He Left Me - KotLC fic (after Unlocked)

Chapter 23

Well. This is kinda a big one. after this there will be a lot of talking before we get back to the interesting part. 

So anyway. Enjoy. 

The lights were blinding, stabbing into my brain the moment I opened my eyes. I gasped and blinked. What felt like thousands of voices screeched in my ears, and I curled up on my side, wincing as I covered my head. I felt like a little kid again, the same five-year-old who woke up hearing thoughts.

After a moment, I realized I wasn't hearing thoughts, and the noise was just two voices. I peeked out from under my arms to find Elwin and Livvy leaning over me.

"Elwin," I whispered hoarsely through cracked lips.

He forced a small smile, his eyes filling with tears. "Sophie. You scared us."

"Is everyone okay? The dance—" I gasped at the pain in my ribs as I tried to sit up.

Livvy gently pushed me back down. I was lying outside, under Calla's tree. Pillows and blankets made a makeshift bed around me. I was dressed in the same colorful tunic I wore when talking with Jolie.

"Everyone is okay. You've been gone a long time."

I flashed back to the first time I had been kidnapped, how Elwin said the exact same thing after I had woken up. "How long? It can't have been more than a few weeks, right?"

The physicians looked at each other, and dread filled my empty stomach.

"How long?" I whispered.

Livvy reached for my hand. "It's been almost a year, Sophie. The dance was last October, and its August."

My head spun at the thought of so much time lost. "But... how did I..."

"Grady and Edaline woke to find you here mid-December," Elwin began. "You looked awful, kid. You were covered in long cuts, barely any blood left in you. Your heart was beating so slow it was almost stopped. We thought..."

He choked up, reaching for the hand that Livvy wasn't holding. "Livvy pointed out that rigor mortis would've set in, and it hadn't. So we checked again, and you were alive, but only barely. You've been asleep since."

"Soporodine."

Livvy nodded. "The antidote didn't work, so it must have been a new variation. There was nothing we could do."

"Why do my ribs hurt?"

"One of the antidotes we gave you stopped your heart," Elwin bit his lip, looking down. "Livvy did CPR to restart it. A few hours ago Edaline called and said you had been shifting in your sleep. We rushed over, and now... here you are."

"I've been gone for months," I struggled to adjust to the thought. I had probably grown, and my hair was longer, and the alicorns were probably grown, and...

"Where's Mom and Dad?" I tried to sit up again, slower this time. Livvy helped me and stuffed some pillows behind me when I was finally upright.

"I'll get them. They're waiting inside." She stood and jogged away, towards the house.

"They didn't want you to be overwhelmed," Elwin explained.

"I am very overwhelmed, Elwin."

He broke into surprised laughter after a few seconds. "I know. You missed a lot, Sophie. We have lots of good news." He grinned, his nearly grey eyes swimming in tears.

"I was asleep for ten months. I sure hope there's good news, or I'm quitting."

Elwin laughed again. "I see Keefe rubbed off on you."