Open Wounds by Camille Taylor

the ambulance approached and the pungent scent of urine and the garbage in the alley filled her nostrils, making her want to gag.
    Her body was jostled as someone lifted her into a vehicle, the blue and red flashing lights aggravating her eyes. She moaned as needles were shoved into her skin. Instantly she felt better, her mind and body weightlessly soaring through the sky. She let the sensation take over her body. Soon her pain dissipated, leaving only sweet pleasure as the morphine kicked in.
    She felt serene until hands touched her body and head and she started struggling groggily. When the hands restrained her, she screamed. The words tumbled out of her mouth but as she heard them sounding far in the distance, they made no sense to her, just a bunch of gibberish. She dug her fingernails into the nearest hand and was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath.
    “Calm down, miss. We’re here to help you. You’ve been hurt and we can’t heal you if you don’t stop moving,” a voice said, a moment before her hands were bound to the stretcher.
    “Stop, please, no more,” she screamed as she bucked wildly.
    “Shhh, miss…”
    Kellie felt a soothing hand on her face and hair. She bit down on her lower lip as a sharp stab of another syringe penetrated her skin. Tears rolled down her cheeks as her body relaxed without her permission. Her eyelids grew heavy and drifted shut as her racing heartbeat slowed.
    “She’s lucky to be alive, poor girl,” she heard someone say.
    “I don’t think she’ll see it that way when she regains consciousness,” another voice, filled with sympathy and compassion, replied.
     
    Kellie rolled over in her bed, unable to stop the flood of memories.
     
    She awoke when someone drew near while she lay vulnerable in the hospital bed.
    Her eyes opened wide in terror and she almost screamed at the intruder, feeling vulnerable as she lay in the hospital bed, her mind and body broken.
    “Don’t touch me!”
    Surprise etched into Mia’s mocha tanned face.
    “I’m sorry,” she said hastily, her gaze wandering up and down Kellie’s prone figure lying beneath the light muslin hospital sheet.
    Deep down, she knew she should apologise. Her friend had done nothing wrong, had in fact only tried to comfort and support her. But she couldn’t find the words or the energy to take the bite away from her actions, and didn’t care to do so.
    Her body felt tender all over, her head pounding, and she could feel something wrapped around her crown. She moved her hand towards her head and the needle in her hand pinched as it tugged against her IV. She winced at the new pain as she touched the white gauze bandage protecting her head.
    Kellie turned away from the now blurry face, her hands clenched into fists as sobs welled in her throat and her heart constricted in her chest.
    “Kellie,” Amelia said softly.
    Another voice spoke her name, too. It was familiar yet she couldn’t place it. The deep voice belonged to a man and her brain screamed at her not to open her eyes, but she couldn’t help herself. As if she no longer had control over them, they opened and she stared into the cruel face of her attacker.
    She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out as he approached her with a deadly calm demeanour, reaching out towards her as he prepared to finish the job. She struggled to stand, her body weighing her down so she couldn’t move.
     
    She bucked wildly on the bed, willing herself to wake up as in her mind she felt him touch her.
    “No, no, no, no,” she whimpered.
    Please, Kellie, wake up…wake up now , she told herself, knowing she was in the midst of a nightmare.
     
    She coughed as huge hands caught hold of her throat and squeezed. She reached up to hold onto his hands as she fought him with everything she had. Her nails dug deep into his skin and blood dripped out from the small half-moons she left there.
    The world spun around her and she could smell smoke and body odour. Not the normal