TOGETHER [P. LAHOTE]

[15]

Where was she?

Everything was black. She couldn't hear anything except a constant hum. There was no smell to give away where she was. Her senses were all but useless to her.

Her mind itself felt foggy, and she couldn't think. What had happened? Why couldn't she remember anything?

Slowly, Skylar forced her eyes to open, despite them feeling as if they had been glued shut. Immediately, a bright light flooded through and blinded her. Letting out a low groan, she threw her head back and shut her eyes again.

Her heart skyrocketed at the thought of not knowing where she was, or who was near her. She became accurately aware of an erratic beeping to her side, front and back. She couldn't pinpoint the exact location as it seemed to be echoing on the walls.

"Baby," a soothing voice came out of nowhere. "Hey, baby. Calm down. I'm here now."

She couldn't place the owner of the voice but the deep, rumbling sound of it made her feel relaxed almost instantly. Skylar tried to feel panicked but the thought passed as a rough hand softly ran through her dark brown hair.

"I know it's hard for you, okay? But stay still, baby. You hurt yourself." The same voice was gold to her ears. Suddenly, a cool, plastic object was placed on her dry lips. "Drink this, okay? It's just water. It'll make you feel better."

Her mouth parted as soon as he mentioned water. She was all too aware of how parched her mouth felt. Feeling the cool liquid run down her throat made her moan in relief. "That's it. Slow sips, okay?"

The coolness was pulled away, making her frown. However, the hand started playing with her hair again making her eyes flutter. "Go back to sleep, baby. You need to rest."

She shut her eyes for what she thought as a couple seconds. But after a few attempts of opening them, she noticed that the light was gone, replaced with dusk. Pain exploded in her side when she shifted to the side, making a soft whimper escape her lips. It slowly passed, and with the pain leaving, Skylar opened her eyes.

The vibrant white in the room made Skylar's eyes squint. Tilting her head to scan the room, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Even with having her vision back, she still could not decipher where she was.

Her attention shifted towards the door, where Carlisle peeked his head through. Looking relieved that she was awake, he entered the room. "Skylar. We were wondering when you were going to wake up."

"What... Where am I?" Skylar muttered.

He walked towards her as if he got too close, she would get hurt. "You're at the hospital. You got hurt, Skylar, and bad. You've been out for four days."

She got hurt? While it was evident with the pain in her side, she couldn't remember. How... What happened?

All of a sudden, it flashed through her eyes in fast forward. Hiding from the vampires. Victoria finding them. The wolves. Edward. Bella.

"Bella," she choked out. "Edward and Bella were fighting with her... Victoria..."

Carlisle quickly held his hands up in reassurance. "They're fine. Victoria's gone - forever."

Skylar immediately sighed in relief only to have her heart speed up again. "Paul. Where is he?"

Carlisle face twisted at the mention of the werewolf. "He's okay, Skylar. But Jacob..."

"Jacob?"

"He got hurt protecting Leah. He's alive, but he's suffering many of the same injuries you are," The oldest vampire said regretfully. "Skylar, you have six broken ribs, a cracked skull along with a major concussion. With the injury to your head... Well, we weren't sure if you'd wake up anytime soon."