Taken By Surprise

by Jessica Frances

  Chapter Twenty-Four – The Headache

  Thursday, 12th April

  A sharp pain in my head jolts me awake.

  “Zoe?” A dark figure crouches down beside me.

  I pull my hand to my head and groan in pain. Why does my head hurt so much? Am I lying on the floor?

  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there. Are you okay?” Charlie’s voice is easier to make out now, however the pain refuses to fade.

  “What are you doing on the ground? Are you okay?” He keeps asking me questions and I can’t seem to concentrate hard enough to answer even one. Why is my head pounding so much?

  “Oh, crap. Stay here. I’ll get Harold.”

  I quickly reach out, managing to grab Charlie’s ankle. Part of me is still confused about what’s going on, but a small part of me knows I don’t want to see Harold again. I don’t trust him and I know my instincts are right. Something is off about him, too.

  “No.” I try to sound commanding, but I barely manage a whisper. My mouth is so dry and I’m suddenly dying for some water.

  “Zoe, what is it?” Charlie crouches back down next to me.

  “Don’t leave. I’m okay,” I manage to croak out. I clear my throat, ignoring the way doing so makes my head ache.

  “You’ve got a head injury; you need to see Harold—”

  “What’s going on in here?” Rose’s voice sounds far harsher than Charlie’s and makes the pounding in my head feel worse.

  “I didn’t see her on the ground and she got hit in the head with the door.” Charlie stands up, facing Rose.

  I got hit in the head with a door? Well that sounds stupid.

  “You hit her in the head with the door?” Unsurprisingly, Rose sounds like she is accusing Charlie rather than just repeating back what he said with surprise.

  “It was an accident. I think she needs to get it checked out. Go and find Harold.”

  “What’s wrong with your legs?”

  “Please, Rose.” Charlie crouches back down next to me and one of his arms wraps behind my shoulders while another is tucked under my knees. His shirt brushes my face and I can slightly smell his natural scent mixed in with maybe some sweat. It has a calming effect on me. How can something like that make me feel so safe when I’ve only known this person for two days?

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Rose snaps at him.

  “Moving her onto the bed. She can’t be comfortable on the floor.”

  “Leave her alone, you shouldn’t move someone with a head injury until they’ve been checked out.”

  “Well hurry up then.” I hear annoyance in Charlie’s voice as his arms move slowly away from my body. Rose rushes out of the room, but not before glaring one last time at him.

  “Why am I on the floor? Did I fall over?” My voice continues to sound hoarse and I try to swallow to loosen it up.

  “I have no idea. I was just coming in to check on you and, when I opened the door, well… I definitely didn’t see you there. Was the bed not comfortable enough for you?” His voice sounds teasing, but I sober at his words.

  “You were coming back?” Had I been such a pain last night that he had been the one to leave? I must have fallen asleep almost instantly which had not been my plan at all.

  “Yeah, it’s lunchtime and I wanted to see how you were doing.”

  “Lunch?” I’m in shock that I slept for over twelve hours. What is going on with me? “Why am I sleeping so much?” I ask, panicked.

  “I don’t know, but Stan said not to wake you this morning, that you need to keep sleeping. That it’s some reaction to that needle you had.” He sounds like he’s holding something back.

  “What is it?”

  He hesitates for a moment before he reveals what’s on his mind. “It’s just you’ve been through a lot lately, sleeping can be a sign of depression. Maybe that’s the reason and not a bad reaction from the needle.”

  “You think I’m depressed?”

  “Are you?”

  “I—” Of course I’m depressed, I’ve just lost my best friend, lost my life and I saw Drew die; with all of this happening in under a week, who wouldn’t be depressed? “I guess so. You think that’s why I’m so tired?”

  “Maybe. My Mom suffered from depression and she slept all the time,” he admits.

  “Why are they telling me it’s from a bad reaction to the needle then?” I had thought when I woke up Harold was keeping something from me, had he been afraid to tell me it was depression?

  “I don’t know, maybe they’re hoping it’ll pass. Tell someone they’re depressed and suddenly they start to overthink things.”

  “How do I stop needing to sleep so much? If we’re going to get out of here, I need to be awake.”

  “I don’t know. Mom never stopped sleeping all the time. When I was six, she took enough pills to make it permanent.”

  I’m shocked by Charlie’s words. His Mom killed herself? “I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that.” Charlie looks shocked himself as he nervously moves his hands through his hair.

  “Can you help me sit up?” I ask, feeling awkward lying on the ground. The cool tiles have given my whole body a chill and I again wish for socks.

  “Are you sure? Rose said not to move you.”

  “I’m feeling a bit better and it’s not really all that comfortable on the ground.”

  “Okay, but tell me if you need me to stop.” Charlie moves his arms back under me before he slowly moves my back upwards.

  I keep my eyes closed so I don’t get dizzy. Charlie pushes me backwards until my back rests against the base of his bed. I open my eyes and watch him walk over to his wardrobe to pull out a jacket. He wraps it around me and I take his hand before he can move it away from me. “Thank you, Charlie.”

  “It’s no problem.”

  Silence descends on us and to break it up I try to think of something to say. “Was I annoying last night?”

  “Not at all. I don’t think you even moved once. When I got up this morning I tried to be quiet, but I’m pretty sure I failed badly. You didn’t stir at all.” Charlie reaches and touches my forehead again. “I really am sorry about your head.”

  Warmth spreads over my entire body from having Charlie so close to me. Another reaction that isn’t normal for me to have. He shouldn’t feel this familiar to me. I shouldn’t feel so attached to someone I only met two days ago. It’s not normal.

  Footsteps approaching the room end our moment together and Charlie stands up, ready to talk to Harold.

  Harold rushes in with Rose behind him and he turns the main lights on in the room, lighting it up a lot more than my eyes appreciate. The side light has been the only light source before and that had seemed bright enough to me, the main lights feel like the sun is shining down into my eyeballs.

  “I hear you’ve had a nasty hit to your head, Ms. Holloway?”

  “Why is she sitting up? I told you she shouldn’t be moved.” Rose scowls at Charlie and I see her hands are now on her hips while she has also somehow gotten from the doorway all the way to standing directly in front of Charlie without me seeing a single step.

  “She asked to be moved because she was uncomfortable.” Charlie’s voice takes on the exact same tone as what Rose has given to him.

  Harold lifts my head upwards so my eyes are blinded when looking up into the ceiling lights. I quickly shut them, but fear the bright dots behind my eyelids won’t be so easy to rid.

  “That’s stupid. If she asked for you to throw her off a cliff, would you do that, too?”

  “What the hell is your problem, Rose?”

  I can imagine them getting closer and closer as their voices get louder with each argument they throw at each other. I should probably say something to make them stop fighting, but Harold beats me to it.

  “Get out now; both of you.”

  “What?” Rose in her anger keeps her voice loud and her tone rude towards him.
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  “I find yelling next to someone who has suffered a head injury does not help them, so if you two can’t shut up, then get out.”

  “This is my room.” Charlie’s voice has quieted down to nothing more than a hiss now.

  “Yes, which begs the question as to why Ms. Holloway was even in here? Now get out both of you so I can make sure she does not have a concussion.”

  I don’t hear any protests this time and I don’t even hear any footsteps leaving, just the door clicking shut behind them.

  “Finally.” Harold sounds relieved. “Now, is this the only place you’re hurt?” I feel a pressure on my forehead and instinctively pull away from his hands. They’re nowhere near as gentle as Charlie’s had been.

  “Yes.”

  “I need to take a look at your head, Ms. Holloway.”

  I hesitantly move my head back over so he can go back to prodding at it. Instead when he touches my forehead this time, he is more careful.

  “Can you tell me your name?”

  “Ms. Holloway?” I smile and when I don’t hear any response to that, I assume he is not amused. “Zoe Holloway.”

  “The date?”

  “Umm, April 12th?” I have to mentally count how long I have been in this place. Has it really only been four nights?

  “Are you feeling dizzy or light headed?”

  “No.”

  “How is your vision?”

  I move my head away from his hands and look downwards before opening my eyes so that the light doesn’t blind me this time. After a moment to readjust to the light in the room again, everything is mostly clear.

  “Normal.”

  “I assume you have a headache?”

  “Yes, but it feels a little better now.”

  “How did this bump happen?”

  I flush in embarrassment. “It’s kind of stupid. I must have fallen off the bed or something and so, when Charlie opened the door, my head was there to be the door stopper.”

  “You don’t remember being on the ground before then?”

  “No. Charlie said I was in a really deep sleep. I guess falling off the bed wasn’t enough to rouse me.”

  “Hm.” Harold has me follow his finger with my eyes and then he takes another look at my forehead.

  “I’m still really tired, is that normal?” I wonder if I should bring up Charlie’s theory and then decide against it. I’m still not sure if I should trust this man because something about him is very off.

  “You should start to feel stronger today. I want you to continue to rest up, and if you have any headaches or pain, you’re to come to me immediately. Put this over your forehead and it should help reduce the swelling.” Harold passes me a cloth that is wrapped around something soft and cold.

  “So I don’t have a concussion?”

  “I don’t believe so. Drink plenty of fluids and try to eat something. I’ll check on you in the morning to see if you’re able to begin your training.” Even though it sounds like Harold is wrapping this up, he doesn’t move away from me.

  “Is there something else?”

  “This is Mr. Nichols’s room.”

  “Yes.” I fear I know where this is going.

  “You stayed here last night?”

  I feel awkward about this question. No matter what I say, it won’t sound innocent; especially after Charlie asked this man for condoms yesterday. “Yes.”

  “We didn’t anticipate things like this happening, but you are adults and it is to be expected, I suppose. If this is going to become a regular occurrence, we can look at getting in proper equipment to facilitate a birth.”

  “What?” My stomach drops completely out of me and dizziness takes over that has nothing to do with my head injury.

  “Just keep me informed.” Harold gives me a stern look before standing up and moving over to the closed door.

  I’m in too much shock to answer him or thank him for looking me over as he leaves.

  Once he’s gone, Charlie rushes straight over to me, helps me to stand up and sits me down on his bed. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. No concussion,” I answer as Rose comes into the room. I try to get my wits about me, reminding myself that I’m not pregnant and there is no way that I could be since Charlie and I haven’t actually done anything.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Here, you better put that on your head.” Rose passes me the ice pack that I left on the ground. I quickly take it from her and lean it against my forehead. The last thing I want is an egg head.

  “Thanks.” I glance under the icepack and see Will standing in the doorway. I’m surprised that everyone has come to see if I’m okay. If I hadn’t been injured from getting a door opened into my head, I would have probably felt more flattered by it.

  “Do you need anything?” Charlie asks me, concern in his voice.

  “Did you say something about lunch before?” I say just as my stomach grumbles.

  “Yes, are you hungry?” Charlie smiles at me, most likely hearing my obvious hunger.

  “I’m starving.”

  “Come on, I’ll help you.” Charlie slowly helps me stand and a pressure pounds painfully down on my head. “You still okay?”

  “Perfect,” I lie. I don’t want him to feel any worse than he does and I really am hungry. So I bite down on my pain and let Charlie lead me to the dining area which has never felt so far away.

  When we sit down, there are four plates of sandwiches again and I down the glass of water next to mine.

  After lunch, I’m told by Stan to sit out of training. I’m determined not to sleep the rest of the day away, though, so I follow the others down the hallway where our rooms are. We go past Rose and Will’s rooms to the end of the hallway where there is a locked door which Stan opens with a key attached to his belt. I’m excited to see another room, even given that I already know it’s only meant to be a training room.

  When I do enter, I’m surprised by how big the room is. I sort of expected it to be a similar size to our living area, however this is at least five times that size and the ceiling is easily double in height to what the rest of the rooms are. The floor in the center is padded and to the right are floor to ceiling windows which show the wild weather outside. I’d give anything to be able to be out there right now, breathing in the fresh air and feeling the rain soak into my skin. I’d give anything to get away from this place. Something is off here and I’m itching to get away.

  Around the edge of the room are different obstacles. All together they make up a circuit that everyone runs three times through for a warm up. I’m glad I get to sit out since I’m incredibly unfit and have the feeling I won’t be able to do half the things on this circuit, at least not without making an idiot of myself first.

  Sitting along the ledge by the window, I gawk at Charlie as he runs through the obstacles with ease. I observe his leg muscles bulging while he runs and his arm muscles tensing when he lifts himself over a hurdle. I watch his face as he concentrates hard on his next obstacle and keep watching until I feel like I’m being creepy and force myself to look over at Rose and Will.

  Will doesn’t even break a sweat. He is so deceivingly fit. It reminds me of Dana. Everyone knew her as the bookworm and as the nice girl, but get her to play a round of dodge ball and suddenly you find out she’s strong and incredibly fast. She is that girl that boys will choose to be on their team first; not because she’s beautiful, but because she can help them win.

  I shake myself out of thoughts of Dana, not wanting to randomly start crying, and then move my new icepack to a different angle.

  Rose runs through the circuit with ease, too, and I assume she is also quite fit. Her face shows a determination. Her body displays no signs of stress other than a small patch of sweat building around the collar of her shirt. Not a hair is out of place in her ponytail while her face looks natural and not a single part of her is flushed. I know that compared to Rose, I’ll look like a disaste
r zone running this circuit.

  My eyes drift back to Charlie as they stop to stretch and I’m quick to look away when I notice him glancing my way a few times. Am I making him uncomfortable? Has he noticed me staring at him?

  “Zoe, may I please have a word with you?” Martha’s voice makes me jump since I didn’t even notice her approaching me. I reluctantly take my eyes off Charlie and look up when Martha stands over me. She has a sweet smile on her face, yet I can’t shake the feeling that I have to get away from her. Even if Drew hadn’t warned us she’s bad, I’d have known.

  I nod that I will, even though I’m scared what she might say to poison my mind. Will and Rose never seemed that affected by their talks. She is a fan of talking in private even though no one would’ve been able to hear us talking if we had spoken quietly on that window ledge. I wish we could have stayed there with everyone around me. I’d feel safer with the others around.

  “Take a seat.” Martha leads me into my room and indicates for me to sit on the bed. Instead, I move to my desk chair and sit on that. Martha frowns at me, but moves to sit on the edge of my bed.

  I get shivers again thinking about Drew dying on there. I also feel a deep sadness remembering him being in here. I know he didn’t technically die because he’s alive out there right now, but really, he did die here. Plus, he reminded me that my Drew is out there right now on his own, grieving the loss of Dana. Is he coping okay? Dana would hate that I can’t be there for him. Heck, I hate that I can’t be there for him.

  I watch the rain pelting down outside and again wish I could be out in it. Thoughts of being outside have my mind drifting to what I’d be doing at home in the near future. Soon summer will be here and it’ll be my first one without Dana.

  “Zoe?”

  I turn my attention back to Martha and find her looking carefully at me. She appears concerned, though I think she is actually much more like calculating.

  “Yes?”

  “Where is your bedcover?” She pats her hand along the bed and my stomach drops. Does she know about Drew? Is this a trap?

  “That’s what you want to talk about?” I try to buy time.

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Nothing at all? What about your friend Dana?” She crosses her leg over her knee and rests her hands on her knee, staring at me intently.

  “No,” I snap at her. She is the last person I want to talk to about Dana.

  “Okay, what about Charlie. Can we talk about him?”

  “What about him?”

  “Stanley and I have noticed you both have gotten close.”

  “He’s a nice guy.” I shrug at her, wondering if I’m about to get a safe sex lecture, although if it means she’ll give up trying to talk to me about Dana, then I’ll take it.

  “I’m worried you might have rushed into this relationship a bit quickly. You don’t know each other very well yet.”

  “Does it really matter?”

  “It does if it only leads to you getting hurt. You’ve lost a very close friend to you. It’s understandable that you feel a need to replace that close relationship with another. You’re hurting and it’s only human to want someone to help you stop feeling that way.”

  Anger spikes up inside of me having her speak about Dana. “Charlie isn’t a replacement for Dana. No one can ever replace her.”

  “I understand that, but I fear you’re not properly dealing with her loss by distracting yourself with a new set of problems. Your sudden feelings for Charlie, for example.”

  “I’m sure I would be dealing just fine at home with her death if I hadn’t been kidnapped and told I can never go home because I have to fight in wars for my country.” Rage runs through me, causing me to have to take several deep breaths to calm down.

  “Okay, Zoe, I’m sorry. I wasn’t having a go at you. I just want you to really think about the way you’re feeling and where those feelings might be coming from.”

  “Fine, I’ll think about it.” I cross my arms over my chest and look back out at the rain.

  “You may also want to ask Charlie where his feelings might be coming from. An attempt was made on his life just like everyone else had and he lost his girlfriend over it. She was poisoned and died later that night. Has he told you about her?”

  “No.” Charlie never mentioned that to me. Is Martha right? Is Charlie trying to use me to replace a girlfriend he lost before all this? Does it even matter if that is the case? We’re not actually seeing each other, not like Martha thinks.

  “I’m not trying to upset you. I don’t even mind that you both are spending time together, just please think this through before you go too far. You’re going to be spending a lot of time together and a breakup is not something that is a nice thing to go through, especially when you still have to live together.”

  “Okay, we can slow things down,” I agree easily, now feeling distracted.

  No, it shouldn’t matter Charlie is grieving over the loss of his girlfriend, but my heart still sinks a little knowing the connection and attraction I’m feeling towards him is one sided. It does make sense. I have these strange instincts telling me to trust Charlie and obviously some suppressed dreams guiding my feelings along. Charlie doesn’t have that happening to him. Martha may be referring to a non-existent physical relationship, but I do know I’m feeling some real feelings mixed up with all the confusion.

  “Good. Now are you sure there isn’t anything you want to ask me? I noticed the other night when Rose and Charlie were asking how their families have handled their being taken you never asked about your Mom. Why is that?”

  “I’m not sure I want to know how she is handling it,” I admit.

  “I think not knowing will merely cause more anxiety and pain the longer you leave it. She is okay, Zoe. The cameras were disabled out in front of the Police Station you were grabbed from. No one witnessed you being taken. They are cautiously handling your case as a possible kidnapping, but the feeling from the Police is that you’ve likely run away. Your Mom understands that you’ve gone through a huge trauma. She is strong, she will survive this.”

  “What about Dana’s family? Drew? How are they?”

  “I’m not sure how they are, but I’m sure they are still grieving the loss of their daughter and girlfriend.”

  “Has her funeral happened yet?”

  “No, an autopsy was completed yesterday so, once her body is released, that process will begin.”

  “I guess I shouldn’t even bother asking if I can go.”

  “I’m sorry, Zoe, it’s just not safe.”

  Tears rush down my face. I’m completely safe because no one will be trying to kill any of us, they’re all dead now. Of course I can’t say that to Martha because they can’t know what really happened and, since they’re chasing a leak that doesn’t exist, we’ll be stuck in here forever.

  “Have you had any future dreams lately?”

  “No, I don’t have them very often.”

  “Well, once we can bring in some experts, we can begin changing that.”

  “I don’t like my dreams.”

  “We’ll help you to be able to control them, to see the whole picture. Think of a movie, that is what your dreams are. Simply imagine you have a remote control with the power to pause, zoom in, replay and even move about to wherever you want. Imagine the power to change what you’re seeing. We can help you achieve that.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “We have the best of the best working on this. We can achieve great things when great minds come together. Trust me.” Martha smiles sweetly and I can see straight through it.

  “Can we go outside?”

  Martha looks out my window. “It’s raining out there, Zoe.”

  “I know, this place is so stuffy, though.”

  “I’ll speak to Stanley about it, but I don’t think it’ll be possible.”

  “Why not?”

  “We want to keep you safe. I
n these rooms you’re safe.”

  I nod, but already my mind is drifting away from this conversation.

  “You should try to rest up, Zoe; you look tired.” Martha stands up from my bed and places her hand on my shoulder. I resist the urge to shrug it off. “And remember I’m always here if you need someone to talk to.”

  “Thanks,” I mutter, knowing I sound insincere and not really caring.

  Martha leaves my room then and I glance back at the bed. I picture Drew lying there, talking to Charlie and me, begging us to get away from this place. Did he really believe we could do it? That we can escape this place? Disappear when we make it out of here? Because I think this is going to be a lot harder than any of us are ready for.