I felt so tired.

I'd been down here for Goddess knows how long and the constant fading in and out wasn't helping with keeping up with time either. It's gotten to the point where I'd throw up nothing due to the amount of Wolfsbane I'd been inhaling as well as the lack of food I'd gotten, though Matthew had tried to slip as much food down as he could without luring Greyson, or Gavin, or whoever. Nevertheless, it'd slowed down my healing process as well and I was sure that my wound had gotten infected.

But, over the days that I had been conscious, the constant sound of gunfire filled my ears, and now it's simply a waiting game of when it'll go off. As if on cue, another shot went off, causing me to jump a bit, but not too much because my body was just too tired. A few moments later, I heard movement above me and light pour in like a stream. I weakly lifted my hand to shield my eyes as a familiar voice called down to me. "Avery," Matthew called down, his voice comforting. "I'm coming down for you now, okay? We've taken care of the threat. You're safe now." I would have smiled if I could. I just hurt too much.

A few moments later, he was slowly being lowered in, a rope securely tied around his waist and his moves calculated so that he had as little contact with the Wolfsbane as possible. I wanted to cry and beg for him to move faster, but yet again, I was too weak to form words and string them into sentences.

"I've got you, Avery. Just keep your eyes open for me, okay?" I merely groaned in response as his feet touched the ground right beside me. "I'm sorry, but this might hurt," he softly warned before he picked me up under my arms and moved me until I was being carried in a bridal style, winces and whimpers escaping my lips as pain shot through my otherwise numb body. "I know, Av. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he apologized as he held me tight before yelling, "Pull us up now! She needs a doctor!" We slowly started being pulled up, silent tears welling up in my eyes due to the pain that was moving through me since Matthew was holding me so tightly.

"We're almost there, Avery. Everything's going to be okay. You're safe now, I promise." I weakly nodded, trusting that Matthew wouldn't let anything happen to me. He risked his life to protect me from Greyson and I could never repay him or thank him enough.

After a few more moments I was out, the sensation of fresh air feeling foreign to me. "Where's the doctor?" Matthew yelled as I began coughing, still holding me in a bridal style as the feeling of vomit travelled up my throat.

"Down," was all I could muster, feeling the vomit traveling through me fast.

"What?" Matthew asked concern in his voice.

"Down!" I growled, louder and more urgent. Without wasting a moment he crouched down and just as he set me down, vomit escaped my lips. Matthew held my hair back and gently rubbed my back as the tar black substance slid past my lips and spilled out onto the grass in front of me.

After a few moments, I was done and weakly collapsed, my body shaking as heat spread through me like a wildfire. "Avery? Avery! Where is the doctor?" Matthew demanded, though I couldn't hear the answer due to my heart harshly beating in my ears. I felt my eyelids start dropping. "No, no, no. Avery don't let your eyes close. Stay awake with me, okay?" Matthew begged as he gently tapped my cheeks. But I couldn't stop them. "Avery? Avery!"

"I can't," I weakly rasped before I was engulfed in a silent darkness.

***

When I awoke my body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. It took a few moments before I could muster up the strength to open my eyes, but even when I finally managed to open them I shut them right back again due to the intense light that was pouring into them. I let out a weak groan, causing the sound of scuffling feet to fill my ears.

"Avery?" A deep voice gently called and I recognized it as Matthew after a few moments of searching through my brain. I weakly opened my eyes to show him that I heard him knowing that I couldn't do much else. He let out a sigh of relief as he tightly held my hand in his own. I saw that there were dark bags under his eyes implying that he hadn't slept, and the growing facial hair implied he hadn't shaved either. I doubted he even showered due to the slight odor that he'd gotten.

"W-What happened?" I questioned, my voice coming out raspy and strained.

"I brought you out of Convergence, remember? After I brought you out, you went into a violent coughing fit, threw up, then passed out and then you...you started having seizures. Like, really bad ones and...and I got so scared," he recalled, his voice breaking. "So since the doctor wasn't coming to you, I picked you up and ran you over to him as fast as I could and every step of the way I listened to make sure your heart was still beating and that you were still breathing. Avery, it was terrifying. Luckily, I made it to the hospital and they said your body was trying to flush out all of the Wolfsbane but since you had nothing in your stomach to flush it out with your body basically started to freak out and shut down. So they performed a procedure to get everything out of your system and once that was done, they began rehydrating and feeding you," he said, lifting up my hand so I could see the IV sticking out of my hand. Then he sighed, letting me know that there was more to the story and I wasn't going to like it.

"But there was a problem," he woefully continued. "Even after you'd been flushed and nursed back to health, your leg still wasn't healing. So the doctor did the only thing he could...he called Greyson in."

"He what?" I almost yelled, causing my throat to hurt but I didn't care. "How could they- how could you let that beast anywhere near me after everything he's put me through?" I felt tears well up in my eyes as betrayal and anger fought for dominance in my head. "I-I thought I could trust you, Matthew."

"No, no, Avery it's not like that," he quickly defended. "They didn't have a choice. It was either let Greyson heal you or completely amputate your leg before the infection could spread further than it already had."

My eyebrows furrowed. "How did Greyson 'heal' me exactly?" I weakly asked, confusion evident in my voice. How could Greyson heal me but the doctors couldn't?

"Well because Greyson's, uh...different than the rest of us, he has different abilities than we do," Matthew explained, careful to choose his words. "But don't worry, I made sure he didn't stay longer than necessary or touch you more than he had to." I opened my mouth to ask him to clarify, but he beat me to it. "Please don't ask me what I mean because I honestly can't tell you. I don't fully understand myself. That's a conversation between you and Greyson."

I scuffed. I'd rather have my leg amputated. But then I remembered the promise I made my parents, to hold on and to give him another chance. But they didn't know how difficult he was and how badly he hurt me over and over and over.

But despite my inner battle, I merely nodded to show Matthew I understood before asking, "How long have I been out?"

"Eight days," he instantly answered.

"And you stayed here the whole time?"

"Never left this room," he said, causing me to raise my eyebrows at his level of commitment to me though he'd known me for such a short time, but I wasn't surprised. It was Matthew after all. I finally looked around the room and instantly recognized where I was. Our bedroom. And despite my immense hatred toward Greyson for what he did to me, I found my body cuddling into the sheets that were soaked with his masculine scent. There was a heart rate monitor attached to my finger, the machine next to me showing my steady heartbeats as well as an IV that was slowly dripping liquids into me.

"Thank you Matthew. You're the best," I thanked.

"That's what friends are for," he said giving my hand a light squeeze. "Do you need anything? I can make you something."

"You read my mind," I chuckled. " I could really go for some of your killer waffles and-"

"No need to finish that sentence, Av. I already got you covered," Natalie said as she came through the door with at three plates in her arms consisting of pancakes, bacon, and sausage.

I smiled, relieved to see another familiar face. "Thanks, Nat."

"No problem, hon. How are you feeling?" She asked as she began distributing the plates.

"Tired and achy," I admitted. "But I'm doing better now." Natalie laughed and Matthew rolled his eyes before they fogged over, letting me know that he was Linking someone.

"Where have you been?" I asked as I took a bite of my bacon.

"With...him since Matthew was here," she said, avoiding Greyson's name. "I hate that he got so out of control with you, but I had to be there since Matthew and I are the only ones that kinda know what's going on with him, and you'll know too eventually. But don't worry, I came here everyday whenever I could." I nodded, thankful for her commitment that matched her brother's.

Just then the haze cleared from Matthew's eyes and he said, "The Doctor is on his way. He says to make sure you thoroughly chew your food and to not rush." I nodded in response as he grabbed the remote and sat on one side of me while Nat got comfortable on the other. "Okay, let's forget all this depressing talk and see what bad movie marathon is on."