Breaking Hope (Finding Sky edit)

Chapter 32

I woke up with a killer headache in the same God damn hospital that I was in when I fell asleep and was immediately annoyed. I had hoped I was discharged in my sleep and was carried home and straight too my bed and I had woken up from a blissful and indulgent sleep feeling fresh and rejuvenated. Like that would happen. Instead, I could feel the scratchy cheap linen of hospital beds, the smell of flowers and the warmth of someone holding my hand. I was still on a saline drip, and the cast on my arm was heavy and itchy and there was a bandage around my head where I could now feel fresh stitches pulling at my scalp. I mumbled something incoherent in my half-conscious state, and heard the sound of Oscar laughing but that was enough to pull me back to consciousness. I snapped open my eyes to see Oscar sitting next to me holding my hand and I smiled.

'You're not dead.' I whispered, so glad it all proved to be some bullshit thought much like Michael had told me it was.

'You're not overly good at cute one-liners.' He joked, brushing my hair from my face.

'You haven't been shot, have you? Like nothing?' I had to double check, and I even looked him up and down but there was nothing. He just frowned at me.

'Nah, I left that all for Ella.' He joked, playing with the remote of the bed trying to figure out how to make me sit up. I smiled gently as he pulled a face as my legs started to go up, but he figured it out before walking over the other side of the bed and he clambered into bed with me, putting his arm around my shoulders as I curled up into him. I felt immediately better with him just being here. We were alive, mildly uninjured, but alive.

'How do you actually feel?' He whispered, kissing the crown of my head.

'Like shit, got such a headache.' I muttered.

'Probably from that nosebleed you had. It was massive – they had to give you a blood transfusion. Thankfully, Michael managed to make you so relaxed you fell asleep so you didn't panic. It did mean you just bled through a few pillows.'

'What can he do?' I asked.

'He can just completely calm you down and alter the way you perceive events. Very interesting and psychological based gifts but if you're panicky, he can completely calm you down and make you talk even if you don't want too. Very handy in his job.'

'I bet.'

'I was so worried, Hope. I had no idea any of this would happen – my gift wouldn't allow me to see this. I had no idea at all. I should have told you to be careful –'

'You had no idea it was going to happen, you can't blame yourself!' I told him.

'I know but I still do – is that stupid?' He asked, and I could feel the pain in his voice. 'There was no way I could stop it if I did see it, but I wish I could. It was almost inevitable.'

'No one can blame themselves for this.' I whispered, but someone can. David and Antonio can.

'Well, the people who kidnapped you can.' He muttered angrily as if hearing my thoughts. Which he probably can. I've never been able to hide my thoughts from Oscar which is incurably annoying.

'Even though you think you can't hide thoughts, you are. I mean, I can feel that you're hiding something deep inside you but when they planted the fake belief, they must have removed the way you remembered where you hid those thoughts – makes sense?'

'Not really.'

'It's complicated.'

'Please don't explain it at the moment then, keep it simple for me. I'm stupid and concussed.' I joked, and he laughed.