Chapter 24 - Part II

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I cracked my eyes open, but I couldn't see anything, only white light. My whole body ached, although the pain was dull. But when I shifted just a tiny bit, my wounds burned as if they were re-opened.

I knew I was in the hospital, and it was probably the white light in the whole room. I closed them again as I heard voices.

"It was nothing serious, except for some cracked ribs, broken ankle, and a mild concussion. And of course, the knife slash, but it's not that deep, it's shallow. She'll heal soon if proper care is taken"

I think that was the doctor's voice.I grimaced slightly as I heard the extent of my injuries. They were going to hurt for a while. The sound of a door closing reached my ears. And the sound of soft snores.

I heard the creak of the chair as he - no, she sat down on the chair next to my hospital bed (the person was too gentle for a guy) My hand was gently taken in the person's soft hand from the bed, and I itched to remove the needle that was attached into the back of my hand.

"Elora, sweetie, please wake up. I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you." It was my Mom. My throat constricted as I held in my tears. I didn't like the thought of her suffering, but me being selfish, I wanted to hear what she would say.

"Ms. Ewlden, she'll be fine, don't worry." That was Beth's voice. Her voice sounded hoarse.

"I'll quit my job if it meant you'll be safe all the time, baby," she whispered. A tear fell on my needle-filled hand, and my hand involuntarily twitched.

"It moved!" I'm sure that was Jayden's voice.

"What did?" That was Zach.

 "Her hand!" Jayden was almost shouting right now, and I heard a splat. That was my que to talk.

"You don't have to Mom," I replied to her previous words.

I slowly opened my eyes, this time, everything was clear. My heart soared as I saw Angelino, Jayden, Beth, and Zach standing there. Angelino with his hand on Jayden's mouth. Grins immediately formed on their faces. My Mom jerked back in surprise, dropping my hand in surprise.

"Ow," I whined, but it didn't hurt.

"Oh my God. You're awake! Do you have any idea how much you scared me?!" My Mom's eyes were still filled with tears, and there were dark circles under her eyes, but the look in them was stern.

"I liked it better when you were being nice and emotional," I muttered. My Mom instantly cracked a small smile and Beth let out a laugh as well, along with the boys. Another snore followed after, and I slightly turned my head to the side. There, on the small futon, lay the sleeping form of Ulises.

"Glad to know you're back to being sarcastic," my Mom shook her head at me, but I could see the relief in her eyes. "Ulises! Elora's awake!" My Mom said loud enough to wake Ulises up from his slumber.

He swiftly pulled himself into a sitting position as if he was awake the whole time, then took a good look at me sleepily, blinking repeatedly, making everyone laugh, and then sighed in relief. Then he smirked. "God, I couldn't even sleep with all that noise from your heartbeats," he pointedly looked at the heart monitor still beeping.

I frowned a little. He could at least show some concern. Nevertheless, I replied. "I wonder how I slept, with you snoring like a pig in that corner," I pointedly looked at the futon. His smirk vanished and he frowned at me. Beth laughed.

Before he could make any sarcastic comment, I asked, "How's Jason?"

"He's got a mild concussion, but he's awake now. He wanted to come in here to see you but the doctors didn't let him," Ulises confirmed.

"How long have I been out?"

"About eight hours."

"Oh. What about...Luke?"

Ulises's face hardened, and even my Mom stiffened a bit, along with everyone else in the room. "Rotting in jail," he spat.

Just then, the door opened, and in came Sarah. "Oh, honey, when I heard what happened, I rushed straight here. No one bothered telling me!" She threw a mock accusatory glance at my Mom. "I had to force it out of Ace, he looked so miserable, blaming himself and such repeatedly." She came up to me and gently hugged me.

Ace blamed himself? But it wasn't even his fault!

"He's not here, then?" I asked, disappointment clear in my voice.

"Oh, he's here. He's outside, wouldn't come in. Says he's too ashamed. He's acting stupid. You know it wasn't his fault, right, Ellie?" She asked me, and her voice was slightly worried and soft.

"Of course not, Sarah. I know it wasn't his fault!" I said incredulously. Then, shyly, I asked, "Can you ask him to come in?" Angelino wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I glared at him.

"Of course, honey. I'll send him in and go check in on your brother."

She left, and my Mom stared at me for a few seconds, before swiftly pulling me into another hug. "Don't ever scare me like that again, understood?" A few tears rolled down her cheeks, and I smiled at her sadly.

"I won't," I promised. She then left as well, saying she's checking up on Jason.

"I'll go with them. Give you and Ace some alone time," Beth said, wiggling her eyebrows, imitating Angelino, then she, too, got up and left, after giving me a light hug. But not before motioning the boys out as well. The three boys each gave me careful hug and left, too. Ulises stayed, though.

He came up to my bed and knelt down, gripping my had tightly. Then, to my astonishment, he dropped his head on my thighs, his shoulders shaking. He was crying.

Feeling my throat constrict, I awkwardly patted his head. "Ulises, please don't cry. It was my fault." He looked up at that, his eyes red.

"I knew you were stupid, but I didn't think you would be this stupid. What were you thinking, no phone, no help or backup... you're not invincible Ellie!"

A tear slipped down my face. "I-I'm sorry Ulises. It's just... It's just, Mom...I wasn't thinking...and then Ace," I whispered, my voice cracking. Ulises abruptly pulled himself up and hugged me tightly. My ribs protested in pain, but I ignored it.

"I'm sorry for making you cry. It's just, Ellie... you don't know how it feels to find your only brother and sister on the floor, or with a knife wound to their back. I didn't save you a few years ago, from Luke, and it happened again-"

"Ulises, please. If you weren't there by the time you got there, Luke would've finished me off for good. And Ace was too distracted by me to pay attention to him. You saved all of us today," I said sincerely.

He wiped his tears, then wiped mine too. His hand lingered on my face. "Next time, I should be the first person you call if something like this happens, understood?"

"There won't be a next time," I said firmly. He smiled at me.

"Yes, you're right. I'll go with everyone else now, okay? Go easy on poor Ace. He's been beating himself about your condition for eight hours straight." He kissed my forehead, and walked out of the room.

I waited for a full five minutes after Ulises left, and no one came in. I felt hurt, thinking he didn't even want to see me, even though it was because he thought it was his fault. I supported my weight on my hands weakly, and tried to sit up, but my back protested in sharp pain. I groaned, and my hands gave away.

I plopped down on the bed, gasping sharply as my back burned with more pain. I shut my eyes tight, waiting for the pain to pass.

I heard the creak of the door, but my back hurt too much.

"Ellie!" It was Ace. I opened my eyes, still breathing a bit harshly. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" He rushed to my side, and stood there, his eyes frantic with panic.

"I'm fine, just help me sit up," I said raggedly.

His eyes immediately widened. "No. You need to lay down and rest." He folded his arms.

"Fine," I huffed in annoyance. The pain subsided a bit and I sighed in relief.

A few seconds passed, and there was an awkward silence. I wondered why I called him when I wasn't even going to talk. He sat down. I decided I'll wait for him to speak first. But he didn't.

"Umm...are you still mad at me?"

"For what?" He asked, confused.

I fidgeted uncomfortably. "You know...Nick. I can find my cell phone when we get home, then-" I probably sounded desperate, but I didn't care.

"Ellie, stop." He ran his hand through his hair exasperatedly. "I believed you that time. I just needed time; the image was too fresh in my mind," he explained.

"Oh. Then why didn't you tell me?! It could've saved a lot of panicking on my part!" My voice rose.

"Ellie, calm down. It's not good to stress in this condition," I tried to hide my smile at his concern.

"I know, I should've told you. I'm sorry. I just...I guess I was...jealous, and I needed time to remove the picture of you kissing someone else out of my mind...and I also had to leave right away, or else I would've stayed with you," he said softly. He took my hand with the needle in it, and rubbed soothing circles, sending tingles through it.

"Can I take the needle off?" The question hadn't even fully left my mouth but Ace immediately gave me a stern look, and said "No." I pouted.

He cleared his throat. "I realized I should've told you right then. It could've at least prevented you from making stupid decisions," he said bitterly.

"It's not your fault, Ace," I tried to reason with him, but it was like I hadn't even spoken.

"When I saw you lying on the floor...and then here, in the hospital bed, no idea when you'll wake up..." he whispered hoarsely.

"Ace..."

"Why the hell did you jump in front of me?" He said angrily, but there was pain in his voice. "I knew what I was doing, Ellie, and I saw him coming. Damn it! Why did you have to try to be the hero!"

"I didn't know you knew he was coming...I..I'm sorry," I don't know why I was crying. "Wait, I'm not sorry. I'm still glad I did that," I sniffled.

"Ellie, please don't cry," he sighed. He got up and lightly sat down next to me on the bed. "I'm sorry, I just...you got hurt because of me."

"If you blame yourself one more time, you can leave," I knew he wouldn't leave, though.

There was a long silence.

Ace cleared his throat. He clearly wanted to say something. Then he sighed in frustration. "Did you mean what you said earlier?"

I instantly knew what he was talking about. I fought hard to keep my voice confused. "What do you mean? What did I say?"

His eyes shot up in surprise. "You..you don't remember what you said? Just before you went unconscious?"

"What did I say?" I was trying not to smile now. I was having too much fun.

"That you lo....never mind. Nothing," he mumbled.

I decided to give him a break. "Yes, I meant it," I smiled at him.

His jaw dropped. He composed himself, then said, "Meant what?"

"That I love you."

He closed his eyes. "Say it again," he whispered.

My smile widened. "I love you," I repeated.

His opened them, and happily looked down at me, not saying anything.

I frowned at him . "Aren't you going to say it back?"

"Say what back?" Now he was teasing me.

I craned my neck, trying to see his face clearly, but winced as pain shot through my head. "Hey, careful!" Ace got off the bed and sat back down on the chair, scooting closer to the bed, now closer to my face.

"So...what did you want me to say?" He continued as if nothing happened.

"That you love me too?" I stated bluntly.

"I would say it if I really did."

Hurt flashed through me, and I gritted my teeth. "Then why are you here?"

"To see how you're doing...hey, no need to get angry. I was kidding." He moved closer to me, gently lifting my chin up with his forefinger. He then cupped my cheeks and leaned forward. My heart started racing in my chest.

He pulled back suddenly, looking at the heart monitor in worry. The beeps were a bit faster now, but then calmed down again. Ace let out a laugh. "Good to know what kind of effect I have on you," he whispered, then leaned forward again and kissed me.

It was soft, gentle, and slow, like he thought I was fragile.

I kissed him back eagerly. "I'm sorry for not getting there earlier to save your danger prone self," he whispered through the kiss.

"It's not your fault Ace!" I whined angrily, pulling away, and he chuckled.

"If you say so." He leaned in and kissed me passionately. I closed my eyes.

Then he said what I've been waiting to hear.

"I love you too."

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It's over! I'm happy and sad at the same time. ):)

The Watchers Book 1: Knight of Light