Waking the Fae [BOOK ONE]

Chapter 16

Unedited.

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The next time she awoke she was in a hospital bed, monitors beeping in her ear. Blinking away the haze blurring her vision, Rebecca moved her arm experimentally. It worked fine, no pain at all. She purposely ignored the needles in her arm, knowing that if she started to think about them she'd react badly. Needles weren't a fond memory. Well, that was an understatement. In an orphanage people seem to think that the orphans are play things to hurt at their own free will. Rebecca had been on the receiving end of it too many times. She—like all the other orphans—had been considered diseased, so way too frequently needles had been needed to 'remove the disease.' And they hadn't been gentle about it either. Rebecca still had scars from the thousands of stabs she'd been on the receiving end of because they simply hadn't cared if it had caused pain.

Shaking the hair out of her eyes, she sat up, moving the pillows so she could get comfortable. Glancing around the stark white hospital room she didn't see her parents anywhere. That was a surprise. Rebecca didn't worry about it for too long, eyeing the needles in her arm. She wasn't sure if she could rip them out but she wasn't going to risk it. Glaring at the tubes in her arm, she stared in the doorway, waiting for someone to walk through. It'd either be her parents or a doctor.

Footsteps echoed but they passed the room, instead of walking in. What she needed was a doctor to give her the clearance to leave. There was nothing fuzzy about what had happened, as much as Rebecca wished it had all been a dream. A guy had insulted her and then the next minute he'd been against the brick wall at the back of the school not breathing. Then the police had arrived. Mikael had hugged her and they'd had a really weird conversation. And then she'd passed out.

Now she was here. In a hospital room, needles stabbing her from all directions. On the upside, she wasn't shivering and she didn't feel as if she'd been through the works. She felt better, not so exhausted. All she had to do was get clearance to leave the hospital. She wasn't going to tell them anything about the necklace. Rebecca had plans and being in the psych ward wasn't in them. She didn't want to believe it had happened but it had. Somehow, in some crazy parallel universe, the necklace had changed colour. Like It was . . . magic.

Rebecca's laugh echoed around the room. Yeah, it wasn't magic. She'd believe anything over magic. It didn't exist and it never would, not in a million years. Her hand reached up under the hospital gown, finding the necklace in place, its weight cool against her chest.

"Miss Morley? Are you alright? You don't feel woozy? Sick?"

Rebecca stopped laughing, moving her hand away from her arms. She didn't want to look like she'd been trying to rip out the IV and everything else that was stuck in her — not that she'd been considering it. Staring at the elderly doctor, in his white lab coat, she said, "I'm fine. When can I be released?"

He frowned at her, looking at the clip board in his hands. His beard was so long it almost touched it. "No Miss Morley. Your parents have to sign and we have to check your vitals again. You were too pale and you wouldn't stop shivering. We can't let you go, there may be something serious that we're dealing with."

Rebecca glanced down at the hospital gown, wishing she could get out of it. The one thing she wouldn't do was stand. Due to faulty logic — or none at all — someone had decided to make hospital gowns backless. Rebecca really didn't want to flash her ass at a stranger, no matter their profession. "Where are my parents anyway?"

"Your father is in the reception and someone is informing him of what happened. Your mother could not be reached but I was told to assure you that she'd be here when she could. But once your father can get here, he'll talk to me and if your vitals are fine you'll be able to go."