The strange tubes sticking out of me in every direction, annoying machines beeping every second, and the squeezing of my arm was going to drive me insane. How had I gotten to the hospital? What hospital was this? My mind raced with questions and I had no answers for any of them. This couldn't be any of the hospitals in Wilton. I'd been to nearly all of them and this wasn't familiar in the slightest. To make matters worse no one was in here. Whenever the guys brought me to the hospital they always left someone with me at all times.
My head hurt. It wasn't even a dull throbbing pain it was a burning pressure along the outside of my skull that radiated in toward my brain. I raised my fingers to gently feel along the pain area. My hair was matted and just underneath my hair I could feel three tiny metal pieces. I didn't know what they were but I didn't want to try and pull it out in case it was something a doctor had done. The matting had to be blood. What had happened to me?
The door opened and I looked up. Cameron and Tao stood frozen in the door way. Their eyes were wide with surprise and something I didn't recognize but seeing them made my shoulders relax. They could tell me what had happened and what was going on. I opened my mouth to ask but before I could get a syllable past my lips they rushed forward and surrounded me. I was engulfed by arms and an odd combination of citrus and cinnamon clouded my nose.
"Give her here!" Sab growled from somewhere behind Cam.
"No! She's not going anywhere ever again for anything." Cam said.
"Damn right she's not." Tao said.
"Release her right now." The order from Aydan came out so firm and loud that all three of us jumped. Cameron and Tao released me and took a confused step back as they looked to their leader for answers.
"Outside." Aydan ordered pointing to the door.
"But-" Tao said.
"Wha-" Cam said.
"Outside. Now." Aydan said harder. I'd never heard that tone from him before. The order was so strong I wanted to go outside with them.
Cameron and Tao both glanced over at me as they headed toward the door. Theo held the door open for them but his expression was completely blank.
"Now Sabbatian." Aydan ordered.
Sab was standing with his arms crossed, glaring daggers at Aydan. He glanced at me and his jaw ticked but he walked out of the room after the others. Theo shut the door behind Sab and the three of us were left alone.
Aydan walked toward the side of my bed. His dark green eyes scanned my face repeatedly, checking for signs of things I didn't even know about. I felt myself beginning to shrink under his scrutinizing gaze and his keen eyes didn't miss the action. He stopped walking. It was a few feet away from the bed but close enough to where I could reach out and touch him. He held one hand toward me, palm up. An invitation. He was offering me comfort. I reached my hand back, placing it in his. His hand closed over mine and he sank down into the chair next to the bed before speaking.
"Baby, what happened?" He asked.
My eyes widened and my lips parted. I shook my head and winced. The jarring movement tugged on my matted hair and made the stinging in my scalp slightly worse.
"What is this?" I asked my hand going back up to the painful slivers of metal attached to my head.
Aydan shifted up to look at the spot I had touched.
"Staples." He answered and glanced over at Theo.
Theo was standing at the edge of my bed with a clip board in hand. His eyes were flickering over the writing on the paper so fast I wasn't sure he could actually be reading it. He nodded in acknowledgement to Aydan's word but he didn't take his eyes off the paper.
"Three staples. They did an MRI and there's no signs of bleeding but she does have a mild concussion..." Theo was muttering and I couldn't tell if he was talking to us or to himself. I watched closely as he continued scanning the papers, lips pursed and eyes intent with concern. He inhaled sharply and his eyes shot up to meet mine.
"Tori, sweetheart, do you remember how you got here?" Theo asked.
I gulped and slowly moved my head back and forth in a no. The slow movement didn't cause pain the way nodding had.
"Do you remember the MRI? Or the tests they ran for your concussion?" Theo asked.
I shook my head again. I didn't know that I had even had an MRI or a concussion.
"Baby, what's the last thing you remember?" Aydan asked.
"Uhm... I... I was in class talking to professor Fuentes about changing partners and he left to get a paper and then someone..." I rubbed at my side as I remembered the pain that had shot through me. There was something in between my skin and my gown. I lift the gown to peer down at my side. There was gauze and tape there. Theo came around to that side of the bed. His hands hovered over the gauze and he met my eyes. I gave a small nod and he pulled the gauze back. There were several red dots along with a large angry looking cut.
"Taser." Theo said looking at Aydan.
Aydan tilted his head but offered no explanation for Theo's unvoiced questions.
"What happened after the taser baby?" Aydan asked.
".. just I fell and then I tried to get up but the shadow wouldn't let me. I tried to fight him off and then..." I shook my head. I couldn't remember anything else.
I watched as Theo re-secured the gauze and tape on my side. He adjusted my gown back to conceal the extra skin I had been showing in my sudden search for answers. The gown was my only protection from the outside world. As far as I could feel I didn't even so much as have on a pair of panties. My breath caught and my eyes snapped up to Aydan's.
Aydan tilted his head in question as he searched my eyes. I understood the look he was giving me. He couldn't answer my question if I didn't ask one.
"Where are my clothes?" I asked.
Aydan's eyes flickered to Theo and I followed his lead. Theo was looking back at Aydan and I missed whatever silent conversation they had in the two seconds I'd taken to turn.
"I don't know, sweetheart. If you came in unconscious they probably cut them off of you to make sure there were no serious injuries being concealed." Theo said. He glance at me briefly before returning to reading the clipboard. He was holding back and avoiding my eyes to do so.
"What does it say?" I asked.
"It says you have been exhibiting signs of Amnesia." Theo said.
Amnesia. I knew what that meant. Memory loss, forgetfulness, and confusion. I certainly had two of those so the third wasn't a long shot.
"What else?" I asked.
"Contusions, abrasions, and those lovely little staples you have along your scalp." Theo said still reading. Aydan squeezed my hand pulling my attention back to him before I could ask any more questions.
"Do you remember anything else?" Aydan asked.
I shook my head.
"Ok, that's ok." Aydan said squeezing my hand again. He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed the back of my fingers before standing.
"Theo's going to want to run some more tests when he's done reading. We're all going to see if we can get more information about what happened during the last 48 hours, ok?" Aydan said.
"Four-" I couldn't even finish the number. I was freaking out. I couldn't remember two whole days?
"Wh-what day is it?" I asked.
"Wednesday baby." Aydan said.
Wednesday. The last thing I could remember was Monday afternoon and it was Wednesday. My skin felt cold and tight as I tried to process this information. I gave Aydan a small nod and he left the room.
I stared off at the wall while I waited for Theo to finish reading the clipboard. I had questions but I didn't even know where to start.
Theo let out a heavy sigh and lowered the clip board to look at me.
"That bad?" I asked. My stomach was knotting and swirling with nerves. The way Theo was looking at me I knew that I wouldn't like what he had to say.
"Aydan's right, I want to have some more tests done." Theo said. He moved to the chair Aydan had been sitting in and took a seat.
"What tests?" I asked. My voice was quiet. I hoped that speaking softer would hide the fear that was clawing at my gut.
"Well to start with a toxicology screening to see if you were drugged and then if you're comfortable with it I think you should have a rape kit done as well." Theo said. He was using his nursing voice. The gentle, calm, and reassuring kind that made me wary of what he was actually saying before I could even process the words.
It took a moment before my stomach knot tightened and acid rose dangerously high in my throat. Theo's light green eyes searched mine carefully as I tried to find my next words but I couldn't do it. My mouth wouldn't form the question that was burning a hole in my psyche.
"I'm not saying that you were assaulted sweetheart, but... with you not being able to remember what happened it would be safer to have the test done and not need it than it would be to remember later on when it's too late to test for DNA." Theo said. DNA as in... I was starting to feel dizzy. The pain in my head seemed like a dull roar now that I was processing the potentials of what might have happened to me.
"You wouldn't suggest it if you didn't think it had happened." I said quietly. Theo was trying to reassure me with false hope and 'maybe not's but I knew the truth.
"The reports say's there is bruising on your left thigh and you have more bruising on your throat." Theo agreed just as quietly.
I raised my hand to my throat as if I would be able to feel the bruising under my fingers. Theo's eyes zeroed in my wrist and arm. He reached out turning it slightly to show me. There were four distinct lines and no mistaking what they were from, fingers.
"Theo-" My voice cracked with the weight of my fear. Theo's hands shifted to surround mine and I closed my eyes to force back the tears. I couldn't cry over something that might have happened. That seemed foolish. My hand squeezed at Theo's. I needed more support than just hand holding. I needed Cameron and Tao and Sab back in here. My shoulders shook. I was losing the battle with my tears. Theo released my hand and then the warm ocean breeze wrapped around me along with his arms. I sank into the waves and gave up trying to fight off the tears.