"She's going into shock," a distant voice said. "She needs more blood" another called.

Tired. Too...tired.

Just let me...sleep.

Nausea filled my stomach and throat.

An uncomfortable darkness took me.

~~~

The first thing I saw waking up was light. Bright and blinding, fingers were holding my left eye open.

"Lynette?" a stifled voice said from a woman. "Lynette, can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me."

I groaned, squeezing my left hand. "That's, very good Lynette. I need you to open your yes for me."

Open my eyes. But that meant lights and brightness. My head hurt just thinking of that. I scrunched my face and immediately regretted it. Pain shot through my nose and the stars returned in my vision.

"Careful, easy now. Open your eyes and look at me" she said soothingly.

Slowly opening my eyes, I saw that I was in a small, grey hospital room. Dimly lit except for a light attached to the wall above my head. To my right was a clear bag of saline hanging from a metal pole and a heart monitor beeping away steadily. Other assortments of wires and chords were connected to machines and to me. Against the wall were three chairs under a window that opened to a high rise view of the city. The sun was low in the sky casting an orange hue to the city skyline. A plain painting of various blue shapes hung from the wall across from my bed. To my left was a door to the room In front of me was a woman.

"Lynette, my name is Sam. Do you know where you are?" she said. She had rich cocoa skin and a mess of beautiful curls atop her head. Complimenting her sharp nose were her cat-like copper eyes looking me over in concern.

"H-hospital?" I replied weakly.

"That's right. Do you know your full name?"

"Lynette Noelle Auclair," my mouth felt sticky and tasted stale. Suddenly, I launched up from the pillow propped against my back. "What-where-how..?" I stuttered, stumbling over my words.

"Hey-hey. It's okay. Everything is going to be fine. Take a deep breath and relax."

The shaky inhale I took did nothing to calm me. "How did I get here?"

She looked uncomfortable, but eventually said, "911 got a call at about 1 AM last night. From a man who runs a club downtown," She looked at me to judge my facial expression, but I held her stare. Sighing, she continued, "He was taking out the trash when he found you and called. You were stabbed in your right kidney. They had to completely remove it. You also have a broken nose along with a few...other bruises." She looked down.

I looked down at my hands and noticed them. Two dark bruises wrapped around my wrists.

The men. Holding me down. Constricting me.

Tears sprang to my eyes and the nausea returned. Clamping a hand over my mouth, I looked around for a garbage can to be sick in. Sam was one step ahead and handed me a wastebasket from next to her.

She rubbed my back and soothed me as I threw up. "It's alright. You're okay. You're safe now, honey. Just let it all out."

"They-they tried t-" I cracked out in a sob. Snot and spit dripped from my face. I couldn't finish the sentence, too mortified to think of that thought coherently.

"Shhh, it's okay. You're okay. They're not here."

I replayed the sentence over and over in my head to calm the nerves I had left. They're not here. They're not here. They're not here.

I cried on.