Teen Ink

Chapter 1

I wonder if they’ve read the note yet. I hope they understand why I—what’s that smell? It smells like laundry detergent, and my eyes feel like they’ve been glued shut. Why can’t I open them? If I’m in heaven or wherever else I’m supposed to be, why can’t I open my eyes? The smell of clean sheets and antibiotics hits my nose. My eyes shoot open. Wow, bad idea. Pain strikes my pupils like lightning.
“She’s up! She’s up! Oh, honey. Why would you do this?”
I hear sobbing and my mother’s voice, but I can’t sit up.
“Mom?” I croak as loud as I can, but it comes out barely more than a whisper. I grunt and groan as I try to sit up, but it’s no use. It’s like I’m in a full-body cast.
“No, not yet. Just lay down for now. You’ll be able to get up in a couple hours,” an unfamiliar voice says.
I don’t listen. I still try to sit up, but it’s a fight I can’t win. So instead I close my eyes angrily and curse in my head. I’m about to ask the doctor to let me get up when I hear footsteps going in the direction opposite from me. I feel a sharp pain for a second in my left wrist, and then everything goes black.