Chapter 285

She was still quite a ways from the ground, and if she fell, it was curtains for her- either she’d be dead or seriously messed up. Terrified, Dahlia yelled with
everything she had, “Help! Somebody, help me!” She really didn’t want to die. But despite shouting herself hoarse, no one answered back. She had picked this out- of-the-way spot on purpose, making sure she could vanish quickly after Evelyn’s death. Hardly anyone came here during the day, let alone at night. Dangling in mid-air, Dahlia’s earlier screams only sped up her exhaustion. Her grip on the branch was slipping. Despite her desperate attempts to hang on, her strength gave out, and she let go. Her body plunged downward again. “No…” With a heart- wrenching scream, Dahlia’s lower back crashed into the ground, knocking her out cold. Her unconscious body rolled down the slope, finally coming to a stop when her back hit a tree. It wasn’t until the next morning that a couple out for a jog stumbled upon Dahlia. Her clothes were in tatters, her body streaked with blood, her skin pale, lips bruised, lying completely still. It was a shocking sight, like something out of a crime drama. Initially, they thought she was dead. Terrified, they whipped out their phone to call the cops. But then the husband noticed she wasn’t dead, just out cold. Thinking she’d taken a nasty tumble down the mountain, they called an ambulance right away. The ambulance got there in no time, whisking Dahlia off to the hospital. … At the Hospital Dahlia came to, greeted by a god-awful stench. As her eyes blinked open, the smell hit her even harder. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she called out angrily to the other patients, “Seriously, are you animals? Can’t you use a bathroom?” That smell wasn’t new to Dahlia. Before she met Charles, her foster dad was in the hospital. They couldn’t afford a private room, so they were stuck with several other patients, some of whom couldn’t control themselves, making the whole place stink to high heaven. “Who are you calling animals?” snapped the woman in the next bed. She was already worn out from being at her family member’s side non-stop, and her patience was thin. Dahlia had barely woken up and was already throwing insults. The woman snapped, marching over to Dahlia’s bed and delivering two sharp slaps. “Got a foul mouth, huh? Did you eat dirt for breakfast?” Dahlia was momentarily stunned by the slaps. When she came to her senses, fury blazed in her eyes. “Who do you think you are, hitting me?!” she yelled, trying to sit up and pay the woman back. But as she pushed herself up, she realized, to her horror, that her lower body wouldn’t cooperate. Dahlia’s eyes widened, her face drained of color. In disbelief, she reached for her legs, giving them a pinch. Nothing. Pure panic set in, and she pinched harder, desperation growing. Still, nothing. Her legs were useless. Overwhelmed, Dahlia let out a scream of pure anguish, “No!”