Chapter 47: Cold

The first thing I noticed was that I was cold, so very cold. Teeth chattering. I couldn’t move my arms. I was not sure where I was and my eyes opened like they were covered in lead. I barely could glance through them as if they were covered in a sheen of mist. No not mist, smoke. My ears were ringing violently. I saw Andrew and Jun hovering over me, both their faces covered in dirt and blood. A long ringlet of blood was covering the entire left side of Andrew’s face. He had a big cut over his eyebrow.

‘MEDIC! Where is the goddamn medic!’ yelled Jun. Yet, I heard a watered down version as if I was underwater. The constant high ringing muffling all other noises too.

‘An-… andr-…’ I choked and coughed. I tasted blood in my mouth and fear hit me. I couldn’t feel my legs, or my arms. Pain radiated through my head though.

‘Don’t talk, just please. Don’t….’ Andrew had my head on his thighs. He was carefully pulling back my hair from my face. I could feel it sticking to various wounds and I knew I was in bad shape by the way he and Jun were looking at me with such sympathy, such fear.

I whimpered trying to ask the same question again.

’Hush… please. They are on their way. Please just hang on princess. Please…’ he sounded in so much pain, it hurt my heart. ‘Please…’ he kept on uttering, nearly feverish. Jun had to comfort him after a while instead of me.

I couldn’t even think. Falling in and out of consciousness every couple of minutes from the pain. I was vaguely aware of being pulled into a stretcher and I smelled Oak’s signature scent but I went out for a longer time after that because the next thing I remember I was in a hospital room.

The ringing had stopped and the pain had dulled too, but I still couldn’t move. I opened my eyes slowly. Glancing to my right and spotting Andrew there, his hands covering my right one. His head bowed on them, as if he was praying, rubbing small circles on the back of my hand with one of his thumbs.

He was still in his sportswear but they were covered in blood and dirt. He had cleaned of most of that from his body but he hadn’t been thorough. I could still see it in his hair and on the sides of his hands. His handsome face all cut up and bruised.

‘Andrew…’ I croaked so softly I wasn’t sure he had heard it.

His head popped up from our joined hands and a look of relief went through his entire face, his entire stance. He didn’t let go of my hand. ‘Thank the gods…’ he uttered, eyes closed.

‘W…what happened..’ I managed to whisper again. I still felt like I had a million pounds of sand in my throat. ‘Why can’t I feel… my body.’

He rolled his chair to my head and let go of my hand. He placed them on the side of my cheek tenderly. His gaze full of fire and regret.

‘They bombed the Dija… you saved us Lux.’ The gratitude leaking from his voice but the anger too. He was livid. Whoever had bombed us better run for their lives because they were about to have the Widowmaker on their ass.

He opened his mouth to say something else, his thumb caressing my swollen cheek, when the door flew open and Ash strutted in. Oak was on his tail.

Oh the bomber better run real fast.

‘She’s awake?’ he accusingly said to Andrew who growled back ‘for just a few seconds.’

‘You okay sweetheart?’ he ran to my other side, ignoring Andrew and cupped my other cheek as well. His eyes flickering over my injuries with such pain in them I had to close my eyes to hold back tears.

‘I can’t feel my body.’ I said once more. Ash gave Andrew a horrified look. It made me almost start crying. I wasn’t going to be like this forever was I?

‘She was blown back from the impact.’ Andrew had to stop mid explanation. Pinch the bridge of his nose. He was horrified but he took a deep breath and continued. ‘She flew through a pillar and was covered by the wreckage of said pillar.’

Oak interrupted in his professor voice. ‘She has a broken collar bone, a broken wrist and dislocated shoulder. A concussion. Two broken ribs and a ruptured spleen. Her knee is badly bruised.’ His hair was in such disarray I almost smiled at seeing that. He had been going through it a million times while being stressed out over me today.

It stayed eerily quiet after my diagnoses.

’I will walk again right…. right?’ I emphasized that importance.

Andrew sighed. ‘Yes, yes you will. It’s a miracle you are still alive.’ He added more softly.