Junky Chronicles

Prologue

She had been one of the lucky ones; it never really happened in anyone's lifetime but Natalie Scott had found love twice in her life. Two amazing woman that loved her without any prejudice as to who she was, but for all that she was. It was through those tough times in her life, she had always made herself the worse version of herself and these two amazing woman, somehow brought out the best version of herself. When life had done everything it could to bring Natalie to her knees, in these women she had found strength, as if they had built a staircase from the ditch of life to help her climb right into the light. They had restored all her faith, when she had fallen into the deepest pit of despair. She had the thought, as she sat there watching the woman she loved, how when she fell, that very woman had picked her up teaching her the steps of life. From crawling, to walking, to running and eventually she had learnt that with love as the wind beneath her wings she could fly.

Her life had taken a complete turn, and it had only taken thirteen minutes and thirty-six seconds to leave her shattered. All that she had ever cared for in her life, wiped out like it had never existed. It slipped away between her fingers. Like they say, "It takes a lifetime to build a life, but only a second to be destroyed." For two years, Natalie had spent every waking hour, trying her best to forget it, to erase it from her mind, but has learnt that remembering heals those scars. Natalie had spent a lifetime trying to destroy those seconds, but life had different plans for her. The universe had somehow heard her hidden cries for help, and had sent a guiding light, no, an angel to her, one to help her through all the darkness that seemed to surround her. She had realized over time, there was nothing that she would have changed for what she had today. In the strangest way, happiness had found her and given her what she needed the most.

As she watched her beautiful wife, who had given her so much playing out back with their kids, she thought about it over and over. What if that night never happened? Would her life be so much different now? But looking into Ashley's eyes at any moment of the day, completely changed her outlook of it. There aren't many people who would have believed that what had happened to Natalie was real. It sounded like fiction to most. But she eventually had her happy ending. She was more mature now, older as well, with the world's most beautiful woman as her wife, and three amazing children. She had been given the chance to share her story with the world. She had a whole world of love, happiness and truth. She couldn't forget it, and she would never regret it. And now that she thought back on it how could she?

Chapter One:28 June 2006

Natalie spent three weeks in the hospital, two of those weeks in a coma with machines attached to every available part of her body monitoring her condition. The heart monitor beeped with every beat of her heart. The ventilator made pumping sounds echoed as it pumped oxygen into her lungs. They monitored her blood pressure and her brain activity with electrodes attached to her head, and nurses came in an out every few minutes to check on her and the monitors, scribbling all the data down on a chart. The rise and fall of her chest could be seen clearly even though she wasn't breathing on her own. Tiny black screens displayed her brain activity and heart rate, each depicting a graph like form, like investments that continuously changed, in green lines, her heart rate set at a steady pace of 80 beats per minute.

Natalie's eyes opened slowly, as she looked around the room. A needle punctured her arm that had a flow of cold white liquid running through her veins. She looked above her at the source of the cool liquid coming from a drip. Her vision was blurred and she struggled to focus on what was around her, like watching television with bad reception. The room was cold and pure white from the roof, to the walls, right down to the floors. Windows stretched wide along the wall, bringing the sun into the room, making everything too bright for Natalie's eyes as she attempted to adjust to her surroundings. On her arm was a band with her details that she could hardly make out. Blue sheets covered her body; her head was elevated high with the use of pillows. The clean scent of detergent and that distinctive scent of how a hospital would smell, filled her nostrils burning right down to her throat. The noises surrounded her, people scurrying by with their rubber shoes squeaking on the floor, the beeping of the machines and the cries of pain here and there, had her head spinning and pounding, trying to wrap her mind around everything. Natalie closed her eyes, trying to figure out how she ended up here, the reason she was here, with all these machines hooked up to her. She tried to sit up and a chill started running through her, with the next thought being her wife. Where was she, why wasn't she here? Natalie thought as she looked around opening her mouth to shout, but realized nothing came out.

Her heart rate spiked as dread filled her. Something was wrong. She could feel it creeping through her. Nurses came rushing in shouting orders at one another. A larger looking nurse pushed her down to control her, but she fought to be released. She felt something pull at her chest, as if a jagged knife was being dragged through her. She opened her mouth to scream, but once more, nothing came out. As a cold burning sensation went through her, she felt herself relax, then she looked up into a light and could of sworn she saw herself hovering right there above her body, and then there was darkness.

When she finally came to again, whatever had been constricting her throat was now gone, allowing her to breathe on her own. Everything was still coming in and out of focus, but the room was dimmer now. She could still hear the beeping of the machines that echoed around the stillness of the room. Surrounding her were several strange faces, studying her as she looked around the room. Strong pulses like little jolts of electricity ran through every nerve on her body, making her pull stiff and relax alternately. The pulsing stopped as soon as it began. Voices and shuffling started to fill the silence, as Natalie's mind still couldn't make sense of anything happening around her. Nothing in her could focus long enough to take in her full surroundings, picking up pieces here and there. The same cold burn from earlier filled her veins she tried her best to keep her eyes open but couldn't fight it. Her eyes dropped and all there was, was the earlier darkness she had a chance to say one thing, one word drifted from her lips in a slow murmur, "Megan"

Natalie came around slowly again. She waited a few moments, listening before she opened her eyes. She knew she was awake this time, but sensed there would be more surprises when she opened her eyes this time around. There was a quietness that surrounded her, as only the sound of the machines filled her mind now. Figuring she was alone she opened her eyes and to her surprise there stood, what she could figure, were doctors in white lab coats, all taking notes watching her, watching the machines, monitoring. A gentleman that looked to be in his forties, with his hair combed back and graying in between the brown, noticed that Natalie was awake, tapping another gentleman on the shoulder, and whispered into his ear.

Natalie guessed it was to make him aware as his eyes suddenly fell on her face. The sounds hadn't changed around her much, but they weren't as disturbing as they were earlier. The older gentleman with a full head of grey hair, lines on his face of age and laughing lines at the corners of his eyes, moved closer. He placed his fingers at the curves of Natalie's eyes, flashing a bright light that had her flinching, into her eyes. "She is responsive" was all he said not really looking at her as his eyes darted to the monitors. Natalie looked at him and then turned her head to where another voice came. The voice was soft, and calm, "No one do anything" she said, even though it was soft, Natalie heard a subtle command in her voice. "Heart rate, stable, brain, full alert waves" a different doctor said from across the room, Natalie closed her eyes taking slow deep breaths, as a shadow fell over her face. She looked up at the soft spoken doctor with a sweet smile on her face. "I'm sorry, but where am I?" Her voice sounded distant and eerie. Natalie couldn't believe it had come from her, not from her throat she thought.

The pretty doctor tucked a loose strand of blond hair behind her ear. A comforting sweet smile spread across her face. Even though Natalie was pretty sure she wasn't thinking straight, but for sure she knew that she had an amazing smile, clear blue eyes staring down at her, had her trusting this woman without knowing anything about her. It was filled with control, kindness and understanding. Her voice seemed to push a wave of calm over Natalie. When she placed her hand over Natalie's hand to start her introduction, Natalie felt off edge. It was as if something was wrong but couldn't figure it out. What had she missed? How long had she been here? And most importantly again, why wasn't her wife here? Natalie remained as calm as possible as she darted her eyes around the room and back at the blue eyed doctor. Her voice was weak, tension lying beneath the surface, her voice quivering with fear.

"You're in the hospital. I am Doctor Simons," she said, pointing to her right where a dark haired man stood with that same charming smile and calming, kind demeanor. His spectacles hung low on his nose, as he lifted his eyes at her. He nodded as she introduced him as Dr Cliff. Natalie shook her head slightly trying to take in everything she said, but still not finding the true meaning behind her words, there was something else that just wasn't making sense to Natalie, "I don't understand. Why am... Why am I here?" Natalie was speaking to herself, her voice weak while she stuttered over her words, thinking out loud, not realizing the answer would come to her in a simple one tone way. "You've been shot. Your body went into such shock you fell into a coma. This is the second time in two weeks you've woken up, but after you woke up initially your struggle caused the staples to tear out of the wound. We had to replace them," she smiled again, trying to make it seem like it wasn't the end of the world, but the smile didn't reach her eyes as she gave the news. Her face was serious again. This was what she did for a living, saving lives and bearing bad news.

Natalie's body tensed as every muscle in her body retracted into its own, as the memory of what had happened flooded into her mind, "My wife! Where is my wife?" her voice raised to a scream as she tried to lift herself from the bed. She had half risen when something pulled at her causing Natalie pain, but it didn't matter. She needed to get to her, but with each movement Natalie flinched with pain. Her heart rate went up. Her brain activity shot into an unusual combination as panic and distress swallowed her.

"Natalie, please calm down. We don't want you to lapse again," Dr Simons told her as her hands wrapped around Natalie's shoulder and as if she weighed nothing but the weight of a feather, she was flat on her back staring at the ceiling.

Dr Cliff injected something into her drip building a ocean of calm around her. Dr Simons lifted the hospital gown they had dressed her in. Natalie glanced down a bandage covered her chest, blood seeping through it. "I hope she didn't tear the staples again." Dr. Simons barked orders to another doctor, that didn't say much but nodded and left the room. Looking up at the beautiful doctor, "I'm going to open the bandages to see if the staples are okay so lie still." She unwrapped the bandage and sighed with relief, Natalie looked at her, unable to find her voice, but as if the question was right in her eyes "The staples are okay, but out of fear of you tearing them out again, I have to put you in a sleep induced come to prevent any further damage. So I'm going to inject you with a sedative," she looked into Natalie's eyes with great sadness in hers as she injected the drip into Natalie's veins, the cold liquid filling her, her brain began to fog, with the last thought being, "why were her eyes so sad?"

Chapter Two:01 January 2000

Natalie dreamt of that day. That day where her heart had only begun to beat. New Years Day, 2000 - it was warm and sunny outside, from what they had heard, but they didn't bother to investigate. Instead they sat around a table at Spur. Natalie's friends surrounding her after having celebrated all night long into the new year. Natalie's best friend Kaz, the beautiful Alice, the oh-so-muscular Devon, his quirky partner Michelle, the funny Mia and Jess, Mia's partner. They were all in hysteria of laughter, loud enough to be heard at the other end of the room. Getting several dirty looks from other patrons, but they weren't bothered. Whatever was said, and whoever had said it, it was way too funny to stop. Every single one of them had tears in their eyes. Beside her, Natalie felt Mia tremble as the laughter rolled through her, shaking her like a jackhammer on the road. Her long, dark blonde hair tied in a tight high ponytail, whipped from one side to the other. Those dark brown eyes pressed shut, with a perfect wide grin on her face. Her tiny body was almost folded over the table with those small delicate hands in fists at her side in pain from all the laughter, and still not being able to stop. She was always well toned in her arms and shoulders, as her green t-shirt hugged her body perfectly, her skin tight jeans shaping her perfectly toned legs. She was as fit as a star athlete, in the form of a young woman. A beautiful one that Natalie had admired but never really felt anything towards.

Beside her Jess was shaking her head trying her best to gain a little composure, to no avail. With her short brown hair that spiked straight on her head, filled with so much product even though her head was in a riot against the world around her, it didn't move an inch. The white tank top stretched across her toned body. The white surrounding her pale blue irises were bloodshot as if she were in total shock, her full mouth open trying to catch her breath. Her denim shorts hugged her thighs, shaping her tanned thighs that led to perfectly toned legs, as she reached for Mia's hand to squeeze it in between hers.

Kaz was the only colored and straight girl in this psycho group of friends, and most importantly Natalie's best friend in the whole world. Midnight black hair, cut short in tiny little curls, her laughter reached her brown eyes with perfect white teeth behind her thin lips that sat in a grin like the joker on a deck of cards, she wore a white T-shirt falling loose over her shoulders, covering her tiny body. She was the skinniest girl Natalie had ever met, that ate a ton, and gained not a single kilogram on that body of hers. She wore a pair of jeans that shaped the ass that had grown over the years. By God's grace something grew on that girl. Natalie remembered thinking when she had seen her after a while, leading into her favorite pair of sneakers that she refused to go without into the New Year. She removed her glasses to wipe her teary eyes, before bursting out in laughter all over again. Devon and Michelle were falling over each other making it difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. Devon with his short spiky black hair, a very masculine, strong jawed face, pitch black eyes. He was large, with broad shoulders making him seem larger than life itself. He loved the atmosphere of the gym, being able to put all that energy into shaping, and maintaining what he had referred to as God's perfection. Natalie often had to use both her hands and half of Kaz's hand to circle his arms. The black T-shirt stretched tightly over that body shaping every curve of his muscles from the shape of his chest to the six pack he was proud of. Looking at him you would never guess he was such a softy, until you really got to know him. His manly legs, left bare by his khaki shorts that fit just right at his waist line.

Michelle however was the complete opposite to Devon in the looks department. Frail and skinny, they had all wondered how the hell the relationship worked until they saw them together. It was definitely not what was on the outside that made them perfect for each other. Her blue t-shirt sat loose on that scrawny upper body, leading into the grey shorts before seeing those scrawny legs, with piercing blue eyes that could stare right into your soul when she was serious. Right now it was filled with warmth from so much joy, thin lips spread wide to let out a roar of laughter. It was evident who held control in the bedroom by the looks of Devon and Michelle, but Natalie still wondered if she was wrong, but never asked. With curls of blonde hair falling over her face as she sat up, before her signature move came off shaking it out of her face before it fell back in place over her face yet again.

Natalie looked over to Alice still laughing the loudest out of the rest of them. Natalie and Alice had known each other for years, and she held a special spot in Natalie's heart. Her long, white blonde hair fell over her very feminine face. her hazel eyes filled with as much laughter as the whole table combined. The corners of her mouth curling up slightly, her lips full flashing a smile only she knew how to pull off, her skinny body quivering so hard, with each laugh that came from deep within her. Her spaghetti strap top fitted perfectly, showing the perfect amount of cleavage that she never forgot to show off. Her motto in life being if you got it, flaunt it. Her shorts were so short, you could see her cheeks sneaking out slightly, forming into long perfect legs.

Natalie looked around the table at all her friends still laughing after what seemed like an eternity, in her lime Levi's T-shirt, with her black hair falling over her one eye, her black shorts showing her well toned muscled legs, finishing off her look with her black Puma slops. Her sunglasses sat on top of her head keeping most of her hair out of her face, which kept slipping off her head with her rolling laughter. Natalie's light, deep blue eyes with a touch of green had tears sitting at the rim of her eyes, she swiped at the tears about ready to run down her face with laughter. Her lips weren't large, but they were filled out nicely with her teeth well aligned. Her height averaged at about 5'8" with an athletic built body. "I don't need to gym for a week after this laugh!" Natalie said, fighting the last tremors of the laugh.

"Ah that was so funny," Alice said breathing loud.

"Sometimes I think your mind is some twisted, sadistic thing that morphs everything into some insane idea that ninety percent of the time leads to action, Nat, no that's a lie, I know that your mind is a twisted, sadistic thing that morphs everything into some insane idea, ninety-nine percent of the time leading into action" Kaz commented her glasses back on, and grinning at her.

"I'm still struggling to breathe," Mia said breathing out loudly, still trying to catch her breath.

"My muscles are numb," Jess said leaning on Mia.

"I shook so much from laughing I thought I was going to cum!" Devon said, as everyone stared at him, almost turning their heads 360 degrees. When the group of friends noticed that, they all burst into that fits of laughter again.

Chapter Three:01 January 2000

Eventually they all calmed down enough to sip on their drinks. Natalie's Heineken cold as ice went down her throat, cooling her down, and felt amazing as it cooled her. Knowing that they hadn't stopped drinking since the celebrations had began last night, and having only a few hours of sleep, they were all still pretty wasted, but clear minded enough to think of food. "My friend Megan just flew back from Cape Town and she wants to join us, if that's okay," Mia mentioned in a tone as if it was a matter of fact and a grin on her face as if begging them to be okay with a stranger joining them. This had never bothered them; they lived by the policy the more the merrier. All agreeing in unison, like a choir singing Usher's Yeah, Yeah.