Intern {Five Nights at Freddy's Fanfiction}

53) ...out.

Beep...beep...beep...beep...beep.

The sound was constant and calming. After all, it was the first thing I had heard when I awoke.

I couldn't feel much either. Only the thin sheets that smelt like bleach and probably other patients.

I saw little. Only the blank white ceiling with light blue privacy curtains attached to grooves in my peripheral vision.

I blinked once, suddenly feeling the tube that had been rammed down my throat to keep me alive. It was uncomfortable but I could bear it.

Surprisingly, I couldn't feel any pain. If I could, it was very dull, like a small ache. I wanted to get up but I felt drowsy and a little dizzy. Not to mention I had someone's head nudging my side.

* * * *

"I'm sorry. People were being attacked and I just...I just went for it. Fr-He was right next to you. I thought he...I thought...you were bleeding." Jeremy sobbed against me.

Since I was paralyzed I couldn't comfort him and get him to stop crying. Listening was all I could do.

"I know you can't hear me b-but I was tired of you running off and leaving me behind. It's selfish, I know, but you can't leave and expect me not to care."

Jeremy gripped my hand so tight that I could actually feel it in my numbed state. He wiped his eyes and sat up enough for me to see his eyes although he didn't notice I was awake.

"I-I went up to the restaurant t-to check on you." He wiped his nose and eyes with his sleeve. "B-b-but...you were on a stretcher. I tried to ask the people what was going on but they wouldn't answer me. They kept saying 'get back' and 'it's too dangerous' but I wouldn't leave you!"

"Then, I met Mike."

His voice suddenly took on a sour tone. It was odd to hear Jeremy show animosity towards anyone. He was always so kind.

"I was so...angry with him. How could he let this happen to you!" His voice shook with emotion. "I wanted to punch him in face but they had him on a stretcher too! I swear...next time I see him..."

He clenched his fists before breathing out in relief. "I swear to God. If I see his face..."

I was surprised to hear that Jeremy saw Mike as a threat. I thought he'd be okay with the fact I made a new friend but I guess not.

"But I don't understand why you took the IV out of your arm!" He burst into even more tears. Outrage and denial were written all over him. "Y-you died and now you're on life support. For fuck's sake Eleanor! YOU CAN'T EVEN HEAR ME!"

I closed my eyes and my heart. I was no longer able to bear the sound of his lamented cries. I wasn't even dead but the way he was talking about me was scary in itself.

"You know what?" He sniffled, pushing himself out of his chair. "When you decide to live, give me a call. It's like you want to be this way."

With that final word of emotional desperation, he stormed off and slammed the thick hospital door behind him. I couldn't believe what I had just heard.

Jeremy Leon Fitzgerald.

My best friend since childhood had just showed me how bitter he had become. All of those years of pent up emotion were finally making themselves known in this unexpected way. I knew it was coming but I didn't think it would happen when I needed him most.

I never thought he'd leave me.

Warmth spread throughout my entire body. I was sure they were using some sort of timed sedative or pain medication that would knock me out. After the scene I pulled in the restaurant's parking lot I'm sure they didn't want me to bleed out again.

I looked at the IV and remembered how easy it was able to take out. Sadly, I couldn't do it again because I couldn't move. I wanted to go back. I needed to make sure my friends were okay but I couldn't.

I couldn't.

I can't.

You can't.

* * * *

The soft squeak of wheel axles and rubber against floor was the only partial memory I could muster from my drugged state. I remembered Jeremy but nothing else.

How long had I been there? Where was my family? The animatronics?

I felt a warm hand wrap around mine. I wanted to see who it was but I couldn't. My eyelids felt like someone had glued them shut.

Another hand slowly began to stroke my hair. It was a gentle motion I was only familiar with one person doing with me.

Dad?

"Thank you, Mike. I can't say it enough."

That was unmistakably my father who was right next to me. I couldn't see but I knew his presence. I could tell it was him. Even the faint smell of his cologne brought me relaxation and peace of mind.

"It's really no problem Mr. Bates. I was just trying to keep her safe. I wasn't going to let her die."

That was obviously Mike who was taking credit for Ronan's strength, but he didn't have a choice. He couldn't tell my father the truth or else he'd be put in an insane asylum. Same for me.

"Nonsense. If it weren't for you she would have been mauled to death by those...things. I'm just glad she's going to be okay."

I wanted to smile at my father's words. The fact he was praising Mike was a hundred times better than the usual insults and jeers he directed towards anyone I was close to (besides family, of course).

"Ahem. Mr. Bates and Mr. Schmidt. Is this a bad time to deliver a report?"

I nearly jumped in surprise at the sudden voice. I hadn't heard footsteps on the tile so I didn't even know they were coming. It was obviously a doctor by the professional tone, though.

"Yes, of course! I'd like to know what condition my little girl is in." My father said, holding my hand a little tighter.

"Yes. How's she doing?" Mike asked too, a soft squeak echoing on the tiny room. Was he in a wheelchair? It would make sense based on the injuries I remembered him having.

"She's stable, as you can see, but she sustained quite a few injuries." The doctor stated as if reciting something he had memorized. "The was stabbed twice. Once in the leg and once in the shoulder. She had multiple lacerations, bruises on several parts of her body, and she lost a tremendous amount of blood."

"Wow." Mike half-gasped/half-sighed.

"Sadly, that's not all. She had severe damage to her skull as well as a large amount of internal bleeding. The fact she's still alive is a miracle. Never, in my entire twenty years of practice, have I ever seen someone with this extent of injuries live for an extended period of time. I'm nearly certain that this had nothing to do with medicine, but with someone watching over her."

A soft chuckle that sounded like Mike evaporated all tension in the room.

"You're not wrong, Doc. There is DEFINITELY someone looking over her. I KNOW it for certain."

Thank you Ronan. I think I owe my life to you.

A/N:

Picture made by me to demonstrate a couple of Eleanor's injuries before getting mauled multiple times.

None.

-Gberryb