(Tabina’s sleeping…. Shh)
Tabina could hear the soft hum of an AC somewhere off in the distance… and it slowly became closer and closer as she felt herself coming back.
“Hmnn…”
She opened her eyes a little, seeing a room lit by a lamp. At a desk in front of her, but on the other side of the room, was a blond girl sleeping over a mess of books.
(Karla)
Tabina’s eyes shot open and she sat up on the bed, feeling the sleeves of the pajama top she was wearing fall over her fingers. She pulled back the sleeves and saw wraps from her wrists to her middle lower arm. “What happened…?” she asked herself quietly, examining the bandages.
“You’re awake.”
Tabina jumped some and turned her head to the girl, seeing her sitting up in the chair and looking over her shoulder. She said nothing back, but pulled the covers up a little closer to her. Is she with them too? What if something else happens? Countless worries ran through Tabina’s mind. The girl must have sensed her fear and she smiled warmly, turning in her chair so that she was facing Tabina. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you in any way. I’m Karla,” she added with a nod in greeting.
“Ta-Tabina,” she said quietly, still not pulling the covers away from her and not letting her eyes off Karla. “Where…. W-Where am I?”
“My room. My mom and cousin brought you in here after you passed out and got you out of the wet clothes…. Sorry if the PJs are too big. Mine are in the wash and Mira’s were the only ones we could get at the time. And the bandages on your wrists might be annoying, but you got cut up by those handcuffs pretty bad… And your foot’s going to have the be wrapped like that for a while. Mom thinks you might have broken a toe or two because it was all swollen and it didn’t look so hot. That, and a few more kicks out of the door and it would’ve split into pieces.”
Tabina looked at her before throwing the blanket off her and seeing her foot wrapped up in soft wraps like a cast would be wrapped. Why didn’t I even feel it sooner…? “I hope you don’t mind, but my mom gave you some medicine,” Karla said to Tabina. “You were starting to run a fever and add that with the pain and you would have been a lot worse off. It’s numb right now, but sorry to say that you’re going to feel it soon enough.”
“Oh… That’s fine,” was all Tabina said, putting the blanket back over her foot. “Thank you,” she said after a moment. “For everything I mean.” She saw Karla smile and Tabina gave a very faint one back, looking to the bed she had been sleeping on. Shoot… She saw some of the dye in her hair on the pillow a little. Tabina took a fraction of her hair and looked at it, seeing some of the dye mixed in with her natural color. “It… It will wash off of the pillow,” Tabina said to Karla quietly.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been meaning to ask that… About what went on in Sean’s apartment and-”
Karla cut herself off seeing Tabina tense up at Sean’s name.
“Sorry... You just got up and I guess you don’t really need to be interrogated right now. If you want, you can shower off and get that stuff out of your hair. It’s fine to unwrap the bandages on your wrists to get off some of the blood from the wounds. They haven’t really closed yet, but don’t take off what’s off your foot okay?”
Tabina didn’t say anything at first, but kept her gaze on Karla. Could she really trust her? Sean was a big blow… And Johnus coming in like that didn’t really help her out either with trusting people she just met… But, something would’ve gone wrong by now right?
“Okay… That sounds good, thanks,” Tabina said with a small smile and a nod.
Karla smiled back and stood from her chair. Tabina saw she was in a uniform, something along the lines of a maid’s costume. “My mom runs ‘Gregerson’s Cleaning service,” Karla explained, noticing Tabina looking at the outfit. “I help there after school… I forgot to change out of my uniform though.” With an apologetic smile she walked to the right side of the side of the room and opened the door. “Towels are under the sink and feel free to use the shampoo and all. I’ll tell mom you’re awake and we can get something cooking… I heard your stomach growl in your sleep.”
With a small laugh, Karla left the room and left Tabina sitting on the bed.
“This day… has been weird,” she said to herself, slowly getting up from the bed and making her way to the bathroom.
