them up as well as she could, but he was far too strong to even notice her resistance.
With her arms pinned to her sides, he lifted her and put her down at his side so he could get a better look at Hana.
“No,” Carrie said in protest, then squeezed herself between him and the bed again. He didn’t say anything, but he bared his teeth at her. Then he pushed her. She went flying backward and landed on her back. The room swirled for a second, and then she got up to her feet. She ran over to the man and tried to push him back, away from the bed. He used the back of his hand and hit her across her face, sending her head swinging back and to the side. She saw droplets of blood spray from her mouth, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her. She went for the call button, but he took it out of her hand, ripped it out of the wall, and threw it across the room. Then she hit him in the back with all the strength that she had.
He retaliated by grabbing her shirt. He punched and slapped her many times. She was swinging her arms around, trying to fight off the attack. When she couldn’t get him to stop hitting her, she gripped him by the arms and dug her nails deep in his skin. He didn’t like that. He let out a sound of disgust then picked her up and threw her up against the wall. Her strength was failing. Her face was swollen, and she had tears running down her face. She could smell blood.
With what vision she had, she could see that he was bent over Hana like he was going to pick her up. He caught sight of Carrie prying herself off the floor. He dropped Hana back down on the bed and went over to pull Carrie up by the hair, bringing her head up so he could look at her. Then he put his other hand around her throat and dragged her over to the side of the bed and next to the wall. He picked her up and threw her once more against the wall. Her legs hit the table, sending it flying with all the contents falling to the floor.
When Carrie didn’t make another move, he kicked her twice in the side. A horrible cracking sound echoed through the room. He kicked again to make sure she was out. He was sure he had killed her. He went over to pick Hana up off the bed and glided out the door, leaving Carrie to die in a pool of her own blood.
Chapter 4
I saac returned to the hospital moments later. He was joking and teasing his stepdaughters as they got on the elevator. He was getting excited, as always, to see Carrie. As they got off the elevator to the floor where his mother’s room was, he suddenly got an eerie feeling but quickly shrugged it off. “Now, remember to be calm. She can’t talk, but she will recognize you,” he said just before they reached the door. “Oh, there’s Lee Lee,” he said when he saw his sister get off the elevator. Lee Lee had stayed at her parents’ house to make sure Sam and her father were okay. She had driven herself back. She had just gotten there moments before the girls and Isaac arrived.
“Lee Lee,” the girls said at the same time as they ran to greet their step aunt.
“Girls,” Lee Lee said with her arms open to embrace them.
“Are you ready to go in?” Isaac asked as he stepped closer to the door.
Isaac pushed open the slightly opened door and went in, the girls right behind him. He saw that the bed was empty, and he realized that Carrie was nowhere to be found. He noticed the water pitcher was sitting on the floor, overturned. He walked over to pick up the pitcher then he noticed the blood on the floor and saw Carrie lying on her back, covered in blood and bruised. Isaac’s heart sank when he saw her lying there. He ran over and gathered her into his arms. He didn’t care that he was going to be covered in her blood. “Get the girls out and get a nurse!” he yelled at Lee Lee.
She quickly pushed the girls out of the room and ran down the hall to get help. Isaac sat, crying and holding her to his chest; her body was limp. He pushed the hair from her face and saw the many