#3- Bleach & Medicines

She woke up to the familiar smell of bleach and medicines of different sorts. She inhaled it in and let it linger before releasing it. As weird as it was, there was something about the scent of bleach and medicine that made her feel better.

Bleach because, it cleans and scrubs the dirt, even if it has been there for a long time. Medicines because they relieve pain. It could be a good or bad pain, but still all the same.

She inhaled more this time, taking in the scent she had grown to love, and not getting enough of it, she was starting to feel safe and out of harm.

She could still remember all those times when she would get tired of being bullied and being picked on, she would run in with her tiny legs and hide in one of the wards, just inhaling the smell of bleach and medicines. How could she forget the smell of hospitals?

At the thought of that, something snapped in her head. She was in a hospital room and the hospital bed, she wasn't there to visit anyone, she was the patient herself.

A powerful headache was forming in her head, or maybe it had already been there, but she didn't notice until now, she groaned in pain.

She tried to pry her eyes open, but her eyes were blurry and her sight resembled that of a dyslexic patient, the glass of water which was supposed to be on a stool beside her was upside down and what was worse the sitting area of the stool was facing down so basically the grass of water was keeping the stool in balance. "That's weird, " she said to herself.

She couldn't make out a steady object, her eyes were weak and itchy. She heard shuffling and immediately she turned her blurry eyes to the direction of the sound.

It took some seconds for her eyes to adjust and make out a still blurry image in the corner of the room. She couldn't tell if it was that of a man or a woman, a boy or a girl. Could it be her family member?

"No way, " she thought. Her uncle Bob was up in Washington, he couldn't be here so fast, Dad would still be at work, and Mum would still be at the store. Then a thought struck her, could it be that after everything that happened April got scared and sent someone to assassinate her?

She shook the thought quickly out of her, she wasn't that important. She shook her head again in an attempt to shake off the bad and only thought that was making sense to her at the moment.

It was as if her brain was in jingles and tangles, she was getting more scared. This could be her end, she thought as cold fear erupted from within her.

She didn't notice the stranger observing her until he spoke, her blurry vision was getting in the way and it was frustrating.

"You are awake," he declared with a deep voice. Now she knew it was a guy in the room with her, but what did he want her awake for? Did he want her awake during the assassination for more pain?

That would be cruel, she thought, "why didn't he do it while she was asleep? It would be way easier.

Her eyes were still blurry and heavy, her palms were beginning to sweat and she kept making attempts to speak, but she couldn't make out anything yet. She wanted to call for help, but nothing went out, she blinked furiously, but she could not make a face.

He had to see the conflict in her eyes because he stood up and came to his side slowly with his hands upward in surrender. "I'm not here to hurt you, just calm down," he told her, but she still couldn't relax, if anything it made her more tense.

She didn't know who he was or what he looked like, her eyes couldn't make out the real form of anything and it scared her.

Her eyes became watery, she didn't know what was going on and for the most part, she felt weak and useless. The stranger sighed as if he knew her thoughts, he reached for her pale hand, she tensed but began to rub the back of her hand gently.

"I promise you I'm not here to hurt you, although can I ask you something?" He asked, but she couldn't reply, she just squeezed his hand instead, hoping he would understand.

"I guess that's a no." He seemed to be staring at her for a minute, but she couldn't particularly tell what his gaze was fixed on because she couldn't make out his eyes all she knew was he was an extremely tall guy and that was that.

She was startled when he reached his hand and caught a tear that escaped her eyes, she hoped to God that he meant was he said and that he was not going to hurt her.

"I will go call the doctor princess, stay safe and stay out of trouble" Then he turned and headed for the door, part of her was relieved and part of her was curious who was he? If he didn't come here to harm her, what did he come here to do?

When he closed the door behind him, she found her voice. " Wait!" She called after him, but he was already long gone and the room fell silent, only the sound of the monitors could be heard. She wanted to ask questions, but she was on her own looking at the wall in front of her.

If she needed answers she would have to wait. A middle-aged doctor walked in and greeted her warmly, he checked her pulse, he also observed the monitors that were attached to her, lastly, he checked her vitals and wrote them down on his notepad, then turned to face her.

"What's your name child? " She waited a few seconds before she spoke. "Jade" She answered quietly. "Good" the doctor nodded.

"And how old are you again?" Jade didn't like being asked questions, but she still answered him anyway. " Eleven"

The doctor's eyes snapped right away. "You eleven?"

"No, sir, I'm eighteen and a half" the doctor sighed. Her head hurt badly and she still couldn't see people.

"I can't see you clearly" she whispered. "You will very soon dear, just be patient, it's temporal" he assured her.

"Child, can you tell me what happened to you?"

Jade could taste bile on her tongue, she hadn't thought about what happened or what she would say if anyone asked, most especially she didn't think of the aftermath of everything that had happened or would happen, that was if anyone cared enough to do or say anything.

"A guy came in here, who is he?"

She skirted the issue.

"Oh, he is the new student who brought you here, and he brought you on time," the doctor said.

She felt the heat rise on her cheeks, and it was out of embarrassment. She thought her helper was an assassin. She wanted to thank him and most especially she wanted to see him.

"Please can I meet him?" She whispered. "But you can't see yet miss" the doctor reminded her, but it didn't matter. She wanted to meet the student who helped her and put himself on the bad list, so she was moved.

"I want to meet him anyway, at least to say thank you," she added. "Okay, I'll go get him, stay calm". He agreed and left.

A few minutes later the doctor walked back in with a tall guy behind him, her blurry eyes made out his figure, he was not so tall and his hair looked somewhat blonde quite different from the previous boy that rubbed her hand.

She fidgeted a bit unsure of what to say.

"Did he do it?" She was stuttering.