I had been asleep for too long, unable to move or wake up... but I could hear things... beeping noises, screaming, curses, yelling, and... and air noises.
There was something in my nose, I wasn’t sure what it was. I distantly heard sirens, and then I was moving.
I blacked out for too long, then felt myself being pulled out of a car onto a bed, and then rushed forward.
My eyes parted as I was being rushed in, and I saw Jase running with the doctors.
My vision blurred.
“Sir... I’m sorry, but you can’t...” his voice faded in and out, “...needs surgery... wait out... for her... be alright....”
Doors closed, and the cart stopped rolling.
“Vitals falling...” nurse said, her voice, too fading in and out, “forty... blood pressure....”
“Get the anesthedics now!”
Someone lifted my eyelid, and light blinded me. “Vision response negative.”
“Heart rate decreasing!”
I heard loud beeping in the background.
“Blood oxygen at sixty!” a voice called. “Get her on oxygen now!”
“Blood level decreasing! We need more cc’s of blood!”
Something suddenly pressed to my lips, and I felt air hiss into my lungs.
“Oxygen levels increasing to seventy!”
“Where’s anesthesia?!”
The heart monitor suddenly screamed, and I felt my lungs seizing as my chest burst with fire, and I started shaking.
“Patient’s under cardiac arrest!” a nurse screamed. “Code blue! Call code blue!”
And the world darkened, once more.
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*****
I came back to conciousness again, but my eyes were sealed shut, and I felt somthing pressing deep into my throat as air continued hissing.
“...Surgery was successful,” someone said. “We managed to get the bullet out and clot her bleeding.”
“Is she going to be alright?!” a female voice cried.
Mom...?
“We don’t know, ma’am,” he responded. “She’s put into a medical induced coma right now. She needs to heal.”
I heard mom distantly crying.
“It’s alright, Miss Swells...” a man responded, trying to soothe my mom. “They’re doing the best they can do.”
Jase...?
I distantly heard another moniter beeping.
“Thank God for you,” another man said. “Thank you for saving our daughter. I don’t think we can ever thank you enough.”
DAD...? When did they come back?!
And when did they meet Jase?!
My heart moniter kept beeping slowly, increasing a little as I tried to reach out to them, but I couldn’t.
“Look,” mom said, “it increased. Does that mean she can hear us?”
I heard footsteps echo around me.
“Hi, Emma,” mom said gently, voice cracking. “I just... I just want you to know that I love you so much, okay? I’m so sorry this happened... please... please, come back, Emma. Please. I need you. I can’t lose you and Lizzy, too. Please.”
I felt my own heart crack at her words, but I couldn’t respond.
“Miss Swells,” Jase said immediately, “get the nurse. Now.”
What...? Why?
“What is it?!” dad said nervously.
“Her heart rate is dangerously low! Get them now!”
My mom rushed out from the room.
And... at that... my mind faded to black again.
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*****
“....We have her on antibiotics,” a doctor said, “she was going through sepsis.”
“What’s spesis?” mom asked.
“It’s a bacterial infection of the blood stream,” he explained, “well... in her case. When someone gets an infection in an internal organ, bacteria can enter the blood stream and causes sepsis. Which causes a severe illness.”
But... what about the heart rate issue? What was that about?
“She’s doing better now than a couple days ago,” the doctor said gently. “Her vitals haven’t dropped since that last episode a couple days ago.”
I was asleep for that long...?
“Her vision is still unresponsive, but her brian is still active. Her body is responding to the nerve checks.”
Their voices faded out again.
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****
“...Emma,” a gentle voice said, “hey, can you hear me?”
I recognized Jase’s voice immediately, and but I couldn’t respond.
Maybe he could hear me think, right...?
Yes, I thought.
His hand slipped into mine. “Hey, Sweets.”
Can you hear me? I thought.
“Yes, I can hear you,” he responded gently.
I could finally breathe again. Jase! I’m so scared! What’s happening?!
“It’s alright,” he whispered. “Don’t panic, okay?”
I tried to calm myself. Okay.
“I’ll explain,” he promised, “after you fell, I caught you and seporated you from Twilight, but right after he shot you.”
Where?!
“Your stomach,” he stated, “it hit your deccending aorta in your stomach, but it grazed it. They were able to stop the bleeding a week ago.”
Will I be okay?
“I hope so,” he sounded desperate. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”
Jase... I’m scared.
“I know, baby.”
I don’t want to die, I told him. I don’t want to!
“I don’t want you to, either,” he said. “I’m lucky I got to talk to you, though.” He laughed nervously. “Your parents haven’t left your side once.”
When did they arrive?
“They arrived while you were in surgery,” he told me. “It seems as if Twilight hadn’t got the chance to convince them to cancel their plane that day. And then I killed him after he shot you, they were already in flight when it all happened. They arrived as soon as they could.”
Wait... I thought to him, you killed Twilight?
“In so many words.”
What does that mean? How did you kill him?
“You don’t want to know,” he said in a dark tone. “But he’s gone now.”
I was silent for a moment, struggling the think straight.
“Emma?” he said. “You still with me?”
Yeah, I responded.
“Alright. Just... keep talking to me,” he whispered. “I love hearing your voice.”
Is... I hesitated, is Lizzy really gone...?
Jase’s hand tightened around mine. “No, she’s alive.”
I felt my entire body freeze, and I started shaking with anticipation... well... more internally, but yeah.
She’s alive?! WHAT? HOW? WHEN? WHERE IS SHE?
“I lied to you,” he said to me then, “I didn’t call Pierce to take her.”
Huh...?
“I called a friend of mine,” Jase told me, “and he saved her.”
How?!
“I don’t know,” Jase said then, “he took her somewhere... I think an angel place, they brought her back to life.”
Really?! I felt frantic. Where is she?!
“She’s also in a coma,” Jase responded, making my excitement weaken. “They can bring you to life, Emma, but they can’t heal you to perfection.”
Oh... I felt the darkness consume me, is she... going to be okay?
He squeezed my hand again. “She has to learn to walk again, but yes. They’re tapering her off the anesthetics tonight.”
Can you get her to visit me? I begged him.
“Of course,” he said gently. “I’m sure she’d love to.”
What about me? I asked him. If I get better... what would happen with me?
“Your head wasn’t damaged when you were shot,” Jase said gently, “but you had multiple seizures. They’ve been checking your brain activity, it seems fine. They said the only thing that might be an issue with your brain might be memory.”
How bad?
“Very tame,” he promised. “Your past might be blurry a little.”
Oh. Okay.
I was silent for a moment.
What about the other things?
He just ran his thumb along my knuckles. “You coded four times, your heart’s not happy. But... you’ve been stable for a while.”
Am I going to have heart issues?
“They just need your ateries to heal,” he said then. “They said you’ll be okay as long as your aorta doesn’t pop again. They also said you’re very lucky.”
That’s... fortunate.
“I just want to see your beautiful eyes again,” he whispered, still holding my hand. “I miss them.”
I can feel you, I told him.
“You can?” he said, lifting my arm.
His lips pressed to each knuckle, sending shocks of heat through me. “Can you feel that?”
I was silent.
He chuckled then. “Yes, you can. Your heart rate just jumped for a second there.”
Jase...? I said then. Don’t... don’t leave me, okay?
“I’ll never leave you,” he promised.
The doors to the room opened again, and I heard footsteps.
“Sorry, I have to do a full check again,” a nurse said.
“It’s alright,” Jase’s hand slipped from mine. “She’s all yours.”
“Hello, Emma,” the nurse said, “I’m your night nurse tonight. My name is Jessica. We’re just doing a routine check on you, okay? Making sure your brain’s okay because you’ve been unresponsive.”
Okay... did they do this every day?
I felt the bed dip down. “Hey, Emma. Can you try opening your eyes for me?”
I attempted, but it was hard.
“They moved,” she said then, sitting up straight. “That’s good.”
“Hey, Emma,” she said then, grasping my hand, “can you squeeze my hand?”
I tried again, but I felt my fingers twitch.
“Good, Emma,” she said then. “I’m going to look inside your eyes, okay?”
She lifted my lid, and blinded me.
“Eyes are responsive,” she said then, more to herself. “Hey, Emma, can you try to speak for me?”
I tried, but only a short, low, gutteral sound came out.
“Good, Emma. You’re getting better! I’ll let the doctor know.” And the door to the room closed.
Jase? I thought.
“I’m still here,” he said stepping over and setting his hand on mine. “You did good, as she said, you’re getting better.”
Jase? Can you get me a blanket? I’m cold.
“Yeah,” he said then, standing up and stepping across the room, “here, take mine.”
I felt my brow twitch. Yours?
“Yeah,” he said, setting it over me and tucking it over my feet.
Have you been here every night? I asked him.
“What else would I do?” was his response. “I don’t want to leave you all alone.”
That’s sweet of you.
“It’s the least I can do, Emma,” he said gently. “After everything I did.”
I don’t blame you, Jase, I told him. You saved me.
“I didn’t want to before...” he said, sighing as he threaded his fingers tightly through mine. “If it wasn’t for my love for you... I would’ve put you here.”
Jase... I said then, can I tell you something?
“Hmm?”
The very first time we met, I said, at my sister’s party. When I locked eyes with you, I felt something. This warm, hot feeling in my chest. It burst through me. It was then... that I knew you wouldn’t leave anytime soon.
“What are you saying?” he said gently.
My mom used to tell me stories about angels, I told him. I think she got it from a book from your kind, but... one of the things she told me was a story of true love. In the angel realm... love is chemical, it’s in your blood. The certian bind of chemicals matches your true love... or... sometimes more than one if you lose a true love. But it’s destined, it’s automatic.
I think that’s you, I said. I felt that feeling the very first time we met. I had feelings for you... even when I was afraid of you. It’s because I’m destined to be with you.
He was silent, but I heard him sniffle.
Wait... are you crying?
“No,” his tone was normal, “a fruit fly went up my nose.”
Gross.
He just chuckled, deciding he was done messing with me. “I felt the same.”
You did? I sounded hopeful. More than I wanted to admit.
“Yeah,” he said. “When I found you for my selfish reasons... when I first looked at you, the same feeling came over me. I just... didn’t know what it was at the time. Not until I realized I really did have feelings.”
That’s nice... I said. That you feel the same.
“I always felt the same, Emma,” he said gently.
Jase... I told him, feeling my mind grow weary, I’m fading, sorry.
“Fading?” he echoed.
I’m getting sleepy. I can’t talk for much longer.
“Oh...” he sounded sad, “well... I’ll be here. When you wake up, talk to me again, okay?”
Can you keep holding my hand...?
“Yes, Angel.”
Thank you. I... I love you.
He was silent for a moment. “I love you, too.”
By his tone, I could hear his smile.
And at that, I faded peacefully.
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*****
“...seems to be doing better now,” someone said. “She’s responsive, her vitals are strong, we think we can take her off tomorrow....”
His voice faded out again.
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