One step, and I woozily collapsed to my knees. The room tilted as a new sickness washed over me. I must have just been administered a sedative. If this was how it felt with heavy painkillers raging through my veins, I shuddered to imagine what fresh Hell I was in for when it wore off. Struggling back upright, I grasped the IV pole, using its ball bearing wheels to slowly guide me toward the bathroom.
Batting away the matted locks of hair obscuring my face, I gazed into the large mirror, sighing in relief. Further bruising extended from the right side of my temple across my cheekbone down to the corner of my lips, but there didn’t appear to be any swelling. Dark smudges encrusted the skin along the side of my hairline, and I grabbed some paper towels from the dispenser beside the sink to clean it off. Dampening the cloths, I dabbed them over the area, gently scrubbing the surface. The stains slowly washed from the skin, bleeding into a muddied soup across the paper fabric. I dropped the moist heap at the realization.
It was blood.
Achingly lifting my arms, I pulled up the hospital gown, seeing more bruising…and more dried blood. But not a single scratch maimed my skin. Where did all the blood come from?
Chapter 3
Mad Hatter
A light knock registered at the bedroom door, and it only caused me to roll over and bury my head into my pillows. Another knock followed, along with my mother’s voice.
“Kat?” She opened the door and stepped inside after my failure to acknowledge her. “Hey, you have some company.”
I cringed at the painful tug in my ribs as I turned and looked up at the entryway. Vanessa and Carly both gave me a small wave. “How’s she been?” asked Vanessa softly to my mom.
“Hasn’t left her bed with the exception of eating and using the bathroom. That’s about it,” Mom affirmed intentionally louder.
“At least she’s eating,” sighed Carly.
“That’s what’s so strange. Normally when she’s down about something, it’s like having to extract teeth to get her to eat,” said Mom. “Now, Kat’s like a human garbage disposal. I’ve seen her eat more in the last week than she usually eats in three months. She polished off two pints of ice cream, downed a bag of Lays potato chips, had an entire bucket of fried chicken, and then ate a large pizza. This was just yesterday, mind you.”
“Damn, girl.” Carly came up to me and ripped my comforter right off the bed, exposing me in my Batman boy shorts and tank top.
“Hey!” I curled up into the fetal position as the brisk air bit at my bare legs and arms.
“Seriously? You’ve been pigging out like Garfield the cat, and you look thinner! If I so much as dream of French fries, I wake up five pounds heavier!”
“Just leave me alone,” I groaned, jamming a pillow over my head.
“You need to get out of this room,” sighed Vanessa.
“I like this room.”
“You haven’t returned any of our texts or phone calls, and no one else has heard from you. Being a hermit isn’t healthy, babe. We all think you could use a little fresh air.”
Carly and Mom nodded.
“And you just so happened to pick today to do this?” I scowled at all three of them. “I’m not an idiot. I know what today is. And even if I didn’t, Johnny Cash’s entourage here is pretty much like a neon sign in my face,” I remarked, pointing at Vanessa and Carly’s all black ensemble. Neither wore the color frequently, and never did they wear it head-to-toe.
“The funeral starts in about an hour,” Vanessa confirmed.
Mom nodded to my friends, as if silently passing the baton to them. “I’ll leave you girls be.”
She exited, and Vanessa slowly made her way over to my bedside, smoothing out the ends of her dress.
“How’s your mom been?” whispered Carly. “When we saw her at the hospital, she was wound up tighter than a ten day clock.”
“You guys were at the hospital?” I asked, my voice muffled as I buried my face into my pillow.
“Yeah, so was Adam,” replied Vanessa.
My head shot up from the fluffiness with surprise. “He was?”
I looked over at Carly who unreservedly shot V an ugly glare.
“The nurses wouldn’t let any of us come see you though,” added Vanessa, obviously ignoring Car’s anger.
“Anyway,” Carly growled.
“Mom’s been…well, Mom,” I clarified. “Thankfully, I’d been sedated in the hospital, so by the time I’d woken up, the doctors had already assured her that I was fine. Though, I could’ve used a little more mother and a little less public relations liaison.”
Carly gave me a sympathetic smile. “That bad?”