory.
“Doctor Demi? Doctor Demi! Do you have a moment?” The man in question lifted his head from the papers he was checking and gave a shy smile to the nurse.
“Sure, Neli. What do you need?”
“I think the girl in room 333 will wake up soon.”
“Why is that? It’s been years, Neli. If I was you, I wouldn’t keep my hopes up. I don’t even understand why you keep paying for her treatments.”
Neli frowned and glared at the man. “I didn’t ask for your opinion on my faith.” She snapped brusquely. “Regarding the money, it’s none of your business.”
I’m only using the money she left me to pay her expenses. - Neli thought to herself and pushed the electroencephalogram into the Doctor’s hands.
It was precisely because of his attitude that she didn’t declare her crush on him. Sometimes, he was worthy of it, his professionalism charming; others, he was an ass and did not deserve her admiration.
“An electroencephalogram? That’s done to confirm brain activity in comatose patients. You’re really pushing it with this girl.” He commented, and Neli felt the urge to grab his gelled-back hair, bring him down to her level, and scream in his face, ‘So what if I am!’ but she controlled herself.
“You didn’t see what I saw that day, Demi. I’ve been here from the beginning. That girl... She’s different. And she’s gonna make it.”
“With a nurse like you behind her, she’ll make a full recovery when she wakes.” He mumbled tenderly and quickly hid his face on the exam, fake reading it to conceal his blush.
I’m glad I didn’t react. - Neli thought and faced away from him, blushing as well. - That was sweet.
“Let me go to my office to compare the rest of her exams, and I’ll get back to you soon.”
“Thank you, Doctor. I’ll pay you lunch after this one.” She promised and went to do the rest of her rounds with a skip on her steps.
~ A few hours later ~
It was lunchtime. Neli had finished helping elderly Mrs. Smith eat and passed by Doctor Demi’s office to get him for lunch. That man forgets to eat more often than not, which is why he is so skinny!
He must still be in his office. The nurse pondered, and sure enough, he was buried in piles of work.
*Knock* *knock*
“Demi, let’s go for lunch?”
“Humm...” The distracted man answered and kept focused on writing a report.
“Demi,” Neli called him again, and this time, he glanced up for a second. He descended his eyes back to his work, but almost as if electrocuted, he jumped in his chair and did a double take to the figure in his doorway.
“Neli! How long have you been there? I’m so sorry!” He rushed and tripped in her direction, scaring the nurse who held out her arms to catch him.
“Demi! Are you ok? Is your glycemia dropping low? Here.” She trusted a small pack of sugar into his hands and made the pale man sit down and eat it under her scrutinizing gaze.
Fifteen minutes later, after Neli checked that his blood pressure was back to normal, the embarrassed Doctor finally spoke; his face was blushing so hard that Neli was afraid he was running a fever.
“No, no. I don’t have a fever, Neli. I’m fine, really.” He convinced her. “Why were you looking for me?”
Why would I be looking for him? I promised him lunch!
“Lunch, Demi.” She deadpanned, and he froze for a while there.
“Ah.” He nodded slowly and got up. With quick strides, he retrieved his jacket and wallet and joined the nurse’s side.
“I forgot.” He mumbled sheepishly under his breath, and they left his office together.
“I figured,” Nelly grumbled back.
They went to eat at a small café across from the hospital, not going far due to their short breaks, and settled there for big sandwiches, a salad, and a big cup of coffee each.
“Um!” Demi suddenly remembered. “You were right.” He started. “The girl’s exams show a big improvement lately. I can’t be sure when she’ll wake up, but I can guarantee you that it will be soon.” He shared with Neli, not knowing that he just turned her sweet meal into a sweeter one.
“That’s great, Demi, thank you!”
~ Meanwhile... ~
To the others in the hospital who had yet to receive the doctor’s new report, unexpected things happened.
The Little Miss Unknown woke up.
She yawned loudly, half choking with a tube down her throat, and opened her eyes widely in alarm, taking in her weird surroundings.
SAGE’S POV
After I turned around, I was able to be ′dead’ in peace for a few more minutes.
However, I was interrupted by the beeping noise again, but this time, I’d had enough. If I keep hearing things, then it means I’m not dead.
Sometimes I’m so dumb. Besides, if I was dead, I would be with my mother and baby brother. So, I tried to get up and open my eyes.
After a few seconds of trying, I managed to open them, and involuntarily I yawned loudly, except I started choking on a fucking tube down my throat.
“Arrck!” If this shit doesn’t come out quickly, I’m going to throw up.
I sound like a cat barfing furballs!
Machines around me started going crazy, beeping obnoxiously, and lights flashed, or maybe it was from my eyes, like the black dots filling in my vision.
People rushed inside the room. I didn’t have space to move, to run from them. Everything was trapping me, containing me, the cables hocking onto me, the tubes; nothing allowed me to fight back if needed or to flee like I wanted.
A woman grabbed my arms, moved her hands around, opened her mouth, and held my face to face her, but I couldn’t hear anything! And she was touching me! I flinched so hard from her that I hit my head on the wall. Or was it the bedboard?
More people surrounded me. My head is pounding. My breathing is becoming shorter and shorter, and the fucking tube is still not out of my throat! The crowd closed on me, and I felt a pitch on my upper arm.
Do they think that shit is going to work with me?
Hell no! No one tries to freaking sedate me without consequences.
Faster than they could react, my opposite arm came flying in the direction of the person with the syringe, I felt a tug and something rip from that arm, but it didn’t matter. As soon as my fist made contact with a face, a satisfying *crack* was heard, and a wail of pain followed.
“Shit! The sedative isn’t acting yet. Hold her down!”
Fuck no!
The loose hold on me got stronger. I kicked, squirmed, bit, headbutted, and fought them like my life depended on it, which it might, but the bastards prickled me a couple more times, and soon I couldn’t hold on. I’m not a fucking elephant to take on so many dosages of sedatives!
After that struggle, the hospital paged Doctor Demi to warn him of what happened. Needless to say, their peaceful meal went down the drain.
Neli and Demi rushed back and found the girl peacefully knocked out, almost in the same state as they left her.
The head nurse of that floor, a large sixty-four-year-old black woman sweeter than sugar but that could also be harsher than Alasca’s winters, stopped them on their way out of her room.
“You need to update your notes.” She directed to both. “That child took six or seven sedatives before she was out. And she broke Doctor Roy’s nose.” Doctor Roy was a newly graduated student assigned to do the lunch rounds on that floor. “No one would believe she has been out cold for years with the strength she put behind that punch!” They were astonished by what they heard.
Just then, the young doctor in question exited the lounge. His face was so battered that it could frighten a thief. Neli couldn’t help but drop her jaw in shock when she saw him.
“Has he put ice on it?” She whispered to the elder lady.
“Yep. His nose is broken, his cheekbone is cracked on one side, and he’s all bruised. But don’t worry, Maritylia has taken good care of him.”
“Dear god...” Demi whispered. “She’s a beast.” He mumbled under his breath in disbelief.
“I also phoned the officers responsible for her mother’s cold case.” The head nurse interrupted them, snapping them out of their thoughts.
After hearing that, all Neli could think was, ‘Fuck!’. The thing that the girl tried to avoid more was the one waiting for her now.
•
SAGE’S POV
I woke up again... Everything is turvy. My tongue feels heavy and dry, and my mouth tastes bad, like blood. Why?
My throat is sore...
I have a tube down my throat!- I suddenly remembered. My hand was halfway up to my mouth when I moved my tongue around and felt nothing.
I had a tube down my throat, but not anymore.
I started feeling around my face, trying to understand what had changed. Now, I have a thing in my nose. I squirmed a bit, and I think there’s something down there where nothing should be…
I feel like a truck ran me over. Everything feels heavy and hard to move.
Machines surround me, and one is hooked to my finger. Following the cable coming out of the piece clinging to my finger, I see a machine registering my heartbeat.
Trying to remove the piece from my finger, I raise my arm and immediately feel a tiny sharp pain from the croak of my arm and something pinching my hand, not letting me take it too far. I look at the place where I felt the pinch and see a needle stuck there.
The needle was connected to a strange bag filled with a transparent liquid. I think grandpa Jaime told me about it once. The clear liquid is called serum, and it keeps me hydrated.
Feeling confused, I started looking around, trying to understand where I was. It’s the same room as before, but now, it’s thankfully bare of people.
That’s good, but I need a plan to escape.
I looked around me again and noticed that there were two doors in this room. One is all made of wood, probably a bathroom door, and the other is also made of wood, but it has a built-in glass window.
Suddenly, a woman in uniform walks by the door of my room and looks inside. I look her in the eye and watch her, trying to figure out if she’s a threat or insignificant. She looks at me, and her brown eyes widen; a look of surprise passes through them. Very quickly, she walks away from the door and leaves.
Not paying much attention to the fact that the woman is gone, I return to the needle in my hand and start to remove it. Not even ten seconds later, the bedroom door opens, and the lady from moments ago enters, only this time she isn’t alone. She is accompanied by another woman in a nurse’s uniform.
The strange woman approached me, and I recognized her voluptuous figure, golden skin, and freckled face as the nurse who helped me when my mother went into labor. She came to me and started checking my vitals, and while doing so, she started talking to me.
“Hello, dear. I am nurse Neli.” I stayed quiet and observed her, allowing her to do her thing and free me of some of these bothersome things. “I’m sorry to be so insensitive, but it is part of the protocol, and I must ask you. Do you remember what happened before-” I interrupted her, lifting a hand to make her stop and nodded in confirmation.
“Unfortunately, I do.” My voice comes out rough and weak.
She stiffened, looked at me with her deep-set almond-shaped, brown-greenish eyes, seeming sad, and nodded, quickly going back to watch the machine she was checking.
“Could you give me a cup of water, please?” I asked her politely. I remember that she was nice to me and helped my mother. I may as well be polite to her.
She nods at me, confirming my request, and smiles sadly, her splash of light freckles more accentuated by her smile. “I’ll be right back, darling.” She informs me and leaves the room.
Darling, how strange to hear that word from someone other than my mother.
“Umm ... hello, my name is Salma,” said the other woman who stayed with me in the room. I nodded at her to demonstrate that I heard her and focused on my bedroom window, watching the sky. Secretly, I was watching her through the window’s reflection.
Salma is at least 1.65m, she is of Asian heritage; her hair is short against her nape, only one or two inches long on the top of her head but a deep black color; her eyes are monolid, slender shaped, and deep brown; she has them eyelined perfectly, and her lips are painted in a deep brownish red shade. She had a small beauty mark a little away from her upper lip on the left side of her face. I’d say five millimeters to the left and two centimeters, roughly an inch above her lip.
Noise from the corridor distracts me and Salma. I look at the door of my room and watch as Neli and two other women walk in. The two women who accompanied Neli ran to me and started talking, both at the same time, leaving me confused.
Why the hell are these people behaving in such a strange way? It makes me ponder their intentions. They’re just so weird!
A deep-tanned man in a white gown with brown eyes, a scruffy brown beard, brown hair, and gleaming teeth enters my room and clears his throat loudly to get the women’s attention.
He’s a little taller than Salma, maybe two or three centimeters taller, but under the 1.70-meter mark.
The nurses shut up, and the man introduces himself.
“Hello, miss. It’s good to see you awake. I am Doctor Demi, and if you don’t mind, I need to run some tests on you.” I look at him suspiciously, but I let him get closer anyway.
True to his words, the doctor does all the tests he needs and leaves the room.
The moment he left, the nurses returned, and the two strangers started talking to me. Apparently, one of them is called Natalie, and the other one is Silvia.
Silvia is the tallest among the four women. At 1.77, she’s as tall as she’s dark. All of her slim figure is a dark chocolate shade, from the braided hair piled atop her head to the eyes brightly gazing at me. She’s single, in her forties, very nice, and blunt.
Natalie is around 1.56, the shortest of the bunch. She’s petite, her skin seems of Indian heritage, and her nose is slightly crooked. Her hair is a luscious brown, tied in a fluffy bun at the base of her neck. She has a fringe and likes to wear a headband of elastic fabric. She’s fierce! Her personality is strong, but she’s cool. She’s funny.
The four nurses surrounded me and talked about random things, like how they knew I would survive, how I am a fighter, a survivor, and how they always believed in me and never gave up on the idea that one day I would wake up and blah, blah, blah... They talked, talked, and talked, and I didn’t answer them. I just let them talk. It felt weird being ganged upon by women, especially ones who seemed to like me.
They were with me for hours. They talked about everything that came to their minds. They took all the tubes out of me and disconnected me from the machines, taking them out of the room straight away, and finally, they gave me food.
A few minutes after I finished eating, Dr. Demi returned with my exam results. Salma, Silvia, and Natalie left the room and left me alone with Neli and Doctor Demi.
From what Demi said, I’m in perfect health. He gave me a diet plan and suggested I do a little physical therapy to help strengthen my muscles, but otherwise, nothing much.
“Since you are awake, I will have to call a social worker to care for you.” The Doctor informed me. “And I no longer can deter the officers from interrogating you, seeing as you got a clean bill of health.” He got up as if nothing happened after delivering such news.
They felt like a fucking punch to the gut to me! It almost left me breathless!
I need to move up the plan. There’s no time to get some rest or grow a little strength; what I need is to flee as soon as someone turns their back on me.
“I know you told nurse Neli you remember everything, but if you plead amnesia, they can’t do anything.” He mumbled lowly while retrieving his things from the feet of my bed, guaranteeing I was the only one able to hear him.
After the Doctor left, Neli gave me regular clothes.
“Jane, I know you want nothing to do with the cops,” She started, “- and although I can’t understand why,” She mumbled, “You must tell them you remember nothing. Do you understand?”
I nodded and flexed my hands, staring fixable at the wall behind her. I need to organize my head. I need an out!
“Nothing, ok?” She pressed, and I muttered a small ‘yes’.
“They will try to press you for answers-”
“I know,” I grunted. Can’t she just go away? I know I owe her a lot, but I need silence to put a plan together!
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
“Neli?” An older black woman in nurse scrubs popped her head inside the room; once she spotted Neli, she called her out with a hand gesture.
“I’ll be right back, darling. Shout if you need help getting dressed. I’ll be right back.” She eyed me, worried.
“Alright, don’t worry.” I dismissed her with a light smile might as well not come off too rude.
Go, go so I can hear what that witch has to say. I silently pleaded, and as soon as the door closed behind her, I moved towards the door to listen to their conversation.
“The officers are here.” The old nurse spoke drily. Any drier and with a touch, she would crumble into dust. A good visual, but at the wrong time, Sage. I chastised myself and slowly got dressed, trying not to lose nicles of their talk.
“What!? Who told them she woke the second time?” Neli sounds mad. Is she trying to protect me? She’s cute. I could go with the help, but I don’t need it. I just need myself and my wits; my strength would come in handy, but I can regrow the muscles later.
“I did.” The witch said. “Do you have a problem with it?”
“Yes! She’s not ready to speak with them yet; they might traumatize her with their pushy questions!”
“Welp, it’s protocol. If you wish, go stall them. I have a couple things to do.” That woman doesn’t like me.
Bitch.
“Ughm! She has never been like this before. I better stall them, or Jane might jump out the window.” She muttered, and I moved closer to the bed. My stupid, weak legs almost made me trip, but I did it.
“Dear, I’m going to the reception for something, I’ll be right back.” Neli slipped her head inside the room and delivered her lie with a weak smile.
“Ok,” I answered her innocently and spied on the door as soon as she left.
I better take this opportunity and leave before anyone comes to check on me. As soon as Nelly was far enough and while no one was looking, I walked out of the room as if nothing happened.
Now, from out of the room, I need to make it out of the hospital.
