Mia's POV:
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Knox reaches me just after I crumple to the ground, crouching down so he can look me in the eyes.
"What happened, You- Hey, oh my god what happened to your face?"
I reach up and brush my chilled fingers against my cheek. I hiss in pain as they brush the bump that's already forming there. I catch my breath for a second before answering.
"I-" I gasp as another wave of pain washes over me, this time coming from my ribs, where I was kicked a few minutes ago. I put a hand on my head, wincing at how painful my scalp feels too, thanks to Elmer yanking my hair. I swallow, wincing yet again at the pain it causes to swallow. Knox is looking at me with an analyzing gaze, probably noticing every scratch.
"Cin- Elmer, that was the big guy's name. They came to my room, tried to take me. They were chasing me, I got away and they were-" I point behind me, to where there is now nothing but snow and trees. Knox's eyes widen and he says something under his breath.
"Oh my god," he breaths, looking behind me then back at me. I then hear a shout coming from the wall.
"Cin! They're leaving!" One of them shouts, pointing over the wall. "It doesn't look like they took anything!"
"Elanil!" Knox calls out. El finally turns around, sees my state, and comes racing over.
"Help Mia. Take her to the hospital, I'll be there in a second."
Elanil nods as Knox stands and runs away, shouting orders at the men by the wall.
"Oh my god ohmygod ohmygod Mia I'm so so sorry," Elanil says as she helps me up, supporting my arms- which are also tender from being grabbed so tightly- and lifting me up. I can still stand, but my legs are a bit wobbly. El pulls one of my arms around her shoulder and starts walking, half holding me up. I let out a whimper of pain as we start walking, my rib hurting more with every step. But it surprises me how quickly I learn to just keep walking, even though it hurts.
"It's okay, it's not your fault," I reply, my voice raspy. El looks like she's in pain too, just thinking about what happened to me.
"No, it is. I locked your door, I-"
"Actually," I remark, "you helped me. They couldn't get through the door so they broke in through the window. It gave me time to hide and get ready."
Elanil nods, but I can tell she's not convinced. "The window? How did they see it?"
I shrug, which sends another wave of pain washing over me. "I-" I take a moment to gather a breath, "was hoping you would tell me."
Elanil shakes her head sadly, walking up to a huge tree. Somehow I just know that this is the hospital. I guess it's another Elf thing.
Inside it is, yet again, bigger than it looks. There are three hallways branching off of the main waiting room, one leading to a cafeteria, one leading to a huge room full of hospital beds, and another just for a closet stocked with supplies. The room with the hospital beds have other wooden hallways branching off of that, leading to more private bedrooms. For what kind of medical cases, I have no idea. From my spot standing at the entrance I can just see a few hospital beds down the hall, wood framed with white sheets and white cloth partitions separating the beds. I don't see any people so far. Elanil helps sit me down in the waiting room in one of the dozen wooden chairs with grey wool padding before looking around, hands on her hips.
"Where are all the nurses?" She asks, mostly talking to herself. "They must be closer to the action. I'll try to find someone here. Hang on a second, okay Mia?"
I nod, not wanting to hurt my throat anymore by talking. Elanil strides off down one of the hallways, which turn out to be deeper than I thought. She disappears after a few seconds of walking. Once she's gone I blow out a long breath, letting what just happened sink in as I stare at the flame flickering in the lantern across the room from me. Blinking, I realize my left eye hurts and doesn't seem to want to open very far. Shoot, it's probably swollen.
Should I make one of those 'you should see the other guy' jokes if anyone asks what happened?
Stone hinges grind as the hospital door opens to my left, letting a cold breeze infiltrate the warmth inside. I look over, my adrenaline ready to surge if it's the Cin again. But it's not, just Knox. He's looking around, and when he spots me he walks over, a worried look on his face.
"Are you okay?"
"Where are the Cin?" I ask, ignoring his question. I can tell he notices, but he just gives an almost imperceptible shake of his head.
"They ran off. I sent a team after them but they teleported away before we could attack."
"Well that's probably how they got in! If they can just teleport-"
"No, that's not it." Knox is slowly pacing now, the gears clearly turning in his head. "We have a magical barrier around us, so no magic can be used to get in or out. You have to get in through the gates in the walls, which makes no sense. My mom is looking into it."
"Oh, and where was everyone in the castle?" I ask, getting more and more confused. "I was yelling but nobody came."
A look of guilt flashes across Knox's face.
"My mother was having a meeting with our war tactic operators when they struck. Most of the palace guards came to help at the walls, but a lot stayed here. Apparently when the soldiers went back to the castle all the guards here were asleep." He sees my look. "No, I don't know how that happened."
I nod, pressing my lips together. I wince for probably the fiftieth time as my face throbs with pain. Knox notices the pain on my face, even though I was quick to hide it. Grabbing a chair, he pulls it in front of me and sits so we're facing each other.
"Ouch," he grimaces just looking at me. I almost laugh, nodding.
"I did take a few healing classes when I was in school," he continues, his eyes taking in my face and the huge lump probably on it.
I start to feel a little hot, which is weird. I must not be used to the heat of the hospital after the cold of the outside.
"I'm just going to see if it's bad or not, if that's okay."
I nod, sitting up and trying not to let the pain show as my side starts hurting again. Knox leans forward, his hair falling over his shoulders. He reaches a hand out and places it on my jaw, gently tilting my head so he can see my face better. I try to stay as still as possible, trying to ignore the quickening of my heartbeat. His hands are surprisingly warm and soft as he examines my bruise.
"Tell me if this hurts." He brushes my left cheek, his touch feather-light, but I still wince. I nod a bit, swallowing down the sudden urge to burst into tears. My face is still throbbing with a dull pain.
Knox nods, immediately taking his fingers off of my cheek. He then gently presses on my nose, asking again if it hurts, to which I shake my head. Switching hands he gently grabs the other side of my face, looking at it.
"So it was only on one side?" He asks. I shrug.
"Does this hurt?" He gently presses down on my right cheekbone with his thumb. I wasn't expecting it to, but oddly enough it feels a little tender.
"Barely," I mumble. Knox nods, thinking. I search his face while he does, the bright amber of his eyes with little golden flecks I never noticed before. They're pretty.
He catches my gaze, his fingers lingering on my face for a second longer before he lets his hand drop into his lap, leaning back.
"Good news, nothing is broken or fractured, but your cheek is pretty bruised and swollen. It should heal easily though. We have elves that specialize in healing, so you should be good to go in a day."
"One day?" I ask. "That seems like nothing."
"Well, we do use a little magic to heal," Knox replies, tilting his head at me humorously. I go to laugh, but my throat spikes with pain and I end up grimacing, subconsciously reaching a hand up for my neck. Knox's smile wavers.
"What- Why are there bruises on your neck..?" He asks it like he almost doesn't want to know the answer. He leans forward again, eyes piercing mine as a seriousness takes over his features. "What other injuries do you think you have? Tell me exactly what happened."
"Everything?" I croak.
"That would help."
I let out a short breath, not really wanting to tell him everything. I don't want him to feel bad, but I can only imagine how far I would get if I didn't tell him.
"Well first they tried to knock down the door, and when that didn't work they broke the window. There were four of them. I hid in the shower but they found me. I fought them off a little but obviously I couldn't get away from all of them. So my arms hurt-" I pull my sleeves up to reveal some bruises forming on both of my upper arms. "From some guys grabbing me. They jumped out of the window with me and I got away again, but I didn't get anywhere. Actually I just made it worse. My face was the lead guy, Elmer. He punched me. Oh, and another guy kicked my ribs so that hurts. Also Elmer might have choked me for a second. But I got away right after that," I add hastily, "and I'm fine now."
Knox looks taken aback by my injury list, then he frowns. I can see the hurt in his face, can almost feel how angry he is with himself, and how he seems to feel my pain.
"Knox, it's not your fault-" My hoarse throat cracks, and I clear it quickly, forcing myself not to wince. "I wasn't ready to fight, you were right. They just found a way to me. And I'm fine, right?"
"But you're not," Knox says bitterly, looking up to meet my eyes. I try to look at him in a way that will make him understand how I'm feeling. That it's not his fault. He shakes his head and looks down. "I was supposed to keep you safe."
"But you did!" I exclaim, trying not to get frustrated with him, and trying to ignore the pain as my voice gets more raspy with use. "You told me I couldn't fight. You were right. I wasn't, and what happened, happened. But I'm okay, really. You're here now, right?"
Knox scoffs, but his face isn't as painful to look at now.
At that moment Elanil comes walking into the waiting room, a nurse following her. The nurse has white hair that falls down to her hips, with a few wrinkles on her face indicating that she must be really old, even for elf years. She has a warm, kind face and is wearing a plain cream colored dress. Knox sighs and stands up, putting his chair back and walking over to the nurse. After a few words exchanged between them he heads to the door, stopping to look back at me and give a small, reassuring smile before heading out. I nod back, feeling myself space out a little as he leaves.
I feel, I don't know. I don't really have any feelings right now, as weird as that is. Maybe I'm still in a bit of shock. I just feel... Present. Not sad, not guilty, nothing.
Well, okay. Maybe a little bit of pain.
Scratch that, a lot of pain.
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The nurse has me lie on a hospital bed, which are actually really comfortable. I also spot about three other elves lying on the beds in the same room, but my view of them is obstructed when I lie down. Once she has me lie down Elanil leaves, apologizing again, to which I tell her not to again. After letting me change into a thin, white hospital dress (sadly my outfit was ripped and ruined) the nurse examines my injuries, telling me that the worst is my side, which is pretty bruised. I almost fractured a rib, but not quite. Lucky me, I guess.
"I'm going to get rid of those bruises, alright?" The nurse tells me after examining me. I nod, pulling up my short sleeves to reveal a few yellow spots of bruises on my arms. The lady- I'm just going to call her Nurse- grabs a vile of some lotion-looking substance from the bedside table, scooping some onto her hands and rubbing them together. She then rubs the lotion on my arms, then my neck and face. I watch, mesmerized, as the bruises fade away like a time lapse video, leaving behind smooth, clear skin. The swelling on my cheek and side goes down considerable too, but they still ache, along with my neck, when Nurse wipes off the access lotion. She stands, giving me a warm smile.
"All of the bruising is gone, but you'll need to spend the night here to let the swelling and pain on your face, side, and neck heal completely. Dinner is on your nightstand. Thank you for being such a good patient Mia. You're a strong kid."
I nod, genuinely smiling at her as she leaves.
Dinner is actually really good, a fresh salad with a big roll of soft, warm bread and butter. And water, of course. I feel much more myself after eating, and I'm pleased to find that my bigger injuries barely hurt at all. When the sun sets and darkness descends over the hospital room, I pull the covers up and bury my head in the pillow, closing my eyes. My heartbeat quickens, the image of Elmer and his friends popping up in my closed eyelids. My eyes snap open, blinking and adjusting to the darkness around me. I sigh frustratedly. Every time I close my eyes I picture what happened.
Stop, I tell myself. Think of something happier. Anything.
So I end up remembering when I got to the hospital, and Elanil was standing there, looking for the nurse. I picture small details to keep my brain occupied, like how her dress swayed as she moved, how her skin glowed in the lamplight. Or my mom, how her brown hair is always ramrod straight, or how perfect and kind her smile is. How soothing her voice is when she talks with me. Knox comes into my consciousness next, when he was examining the bruise on my face. How silky his hair looked. How strong I know he is but how gentle he was. How even though he plays around with knives and arrows all day his fingers were so soft brushing my cheek. It was just to look at the bruise, I remind myself, but I couldn't help but notice.
After a minute I register the fact that this isn't helping me sleep at all, so I try to focus on my breathing. Or the way the silence of the room around me rings in my ears.
After a few more breaths- or an hour, it's hard to tell- I finally fall into a mercifully dreamless sleep.
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LOL sorry for being gone for so long- life, yk.
All i'm doing is editing, even though I've probably read all these chapters a few times over by now. I still like to make sure everything is worded right/ no errors.