Porcelian Lies

Preface

    Have you ever dreamed of running away?

    Hoping to get a moment of fresh air before her next class, Vanessa snuck out the side door of the old brick school building; she poked her head out first, making sure the security guard wasn't there before she took one large step outside and let out a large sigh of relief. But instead of the fresh air, she was hoping for, smoke filled her lungs as it burned her throat like a hot skillet. She covered her mouth as she tried coughing up the smoke that tried to consume her. It made her nose tingle as she glanced around looking for the cause of the stale air. Further ahead she saw the shadow of a man, hunched over on the stairs. Her eyes rolled as she walked over to him with the plan of reminding him, harshly, that smoking was prohibited. 

     As she grew closer, she thought she recognized the outfit the boy was wearing, “Michael?” She questioned squinting at the figure, “Is that you?” She heard a deep scuff rip through the air at the sound of the name. He raised both his hands in the air as if she caught him red-handed.

    “Yeah,” He sighed, lowering his hands to bring the cigarette back up to his lips. He took a huge drag and with a smile on his lips, his head fell back as the smoke cascaded into the air. “It’s only me.” 

    Vanessa’s eyebrow quirked at his response, her head turned back towards the door, she knew she should head back inside, class definitely started already. She only came out because she wanted fresh air, and she wasn’t going to get any here. Yet for some reason, she decided to take a seat next to him. He turned to look at her before he blew smoke in her face, with a smirk plastered on his face. Her nose wrinkled as it invaded her airway; she fanned the air trying not to cough once again. 

    “I wish you wouldn’t blow that right in my face.” Vanessa sneered glaring daggers at him, Michael's smirk fell and his only response was a quick shrugged. Once again, the thought of heading back inside came to the front of her mind, but she found herself curious about Michael; the boy she knew for most of her life, yet she didn't know anything about. "I didn’t realize you smoked.' She paused before crossing her legs, careful of her skirt, and leaned back onto her palms, "You don't look like the type." 

    “Well, nothing says badass like a button-up and khakis.” He let out a low chuckle as he flicked the ashes off the end. He heard the snickers building up beside him, but it wasn’t until he heard the snort that ripped through her body that he turned to look at her. Vanessa’s head was flung back in a fit of laughter as her arms wrapped around her torso trying to hold herself together. His eyebrow rose at her response, as it wasn't that funny, but maybe she needed a good laugh.

    Michael’s eyes widened at the sounds that were leaving her body; it wasn’t a pretty laugh. It kind of sounded like a horse cackling and once and a while she would snort like a three-hundred-pound pig. It wasn’t the laugh that he had heard her make in the hallway. Normally it would be a quiet giggle, with a soft hand pinching her nose and covering her mouth. A smile tugged at his lips when he realized that she was genuinely laughing; not the fake laugh which he had heard so many times before, but one that made her ribs hurt and her eyes tear up. It took a couple of minutes for Vanessa to calm herself down, but Michael smiled the whole time never looking away.

    “You’re pretty funny...when you actually talk,” Vanessa wheezed out, glancing over to meet his stare. She jumped a little when she realized that he had been watching her that entire time. She quickly turned her head away as she felt the heat rising to her face. Vanessa internally groaned, she was slightly annoyed with herself. She didn't mean for her laugh to slip out like that; what he said wasn't that funny... but the whole situation was perfectly ironic that she couldn't help it. While she knew nothing really about him, she knew his 'style' or what he was perceived as; he was seen as a rule follower, an uptight khakis kind of man. Yet there he was, messy hair, unbuttoned shirt, and a cigarette hanging from his lip. Completely disregarding everything that she thought she knew about him and it was just too much for her to hold inside. The snorts just shot through her nose as the cackling pained her ribs.

    She watched him take one last drag of the cigarette, almost wondering how it tasted. A smile pulled on her lips when she saw how relaxed his body was when the smoke filled his lungs. His head leaned back, blowing smoke up to the clouds, his eyes drifted shut, and a small smile on his face. His hair was messy as if he had just run his fingers through the tangled locks; unlike how he normally kept it, clean and slick. His face held more emotion than she had ever seen. To be honest with herself, this was the most that she had ever heard him speak, the longest that she, herself, had ever talked to him.

    “You never answered my question,” Michael said in a more serious tone as he stared into her green eyes, her face twisted up in confusion as she tried recalling a question. 

    “Huh?” Vanessa questioned raising one of her eyebrows at him. Her smile faded as her lips pursed into a pout as if she was missing a joke or something. 

    “Have you ever dreamed of running away?” Michael asked once more, with amusement lacing his words. His eyes filled with so much emotion, so much longing that she had never seen before. As if he was reaching for something, something that she was clearly missing.

    The question had thrown her back, and for a moment she didn’t know how to respond. It was such a random question, so out of the blue that her entire body shifted away from him. Vanessa’s eyes drifted down, tracing the cracks on the pavement not even giving the question any real thought. She had heard his words, but no immediate answer rang through her mind. Did she ever think about running away? Yes. But was her life ever so horrible that there was this burning desire to leave it all behind? ...No? Any normal person would be thrilled to be in her shoes, in her life, with her friends, her future...so why wasn't she? Why wasn't the answer coming to her that easily?

    “No.” Her answer was short, trying to hold back the now confusing thoughts that were circling her. There was a twinge of a chuckle in between the letters as if she was trying to cover up some of her awkwardness. 

    With a sigh, Michael slowly pushed himself off the ground, and pulled out another cigarette. Vanessa noted that this was the second one she had seen him smoke in the time that she was sitting next to him. So how many has he smoked overall? And why did it matter?  His eyes closed with bliss as he took in a deep breath allowing the smoke to invade his lungs then the smoke simply cascaded out of his nose. Vanessa didn’t know what else to do except throw out her hand. Whether it was for him to sit back down or if it was her silently asking him for help to stand, neither of them knew. 

     Michael raised an eyebrow at the action but made no attempt to accept the offering. He took one more drag before walking away. Yet before he was gone, she noticed that his eyes had changed; all of the emotion that he had carried in them was gone.  His eyes were doused in nothingness, just empty voids. As if her answer was wrong. Like he was reaching out, looking for her to understand something that she was refusing to acknowledge. Whether it was about him or herself, Vanessa sat there feeling this tremendous weight being lowered onto her shoulders. She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t move, it was like something was holding her in place forcing her to watch this boy walk away. She wanted to say or do something, but she didn’t. She wanted to spend more time with this quiet boy who sat alone in class and apparently smoked in the parking lot during his lunch. But, she couldn’t. She just sat there.

    He didn’t turn around and smile at her, nor did he turn around and walk back towards her, as she was hoping he would. She stared into his back waiting for something, anything, but her face fell as his feet began walking away, once again. His words, like smoke, cascaded into the air. 

     “Stay happy.”

                                                                                        ~*~*~*~*~*~

    Vanessa drove home in silence. The radio was left off allowing her thoughts to fill the emptiness. She couldn’t let what he said just simply vanish into thin air. His voice kept swimming throughout her mind making her jittery. It bothered her that she had never realized that he smoked before; not at the action itself, but more of the fact that she has none him for her entire life, and yet she completely misjudged his character. They have been in the same grade ever since the first grade, and yet that was the longest conversation that she had ever had with him and it was for less than 10 minutes.

    Vanessa slowly pressed down her foot on the break at a stoplight and scratched her head. She couldn’t help but the grimace that pulled at her lips when she realized that she knew almost nothing about the boy. She lightly pressed the gas when the light turned green, still not completely concentrating on driving. She let her body go into autopilot as her mind was plagued with guilt that she never got to know this man who basically grew up with her. What did she know about Michael Austin Henderson? She knew that they had the same middle name, she let out another nervous laugh when she realized that she didn't know that because they talked about it. But because that was that over the years every teacher they had together would bring it up. Boy, did that make her feel lousy... 

    Vanessa looked both ways before making a left turn onto an almost empty road. Her thought process never faltered as she tried to pull at any information she knew about this kid; she knew that his parents were rich. His father was a prosecutor and his mother was a surgeon for the local hospital. Apparently, they were both extremely good at what they did, hence all the money they had. That was probably why he was always wearing nice clothing; trying not to tarnish the family name, she mused. The thought of never being able to wear sweats to school made Vanessa cringe. She wondered if that is why he always looked so miserable. She wondered if he liked wearing those clothes or if his parents made him wear them. A deep sigh slipped through her lips as she tried to come up with more details about Michael. 

    She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice that the light ahead of her had flipped to yellow and she was barreling towards it, well over the speed limit. The quick change to red caught her eyes and she slammed down onto the break, her eyes wide and her breath ragged. Her tires screeched as her car lurched forward, but the old hunk of junk was able to come to a stop before the intersection. She put her forehead on the steering wheel and attempted to calm herself down, jeez, I need to pay more attention to the road. She took two deep breaths, trying to count to six; she was about to take another when a loud blaring of a horn caused her to jump out of her skin, the surprise shook her to the core. As if she needed more to add to her anxiety, she glanced behind her to see a large man screaming and making obscene gestures at her. Her heart dropped into her stomach while it felt like ants had dug their way under her skin, and were crawling all over her. She felt sickly cold ghost drape itself over her body as she tried to calm her breathing down. 

    When the light turned green, she slammed on the gas, causing her car to stall, to get away from the raging driver behind her. She hoped she could get away fast enough that she wouldn't have to deal with him, or hoped that he would just go around her. But it didn’t seem to work as the black SUV was riding her as close as it possibly could without hitting her. Vanessa grew nervous as the car seemed to follow her as she weaved through the lanes and through the other cars. She wheezed out a groan and glanced down the road for the nearest off-ramp. Her eyes spotted the Freehold exit and at the last second, she quickly whipped the wheel to make the right without any warning. She caught herself paying to anything or one that would listen that the car couldn't have followed her. Vanessa sucked air as she hesitantly glanced in her rearview mirror for the angry mam. She let out a jagged breath, that she didn’t realize she was holding when there was nothing but the empty road behind her. Her entire body relaxed, the fear still tingling her skin, but not as bad. Now she could concentrate on getting home safe.

    That calming feeling quickly faded when she realized she had no idea where she was. She told herself there was no reason to freak out, and she should just take the time to drive down the seemingly peaceful road to calm herself down before she got back onto any highway. She kept thinking about Michael as she drove down the serene road; large oak trees covered both sides of the road making it look like a scene out of the movie where the lovers would drive off into the sunset. Well, all except the hideous guardrails that line the road. 

    For a moment her thoughts were peaceful and calm as she thought about their conversation once again. But they quickly took a more depressing turn as she realized that she never saw Michael talk to anyone in school. Her nose wrinkled, as she felt disgusted with herself that she never reached out to talk to him. The guilt seemed to keep building up in her mind the more she realized she knew less and less about him than she first thought. She couldn’t understand why she never saw him with friends, he seemed like a nice guy.  He was actually pretty funny. Her face flushed again when she remembered how obnoxious she was laughing in front of him. Vanessa hated her laugh, it was the thing to tease her about when she was young, so she tried to cover her mouth whenever she laughed, hiding the fact that she was pinching her nose trying not to snort. A small smile graced her face, and she promised herself that tomorrow she would talk to him again. 

    Yet, maybe the reason she never saw him with friends is because of what happened last year. Everyone in the school seemed to turn against him after the accident. She clenched her eyes shut for a moment as the regret seemed to fester inside of her. Had she never really talked to him was because no one else did? Her thoughts got cut short when she noticed black smoke rising from the side of the road.

    “Holy s**t!” She screamed as she slammed on the breaks, uncaring if there was or wasn't cars behind hers. As she grew closer and the sky got darker, she could see that whatever was causing the smoke, was on the other side of the guardrail.

    As she approached the wreckage her heart dropped into her stomach, black tire streaks scraped against the road, leading a flipped car that was engulfed in flames. She gulped down the knot in her throat as she could see how demolished the car was. It was barely recognizable, the flames licked away any paint or plastic that once decorated it, leaving only a charred shell remaining.

    Vanessa quickly pulled over at a safe distance away, unsure of what to do, she leaped out of the car as fast as she could. Her heart was thumping in her throat as goosebumps trickled up her arms; the smoke smashed against her as her body began to shake. She stood there, frozen, as the flames, even from this distance, licked away at her skin. 

    She finally blinked when her eyes grew too pained from the smoke before running back to her car to grab her phone. Her mind was everywhere yet nowhere at once. Her entire body shook as a scream erupted from the car; her eyes went wide as her head snapped back towards the wreckage, they are still alive. As fast as her slender fingers could type she dialed 9-1-1 and crossed her fingers that someone would answer quickly. She began to pace the length of the car as she waiting for someone to answer the phone, her eyes never leaving the scene. She began to nervously nibble on her lip as she waited. What if she was too late? What if the person was already dead by the time the police got here?

    “9-1-1 operating center, what is your emergency?” A small voice could be heard on the other end of the line.

    “Please help, please help!” She pleaded as she watched the flames curl up into the sky, her words were tumbling out at an incoherent speed, “There's a fire, a car is on fire, and I don’t know what to do! I think there is someone inside. Oh my god, they’re screaming, please, please!” The words tumbled out of her mouth as her jaw began to tremble. She clenched her eyes shut trying to hide the wreckage from her vision before the tears began to fall. Yet she felt them trickle down her face, the sobs threatening to rip out of her.

    “Where are you?” The lady asked frantically as Vanessa could hear her typing on her keyboard. She frantically looked around trying to see any distinguishing landmarks or signs nearby. But sadly, it seemed as if she just pulled down some old two-lane road that barely anyone drove down anymore.

    “I don’t know!” Vanessa hiccuped into the phone, “I’m surrounded by trees, I just turned off of I-87, that’s all I know.” Vanessa was now pacing up once again, her fingers were cold and she could barely feel her legs as she put her back towards the car. She was a good forty yards away from the fire, but she could still feel the heat from the flames licking against her face, for a moment she thought about how the person must feel being in the middle of the flames. She slowly peeled off her sweater and threw it in her car, trying to shake the feeling and thoughts from her mind. She began curling into herself feeling the stress of the situation bearing down on her.

    “We will use the coordinates off of your phone to find you, but that may take some time,” The lady stated, her fingers still skillfully typing, “Please do not move, do you remember what exit you took off of I-87?”

    “Uhm,” Vanessa took a minute trying to think back, but nothing was coming to her mind. Nothing but the screams of pain ripping through the peaceful air, “I took the Freehold exit!” she exclaimed into the phone. She heard the lady’s typing grow faster with the new information.

    “Police and EMS will be there as soon as possible. Whatever you do, please stay on the line and do not go near the fire.” The lady stressed, Vanessa nodded even though the lady on the other end of the phone couldn't see her. 

    “Thank you!” Vanessa said in a sincere voice as fear began to crawl up her spine as she heard glass crack. She yelped as she flinched away from the noise, hoping the paramedics would arrive soon. “Please hurry!” 

    She tried moving towards the car, with the hopes of seeing whether the person inside was alive or not, but the heat radiating from the fire wouldn’t allow her to get close enough to see anything but smoke. Even from this distance, she felt as if she was being burned alive. She began to pace again, this time more frantically as she slowly began getting closer to the accident, the heat no longer as painful as if was before. Growing more nervous by the second, she began nibbling on her bottom lip. Her breathing became erratic as her brain refused to comprehend what was happening; it was running in circles yet couldn't focus on a single thing. 

    Another scream split the night air, and everything seemed to freeze. The scream made her blood run cold as the ashes danced in the air. Her limbs were cold and before she knew it, she had thrown her phone on the ground and found herself running towards the car. In the distance, she could hear the operator yelling, but she couldn't control how her body was reacting. She was just acting. No thoughts. No memories. Her breathing was ragged as she threw herself over the guardrail and raced down to the car. Screams were ripping through the air, yet Vanessa couldn’t figure out on which side they were coming from. 

    All she remembered was the heat...and the smell. The smell of her own skin burning permeated her senses as the fire was licking away at her flesh. The smell of burning flesh would live inside of her for the rest of her life. All she could hear were screams, but as she found her hands on the handle of the car, she realized she the one screaming and the car was now silent. 

    Then she remembers being dragged away, her feet leaving the ground and the car growing further and further away from her. “You’re letting him die!” Ripped up her throat as she swung her fists and threw her legs at the person, or people, who dragged her away. Her eyes filled with tears as she watched the firefighters rush towards the car, trying to put out the fire, but just as the fire began to die down, it seemed to come back with a vengeance. 

    The flames exploded into the sky as everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. She watched on helplessly while feeling the guilt was eating away at her stomach. More screams filled the air as she cried, the flames erupted higher into the air as if it was dancing. Pieces of metal flung in all directions as the explosion echoed in her ears like fireworks. The firemen jumped back from the explosion as men were burned or impaled with flying debris. No longer was the air filled with her voice, groans, and screams of pain consumed night from all those around. Some men quickly regained their ground and headed back towards the wreckage while others were pulled away for medical attention.  She was still being dragged away, yet now her body was limp and her voice was silent. Her throat had groan too horse, and she was sure that her mouth was still open, but the screams and sobs were silent. Vanessa’s ears were ringing, and there was a pounding in her head, but she didn’t speak or even glance at the two women who were looking over her body for injuries. She didn't even notice that she wasn't being held anymore, but now sitting in the back of the ambulance. She idly sat there just watching, her head filled with too much sensory to think of anything else.

    Sparks flew from the wreckage, as the fire seemed to be dying out, but to Vanessa, it was too late. The fire had already not only taken the car but had taken the life of the person driving it as well. The screams were heard and had died out while she was there; no one had carried a body out of the wreckage, the only thing carried was the weight of everyone's shoulders as they walked away. Her vision grew blurry with tears as she just sat there.

    “Hello?” She heard faintly in the distance, the voice attempted to pull Vanessa back to reality.  She glanced around for the voice her eyes struggling to focus on anything but the embers dancing in the wind.  

    “I am so sorry...I wasn’t in time” She mumbled as she could feel her jaw trembling once again. If she had called a little sooner or if she hadn’t talked with her boss after work and had left right away. She clenched her eyes shut as her body began to shake. A soft hand landed on her shoulder followed by a gentle voice. 

    “I just need you to look into my eyes for a moment. Do you know what color my eyes are?” The nurse slowly spoke as she watched Vanessa slightly shift her head to the side.

    It took Vanessa a moment, but after she shook her head and blinked a couple of times, her eyes finally focused on the deep pools of chocolate brown. “Brown.” Shortly after, Vanessa felt herself slowly returning to herself.  

    “Good.” The nurse smiled, “When we arrived on the scene, you were attempting to pry the door open. The officers had to drag you away from the scene.” The nurse said slowly seeing how Vanessa would react to that information; Vanessa slowly lifted her head once again glancing up at the nurse with the soft brown eyes, “You did more than most people would. This was not your fault, there was nothing more that you could have done” 

    Vanessa glanced back down at her hands, confused when she saw her arms wrapped up in bandages. Her eyes clenched shut as she tried to remember what happened. All she could remember is the pain that gripped her body before being yanked away from the car. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the nurse. The nurse looked at her with a friendly smile before turning to grab another, much smaller, bandage and some tube of ointment. When the nurse went to move her hand towards Vanessa’s face, Vanessa found herself jerking away from the woman's touch. 

    “You have some burns on your face,” the nurse stated in a calming voice as she applied a small amount of cream to the small bandage in her hand. She moved towards Vanessa's face once again, but this time slower and cautious. “You look like you’ll be fine. The burns aren’t bad on your face, they shouldn’t scar.”

    The nurse’s face turned into a frown as she gently rested her hand on Vanessa's shoulder, “The burns on your arms are a little more serious, they will hurt for a long time, and you may need to do some physical therapy to help with the pain." There was a slight pause before the woman continued, "You may have some pretty nasty scaring.” The nurse said in a soft voice as she gently rubbed Vanessa’s shoulders. Then, she put both of her hands on the side of Vanessa’s face and forced Vanessa to look her in the eye, “But you are incredibly lucky. You did all you could, don’t forget that.” The nurse smiled at Vanessa. “We are still going to take you to the hospital to make sure that there is nothing else wrong and to properly clean the burns.”

    Vanessa tried to smile back, but she just couldn’t find the energy to make those muscles in her face work. She felt a soft squeeze on her shoulder before she heard the soft clicks of the woman’s shoes against the pavement as she walked away. Then she was all alone. The air slowly constricting her body as the flames seemed to lick up her arms once again. She could feel them slowly twisting up her arms as they reared their ugly head as her face.

    “Vanessa Tylers?” A deep voice questioned; Vanessa's head shot towards the voice, as it ripped her out of her haze. There was a man in a blue uniform walking towards her, his face was twisted up in worry. It took her a moment to realize that the man was a cop. He was a taller man, his head was completely shaved and for some reason each step caused her heart to leap into her throat. She felt so cold and fragile; the goosebumps burst through her burnt skin making her body tremble. He tried to give her a small smile when he finally got to her, but no smile was going to calm her shaking body.

    “My name is Captain Brown, and I just need to ask you some questions, that’s all,” The cop said calmly, a smile still sitting on his lips. Vanessa gave him a feeble nod as he pulled out a pad with a pencil, “But let me see if  I can get you another blanket first.” The man quickly turned away to grab another EMT.

    Vanessa’s face twisted up in confusion, glancing to the side she realized that there was a blanket draped over her shoulders. Her fingers rubbed the fabric that coated her,  soft, was the only thought. She couldn’t remember getting a blanket and she barely felt it, even though it completely covered her entire body. Before she could question her sanity any more, the man was back with a silver blanket draped around his arm. He quickly yet cautiously wrapped her up intently watching to make sure he didn't hurt her anymore. He smiled before pulling his pad and pen once again, “Did you know who was in the car?”

    “No,” Vanessa kept her head c****d against her shoulder trying to keep the car out of her peripheral vision. The officer raised an eyebrow before glancing to his right; when he realized what she was doing he gave her a small nod and shifted making sure his body was covering up the scene.

    Another sweet smile was given before he glanced back down to his pad of paper, “Can you describe what happened, for me?”

    Vanessa took in a deep breath trying to calm down the shakiness of her voice, “I was driving home from work and had a person tailgating me. I got nervous and quickly got off at the closest exit.  I didn’t know where I was, but I just kept driving," She paused, her voice trembling too much to speak; she didn't even know if the cop could understand her with her voice being so quiet, "that’s when I saw the smoke in the air.” The cop quickly wrote down what she was saying as Vanessa felt her jaw beginning to tighten. 

    “Did you see the accident occur?” The cop asked glancing up at her from his pad of paper. Vanessa’s lips pulled back into a straight line at the question.

    “No,” Her voice wavered as she could hear the screams echoing in her head, “The car was already flipped and on fire when I arrived.” Once again the cop glanced up at her before he looked back down continuing to write what she was saying. 

    “I know you are tired and you've been through a lot tonight so thank you for being honest with us.” The officer said with a smile on his face; he put the small note pad back into this pocket.

    “Anything I can do to help.” Vanessa squeaked out. All she wanted to do was help. The police officer’s face grew grim with the next question.

    “Did you see anyone in the car?” She opened her mouth to answer but was silenced by the screams in her head. Her heart tightened in her chest, as her breathing became labored. Her vision went blurry as the screams grew louder in her mind. The cop’s shoulders fell while watching the woman gradually succumb to panic. She could feel her body trembling as a knot was quickly filling in her throat. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder for support trying to ground her. “It’s okay, dear.”

    “I heard screaming” She whispered her eyes filling with tears as she closed them causing them to sting, “The person was screaming in pain, and I couldn’t help… I tried.” She paused, her brain frantically trying to comprehend what was going on, “And then the screams stopped.” She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to choke down the cries climbing up her throat. 

    The office glanced down at her, there was a long pause between them before his rough voice cut through her thoughts, “That’s all the questions I have for you for now,” The officer gave her a sad smile, he went to pat one of her hands, but stopped when he noticed them covered in bandages. “We will be in contact later on, to answer some follow up questions." He gestured to the woman next to him before turning back to Vanessa, "They are going to take you to the hospital now, and call your parents. Please be safe, ma’am. And if you need anything, please let us know.” Then he stood up to leave but was quickly stopped when Vanessa reached out and grabbed a fist full of the man’s uniform, ignoring the pain that ripped up her arm.

    “Can I ask you a question?” Vanessa asked with her big green eyes watering; the cop let out a sigh not able to say no to the distress written on her face. He didn’t voice his answer right away, he simply nodded his head.

    “Did my call even help?” Her hollow voice ripped through his body. The police officer’s entire body froze and she saw his face visibly darkened with the question. Vanessa’s eyes went wide when she saw his reaction, her mouth fell open and she felt her throat tighten up. She pleaded within herself as the tears fell down her cheeks. 

    “I am so sorry.” The officer said rubbing the young woman’s back as her body racked with sobs. Vanessa clenched her eyes shut and just allowed her entire body to be rocked with the violent cries that were leaving her throat. 

Once again, there she sat. This time, she sat in the back of an ambulance crying waiting to be brought to the hospital. Wishing she could just run away from it all.