Injured Again

ROSALIA'S P.O.V.

My eyes begin to slowly open to the sound of a heart monitor making a constant beep noise. I look around and see I'm in a white room of sorts. One that I'm too familiar with at this point. I use my arms to sit up in the bed. Why am I in the hospital? An irritant can be felt over my body. These covers feel itchy, almost as if they're going to prick my skin off. I pull back the covers and see that my entire body is covered in white, long bandages. It's only when I pull the covers back do I feel how enormously sore I am. I feel horrible!

"What...happened to me?" I try my hardest to remember. It was dark the last time I remember being conscious. I was upset over something, and then, I finally spoke to my wolf. My wolf! She's here!

"Hello?" Silence. What? Nothing?

"Are you there…?" I asked again, but still, no one answered. No way. Is she really not here? Could I have been imagining that my wolf appeared? It could be likely. No! I heard her voice! I know I did! She spoke to me and she said something

Wait. What did she say to me? Goddess! Why does my memory suck?! I grab a pillow and throw it to the wall, causing my muscles to scream at me. Goddess, that hurts! I bite my lips to hold back a scream. Then my mind forms an image of a hand hitting something. No, it's not a hand, it's a paw. With claws! I have to remember something, but my head feels like it'll explode if I keep trying. Honestly, everything hurts. I lay back in bed and close my eyes. What is going on in this life of mine? Once again, injured. This is too much for one to handle. Well, if I want to know what's going on, I need to call for a nurse or something. I look to the side and see the big red button that calls for assistance. If I'm going to figure out what happened, I need to find out. A nurse is in the room in no time, and she asks me the normal questions.

Am I okay? No, not really. Of course, I'm not physically okay. Every part of my body hurts, and even when I'm staying completely still, there's major soreness. Mentally? I don't want to talk about that.

How do I feel? Like I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. Before, I wasn't doing good, and it's the same now. Well, scratch that. It's completely worse.

Do I feel pain as of right now? That's kind of a dumb question, but she is a nurse, so even if the questions asked are kind of a no brainer, I should still answer her seriously. So of course, I tell her that everything hurts. After the questions, she quickly goes to call the doctor and get some pain medicine for me. I desperately hope she brings the strongest pain reliever. It's not like before the doctor comes in. He speaks to me in a calm matter, and I listen then speak when I need to. We then get to the seriousness of my condition.

"Well, Rosalia, I'm very relieved that you made it to the hospital on time. If it's not too much trouble, do you think you would be willing to talk about how you ended up like this?" I pause for a moment and try to figure out what to say. What if I can't explain well? No, I can't worry about that. The best thing is, to be honest.

"I...I don't know."

"That's fine. Well, you were found by some pack members who saw you unconscious in the woods. That's very lucky, I'll say. You were...pretty banged up," I look down at the bandages covering my body from the chest to my legs. That's putting it lightly. I might have almost been killed by...something.

"Your condition is very serious. You have many marks all over your body."

"Are...Are they really bad?" I asked. Those marks came in a variety of sizes, but they were all big. I'm terrified of the idea that they could leave scars. That should be the worst of my worries, but I can't be self-conscious about my body, and then hate it even more because of some ugly scars. I guess it wouldn't really matter since I always cover up anyway, but still.

"Do not worry Rosalia, we have some cream that can help with scars once your wounds heal. Overall, you should be fine as long as you remain here under our care. We're gonna do everything we can to get you back on your feet. I don't want you to get discouraged okay? Everything will be fine." His palm gently touches my shoulder in a comforting matter, and strangely enough, that makes me feel a little better. Maybe I'm just getting to the point where all doctors seem like my friend since they try to heal me and not hurt me like everyone else. Geez, I need some real friends. At least ones my age, but with the way I am and the way things are going, never gonna happen.

"I'm gonna go make some phone calls and I'll come back to check on you soon. Do you know your parent's number? I need to call them, to let them know you're okay," At that moment, a bomb went off in my head. Oh, my goddess! I wasn't even thinking about my parents! Mom and dad are gonna freak! Especially when they see the state I'm in. That small bit of happiness I felt about everything being okay, just went out the window. I don't even know how I'm gonna explain this to them. If only I could remember.

"...Yeah, it's…"

~

Fifteen minutes go by and I've never been more nervous. It's only mom and dad who are probably on their way to the hospital as I think about it. All I can think is how they might get mad at me. Why? I don't know! When I was upset about the test, I shut them out and didn't want to talk about the issue anymore. The next thing I know I end up in the woods, all bloody and bruised. What if they think I left the house and ran away? I can't explain how I got out of the house without them knowing. What is this, the third time I've been in this hospital? This hospital is at least an hour and a few minutes away. Thank the Goddess this pack is a city and not a town I guess. I have some time to myself before the end comes.

Okay, I'm being dramatic. I just can't shake off this uneasiness. Where is that nurse with my pain medicine? I'm hurting over here! Maybe I should press the button again. It's even worse that I have to use the restroom. My bladder feels like it's gonna explode. I'll just go by myself, even if my body hurts me in the process. I make a good first attempt to get out of bed, but after five minutes of trying, I press the button again. What is my life?

~

"Sorry about the wait hun, you can use the bathroom now. I'm right outside if you need me okay?" The door shuts and I finally have the chance to relieve myself and relieve myself I do. Once I'm out, the nurse helps me back in the wheelchair and it's back to my room I go. Along the way, I have to go through the process of people staring at me. It's difficult to have people watch you, but I'm sure it's hard for them to watch me. I look awful. Before leaving the restroom, I looked in the mirror and saw how horrible I looked. I looked like I was at death's door. The doctor might have had a point about me being lucky. Whatever happened to me, the moon goddess surrounded me in her blessings. I realize then I could have died for the second time.

Would the Moon Goddess have given me a third chance at life or would that have been the end? I wonder if there's a way to ask her. I'm not quite sure how talking to a goddess works. Even though I survived, and no one is being hostile towards me, it's still hard to have people watch. To have pity in their eyes like I'm a sad little puppy. I've grown quite tired of those looks. Strangely, that makes me angry. I'm not sure why. With all this stress, maybe I'm just emotional about everything.

"You're weak,"

I gasp as I look around me. Who said that? The nurse looks at me concerned as she pushes me through the wheelchair. "What's wrong dear?"

Did I mishear that? Maybe I'm just hearing things. I start hearing whispers as the trip back to my room oddly seems to be taking a long time. A group of nurses huddled together are chatting as we pass by.

"They found her almost dead. The poor thing is lucky to be alive."

"No girl that small should have to go through something life-threatening."

"Do you think she ended up like this because of what happened?"

"They say a good part of the community was destroyed, many were injured and lives were lost. She probably got caught in the crossfire."

"Still, that's awful. I hope she turns out okay."

What are they talking about? The community got destroyed? Did people get hurt? Lives were lost? I look down at my bandaged hands and build up the nerve to ask the question. "What were they talking about?" She goes silent for a moment, and I start wondering if I should have kept my mouth shut. "Oh, hun. They weren't talking about you in a bad way, honest."

I look behind me, "No not that, the other thing. Did something happen to the pack?" I had never seen someone's face turn pale so quickly. She doesn't speak again, and this time it's a longer wait than last time. She even stops in the middle of the hallway. "It's nothing you need to worry about. You're already going through a lot. I wouldn't want to rile you up. You need to focus on getting better, okay hun?"

Looking down at my hands, I realize my situation must be worse than I thought. Asking hospital staff isn't going to get me any answers. If I want to know what happened to me, I'll have to figure it out on my own. The next question that runs through my mind bothers me.

How am I going to do that?