A/N: I just wanted to let everyone know that the next update will be the final two chapters of the story. There is the epilogue as well. Also, thank you so much for your support of this story; I greatly appreciate it! I've had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope that you enjoy the chapters to come. Have a good evening/afternoon/morning ^-^!
Sore. Completely sore by her left shoulder. Also groggy. Like a heavy weight was on her, and she had been asleep for far too long. She heard beeping to the right of her, and she felt that she was lying on something. It wasn't hard like tile; it was softer. Something was over her too. Fabric. The exposed skin on her arms and legs felt it. Her fingers felt it too, but it was under her. A bed? There was something cushiony behind her head. Not super firm. Rather soft, but a little too much so like it had been used many times before.
A groan escaped her, and she opened her eyes only to wince at the light that greeted them. She proceeded to close her eyes and moan out of discomfort from the movement. Slowly, she opened her eyes again. The light in the room was a dim blue, but it felt so much brighter due to the lack of light she had seen for awhile. In a few more seconds, she recognized that it came from a floor lamp off to her left.
As her eyes adjusted more, she saw that she was indeed on a bed. Medium blue sheets covered her, and she saw a wooden door across from her and to her left. The walls were an off-white color. When she looked to her right, she saw medium blue curtains closed over what she presumed was a window. There was wooden armoire near the window. Closer to the bed was a machine monitoring her vitals, and she had an IV in her as well.
Seeing all of the wires, she began to remember what happened. Her head remained against what she assumed was a pillow, and her hands lay by her sides. There was a blue chair across from the bed, but there was no one sitting on it, so she was left to her own thoughts. The memories came back, and the machine beeped a bit louder.
Lee! He had to be there still. He wasn't in the room with her, which wasn't surprising given his state of living, but what had happened to him?! Was he still at the café? What about Anita? The staff? Even those two a**holes? All the questions seemed to storm her mind at once, and her heartbeat picked up. The beeping grew faster, and she began to sit up before she stopped and lied back down. D*mn. Her shoulder was sore. She knew why, but she wanted to check on everything.
Thankfully, she survived what she could only guess was a serious wound, but there were so many uncertainties. Before she could attempt to sit up again, the door opened and in rushed a nurse. Her green optics did a quick scan over her before she sighed in relief and smiled. Gently, she placed a hand on (f/n)'s right shoulder. "It's okay. You're in Duskriver General Hospital." She wore a reassuring smile. "But, you need to take it easy. Your family has been contacted, and they're on their way. They'll be here in several hours."
"B-but-"
Cutting her off, the nurse shook her head and removed her hand. "I know you have questions, and they'll be answered. I can answer some, and when you're ready, there are some detectives here to question you about what happened also." Steadily, (f/n) nodded, and she tried to calm herself down. She wished that she could ask about Lee, but she knew that would raise other concerns, so she forced herself to remain quiet about him. "First, just let me do my review. Then, you can ask."
Again, (f/n) nodded, and she concentrated on the nurse to help keep her thoughts from racing. Her name tag read June. She had bright green eyes and shoulder-length brown curls. June was wearing light pink scrubs.
After June filled out her assessment, she rested the clipboard in front of her and looked ready to answer questions. (F/n), despite the desire to sit up, remained lying down. "What happened? How am I alive?" She nearly shivered at the memory of things going dark and warmth leaving her. "I was losing so much blood."
"Well since you managed to bandage yourself up, you were able to survive long enough without further assistance until the ambulance got there. They continued to take care of your wound until you made it to the ER here." Almost, (f/n) smiled. Lee had saved her. If he hadn't helped her, she'd be dead. "You had a self-expanding covered stent placed in your subclavian artery. But, we'll need to monitor you for several days, possibly a week to make sure that you're well enough to be discharged."
One week ... She really hoped that Lee would be alright until then. (F/n) sunk into the bed more and released a quiet sigh so as not to move too much. Even relaxing against the bed made her aware of her sore shoulder area, and she was glad that she had bandages and a gown to cover the area. Right now, she didn't want to see how serious the wound was and how close she had come to dying. Already, she knew how near she had been, but she didn't need to view it.
"Would you know anything about what happened to my attacker?" she inquired next, closing her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again.
"No, but if you're comfortable with giving a description, we can keep a lookout for them at the hospital." June motioned to the door. "But, it might be good to tell the detectives first so that you don't have to repeat yourself." Focusing back entirely on (f/n), the nurse asked, "Are you ready to talk to them?"
"... Yeah," she spoke, sighing a little again. "I no longer know what she's capable of anymore."
June gave (f/n) a sympathetic smile before she turned away and left to retrieve the detectives. (F/n) would recount what happened to them, and she hoped that they could catch Anita in time before she managed to leave town. If Anita had left, (f/n) hoped that she would be found. Her story might sound like something out of a television show, but if she hid any facts, she might look like the concerning one. And, whatever story Anita came up with might look more like the truth. No doubt she'd leave out Lee, but she'd answer their questions as best as she could.
Once the detectives came in, they introduced themselves and gave her a few moments before they began to ask her questions about her attacker, why she would attack and what happened to lead to Anita stabbing her. She could tell that they didn't approve of her getting back at Anita, Kaleb and Tristan. One of the detectives mentioned that she should've stepped away before things became too toxic and removed herself from what was becoming a dangerous situation. Yes, she could have, but she couldn't bring herself to wish that she hadn't done what she had.
If she had left, she would've never gotten to know Lee, and she had no idea what would've happened to Anita and Kaleb at that point. Probably, they would've been killed at some point by Lee. If they had died and she learned of their death, she didn't think that she'd feel happy about that. Rather, she might just feel ... Well, she didn't know. At least this way, she had called Kaleb and Tristan out on their actions. Same for Anita. They couldn't just hide in the dark. Sure, Kaleb and Tristan thought that they could get rid of all of the evidence, but she had it saved and the timestamps of those posts unless her computer got damaged during Anita's attack. But, she had the recording at least since her phone had worked to call 911.
Regardless, she had information against them. Not to mention that they'd be questioned now because of what Anita had done. Eventually, they'd have to answer for their actions. So no matter how much anyone critiqued what she did, she wouldn't want to redo things.
After the detectives left, she was left by herself, but the hospital kept a watch out for Anita as well as Kaleb and Tristan just in case they decided to do anything rash too. Her parents would be at the hospital later in the early morning. While she waited, she closed her eyes, but she didn't drift off to sleep. Instead, thoughts of what happened continued to keep her awake.
Was she happy? Yes, she was in the sense that she was alive and had Lee waiting for her. The detectives didn't say anything about a mannequin, so she hoped that meant that they hadn't found him and taken him in as part of evidence. Regarding Anita and the others, she was glad that she had stopped what they had planned for her. It nearly cost her life, and she probably should've left after the first attack Anita had tried on her.
Admittedly, though, she hadn't been expecting Anita to try and kill her. That had been a shock. Yes, she knew that Anita was going to be pissed, but to be angry enough to kill her ... Yeah, she hadn't thought Anita actually would commit to such a thing. Then again, it just proved that she never really had known Anita, and Anita had played her well for a long time. It all had been fake.
Never could she get those years of her life back, but she told herself not to focus on that. Ahead of her, she had her own future, and she had Lee supporting her for the entirety of it. He'd never leave her, never betray her. And, that was extraordinarily comforting.
Upon her lips grew a smile. She couldn't wait to see him again and tell him that she was alright, that he had saved her life. They'd be able to move away from Duskriver, and he'd be able to move freely about where they lived. He wouldn't have to worry about Anita barging in, or people coming and going from the building. Her smile grew, and she finally drifted off to sleep.