Chapter 13

Casey’s POV

The smell was what caused me to wake up. All the chemicals and disinfectants were irritating my nose.

My eyes fluttered open and I became aware that I was in a hospital room. My heart surged with relief, when I recalled that I had been rescued.

Beside me, Dan was sleeping peacefully in one of those ugly hospital chairs. My stomach was throbbing painfully and I felt a little bit dizzy.

“Dan,” I croaked, my voice barely above a whisper.

His eyes shot open and he spun to face me. His eyes were full of concern and he stroked a bit of hair away from my face.

“You don’t know how happy I am to see you awake,” he mumbled. I questioned him with my eyes, as I couldn’t bear to speak again.

“You’ve been in a coma for two days,” he said.

Wow! Just then, a doctor rushed into my room.

“Ah, I see you’re awake. This is great news. I’m sure your friend here told you that you’ve been out for two days. Your Mum has been very worried,” He exclaimed, coming over to my bed and checking the monitor.

Dan walked towards the door and mouths to me, “I’ll speak to you later.”

I try to wave, but fail when I realise there is many tubes stuck into my arm.

“Can you get…..Mum,” I whisper to the doctor.

He nods and walks out of the room and I am left alone.

***

I am sharing the room with nobody, which was unusual, as I thought I would have been in stationed in ICU. I gently lift my sheet up, revealing my stomach. A small gasp left my mouth as I stared in horror at my belly.

There was a lot of stitches and scab surrounding my knife wounds. I would never be able to wear a bikini again! A silent tear strolled down my cheek at the thought. What would everyone else think of my new, ugly stomach? A nurse entered my room, and I scrambled to pull up my sheet.

“Don’t worry, hun. You are one of the prettiest girls I have ever seen, don’t let a scarred stomach bring your self-esteem down,” she observed.

She hustled about my room, adjusting things here and there. After a while, she left my room and in came Mum. She rushed over to me and showered me in kisses.

“My baby,” she breathed.

This was the first time I had seen my Mum in a few months, and I was overcome with emotion.

“Mummy, I missed you,” I whispered.

A single tear rolled down her cheek and she smiled broadly at me. She stood up and straightened her skirt and sat down beside me. We sat there for a while, not saying a word. We were just enjoying each other’s company.

Finally, Mum spoke.

“I guess I should explain, hey?” I remembered seeing her in that photo with Scar, so I nodded.

“This may take a while,” she warned but I nodded my head for her to go on.

She took a deep breath and started telling the story.

“When I met your father, I thought he was the most wonderful man alive. He was sweet, caring; everything a girl would dream of. When he asked me to marry him, I was overjoyed.” She paused; I had heard this bit of the story all before.

“Now this is where the story changes, Casey. I have to admit you have never heard the real story.”

I gaped at her, all these years she had told me the same, sad story over again and it was lies! What if I was adopted? More to the fact, what if my Dad wasn’t dead?!

All these thoughts were running through my head until Mum cleared her throat.

“We got married and we had you. But then things turned bad. Your father and I started fighting, simple bickering at first, but then it turned violent. It got to the stage where he left me, all alone with you. He set off, who knows where. I am getting too far ahead of myself, as I’ve left out a small detail. He took your twin sister with you as well,” she paused again, not meeting my eye.

How could my own Mum not tell me I had a twin sister?