Amore

Chapter 7

"Cassandra?" a voice called, pulling me out of the dark place, "Cassandra, please wake up."

This voice sounded like it was sobbing. I wanted to wake up and tell them it was okay, but I couldn't. My eyes remained shut, and I drifted back into sleep.

∞ ∞ ∞

"Please, Cassandra, wake up," the voice went again. A cool hand slid over my forehead, "She's burning up, go get some more water and blankets."

∞ ∞ ∞

My eyes slid open slowly. I heard someone gasp and run over to me.

"Are you awake?" the voice went. I slowly turned my head and saw Andrew, looking awful, staring at me. I tried to sit up, but he gently pushed me back down, "No, stay there, Cassandra."

I blinked at him as he slowly fed me some soup.

"What happened," I whispered, my throat was sore. I touched my neck and winced.

"You were sick."

"No, before. Tell me everything."

Andrew sighed, "We believe that person was sent to kill you. We don't know by whom or why. He killed himself before we got to ask. He broke three of your ribs and tried to choke you. You also got pneumonia for going out into that storm."

His hand brushed my hair back from my forehead and looked down at me sadly, "We tried to get to you faster, but we didn't. You could've been killed!" He looked away for a moment, pain on his face, then looked back down at me, "There's obviously something larger going on here. From now on you're to stay with me at all times."

I stared at him. His hair was in knots and there were dark circles under his eyes, "You look awful."

He chuckled, "I have looked better."

I traced one of the dark circles, "You should get some rest."

He ignored me, "Do you think she's good enough to sit up?"

I gave him a strange look, then noticed another man in the corner of the room, watching me. He met me eyes, "Maybe. Try it."

Andrew turned to me, "Do you want to try?"

"Sure."

Andrew slid his hands under my back and helped me up. I gave a little cry of pain and put my hand to my chest. There was a bandage wrapped around my torso and chest, showing off the exact shape of my body. Andrew gave me a worried look, he turned back to the man in the corner.

"She'll be fine in a month. She just needs to take it very easy until then, and afterwards too," the man stood up and came closer to the bed. I absentmindedly slid the blankets up to my chin and looked up at him with wide eyes. He gave a curt nod, giving Andrew a few instructions, then he turned to leave. He murmured very softly before he left, "She's prettier than I thought."

I looked at Andrew, but he hadn't heard him. He was too busy pulling back some curtains someone had put on the window. Sunlight streamed in the windows, I squinted my eyes until they adjusted.

Andrew looked back at me with a smile, "It's a pretty day today."

He came back and sat next to me carefully, trying not to jostle me, "I'm sorry we didn't get to you in time, Cassandra. We could've stopped him from doing this to you."

"It's not your fault."

"It feels like it is."

"Well, it's not," I said, taking his hand in my smaller ones.

He smirked, gazing down at out entwined hands, "You're so forgiving."

"It's one of my better qualities," I smiled. My stomach rumbled and I laughed. Andrew laughed too, then fed me some more soup. "How long was I out?"