Lullaby | Brahms Heelshire |

Chapter 23

Brahms will watch you through the night

I woke up to the sound of familiar voices. My body ached and my head pounded. The smell of sterile clean hospital attacked my nose. I almost forgot what had happened while I was asleep. I grimaced, wishing desperately that I could sleep again to escape my reality.  The voices picked up as I was becoming more awake, and I began to hear what they were saying.

            "I cant believe this has happened to her." Were they talking about me?

            "She will be okay. She is a strong girl." I recognized the voice instantly because it sounded like my own. Jen had finally arrived. "We were so worried about her." Said a deep voice. Who was that? Was it my dad? Were my parents here? I fluttered my eyes open only to be blinded by the bright lights on the ceiling. "She is waking up." I heard someone say. Come on Danny. Open your eyes. I used all the strength I had and forced them open.

            Everything looked blurry but the room slowly came into focus. Familiar faces surrounded my bed. My parents were in fact there, squeezing each others hands and Jen stood next to detective Marchant. The detective was wearing the same suit from yesterday and had dark circles under his eyes. Had he stayed with me the whole night?

            "Danielle my darling girl!" My mom said rushing over to my side and throwing her arms around me. "Mom? Dad?" I asked. My dad stepped forward and put his arm around my mother who had began to sob. "Yes sweetheart, we are here." I stared at them very confused. "How..."

            "We flew in this morning." Jen answered. "As soon as we received the call from detective Marchant, we found plane tickets and flew here as soon as we could." Her normally green eyes looked a little red. Had she been crying? I turned to study my parents faces and found that they all had. I felt a pang of sympathy for not wanting to let my parents know what happened to me.

            I turned back to Jen. "Why were you with mom and dad?" I asked confused. My sweet sister smiled at me. "I was on a holiday. I'm so sorry we couldn't get here sooner. We wanted to be here for you. You must have been so scared." She said stroking my hair. My mom nodded in agreement. "Thank goodness that detective Marchant was assigned to your case." She then turned to the detective. "Thank you so much for staying with her the whole night. You are so sweet." She said with fresh tears spilling out of her eyes. The detective smiled graciously at my mom. "It was the least I could do." He really stayed with me the whole night? I turned my head slightly so I was facing him better. He looked so tired. "You didn't have to stay." I said hoping that I wasn't a burden on him. He shook his head "No really Danielle, I am off today anyway. It was just fine." He smiled. That amount of kindness he showed me almost made me want to cry. It was really comforting to know that he was with me the whole time. "Thank you." I said and tried to form a smile.

            Just then a blonde woman entered the room wearing a light blue nurses uniform. "Hello Danielle, my name is Tiffiny. How are you doing this afternoon?" After noon? Was it really afternoon? "I am doing well thank you." I said as chipper as I could. "That's great!" She said then looked down at her clipboard "Looks like we need to do a few more checks on you and then you are good to go home!" Home. Brahms! How could I forget about Brahms? If my parents were coming home with me then I wouldn't get to see him! My heart ached at the thought. I needed my Brahms.

            A doctor followed the nurse in and gave all of us a warm smile. "Looks like miss Danielle is awake." He said walking over to me. "Are you ready to go home?"

         "More than you can imagine" I said before I could stop myself. The doctor just chuckled. "Don't worry. We will get you out of here soon." I cringed at his words. Even soon wouldn't be enough to see Brahms.