Queen of Rosewood Forest (On Hold)

Chapter 21

Mrs. Bohannon starts to help me eat the bowl of soup and it helps me feel a little better. I'm still unable to move when Ally walks in with a jar and what seems like a first aid kit. Being in the same room as her makes me extremely uncomfortable with everything that just happened. She goes to the opposite side of my bed from Mrs. Bohannon and scoops some gel out of the jar.

As she reaches for my arm I tense up. "I can't help you if you won't let me," She says annoyedly and yet I notice a hint of worry in her voice. "I know this isn't ideal but you need medical attention and I'm the only one here who knows how to help you. Neven is getting one of the doctors from the hospital but we can't risk you getting worse."

I muster up enough strength to croak out a few words. "Why are you helping me?" I ask confused and scared.

Ally stops for a second and Mrs. Bohannon leaves with the empty bowl. "At the end of the day Neven chose this. Whether you encouraged him or not, he chose you and I care enough about him to help someone he loves."

I look at her shocked, "He doesn't love me." My voice is almost at a whisper and it hurts to speak, but I can't stand the thought of her thinking I was taking Neven away from her.

"It's fine," she sighs, "We didn't choose each other. I've always known that he might one day find someone that he truly loved. I hoped that it could have been me, but I don't think that's possible anymore." I know Neven doesn't feel the way Ally thinks he does but with how much animosity there is between them it makes me wonder if there is something I'm just not seeing.

Ally finishes applying some gel to my arms and puts bandages over them. She leaves the room moments before Aaden walks in with a doctor.

"How are you feeling?" Aaden asks from the foot of my bed.

"Pain." I whisper as the doctor puts a stethoscope up to my chest. I can't look at him, embarrassed that I'm requiring so much attention in such a short amount of time being here.

"The doctor will get you feeling better," he said as the doctor continued to check me over. "What caused this, Doctor?"

"She has been pushing herself for one thing," he said calmly. "But I suppose it could also be that she is learning her powers and used up too much at one time. Stress can also be a part of it if it caused her to lose control"

"Has anything been going on here?" Aaden asked, I could feel his eyes on me so I just look away refusing to give an answer.

"Evette, I need you to be honest with me," he pushed as he walked over and crouched down beside me.

"Please don't make me answer that," I whisper as the doctor shuts his bag.

"She needs to rest, it is the best thing for her right now," he said standing. "I'm going to tell Melissa you can't come into work for a few days, and you need to refrain from using your powers for about a week or so just to make sure you have enough time to heal.

"Thank you, Doctor," Aaden nodded, escorting him out of the room. Once the doctor left he came back into the room and crouched beside me again. "Tell me what happened, Evette."

"The doctor said I should rest." I shut my eyes to try to escape the conversation.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on."

His stare burns through me until I can't stand it anymore. "I've had some issues with my powers activating while I sleep, so I haven't been sleeping much is all." I lie knowing that the truth is too complicated to deal with right now.

"I know you've been stressed with Neven and Ally right now so that might be why. I'm guessing you've been scared of people finding out the truth." He sits for a second staring out the window at the flowerbox. "Of course Neven didn't realize how much stress you were under. It's not safe for you to stay here when you don't have control. You can't be staying up all night. I'm going to go talk to him. You should get some rest."

I should have known Aaden would be able to see right through me. Despite only knowing him for a few days, he's been right there when I needed him. I feel terrible for taking so much of his time when I barely know him. I look out the window at the street lights and as I start to fall back to sleep I swear I notice them flickering the same way the lantern at Aaden's house did this afternoon.