The Runaways

Chapter Fifteen

At first I only hear things. Everything is dulled.

*Beep* .. *Beep* .. *Beep*

A heart monitor?

A sigh.

A rough hand brushes my face. Picturing my dad there, that close to me, I immediately panic.

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

A boy's voice. "Skyler? Skyler, can you hear me? Oh God, please don't take her. Nurse!"

A door opening.

"I-I don't know what happened, I just heard her heart monitor go all crazy."

Now a woman's voice. "Her vitals seem alright. I think her heart rate just sped up. Probably because she's dreaming or maybe she realizes she's medicated."

The boy. "So.. she's gonna be okay, right?"

The beeps eventually slow down again.

"There's an six out of ten chance that she'll recover just fine. As long as she remains stable for the next few hours, she's in the clear. If she doesn't wake herself up soon, you can try yourself if you like."

"Okay. Okay, thank you so much."

"Honey, are you sure you don't need us to stitch up that eyebrow? Since you're already here?"

"Uh, no, no ma'am. Thank you. I need to stay here with Skyler."

"Okay sweetie, just let me know if you need anything.."

Another sigh.

"You've got a good heart, son. Hope everything works out. Goodnight."

"Thank you, ma'am. Goodnight."

A door closes. Someone sits down next to me. There's no sound for a while except for a few muttered words of someone talking to himself.

"Hey Skyler, this is Luke." He pauses.

"So, uh, I don't know if you can even hear me, but I just need to say some things that I probably won't ever have the courage tell you while I'm looking in your eyes. First," he swallows. "I think I'm in love with you."

His voice sounds nervous.

"I know that we've gotten into some pretty tight spots, but, I swear, today scared me the most. I wanted to tear your dad to pieces.. I'm sorry, since its your dad and all, but I'm being honest. The way that he thinks he can just shove you around and hurt you just because you're his daughter? Just because he's drunk and unhappy? No one in their right mind thinks 'Oh, look at my beautiful, talented daughter, why don't I throw her on the floor and beat her to death.'" His frustrated tone lessens.

"You're everything to me. When you left Mrs. Aldera's house and I saw you were gone, I didn't have the slighest idea of where to find you. I did do some pretty thorough research, and let me say, Skyler, you are one tough girl to track down.. How did I get so lucky?" Luke leans down and kisses me.

In that moment, all of the feeling comes back into my body. My eyes flutter open just in time to see him stand back upright.

"Hey," I say softly, testing out my voice.

A surprised, wide smile spreads across his bruised, but still adorable face.

" Hi," he says as he bends over and takes my hand. He thinks that I didn't hear a word he just said. I can tell. But I'm never going to admit that I did.

He helps me pull myself up to a sitting position, and I reach out my arms to him. Luke leans down and hugs me gently, being careful of all of the tubes connected to me. When he lets me go, I finally get a good look at him. His left eyebrow is bloody and taped up, dark bruises trail up his arms, and his eyes are red and bloodshot.

"Oh my gosh, Luke, are you okay?" I whisper as I try to stand to his height. My head spins and my legs shake as I place my feet on the cold tile.

He disregards my question. "Whoa, whoa. Hey, Skyler. Please, sit back down.." Luke says as he catches me from stumbling over my own feet. "You've just recovered from internal bleeding and head trauma. I really don't think you're supposed to be walking around yet.." He kisses my forehead.

"Well, that explains why I taste metal," I say as I scrunch up my nose.

He sits down next to me on the hospital bed.

"It was scary.." He says, looking down at the floor.

"At my house? My dad?" I ask slowly, feeling horribly guilty. "I swear, if-"

"No," he interrupts. "You scared me." He looks up. "You started to cough up blood, Skyler. Like, a lot of blood.."

I shift uncomfortably and play with my hands in my lap while he continues.

"You couldn't stop coughing. But after your dad beat me to an extent, I thought I was just seeing things. I finally managed to keep him occupied long enough for me to get you help. I was terrified. You weren't moving, and you were so cold when I held you.. I just.." He shakes his head.

"How did you even get me here?" I ask.

"I knew I didn't have enough time to wait for an ambulance, so I, uh, borrowed your dad's car.. Hope he doesn't mind."

"You're my superman."

"And... You're my Lois Lane?"

I nod. My heart thumps wildly as he takes my hand in his, making the monitor sound like a time bomb. I can feel my cheeks turning pink as I lower my head.

Luke smiles while he places my free hand on the middle of his chest. It was racing.

"Same pace. You know, I think we should stick together, having the same heart rate and all," he chuckles, setting my hand back on the bed.

A searing pain creeps into my lungs, but I just grimace and hide it.

"Skyler, what's wrong?" Luke asks, noticing my forced expression.

"Uh, it's- it's nothing. I'm fine.." I look out of the large window of the hospital room and into the hallway.

My breath catches in my throat. I grip Luke's hand tightly, but continue to stare. He follows my gaze and notices the same thing I did, just seconds before.

The bloody, angry man screams at a small nurse, pointing this way and that.

This can't be happening.

He found us.

The heart monitor picks up pace once again. My whole body is shaking uncontrollably.

Luke quickly lowers the blinds on the window while I sit there, too terrified to move.

"Hey." Luke puts his hand on my back. "It's fine. We're gonna be okay."

Shaking my head, I try to pull my IV and other contraptions out of my skin.

I know what he came here for.

"Skyler. Skyler, stop," Luke says as he grabs my hands together and tapes my IV back in place.

He has no idea.

"It's not going to be fine," I state blankly.

I know it without a doubt.

He's confused. "What? Why not?"

"Luke, he's here to kill me."