The door clicked shut behind him, and quiet settled back over the room – save for the steady beep of the heart monitor. I stared at Rowan's bruised face and gripped his hand again.
If he needed time, I'd give him time. If he needed space, I'd figure out how to live with that, too.
But if Marcus came anywhere near him again, I'd break his legs.
Rowan
16
A sharp, rhythmic beeping wormed its way into my consciousness, dragging me out of the dark in slow, uneven increments. It sounded familiar but out of place, and it scraped through the quiet in a way that made my head hurt. My eyelids felt heavy and didn't want to lift when I tried to open them.
At some point, the incessant noise started to cut through the fog in my mind. With some effort, I managed to pry my eyes open enough to see blurry shapes drifting around me. I tried to focus, but my vision wouldn't clear, and a heavy throb started to pulse through my head. My brain felt too big for my skull.
Something moved to my left. I heard a quiet, gentle voice, but it was muffled. For a minute, I wondered if I had cotton stuffed in my ears. When I tried to swallow around my dry throat, I thought I'd inhaled sandpaper.
"Mr. Hale?" the voice said, a bit clearer now. "Can you hear me?"
I blinked again, forcing my eyes to stay open despite the way they wanted to slide shut again. I squinted to try to make out the person in front of me, but everything was too fuzzy. All I could make out was a vague outline against a pale, sterile backdrop.
When I tried to talk, I couldn't manage more than a quiet croak. I cleared my throat to try again, but even that small movement sent a flare of pain through my chest.
The female voice spoke again. "Don't try to move too much. You're safe. You're in hospital."
Hospital. The word didn't make sense at first and just kind of bounced around my head without landing anywhere. I swallowed again and forced myself to take a deeper breath, but it caught halfway and made my ribs ache.
The nurse seemed to notice my struggle and leaned in closer as she softened her voice. "Don't force it. You're alright. Can you tell me your first name?"
I managed to mumble something that vaguely resembled "Rowan," though it came out garbled. My head was pounding, and each throb matched the painful pulse in my chest. I tried to push myself up a little to relieve some of the stiffness that had settled into my back.
But the second I moved, a wave of agony crashed through me and stole the breath right out of my lungs. A choked sound broke free before I could stop it. Every muscle in my body locked up.
A hand landed gently on my shoulder to keep me still. "Easy, now. You took quite a beating. Your body won't thank you for pushing it."
I couldn't help the small, shaky breath that escaped me, even though it made the pain in my chest flare. I squeezed my eyes shut to try to force it away, but it just kept buzzing through me, sharp and insistent.
She moved again, and then she mumbled something I couldn't quite make out. I heard her fidget with the machinery before her fuzzy figure reappeared and leaned down. "I've adjusted your morphine drip. You'll feel better in a minute, okay?"
I couldn't bring myself to nod. For now, I just tried tofocus on breathing and lying still. My mind was a mess, memories flickering in and out like a broken projector. The pain wouldn't let me think straight, and I couldn't tell how much of it came from my head or my ribs or anywhere else.
The more I focused on breathing, though, the more I became aware of a pressure against my face. I hadn't noticed it at first, but now it was impossible to ignore. It felt heavy, and without thinking, I tried to weakly nudge it away.
The nurse gently caught my wrist before I could do much. "Hey, careful. Is the mask bothering you?"
I managed the slightest nod. Thankfully, this time, it didn't make my head throb so hard. I still couldn't see the nurse clearly, but I heard the soft rustle of fabric as she glanced at something beside the bed. Then she reached up to unhook the mask from around my ears.
She slid it away and replaced it with a thin tube that rested just under my nose. The new setup felt lighter and less suffocating, but the rush of air tickled. I had to force myself not to flinch away from it.
"There we go. That better?"
I gave another small nod and tried to relax against the pillows. It was marginally easier to breathe now, but my chest still hurt, and every inhale seemed to catch along the way.
The nurse must have noticed my discomfort because she reached for some kind of remote on the side of the mattress and pressed a button. I heard a click, and then the bed tilted with a soft whir, propping me up enough that the pressure on my chest eased.
Now that I wasn't so focused on the pain, my thoughts began to scatter. I couldn't make sense of how I'd gotten here, why every inch of me felt bruised and raw. My hand twitched at my side, but the nurse caught it again and nudged it back down.
"What ... " My voice cracked, and I had to swallow again before trying to speak. "What happened?"
She hesitated just a fraction of a second. "Your friend brought you in. I'm not sure what happened, but the doctors took care of your injuries. You're going to be okay."
