Read Awake for Free Online

My eyes flew open and I gasped as I was thrown against Jeremy’s side. A scream ripped its way up my throat.
    “Jonathan,” Mum shouted at the same time Jeremy and Dad swore.
    I heard loud horns beeping from several cars as Dad tried to steady the car. He slammed the breaks on as a minibus swerved in front of us.
    I screamed again as we’re hit from behind. My body flew forward before it was caught by the seatbelt locking on. The sound of crunching steel and smashing glass pierced through my ears. My heart raced and I gripped Jeremy’s hand as someone else smashed into us from the side, making our car hurtle towards the hard shoulder on the motorway – a ditch. Trees!
    Oh, God. I squeezed my eyes closed and everything moved in slow motion. We hit a large tree trunk but I was out before the car stopped.

Scarlett
     
    I TRIED TO open my eyes but they felt like they’d been glued shut. My mind was in overdrive trying to piece everything together. We were in the car. There was screaming and we must have crashed but I couldn’t remember.
    Did we hit something or did something hit us? Was everyone okay?
    Glass. I remember smashing glass and a big grey building. But we couldn’t have been in a building. Did we hit a building? No, a tree. Where was the building then? My head throbbed and I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d hit it or because I was trying too hard to remember. And then I was drifting, or more like being pulled.
    Mummy brushed my hair and I closed my eyes, smiling. I loved it when she played with my hair. “Can I have pigtails, please?”
    “Of course,” she replied. “You can have anything you want, my special girl.”
    “Mummy, can I do your hair, too?” I asked.
    “You can but Mummy’s hair won’t look as pretty as yours. Mine is too short.” She sat down and handed me the brush. I combed it through her short, blonde hair, pretending to be the mum.
    “I want to be a hairdresser when I’m older.”
    “Oh, sweetheart, you are destined for greater things.”
    My eyes finally flicked open but only for a second. The light slides through the gap and I wince, closing them immediately.
    “Scarlett!” I heard Jeremy say. “Hey, can you do that again? Scarlett, open your eyes.” I tried to but it was too hard and his voice sounded so far away. Then I was gone again.
    I sat with David, Gregory, Linda and Freya, waiting for Mummy and Daddy to get back. The house was crowded today but we were the only ones still and reading. Jeremy ran through the room and out of the other door, chasing Evelyn. I wanted to join in their game but I had to read.
    “Auntie Linda, how many days until I’m four?” I knew my birthday was coming up and reading about it with my family made it more exciting.
    She didn’t look up from her book but replied, “Twenty-one days to go.”
    “I can’t wait!”
    “Neither can we,” Gregory said, stroking my hair and pointing back at the book, read to help me again.
    “Is my daughter going to be okay?” Mum said. She sounded tired like she’d not slept in weeks.
    I tried to remember my dreams but I all I could picture was Jeremy running after a little girl I’d never seen before. I didn’t usually dream. Well, I didn’t remember dreaming anyway. There were things I remembered. Mum combing my hair but she looked different. No one I saw was the same. I didn’t recognise anyone but Jer.
    “She opened her eyes,” Jeremy said. “She’s going to be fine.”
    Another voice I didn’t recognise replied, “It’s a very good sign that she opened them but there’s still some way to go yet. Let’s allow her to rest.”
    I didn’t want to rest anymore. I wanted to wake up properly. I hadn’t heard Dad’s voice yet and I needed to know if he was okay. I tried my hardest, willing my eyes to open but it was useless.
    The darkness was back for me.
    The big room was the prettiest room I’d ever seen, especially because it was in a big, ugly grey warehouse. The floor was