Innocent Pains Unbelievable Reality Kim struggled with a scream caught in her throat, images of the undying demonic May hovered before her eyes and she clenched at the sheets tossing and turning as she tried to fight off the nightmares. She startled awake drenched in a damp sweat. Her eyes darted around to find herself in the middle of a large room filled with many other beds similar to the one she sat upon, all small and covered in white sheets. There was a line of long tall windows above each bed and she would see a multitude of trees outside and the early morning sun shone through their leaves. Next to her bed, sitting in a hard backed chair, slept Natalie in a black t-shirt and jeans. Kim rubbed her eyes in disbelief. "Na... Natalie???" She whispered, almost afraid that if she were to awaken the girl the dream would end. "Unnn...?" Natalie's eyes opened a crack and peered around. They snapped opened the moment they fell on the red head's face, "Kimberly?!? You're awake!!!" Natalie sat upright. "It really is you this time." Kim continued to stare at her friend in astonishment, "I mean... I'm not dreaming again, am I?" She stammered. "No," Natalie leaned closer to the girl, "This is no longer a dream." She gave the girl a small smile. Tears formed in the corners of Kim's eyes, "I can't believe it is really you." She shakily reached out a hand and touched Natalie's cheek then noticed a dark bruise under the girl's eye. Question began to form in her head only to be swept away as Natalie suddenly taking her hand in her's. "I told you. No more dreams." Natalie squeezed Kim's hand tightly. "OH Natalie!!!" Kim suddenly jumped forward and wrapped her arms around the girl, "I've missed you so much." She hugged Natalie so hard that she nearly fell out of the bed. "Wah there girl." Natalie caught Kim and helped her back into the bed, "You have to be careful." "Is Jenn here?" Kim glanced around so excitedly that she ignored her friends concerns. Her eyes fell on Jenn sleeping soundly in the bed across from her, "Jenn!!! Is she alright?" She jumped to her feet and was about to run the other side of the bed when Natalie tightened her grip on her hand. "I would like to ask that same question to you." Natalie pulled Kim back to her, turned her around and looked her in the eye, "What about you?" Her voice was calm, yet held an edge nevertheless, "How are you feeling?" Kimberly forced herself to smile, "I'm fine. Really!" "Is that so?" Natalie set her blue eyes on Kimberly's. Kim felt nervous under Natalie's penetrating gaze. Those where not the same eyes she remembered, "Uhhh.. Of course..." She stammered, nervously pulling on her nightgown and was surprised to find she was now in a hospital gown. Natalie stood up from the chair and pulled the girl closer so they were almost nose-to-nose and stared the girl in the eyes. Kim noticed that although Natalie was younger her eyes showed that she had grown a lot since they last met, "Don't lie to me Kim. You were never good at it so don't even try." Natalie said coldly. Kim's fake smile quivered, "I'm perfect! Couldn't be be-" before she could finish her sentence Natalie grabbed Kim's gown and pulled it over the girl's head, "Eeep!" Kimberly wrapped her arms around her body to cover her bandaged chest. Blood could be seen seeping through the damp wrappings near her shoulder, along with the numerous bruises, cuts and blood that covered her arms, legs and stomach. Natalie blinked for a moment in disbelief, trembling as she tried to keep herself calm, "LOOK AT YOU!!" Anger could be heard in her voice, "Here you're worried about your friend, and you're worse off than she is. Black eye, cut, bruised... and... and THIS!" She gestured at Kimberly's bandages. Kimberly cringed at the sound of Natalie's voice "I... I'm sorry." her voice came out in a quivering whispered. Natalie watched as the girl began to shake and Nat closed her eyes, forcing her anger away. She could no more blame Kim anymore then she could blame herself for not being there for the girl. She opened her eyes and let out a sigh. She watched the redhead she had searched for trembling with fear. Nat placed a hand under the her friend's chin, raising it so the redhead would have to look her in the eyes, "Listen." Kim pulled away only to have Natalie take a firmer grip on her chin, forcing Kim to look at her, "Look at me!" Natalie snapped, scaring the girl so badly that she had to respond to the command, "I'm sorry I yelled," Nat said softly, "I was just so worried about you," She wiped one for the tears off the girl's cheek with her other hand, "Please don't cry." Kimberly wiped at her tears with the back of her hands, "I'm sorry... I..." she said between sniffles. "No, I should be apologizing," Natalie said softly, as she hugged Kim closely to her body. "Now isn't this a touching sight." A voice said from the other side of the room. The girls turned to see a short young girl, in her early teens that the very least, with very short, scruffy black hair and a white lab coat that was a little to big for her approached the girls, "Now Nat, you know to keep things PG in the clinic." She said with a sly grin. Natalie blushed and handed Kim her gown, "It is nothing like that, Amy" She protested, "I was just checking her wounds." "Well, I'm the specialist so it will be my place to say." She eyed Kim as the girl frantically tried to pull on the gown, "You will not be needing that." Her grin broadened. Embarrassed, Kim stopped with her head and one arm in the nightgown, "I won't?" She inquired in confusion, and embarrassment. The girl could not have been over sixteen years old. How could she possibly be a specialist in anything, Kim thought. Kim glanced at Natalie in search of some kind of answer only to get a shrug from the girl and nervously Kim again removed the gown. "Good now come sit down." Amy requested patting on the bed. Kim did as she was told and sat as still as possible as Amy examined the girl, "I'm guessing you think it is weird for someone my age to be looking you over, am I right?" She asked while pulling a pen light from her pocket. "Sort of...." Kim admitted tensely, her eyes darting from the girl to Natalie. "They decided it would be best if the girl's here were taken care of by someone similar to them." Amy said while shining the light in Kim's eye, "and I am qualified. My parents had me studying a lot of medical information while I was in school. Guess they wanted me to become a doctor." She shut off the light and shrugged. "Are your parents here?" Kim asked curiously. "No, I'm alone like the rest of you." Amy admitted nonchalantly. "Alone?" Kim blinked, "Everyone here is alone?" "Yeah," Natalie said, gazing out a window, "Pretty much everyone at the academy is on their own." "Enough about us, “Amy pulled a small note pad from her pocket, "Can you tell us how you got those bruises?" She asked cautiously. Kim wrapped her arms around her stomach and looked down at the ground, "I..." She rubbed the side of her head with the palm of her hand, "I can't remember." Amy set her hand on the girl's shoulder, "It's alright." She gave Kim a warm smile, "Most of us here have missing memories." She stood up, "Listen, I need to take some blood and replace those damp bandaged, but afterwards why don't you and Natalie go out for a bite to eat at the mall. How does that sound?" "Sounds good to me." Natalie smiled, "We can also get you a nice dress too." Kim slowly nodded. She didn't know what to think anymore. ***** To be Continued...
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