Chapter 6
“Are you out of your mind?” Hurst’s voice shook with barely contained rage. “Nettie’s already crippled–she’s always cared so much about her appearance, and now you want her to lose her leg? Are you trying to kill her?”
“Hurst, I know you care about Nettie. But don’t forget, five years ago, during that fire–who was it that dragged us out of the flames? If Charis Rogers hadn’t risked her life to save us, you and I would have died in there.”
Nettie stared wide–eyed at the wreckage around her.
Five years ago, it was her who’d fought through the smoke and heat to pull them to safety
But they’d given all the credit to Charis?
So that’s why they always favored Charis over her?”
The argument raged on between the two men, voices echoing in the ruins, but eventually, they reached a decision.
“Save Charis Rogers first!”
In the darkness, Nettie lay motionless, watching the distant searchlights fade away.
They rushed off with Charis in their arms, too frantic to even glance back at the rubble where she was trapped
When the aftershock hit, the ceiling came crashing down. Her final thread of consciousness was swallowed by darkness.X When Nettie woke again, pain blazed through her body, and the harsh glare of the white hospital lights made her eyes
Her hand shot down to her leg-
Still there. Thank God. Still there.
s water.
“If they’d waited another half hour, we would’ve had to amputate, the nurse said briskly as she changed the dressing. “Miss Beaumont, you’re lucky to be alive.”
Nettle stared up at the ceiling, lips twisting into a smile that looked more like a grimace.
Lucky? She almost wished she’d died in that earthquake.
The hospital door burst open. Calvin and Hurst hurried in, faces etched with worry.”
“Nettie!” Calvin rushed to her side, grabbing her hand. “It was chaos–we couldn’t find you-”
Hurst knelt at her bedside, gently touching her casted leg. “Nettie, I’m so sorry. I swear, I’ll never let you out of my sight again.”
Nettie slowly pulled her hand away, her eyes blank and lifeless.
She didn’t want to hear their clumsy lies. Not a single word.
“Nettie?” Hurst’s voice wavered as he finally sensed something was wrong, “Please, say something…”
Silence.
For three whole days, Nettie was like a porcelain doll–no tears, no smiles, not a word.l
Calvin finally panicked and forced her to go through a full medical exam.!!
“Her physical condition is stable,” the doctor said, adjusting his glasses. “But I strongly recommend she see a psychiatrist.”
After the door to the psych office closed behind her, Calvin yanked his tie loose in frustration. “Is it really that bad? Does she seriously need to see a shrink?”
“Mr. Beaumont,” the doctor said, emerging with a grim expression and a file in hand. “She’s suffering from severe depression, with suicidal tendencies.”
“What?” Calvin looked as if he’d been struck by lightning. “How could something like this make her depressed?”
Hurst slammed his fist into the wall, knuckles splitting open. “Something like this? She’s crippled–she can’t dance again, she’ll spend the rest of her life with a catheter. You call that ‘something like this? We took a healthy, vibrant girl and destroyed her-”
Red–eyed, he yanked Calvin’s collar, “Calvin, Nettie was always my girl to protect! That was the last time I’ll ever listen to you. Even if Charis Rogers saved my life, my debt to her is paid. From now on, I won’t let you hurt Nettie again.”
“She’s my sister” Calvin roared back. “Do you think I wanted this for her? Everything I did was for Charis Rogers!?!
He let go, his shoulders slumping. “Fine, fine. Charis has her dance championship now. Nettie’s not in her way anymore. We’ll just… treat her better from now on.”
