When I woke, I wondered if I'd gone back in time to when I was in the hospital two years ago. Familiar white walls greeted my vision, and the familiar sound of mechanical beeping met my ears. The same slightly medicinal smell was in the air, as well as the familiar cooler temperatures, making me grateful for the blanket under which I lay.
But there were some differences which alerted me to the fact that this was actually the present day; I had a mask over my face, and when I ran my right foot over my left leg, I felt nothing.
I grimaced. Obviously my left foot had been too far gone to save, and though I was saddened at losing it, I counted it a small loss in light of the fact that somehow, I was still alive.
But I had no recollection of what had happened after I passed out, and though I didn't really want to know, I figured getting some answers would be a good thing. I just hoped that, this time around, the nurses would actually be willing to talk to me. With that thought, I let my eyes drift closed, letting a much more peaceful rest claim me.
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I woke up a few hours later to a disturbance out in the hall, and I strained my ears, suddenly fearful. Sure enough, I heard Uncle Ben's voice raised in tones of unmistakable anger, and I quickly shut my eyes, hoping he wouldn't come to my bedside. The last thing I needed was another lecture.
"Sir, that's enough," another male voice interjected. "Your niece needs her rest. She hasn't woken up yet, and I don't intend for her recovery to be set back by further abuse."
"My niece does not deserve rest," Uncle Ben said harshly. "She needs to face discipline for what she said at my daughter's party."
"Your daughter attacked her without provocation," the other man replied. "There are plenty of witnesses who can attest to that. I suggest you leave now, unless you wish to join your daughter behind bars for being a public nuisance."
"My daughter had every right to deliver justice for what my niece said about her," Uncle Ben insisted. "What my niece got was no more than what she deserved."
I winced. I knew I'd probably gone too far in what I'd said, but in all honesty, I'd been about fed up with being forced to hide Sarah's abuse. And to hear that Uncle Ben still didn't want to believe she was the instigator... It was almost too much, and though I longed to call him out, I knew it was best not to. There was no telling what he'd do in his current state. But I did take comfort from the fact that Sarah was behind bars. I only wished Uncle Ben was right there with her.
"Sir, you need to leave," the other man said sternly. "You were not permitted to come to the hospital in the first place, and I'm going to have words with whoever let you in. And unless you wish to leave in handcuffs, I suggest you take the path of least resistance."
"No," Uncle Ben said coldly. "I'm not leaving until my niece is released."
"Charlie will not be released for some time," the other man - presumably a doctor - replied. "Her condition remains critical, and I will not permit you to interfere in her care."
"Critical means nothing," Uncle Ben said. "You need to tell me what is wrong. Or what you think is wrong."
"Her medical files remain confidential," the doctor said. "I will not be discussing them with you."
"You will, or I will make sure you never work again," Uncle Ben warned.
I tensed as footsteps approached my bed, and I had to force myself to relax. I didn't want Uncle Ben knowing I actually had woken up, and I made myself as calm as possible, fully aware of his eyes on me. Rather than focusing on him, I instead focused on Jesse, and the way he'd held me after I'd come to. I knew I ought not to be thinking about him, but he was, right at this time, the only memory I had that could keep me calm.
"She needs to come home," Uncle Ben said at last. "I don't care what you believe; my niece is not as injured as you claim her to be. If you won't release her, I'll get the courts involved."
"Good luck," the doctor said coldly. "No judge will grant you such an order, and considering you and your daughter are under investigation, there is even less chance of any judge being heartless enough to do so."
More footsteps approached, and another man spoke up. "Sir, you need to come with me. You have been trespassed from the hospital."
I felt the tension in the air, and despite myself, a little of it crept into my body. This proved to be my undoing; the next thing I knew, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Open your eyes, Charlotte," Uncle Ben ordered, and I had no choice to obey, wincing as I looked up at him. "You have disgraced your pack long enough," he said coldly. "Sarah is behind bars because of you, and you are going to be paying for what you did for a very long time."
I glared at him, but managed to keep myself under control. "Leave me alone," I said as calmly as I could manage. "You've already been told to leave, so please, just go."
Uncle Ben shook his head. "You will be coming home," he told me. "Either by your own choice or by force."
"I can't believe you'd think I'd ever go home willingly," I said in disbelief. "How on earth can you still think I'm the monster when it's your daughter who's been systematically abusing me ever since Dad died?"
"That doesn't matter," Uncle Ben said. "Either by your own will, or by force. It's up to you."
"I'd rather be homeless on the street," I said firmly.
Uncle Ben's eyebrows lifted. "No," he said. "You won't escape justice that easily."
The security guard intervened at that point. "That's enough," he said. "Sir, step away from the patient."
"Or what?" Uncle Ben chuckled. "I have the power right now. I can easily just ... well, need I spell it out for you? Charlotte is breathing quite well on her own. She doesn't need a life support machine."
I winced when I saw where his hand was resting. "Uncle Ben, don't," I pleaded. I knew better than anyone - save the doctors - that right now, that machine was the only thing keeping me alive. If Uncle Ben did do anything spiteful, it would be a race to save me, and Uncle Ben seemed capable of blocking the doctors' attempts to do so. It honestly boggled my mind why he'd be so cold, after everything Sarah had put me through, and not for the first time, I wondered if Sarah had used magic to get Uncle Ben to believe her. Then again, Uncle Ben was the sort of man to value family quite highly, and in a contest between Sarah and I, the immediate familial ties would outweigh the tie I had to him. "You've got no reason to do this," I added. "Just... please, leave me. I'm not going home, and you can't make me."
Uncle Ben shook his head. "I can," he said. "You are still a member of the Keystone pack."
"Not anymore," I said firmly. "I hearby renounce my ties to the Keystone pack, and thereby assume rogue status. By the Moon Goddess's power and light, I break all ties holding me to the Keystone pack, and I accept the role of rogue."
"I reject your words," Uncle Ben said angrily. "You are still a member of the Keystone pack, and you will not depart."
I stared him down. "I reject your rejection," I said.
Uncle Ben glared at me for several moments, before shaking his head. Usually such disputes didn't go past the second rejection, and I saw the anger and disappointment on Uncle Ben's face as he conceded. "Very well," he said. "I cast you out from the Keystone pack and sentence you to the life of a rogue. You are hereby banished from the packhouse, and you will go into the world with no possessions save for that which you can scrounge from the kindness of strangers. And you are hereby banished from the city of Bath. If you ever set foot within the city limits, you will face swift punishment."
I shrugged. "Fine by me," I said. "Just let me recover first, and then I'll get out of your fur."
"So be it," Uncle Ben said, finally removing his hand from the cord connecting my life support machine to the powerpoint. "From this day on, you will no longer be permitted to call me uncle. You are no longer my niece, and my promise of protection - which you so shamefully abused - is hereby withdrawn. Your mother will be informed of these matters, and I daresay she will be easily persuaded to disown you also."
I hadn't heard from Mum ever since that disastrous day two years ago, and I winced. But I figured that if she was so willing to believe her brother's lies, I didn't need her in my life. I did make a promise to myself, however, to not believe the worst. There was every chance she had no idea what was going on, and she probably feared the worst. I didn't want to reject her out of hand without hearing her side of the story. "Fine by me," I said again.
Uncle - no, just Ben, now - grunted and left, and I sighed, collapsing agains the pillows. "I know it's out of your pay grade," I said to anyone willing to listen, "but watch him. He's not going to let me go so easily, not when there's a chance he'll do whatever it takes to deliver me to Sarah's tender mercies."
"We'll do all we can," the doctor promised. "Now, get some rest, young lady. You've still got a very long recovery ahead of you. And don't worry. Your uncle - if I can still call him that - will not be permitted to return. Nor will he be permitted to send anyone on his behalf to try and 'retrieve' you against your will. And I will be talking to whoever let him in, and remind them that your life is at stake, and their actions could very well have put you in grave danger."
I let out a sigh of relief. "Nail them to the bloody wall if you can," I said fervently, as I finally let sleep take me once more.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3xGFHj1YQ
