Southern Heat (Southern 6)

I turn to look behind me, and I’m suddenly in the forest again. The sunlight fights to stream in among the green trees. I walk in the forest, the twigs snapping under my feet. I don’t know how long I walk, but I’m just walking and walking, seeing the same trees.

Looking around, I try to find another way to go, yet no matter which way I turn, I land at this rock every single time.

I sit in the middle of the rock and cross my legs under me, looking at every single leaf there is. I look up at the sun that peeks through. “You’re free." I smile and look down at my arms. The bruises from being tied to the bed are gone.

My finger rubs over the bruises I knew were there, and when I close my eyes this time, I’m back in the small shack where he kept me.

The devil. It’s the only name that actually suits him. Eight years of hell. Eight years of living with the fear that tomorrow could be my last day. Eight years of wishing to die.

The leaves shake, the sound of swishing picks up, and I stand to walk over to the light coming in. It’s so bright that I hold up my hand to block it from my eyes.

The gust of wind whips my hair in my face. I try to turn my head, but it sucks me into the light. "We’re losing her," I hear a woman say frantically. “Her bp is falling."

"We need to get her into the OR!" another male's voice yells. Someone holds my hand up to my face, and the touch makes my whole hand tingle.

"You can’t go with us," the woman says quietly.

"I’m going to be here when you wake up." I feel a soft touch on my cheek and open my eyes.

The bright light hits me right away, but the blue eyes hover over me. “I’ll be right here,” he says, and I close my eyes for just one more second. The heat from my face is gone, my hand turns back to ice, and when I open my eyes, I’m still in the forest. The sunlight is gone as the sound of beeping starts.

I sit down on the rock to make sure I’m ready for the strike that will come. The strikes always come at night.

I hold my legs to my chest, trying to warm myself, but I just shiver in the coldness. “Fight, baby girl." I hear my mother’s voice, and I get up.

“Grandma,” I call her name, the tears running down my face.

"You need to fight with everything you have." Her voice comes stronger. “You are the strongest girl I know."

I look around the darkness as I try to walk to where the voice is coming from, but every time I step forward, I sink into the black earth. "She’s flatlining."

“Grandma!” I call her name again. “Come back for me!" I cry out. “Don’t leave me again." The ache in my chest feels stronger than it has since she left me. "I can’t do it without you."

"You can,” she says, and I feel heat all over my body, almost as if she is giving me a hug. "You have to." The pressure on my chest gets stronger and stronger as my grandmother’s voice gets farther and farther away from me. "You are so brave" is the last thing I hear from her before the beeping starts up again, this time getting louder and louder in my ears.

I hold my hands up to my ears to block it out. “That was close," someone says.

"We aren’t out of the woods yet," the man’s voice says, and I lie down in the darkness of the forest. My legs bend, and my arms are stretched out as the pain in my body comes back to me.

He’s hit me before, but nothing like the last time. My arm snapped back so hard I knew my shoulder was dislocated as he hit me over and over again. The rage in him because I wouldn’t do what he asked me to do. I wouldn’t be a pawn in his game. The burning in my head returns, and I close my eyes just so I can fade to the blackness.

Chapter 3

Quinn

"It’s been eight hours." I look over at the nurse who just stares at me. I’ve been coming to the desk every thirty minutes, and they’ve said the same thing over and over again. Two other nurses avoid my eyes as I stand here.

"And like I told you before,” she says, looking at me. “As soon as we know something, we are going to let you know." She looks down at the chart in front of her.

Turning around, I run my hands through my hair and go back to the empty waiting room. It’s been like this the whole night. Black chairs are set around the room with two vending machines. Two tables in the room hold newspapers that look like they’ve been thrown on them. The television is on, but there is no sound. I look out the window, seeing the sun has come up. The big window faces the parking lot with just a couple of cars parked there.