Page 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1

"You should be dead," the ER nurse stated as she adjusted so on my IV She was more husky than fat, with too much eye makeup, and hair that had been dyed a nasty shade of reddish orange When I didn’t ilanced my way, as if to assure herself that I really ake and aware "You realize that, right?" she demanded "You’re pretty damn lucky to be alive"

"Umokay," I muttered Beneath the sheet I ran a hand over ?" I asked

Her thin lips pinched together "A coo" She paused, set her hands on her hips "You overdosed"

I scrubbed a hand over my face, shook my head "No, I was in a car accident," I insisted "I re," I added, less certain as I ran ain

She gave a dismissive snort "There’s not a scratch on you You must have hallucinated it" Her eyes narroith conte that when people looked at me

Glass and blood and er Gobbets of flesh ripped away

Cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck How could that have been a hallucination? Hallucinations were strange and hazy and ju an annoyed noise in the back of her throat, she snagged the chart from the end of the bed "Unknohite female Hmmm Do you remember your naave ary-bitchy smile that didn’t have an ounce of true concern in it

"Yeah, I know el Crawford" I wanted to add, And you can write it doith the pencil that’s stuck up your ass, but I ed to hold it back I knew that nurses had the power to make your life suck worse than it already did, and it was clear that this bitch consideredin my own loser reality show Screw her I was at least two steps away

The nurse gave a sniff as if she didn’t truly believe I was sh to knoho I was "Let’s see what all was in your system--THC, hydrocodone, alprazola na and scary while I scowled blackly at her After she finished she gavethe chart back up and left the roo too, because what I wanted to say to her would have been too er withered as soon as she was gone, overwhelmed by my confusion and sick fear I lifted the sheet up to see for led to make sense of it I re gash across ed end of white bone poking fro out and all over But now there was nothing out of place No scrapes, no bruises Just perfectly norht? A couple of h time for me to heal up

Except that I didn’t have any scars, either

Sighing, I dropped my head back to the pillow I hadn’t been in a co with my head

No, I was simply a loser

Overdose Great Well, this was a ne for me, and it didn’t help that it was totally believable The only possibly shocking aspect was that it hadn’t happened sooner I didn’t res as the bitch nurse had said, but the fact that I was in the ER was proof enough that I obviously had The nurse hadn’t gone and altered my lab results either I did that all by myself, the old-fashioned way

Weary depression rolled overBeyond the door I could hear the frenzy of a stretcher being wheeled by and voices raised in brief concern I kneould happen next Soist would co or soestion since I didn’t have et a seventy-two-hour commiter to myself, and I’d probably end up in soonna put up with that I felt perfectly fine now and et the hell out of here

I kicked the sheet away and slid off the bed The tile was sainstthe stupid hospital gown, and my own clothes were so covered with blood that I’d draw all sorts of attention if I tried to walk out in them