Chapter 84: VOICES
~Chapter 84~
KATYA
"...been through a lot," Voices, that’s the first thing I heard before the silence enveloped me like a thick fog.
I tried opening my eyes, but they refused to budge. The voice continued, its familiar tone sending a flicker of recognition through my foggy mind.
"Is she going to be alright?" They asked with a concerned tone while I attempted to move my hands, but they too felt heavy and unresponsive.
The sound of their conversation continued but I couldn’t quite decipher what was been said. Even if I tried, it was as if I was drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to grasp the threads of their discussion.
"We understand what you’re saying, but we need to monitor her closely, make sure she’s stable," another voice chimed in.
The words were followed by the soft beeping of machines before footsteps echoed through the room, growing louder with each passing moment.
My body instinctively responded to the approaching presence, tensing up and my eyes still refused to cooperate, stubbornly remaining shut despite my best efforts to open them.
The footsteps stopped beside me, and I could feel the weight of someone’s gaze upon me. I could also sense the presence of multiple people in the room.
The presence of this unknown person was intense but comfortable, like a warm blanket wrapped around me. It was that kind of familiar presence.
Straining my ears to hear more, to pick up on any conversation or sound that might give me a clue about my situation. But the silence persisted before ever so sudden, the door creaked open, and a new voice called out.
"Stella." My ears perked up at the name, and I wondered if Miss Stella was the one beside me. Was she the one whose presence I had sensed?
The room was cold, crisped and sterile, despite the fact that I could feel something soft like a blanket draped over me.
It was a thin layer of comfort in an otherwise unfamiliar environment and I tried shifting even if it was small to adjust to the chill.
"Nonna?" The familiar voice I knew but couldn’t place a finger on who or where responded. I listened intently, trying to match the voice to the person.
Was it truly Miss Stella? The voice was soft and gentle, with a hint of concern, and it seemed to match the tone I remembered.
"What happened?" The other voice asked, I recognized the voice, or at least, I thought I did.
It was a voice I had heard before, but it didn’t sound like someone I knew personally.
It was a voice that held authority, a voice that commanded respect.
"Ah, Nonna, it’s nothing to be worried about," By this time, I had put it that this was definitely miss Stellas voice.
Her soothing and motherly voice that I missed when I ran away. The woman’s response was immediate. "Stella," a deadpan voice from the woman, the single word dripping with disapproval.
"What happened and..." The woman’s voice trailed off, as if she was catching her breath or struggling to contain her emotions.
"Don’t tell me to worry because that only makes me worry more," she finished.
The room fell silent after the woman’s words, the only sound the soft beeping of machines.
I lay there, wondering what would be said next. I too didn’t know what the fuck had happened to me, and my foggy memory wasn’t helping.
"She has been through a lot, Nonna," Miss Stella’s voice broke the silence, a sigh escaping her lips before she continued.
A hand touched mine, holding it close in a gentle gesture of comfort. "Even though I don’t know her much, but I can feel it that this poor little soul has seen hell on earth."
I wondered if she was talking about me. How would she know what I had been through? Did my pitifulness rub off on her, or did the smell of desperation and fear emanating from my body give away my state?
The thought sent a shiver down my spine, which I don’t like.
Miss Stella’s words painted a picture of a person who had endured unimaginable suffering, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was right.
Had I truly seen hell on earth? The memories that floated through my mind were fragmented and unclear, but the emotions that accompanied them were raw and real.
Different scenarios swirled in my mind, I was trying to piece together how Miss Stella knew about my suffering, how she could sense the depth of my pain.
Her speech continued, "I don’t just feel it, though, Nonna," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Pausing with a soft sigh escaping her lips, "I have witnessed her break down to the point of self-harm."
Memories came flooding back. Killer, the word echoed in my mind, a haunting reminder of what I had done.
Flashes of my father’s face, his disgusting grin, his cruel words, and my own actions, all came rushing back.
I saw myself kicking him, the sound of his body crashing into the window, the blood filling the room.
The beeping of the machines grew louder, more insistent, as if trying to alert someone to my distress.
"Nurse!" Miss Stella’s voice rose, a loud cry that pierced the air. "Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep," the machines and their rhythmic beeping grew more rapid, more urgent.
My body began to thrash about, my limbs moving wildly as the memories continued to assault me.
The machines beeped faster, I was lost in a sea of emotions, unable to escape the pain and the guilt that threatened to consume me.
Rapid footsteps echoed through the room, growing louder, as the sound of beeps filled the air.
"What the hell is happening?" Miss Stella’s frantic voice cut through the chaos. Her voice only added to my growing anxiety.
The room seemed to spin around me, even though my eyes were still shut. I felt like I was losing control, my body and mind betraying me at every turn.
But before I could process the chaos, a sharp tiny object pierced my arm, and It brought pain. A loud, shocked exhale escaped my lips, and my back arched up from the bed, slamming back down after the object was released.
The pain was brief but it was there, it was enough to make me gasp amongst the emotional turmoil.
My thrashing slowed, and my breathing steadied. The machines beeped slower and I started to lose full consciousness.
The last thing I remembered was the feeling of weightlessness, like I was floating on a cloud. The world around me grew distant, and myself being pulled down into the darkness, unable to resist the tide of unconsciousness that was sweeping me away.
***
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