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Alette's POV

"H-hi."

My voice sounded foreign to my own ears. There was a ringing in my ears and pounding in my head as I blinked my eyes slowly.

"Alette," my name was a whisper on his lips.

I slowly moved to sit up but the pain made me wince and fall back. Aresius moved towards me immediately, but before he could touch me the door burst open and three nurses as well as the doctor walked into the room.

The next little bit was spent with the doctor and nurses checking over me and asking me questions about how I felt and if there was anything that was hurting me. They helped me sit up slightly as they assessed the state of my stitches. Aresius had been pushed out of the room at some point and I saw as he stood in the hallway, speaking lowly on his phone.

He ended the call and his eyes fell on me, but I averted my gaze, looking down.

"Well Faye, welcome back, I'm so glad you're awake! I want to do some scans later on, but I think you should be okay to go home by tonight or tomorrow! Please don't hesitate if you have any questions, or if you feel any pain," the Dr. Munroe said with a smile.

This wasn't the first time that I had been under Dr. Munroe's care; she had operated on me a few times before, and I trusted her judgement.

I nodded my head very slowly, "Thank you," I whispered, my throat still feeling dry. They all left the room, talking amongst themselves and I leaned back in the bed.

The silence in the room made all of the events that had taken place rush back into my head, and my heart pounded in fear.

Did that really happen?

Why did that have to happen?

I could feel tears prickling at my eyes and I sniffed, quickly wiping at my eyes when I heard the door open.

He walked into the room and I looked down at my lap. As he got closer to me, I sucked in a breath, which caused me to start coughing on account of my dry throat. He quickly grabbed me some water and brought it up to my mouth. He held it up to my lips, tilted the cup forwards so I could drink. I took slow sips until finally my throat didn't feel as dry.

I softly placed my hand on his hand to signal to him that I was finished, and he moved the cup away from my mouth and placed it on the table.

I felt water on the side of my mouth, but before I could wipe it away, his hand cupped my jaw, ever so softly, as if he was afraid of breaking me, and he used his thumb to wipe away the water at the corner of my lip.

I looked into his eyes as he stared back at me. His features looked soft, and my heart thudded, embarrassingly obvious in the heart monitor. His eyes scanned the entirety of my face and I couldn't look away.

Where would I be if he hadn't found me that night?

No wonder he was upset with you that day at his house, you couldn't even take care of yourself. Stupid.

With that thought, I turned my face away, causing his hand to fall back. I looked down at my hands as I heard him audibly suck in a breath. There was a silence for a few moments, until he finally spoke.

"Alette," his voice seemed deeper than usual.

When I didn't reply, he waited a moment, and then spoke louder.

"Look at me, Alette."

I didn't want to look at him; I was afraid of what I would see.

Disappointment? Weariness? Disgust?

I ignored my falling thoughts, and looked up at him, my breath catching when our eyes met. He moved a step closer to me.

"Okay?" his voice was extraordinarily soft, and it hit me right in the heart.

"I'm okay, thank you. Sorry um f-for...sorry you had to find me like t-that," I scrunched my eyes shut, the memory of the night resurfacing.

He saved me. If he hadn't found me, what would I have done? What would have happened to me? He came to my rescue again. My saviour.

I opened my eyes and looked towards him. It seemed as though he was about to say something, but I beat him to it.

"It doesn't matter, um I a-am sorry that y-you had to help me, I didn't know you would be there I promise," I looked down at my hands, not wanting to look at his eyes flashing in anger in any longer. I felt bad that he had to see me again, to save me again. I knew he didn't want me around.

I apologized, what more could I do?

Before he could say anything, not that it looked like he wanted to, the door burst open and I looked up to see who had come in.

"Oh Faye!" Gramma cried out, launching herself at me.

I put my arms around her, basking in the warmth that she provided.

Uncle Syl came around to the other side and he pulled me into a hug as soon as Grams let go.

"How are you feeling Faye?"

"Did the doctor come and check you already?"

"Have you eaten yet?"

"Why is your heart monitor making that sound?"

The two fired off questions and my eyes widened, feeling overwhelmed.

It seemed as though Aresius caught on because he cleared his throat and got their attention.

"The doctor is outside if you would like to speak to her," he said lowly.

Uncle Syl glanced at him and nodded once. He gave me a kiss on top of my head, and walked outside to meet with Dr. Munroe. I could see them converse in the hallway outside of the room.

Grams got up, "Do you want anything Faye? Water? A snack? Do you want to lay down?"

I shook my head, wincing when it hurt.

"I-I'm fine thank you," I told her softly.

She smiled at me again, and kissed my forehead as the door of the room opened to reveal Uncle Syl and Dr. Munroe.

"So good news Faye, I have a radiologist available right now to conduct your MRI, so we can get all that checked out and I can let you know if you'll be able to go home tonight or tomorrow!" Dr. Munroe smiled brightly.

I nodded slowly, not wanting to linger on the fact that I hated the MRI machines because they made me feel claustrophobic.

"I don't want you walking yet, so some nurses are going to bring you down to the room and I'll meet you there," she gave everyone a wave and walked out of the room.

Two nurses entered the room and began prepping me for the tests, and eventually took me to the room. The next little while felt like a blur as I was tested and assess by the technicians.

Finally, they wheeled me back to the room and I sat on the bed feeling beyond exhausted.

"Did you want something to eat dear?" one of the nurses asked me kindly.

I shook my head slowly, wanting to just sleep again.

"Well you can lay down quickly, I can tell you're tired, and you can have a meal as soon as you're up!"

The nurses left the room, and Uncle Syl and Grams helped me lay back down. My eyes fluttered with fatigue, and the last thing I noticed before succumbing to sleep was that Aresius was no longer here.

I fell in and out of sleep, until finally the afternoon sun was too much to handle and I couldn't close my eyes. I moved up in the bed slowly, not seeing anyone in the room. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes but the sound of the door opening made my heart race and my eyes shot open.

He was back.

He walked back into the room, his massive stature making the room feel small. He had changed his clothes, and his hair looked damp.

He was holding a bag of food in his hand, which he placed on the table beside the sofa in the room. With his back to me, he began rifling through the bag.

Turning towards me with a round container and spoon in his hand, he asked, "You slept fine?"

"N-" my first instinct was to say no, I hadn't slept properly because of the memories filtering through my mind, but I didn't want to be a bother to him so instead I said, "Yes, I slept okay."

His jaw clenched and he moved towards me, placing the container on the table beside the bed.

He grabbed a water bottle and unscrewed the cap, then moving to the bag he brought, he pulled out a pink straw and put it inside the bottle.

He moved towards me again and brought it close to my mouth, "Open."

I opened my mouth and began drinking the water out of the straw. He let go of the bottle, now that I was holding it securely, and opened the lid of the container he had gotten.

Inside the container was some kind of a soup. He mixed it slightly and then put some onto the spoon.

"You have to eat now Alette," his voice was so gentle, I wanted nothing more than for him to pull me into a hug because I needed to cry.

I had to cry. I couldn't even begin to process what had happened that night.

And it was all my fault.

He brought the spoon to my mouth, and I had no choice but to drink the soup. I swallowed slowly, my throat hurting.

"I c-can do it m-myself, you d-don't have to do that f-for m-"

"Let me do it," his voice sounded strained, but I couldn't tell if I had just imagined it.

I looked at him, and he brought the spoon back to my mouth. After a few bites, my eyes widened, and I put my hand on his hand that had extended the spoon towards me and pushed away.

"I-is Tai okay? Is he hurt?" I asked him frantically. This was all my fault, what if he gets hurt?

Aresius looked at me with an undecipherable look in his eye, until he finally shook his head, "Tai is fine, nothing happened to him."

I let out a small sigh of relief and he resumed his motion of feeding me. Once I couldn't eat anymore, he finally closed the lid, and went to wash his hands in the bathroom that was in the room.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand, as he walked out of the bathroom and turned my head towards the door as it opened again.

Tai, Josephine and Grams all walked in through the door, Josephine had balloons in her hand, and Grams had flowers. Tai immediately walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me tightly. I melted into his brotherly embrace and closed my eyes, not wanting to burst into tears.

After a few minutes of hugging, he finally pulled away.

"Bee," he whispered, "I'm so glad you're okay, I'm so sorry I left."

My eyes widened, "Oh my goodness T-tai no! D-don't apologize, it wasn't your fault at all!"

Josephine patted Tai's arm as he went all quiet again. She then moved forward to hug me.

"You had me worried cupcake, I'm glad you're up," she poked my cheek and smiled slowly at her.

"Yay for reunions," Grams cheered in the background, making Josephine laugh.

"Your Grams and I brought you some clothes and stuff so you can change! Have you eaten..." she trailed off questioningly, and her eyes flitted up to look at Aresius, who was standing across the room, leaning on the wall with his hands in his pockets. She looked back down at me, and scrunched her eyes at me, as if asking me if everything was fine.

"I had some soup," I mumbled.

"Well I did bring you some cookies," sang Josephine quirking her brows. I smiled and nodded at her.

"C-can I go to the bathroom first?"

"Of course you can Faye, let's help you up," Grams replied. Before anyone could move to get me up, Aresius stepped forwards.

He placed his hands on my waist and guided me to the edge of the bed. His touch was ever so careful as he helped me stand up, holding onto my as my knees buckled over slightly.

He slowly led me to the bathroom, making sure I wasn't putting all my weight on my feet.

I tried really hard to ignore how good he smelled, and how his big arms felt around me.

I couldn't go down that path again, but I really liked it when he was being gentle.

I also couldn't understand why Josephine and Grams were giving each other sly looks while smirking.

He led me to the door of the bathroom and I mumbled a thank you, looking down.

I grabbed the handles in the bathroom to stay upright and did my business, hobbling around trying not to put too much weight on anything.

As I was washing my hands, I finally looked up into the mirror and my eyes widened. I had bruising around my face and neck, as well as a cut on my neck that was covered with a bandage.

I looked horrid.

I finished washing my hands and unlocked the bathroom door. Aresius moved forwards and helped me back to the bed.

He looked as though he was about to say something when his phone rang. He looked at the screen and quickly walked outside of the room to take the call. Josephine sat on one side of my bed and helped me tie up my hair, and Tai sat on the other side. The two struck up a conversation and the three of us talked while Grams watched on, smiling fondly.

I saw Grams peek outside at Aresius, and when she saw that he was off the phone, she walked outside leaving the door open slightly.

Josephine and Tai were still talking to me so I couldn't hear what Grams was saying too well. I only heard bits of their conversation but Grams spoke loudly when she said, "You've stayed here with her every night, you're tired and you have work. Please go home and get some rest; she's going to be okay."

My heart thudded at her words.

He had stayed with me?

I then realized that he had been the only one here early in the morning when I had first woken up.

Josephine asked me a question that distracted me, and I began speaking softly to her when Grams and Aresius entered the room.

He paid no mind to anyone else, just streamlined straight towards me.

"I'll come back later," he rasped out with conviction.

And then, cupping the side of my face with one hand, he leaned down slowly and placed his soft lips on my forehead.

Oh.

His brief kiss made a warm feeling course through my veins.

I could get used to that. But I didn't deserve the way he switched up his moods on me and hurt my feelings.

He was being nice now, but it didn't mean anything.

Right?

He nodded at everyone else in the room, and left, closing the door behind him.

Grams cleared her throat to shake everyone out of the silence that had fallen over us.

"Should we get some dinner for you now Faye?"

Before I could answer, Tai jumped in, "I'll go get something for all of us."

He ruffled my hair, being careful to not hurt me, and walked out of the room.

The rest of the evening passed with the four of us talking and eating. I felt calmer now that I was more distracted and couldn't think of what had happened.

My thoughts however did linger on Aresius, and how I still felt about him. Through the fear and the hurt, I was thinking of him.

But did he think of me too?

Uncle Syl joined us after dinner and we all ate cookies, everyone making sure to keep me in high spirits.

Shortly after that, Dr. Munroe knocked on the door and came into the room. She notified me that the scans came back clear, and I was good to go home. She did say that she would prefer it if I stayed closer to the city so that she could keep me in observation, and that we would be able to rush to the hospital in case anything happened.

I bit my lip in concern, knowing that our house wasn't that close to the hospital. Uncle Syl saved the day by letting her know that I would stay in his apartment for the next week or so because it was nearby.

With that situation solved, Dr. Munroe asked me if I had any other concerns.

"U-um c-can I have s-something to help me fall a-asleep tonight?" I whispered softly, looking down.

There was no way that I could get any rest without the help of something stronger. Too many memories and recollections of the event were already trying to break through the dam that I had created, and I knew it would worsen at night time.

"Oh of course, I'll ask the nurse to give you that alongside the pain medication," she said gently.

Bidding her goodbyes, she walked out of the room.

Josephine looked at the time, "I should get going too, I have an early class tomorrow. Tai?"

"Yeah let's go, Bee needs her rest."

Josephine gave me another big hug, "I love you cupcake, I'm here if you want to talk okay?"

I nodded at her and Tai pulled me in for a hug after. When he let go, he looked into my eyes; his own eyes seemed lighter, and there was a painful look on his face.

"I'm so glad you're okay Faye," he said lowly, "I love you, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that."

I felt my own eyes well up, and I opened my mouth to apologize but he shushed me.

"It's not your fault, don't say sorry, I love you," he let out a watery laugh, flicking my nose.

I sniffed and nodded hugging him again.

The two left the hospital room, and a while later, the nurses gave me the medicine, and I could feel myself getting sleepier.

Uncle Syl came to help me lay down, whilst Grams readied the sofa to be turned into a bed for the night for one of them. He kissed the top of my head, "I love you Faye, don't you ever forget that."

I smiled the best I could at him and Grams, as my eyelids got heavier.

The last thing I thought of before sleep took me was a pair of stormy grey eyes, and the man who had saved me.

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