Dani's eyes fluttered open, she was immediately met with bright lights and a wave of pain.

She heard a steady beat of a heart monitor on her left. Other than that annoying noise, it was completely silent.

She waited a few moments staring at the ceiling, silently crying when she intensity of what had happened hit her. Her friend was gone.

Her heart monitor sped up as she cried.

A doctor strolled in, wearing usual plain colored scrubs and was looking at a clipboard.

He startled a bit when he saw Dani's eyes were open, tears streaming down her face.

His gaze softened and he sympathetically asked, "Dani? How are you feeling?"

Dani glanced at him from the corner of her eye, "Guilty," she answered honestly.

The doctor asked, "I meant physically, but why do you feel guilty that you were shot?"

She turned her head to face him and said, "I couldn't save him, now my friend is gone. I was right there, and I did nothing."

Tears welled in her eyes as she turned back to face the ceiling.

The doctor sighed, and there was silence for a moment, "Well Dani, I'm Doctor Darby, how's your physical pain on a scale of one to ten? And don't say anything less than five because I know it has to be more painful that. You were shot three times, once in your shoulder, once in your thigh, and once in your chest, just mere millimeters from your heart. You're very lucky to have survived," he informed.

"Are my cousins okay? They were in the building with me." Dani said.

The doctor gazed at the door for a moment and then dreadfully said, "I'm sorry Dani they didn't make it."

Dani closed her eyes and let a few shaky breaths.

Darby said, "They weren't the only casualties you know. The police think this entire charade has something to do with you."

Dani hoarsely asked, "Why would this have anything to do with me?"

Doctor Darby sighed, "I believe that they should tell you that. I've given enough bad news for today," he said as be turned and walked out.

He whispered something incomprehensible to someone by the door.

Darby turned and strolled down the hall, letting the door close quietly behind him.

Dani sat there in silence thinking 'Anyone that has ever shown me any kindness is gone. Why me? What have I done to deserve this?'

Dani lifted her arm wiping the tears from her face as she heard a light knock on the door.

She gave a quiet, "Come in,".

The door opened revealing a deputy from the police department, wearing the usual uniform.

He had brown combed over hair with a pair of shades covering his eyes. He looked about twenty-five to thirty years old.

He pulled up a chair from the corner of the room putting it on the right side of her bed. He sank into the chair pulling a small notebook from a bag on the floor, clicking a pen that was strapped to the cover.

"You must be Danielle Willow, I'm Deputy Jason Smith and I'm going to ask you a few questions if that's alright," he greeted.

Dani nodded, signaling for him to continue.

He gave a small smile and asked, "So this man, did he say anything to you before or after he shot? Did he seem familiar in any way?"

Dani shook her head not wanting to speak with her sore throat.

The officer nodded and asked, "Did Doctor Darby tell you about what happened to your family or why the office is finding you suspicious?"

Dani shook her head again, fearing an answer.

Jason clicked his pen after he wrote something down.

He set the notebook on the nightstand close to him and said, "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your mother, father, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and your friend are all gone. They were all shot,".

Dani closed her eyes again, the guilt she was feeling seemed to multiply by a thousand. Everyone was gone?

She hoarsely said, "Can you please just... just leave me alone. Please,".

The officer nodded in understanding before standing.

"You should be free to leave in a few days, but child services will be here to pick you up and take you to foster care. I'm sorry for your losses," he said. He walked out taking his notebook with him.
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Dani laid there and cried for a few hours, until the sun could no longer be seen m through the window of the room.

A few nurses had come in and made her take some pain medication.

Dani sat up as the nurse left, it didn't hurt that much anymore.

The nurses had left a pair of crutches by her bedside, in case she needed to use the bathroom.

Dani leaned over and grabbed them putting them under her arms before swinging her legs out from under the blankets.

She gently placed one foot on the floor, the other foot hanging lightly above the floor. She pushed herself off the bed, It didn't hurt as badly as she'd expected.

She moved the crutches over to a bag that was at the foot of her bed.

She guessed someone had brought her clothes from her house when they cleaned it out.

She unzipped the bag grabbing a hoodie and some baggy pants. She slipped both of them on pulling the hood above her head and double checked to make sure her bump wasn't visible.

She pulled the heart monitor connector off her finger, unplugging it before it could flat line. She crutched herself over to the door peering out to see no one in the hallways.

'There is no way I'm going to foster care, you can kiss my ass deputy.' Dani thought as she crutched her way down the hallway, l her bag slung over her shoulder.

She eventually made it to an elevator pushing the down arrow button.

She waited until a sharp DING penetrated the silence of the hospital. She slowly pushed herself into the elevator and pushed the first-floor button.

A few moments later, the elevator opened, revealing a lobby.

She propelled herself towards the entrance, the nurse behind the desk was too busy helping a woman sign in to notice her hooded figure slip through the automatic doors.

She used her crutches and left the hospital, disappearing into the night.
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By morning, Dani had made her way to a shadier, emptier part of town. She knew of a building she sometimes went to when her parents kicked her out.

She opened the door to be greeted by a cool silence she was used to.

She pushed herself to a side room, where she usually slept.

She sat on the window sill looking at the concrete wall on the other side of the room, with that, Dani closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.