The next morning, Nick woke up from his slumber to find Crystal's eyes open.
"Crystal!" he exclaimed, relieved. No reaction from her. He was shocked when he looked into her face and saw the dead eyes. They were completely lifeless. It just made him want to cry for her.
"Crystal," he whispered again. He reached over and grabbed one of her hands. "How do you feel, sweetie?"
She just stared at the ceiling, unblinking, her eyes vacant. "Crystal?" he said, in a more fearful voice. "Answer me!" But Crystal did not respond. For a panicky second, he thought that she was dead, but then he thought that couldn't be because her chest was falling and rising.
"I'm gonna go call a doctor, okay, hon?" Nick let go of her hand and jogged out of the room. He approached the nurses' station. The nurse on duty looked up at him with a smile.
"Yes, may I help you?" she asked pleasantly.
"Yeah, the patient in room 428 is not responding to anything I say. I mean, her eyes are open, but she doesn't move or do anything," Nick explained, his heart beating fast. The nurse nodded.
"I will contact Dr. Martin immediately. He will take a look at her. He was supposed to go in to see her in an hour anyway, but I'll call him now." The nurse picked up the phone, dialed a number, and waited for the Dr. Martin's secretary to pick up.
"Yes, Ms. Jensen, can you please tell Dr. Martin that..." the nurse quickly typed something on the computer. "That Ms. Marshal has woken up but is not responding to any stimulus...Yes. Okay. Thank you, Ms. Jensen." The nurse hung up the phone and looked up at Nick. "Dr. Martin will be down as soon as possible."
"Thanks." Nick turned from the station and walked back to Crystal's room. He waited for Dr. Martin, who came a few minutes later.
"Mr. Carter, how are you this morning?" Dr. Martin asked. He approached the bed, and picked up Crystal's hands to take her pulse. He checked her eyes. After a few minutes, Dr. Martin sighed.
"What? What's wrong with her?" Nick demanded.
"Let's go outside," Dr. Martin said. They both exited the room and stood right outside the door.
"She's suffering from post-traumatic shock. Apparently, she felt everything that was being done to her, even though I suspect she was unconcious. I think her subconscience knew. It probably recognized the fear and pain," Dr. Martin stated.
"How long will she stay this way?" Nick asked.
"Time varies according to the amount of trauma that she suffered. It could be hours, days, weeks, even months, sometimes years," Dr. Martin said. Nick slumped down, unable to suppress the tears that started to flow down his cheek.
"But she can hear you. Most of the people that come out of the trauma have claimed that they heard when others talked to them. So I encourage that you do the same. It could help her to recover sooner."
"Thank you, Doctor," Nick said.
"I'll be back to check up on her in a few hours." The doctor walked away, and Nick reentered the room. He sat back down on the chair that he was used before. He grabbed her hand again.
"Crystal...please, baby, snap out of it. I promised you that I won't let your father hurt you again. Please come back to me. We can be happy together, you hear me? We'll skip this town and make our own lives. As soon as you recover, I'm taking you out of here. Well, we'll have to sneak into our houses for clothes and money, but that's all. Then we can leave." Nick waited for a reaction, but there was none.
"Sweetie, please come out of it. We'll be happy together, I promise. Please..." he pleaded, his eyes red from crying. His stomach growled. "Hey, I'll be right back, okay? I'm very hungry, so I'm gonna go get something to eat, but I'll be right back, I promise," Nick said, standing up. He placed a soft kiss on her hand before putting it back on her bed, and walking out the room in search of the cafeteria.
"Crystal, I'm so sorry. I should have never left you alone..."
"I love you so much, Crys. I'm hurting so much for you right now, you wouldn't imagine."
"I promise you that as long as I live, Eric Marshal will never lay a finger on you again. I swear..."
"I promise you that as long as I live, Eric Marshal will never lay a finger on you again. I swear..."
"I promise..."
"...Never lay a finger on you again..."
"I promise..."
"...Eric Marshal will never lay a finger on you again..."
Crystal gasped and sat straight up on her bed. She looked around, and realized that she was in the hospital.
"What were all those thoughts about?" she asked herself. Suddenly she felt pain everywhere. She cried out. She laid back down on her bed, the pain permeating her whole body. Her head felt as if it had been smashed in, her body beaten to death...
"Wait, isn't that what happened?" she asked. She struggled to remember last night's events, and they slowly came back to her. She had felt Eric kicking her over and over again, the fear that she wasn't going to make it.
"Oh, God," she choked out. Tears welled up in her eyes and freely ran down her cheeks. She suddenly felt very tired. Very very tired...She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Chapter 15
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