Young Queen

FORTY EIGHT

To say Aria's head was pounding when she woke up was an understatement. Every creak in the room felt like it was blasting through speakers, breaking her eardrums. She felt nauseous from the pain, from the uncomfortable smell.

The smell helped her remember what happened and why she was covered in blood. She had killed someone. Today. Maybe yesterday. Maybe a couple of hours ago. She wasn't sure how long she had been out for, but she wished someone at the very least would have washed the blood off of her body.

Opening her eyes took far too much effort, but she was thankful for the darkness in the room. There was only a small amount of light peeking through the bedroom door from the hallway. But then the door opened, and the light poured in like Aria was looking directly into the fucking sun. She winced and closed her eyes quickly, feeling disoriented at the quick actions.

"Thank God, you're awake," the voice spoke.

"Please, quiet," she managed to say, the voice echoing in her ears and bringing the pounding in her head back. She needed some kind of drugs, pills, anything to make this pain go away.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Leo whispered, moving closer to the bed. In his hands was a yellow pill bottle and a glass of water. "I have something to help with the headache."

He helped her sit up, before handing her two pills. She dropped them in her mouth and chased them down with the water he gave her.

"My head hurts so bad," she told him, laying back down on the bed.

"The doctor said you have a concussion, so you'll be out of it for a couple of days," he told her.

"Am I still covered in blood?" she asked him, the smell stinging her nose again.

"We changed you out of those clothes, but we weren't able to clean you up. The doctor left a couple of minutes ago," he told her again. So she was only out for a small amount of time.

"Please help me take a shower," she begged him. "The smell, I can't."

"We'll keep the lights off. I'll just light some candles," he told her, lifting her into his arms. He couldn't deny her anything.

Leo helped Aria wash her hair and body, scrubbing the remnants of the murdered man off of her. He called someone in to replace the sheets and comforter with clean ones, and to dispose of the old ones. Aria wasn't sure when he did this, she was just glad the bed was smelling good again. The smell was gone.

Was everything cleaned up? She didn't know if she actually asked the question or if she had just thought it. But he answered that they did. God, she was so out of it, she didn't remember falling asleep again. The pills provided much-needed relief against the pain.

She was startled awake when a door somewhere in the hallway slammed shut. The throb came back and she groaned. Someone else was in the room this time, going to hand her the bottle of pills yet again.

"Hey sis, how are you feeling?" Damon asked her, watching as she swallowed the pills.

"Damon? What's going on?" She asked, referring to the loud bangs outside the door. Maybe downstairs in the living room. She wasn't sure.

"Nothing you should worry about right now," he told her.

She suddenly remembers the phone she placed into Damon's jacket before she passed out. Where was it now?

"Damon, where is your jacket? The phone," she asked him.

"Your phone is right here," he motioned towards the phone sitting on the nightstand. It might've been her phone or it might have been the dead man's. She couldn't see much in the darkness.