Razor Sharp | ✓

Thirty-Five

♡♡♡

"Ellie?" Noah's leaning over to reach for my hand as my eyes flutter open. It's so bright that I have to squeeze them shut again.

"El, are you awake?" Noah whispers, brushing my hair away from my face.

"Y-yes," I croak, my tongue dry, my throat parched. "What's happened?"

"Do you remember?" Noah questions.

Saying goodbye. Laughing. Walking. Flinching. Turning. Andy. Gun. Shot. Blood. Blurry. Gone.

Everything comes back at once, like a tsunami suddenly crushing an entire city. Piece by piece, every second, I remember something else.

I suddenly sit up, my head foggy. I wince in pain, my hands shaking as I feel the bandage wrapped around my stomach. "I was...I was...Andy...he...I was—"

"Hey," Noah says, sternly, trying to make me lie back down. But I can't. I can't relax either.

"Hey, take it easy, okay? You were shot, it's going to take some time to get better."

"No," I moan, "no, no, no. It wasn't supposed to happen like this."

"El, it's okay, everything is—"

"Where is everyone else? Dad? Ridge? H-Hunter? Where are they?" I say, frantically looking around the room as if they will appear out of thin air.

"Noah, where are they? Where is everyone?!" I ask, feeling a sob rise from my throat. A shooting pain spreads through my stomach and it makes me sob harder. Something's happened. Something's wrong.

"El, you need to stay calm," Noah says reassuringly, "you've lost a lot of blood. You're still recovering."

"Tell me, Noah," I plead. "Just tell me."

"El, I'll explain everything,  I promise. But please, please for my sake, just lie back down, okay? Please," he says, and I suddenly hear the anguish laced in his voice.

He's hurting too. He's been affected just as badly by this as me. I need to stop being so selfish and think of my brother too. The person who happened to witness me getting shot.

My sobs start to stop and I wipe away the few tears that remain. I lay back down, watching as Noah's shoulder deflate in relief.

"Are you okay?" I whisper, suddenly noticing his tired appearance. His blonde hair is stuck to his forehead, oily and sweaty. The bags under his hazel eyes are big enough that they must have resulted from days of sleep deprivation.

"God," he laughs, rubbing a hand over his face. "You're lying here in the hospital and you're asking me if I'm okay?"

"Well, yes," I whisper, taking his hand again. "You were there too. We went through the same thing."

He shakes his head, laughing sadly, until his voice breaks. "You always do look after everyone but yourself, don't you?"

I smile at him, wiping away the single tear that escapes down his cheek. My thumb wipes it away at his chin, cupping his jaw.

"I just want to protect the ones I love," I say, hearing the heart monitor go up next to my bed. "I just want to make sure nothing happens to anyone I care about."

"You've always been like that, El. And that's why people love you. That's why..." he stops and I close my eyes, realising what he's going to say. "That's why Hunter will always love you."