Free Total LockDown (LockDown #2) by A.T. Smith Page A

idiotic move on my behalf, and I
am going to regret it for the rest of my existence. I haven’t heard about
anything involving any of those sadistic creeps for a long time now, and I
often wonder what is going on in the World War Leighton-Phillip front.
    I reach for the water-filled
glass on the table beside me, in an attempt to quench the desperate thirst
within me. Even lifting the flimsy, disposal plastic cup is agonising on my
damaged hands. I desperately want to know what has happened. I don't remember
hurting my hands at all. 
    I search the
room for the alarm button, normally red, to call the nurses. I want some
information, some recollection of what I went through.
    I find it beside
my head on the wall. I press it gently and then wait for them to appear. It
took a whole ten seconds before one of them comes to me.
    The door opens
and in walks a nurse in the usual NHS blue scrubs. “Ahhh, Miss Adams, it’s good
to see you awake. How are you feeling?” She asks me as she picks up the blood
pressure cuff from the trolley, and wraps it around my arm, securing the
Velcro.
    “Erm, a bit
groggy, aching like a bitch and confused as hell. What in the hell happened to
my hands and my body? Why do they hurt so much?” finally, time for some
answers.
    “Abbi, my dear,
I think it’s best if someone you know, tells you. It can be quite distressing
coming from me. Your friend Antonio is here with two ladies.” Holy hell, I
totally forgot about Maria and Debbie.
    “Okay.” she
finishes taking my basic observations and then leaves me to allow my friends to
enter.
    Maria runs into
the room, throwing herself in my arms. Her body is shaking uncontrollably as
she sobs into my hospital gown. “Abbi, oh god, I didn’t know what to do. I
didn’t know what was happening. I called Ant, and he came, he knows what to
do.” She lifts her head, her hair a disarray of curls and her makeup smudged
across her face.
    “What the hell
happened to me Maria? The last thing I remember is that sleaze ball talking to
me. Then I wake up here, aching like a mother fucker, and my hands wrapped in
this crap.” She looks at me then back to Debbie and Antonio.
    Antonio comes to
me, leaning to kiss my head. He whispers in my ear, “Abigail, you need help
darling. Let them help you.” He looks into my eyes with dead certainty.
    “I know, Ant, I
know.” I sniffle as a stray tear falls. I know now,  seeing the look on Ant’s
face, this has something to do with my addiction. I feel embarrassed and
disgusted with myself for letting it get this out of control.
    “Promise me,
Abigail. That little girl and her Daddy need you, he’s a mess without you,
Pet.” I smile sadly at the fact Leighton has been missing me, that there is a
tiny slither of hope I can mend this mess.
    “I’ll do it,
Ant, I have to do it. I need my life back. I need him back. I'm dead without
him.” I keep my head down to stop myself from watching everyone’s pitiful eyes.
I don't want their pity, or judgement, I want help and support.  
    “I know you
will, Sweetheart. I'm going to go and leave you with the girls to talk. I’ll
see you tomorrow.” He kisses me once again, turning to leave the room. I grab
for his arm, my painful hand skimming his lightly.
    “Ant,” I whimper
to him. “Does Leighton know I’m here, how bad it’s become?” that is the worst
imaginable thing. I had promised myself, in that letter, the letter I left my
ring on, the letter I left my life with, to make myself the Abbi he had fallen
in love with. I don't need him seeing me as low as this. He has seen it once
before and had pulled me through it. It isn’t his job to do it again.
    “I tried to call
him. But he isn’t answering. I think he deserves to know Abbi, if he finds out
you were admitted into hospital and no one told him, we all might as well be
dead. No matter what’s happened Abbi that man still loves you with his whole
life.”
    “I know, Ant. I
know he needs to know, but