Chapter 5
Dina knew exactly how long it had been since Ellie left.
Thirteen months.
She counted.
Every single day that went by in her journal, she made a note of how many days it had been. She tried to stop, once. Tried to force herself to get over Ellie. Told herself that counting the days was useless, since she was already dead. She wasn’t coming back. Dina knew that- but she just ended up memorizing the date anyway. It was hopeless. She knew Ellie was dead. She had to be. Otherwise she’d be up at the farm. Tommy goes to check sometimes. She might hate his guts, but he would have told her.
Thirteen months.
Ellie chose her revenge over Dina and JJ. Over their family. She chose to leave. She chose every last part of how they left things off.
So why did it still hurt?
Why did the fact that Ellie was dead hurt her so much?
Mourning was one thing. Missing her, still, understandable. But in thirteen months, she’d never been able to shake free of it all. She moved back to Jackson with JJ, moved back into her old apartment. She helped out around town instead of patrolling like she used to. She became a staple in the community again. And yet, when anyone tried to ask her to dance, or to go on a date with them, she always thought of Ellie. Cat tried, once. Brian had tried a couple times. She always thought about that night at Seth’s. Dancing with her. At the farm, goofing around with her in the kitchen. She always thought about Ellie.
Thirteen months, now.
Thirteen months since she left.
She probably died around three weeks into that. She’s most likely been dead for over a year.
She used to call JJ “potato.”
She left. She chose to leave. Regardless of the fact that Tommy instigated her, she still chose to leave.
She used to call him her little spud.
Thirteen months ago.
She used to hold her while she slept.
Thirteen months.
“400 days since Ellie left.”
Dina etched it into the top corner of her journal.
“Today, I got a sandwich from Seth’s.”
She tried not to put too much pressure on the pen. She didn’t want it to bleed through. Why was she still emotional about this? She tried not to make too much noise. JJ was asleep.
“It had rabbit meat. It tasted like lunches we used to have back on the farm.”
She struck the period extra hard, the pen almost stabbing through the page.
She decided to stop there.
A sudden and shaky knock rang out at her door, and Dina had to stop herself from jumping for her gun. She sighed, stood up, and walked over to the door. Another knock. Dina pulled the door open, and to her displeasure found Tommy standing there, out of breath, his horse not even tied up behind him.
“What?” Dana spat. She hardly had time for Tommy on good days.
“Ellie’s alive.” Tommy said, the words practically spilling out of his mouth as soon as they got the chance. “She’s with the doctor.”
Dina’s world froze.
Thirteen months ago, Ellie left. For ten months, Dina had been convinced that she died. And now she was here. In Jackson.
She didn’t know if she even wanted to see her.
She got on the horse all the same.
They arrived at the clinic, Tommy pushing her to move on in while he tied up his horse. And there, for the first time in thirteen months, Dina saw Ellie.
She was pale. Dreadfully pale. Her skin’s uncomfortable porcelain look was broken apart by scars, both old and new. More new than old. Further down, she saw her legs had been scarred a deep red. Burn scars. And on her left hand, she was missing two fingers. Her hair was greasy and matted. She looked wild and unkempt.
Dr. Matthews gave Dina a calm look, but his eyes looked grave.
“She’s got scars all over her body that haven’t quite healed right, burns on her legs, and she’s malnourished. She’s starting to stir, but I don’t think she’ll be… well… for a while.”
Dina just nodded. Stared. Took in every inch of Ellie’s body, double checking the things that were the same and memorizing the things that weren’t.
Ellie’s hand snapped out, grasping wildly as Dr. Matthews gasped, taking a quick step back.
She grabbed for something that wasn’t there, but Dina still knew what she was doing. She was searching for her weapon.
Finding nothing, Ellie’s eyes peered open slowly.
To see Dina.
Ellie launched out of the bed in a flash, her burned legs giving way underneath her as she fell to the ground. She let out a cry of pain, scrambling to her feet and running to the nearest window with the whimper of a wounded animal, standing herself up against the wall. She reeled back her elbow and shattered the glass, trying to prepare herself to jump but crumbling on her legs again as she went. She hit the floor, knocked out in an instant.
Dr. Matthews, finally catching up to her, lifted the thin girl up into his arms and back onto the bed.
“She’s passed out from exhaustion.” He said. He spoke quietly, gently.
“I think you might need to leave for now. In case she wakes up again.”
Dina just nodded, turning and passing Tommy on her way out. He tried to say something to her, but she didn’t hear it. Wouldn’t hear it.
She was thinking about other things.
She just saw Ellie for the first time in thirteen months.
And she tried to run away from her.
And for some reason, Dina had wanted to run after her.