Prevail - [Charles Leclerc]

Trente-Huit

          Beep. Beep

Sara frowned. Was she dreaming? The beeping was annoying, drawing her from her slumber. She felt drowsy, as if she had been asleep for a decade or even longer. 

Beep. Beep.

Again the fucking beeping, she was about to get irritated, ready to slam the alarm clock off the nightstand, but she could barely move. Her eyes rolled under her eyelids. She couldn't seem to open them. Was she dead? Or dying? She stirred in her sleep, collecting all strength in her body. Her fingers trembled a little. "Sara?" At the sound of his voice, her blood pumped faster through her veins, her heart rate going up. His touch left her hand, fingers warm on her cheeks. She forced herself to open her eyes, but she immediately squeezed them closed as the lights almost blinded her. "Baby?" A shadow fell over her, as Charles understood that the lights on the ceiling were too bright. "Mhm," Sara hummed, unable to speak, her throat so incredibly dry, she couldn't get out any word. She opened her eyes again, blinking a couple of times to get vision sharp. Charles' face was in front of her, relief written in his expressions. He leaned down to softly kiss the spot between her eyes. She turned her head to the side of her bed, seeing the bottle of water and the glass next to it.

Charles followed her eyes, and he reached for the bottle, opening it to pour some water in the glass. Sara slowly pushed herself up against her pillow, her hand wrapping around the glass while Charles was still holding it too. She drank the water, glad to get rid of the sandpaper in her throat. She cleared it after. "How are you feeling?" Charles asked, moving some of her hair away from her face. "Like I got shot," Sara replied. "That's probably because that happened," he chuckled, making her smile. She looked around herself, finding the machine next to her bed that made the beeping noise that woke her up. It was attached to her, monitoring her blood pressure and heartbeat. She was in the hospital, right. There was a knock on the door, followed by a doctor coming in not much later. "Good morning, Mr, Mrs. Leclerc," he said. "You're awake, I see," he continued, giving Sara a small smile. "You have been asleep after the surgery for about twelve hours. The bullet went through your intestines, which we have removed and repaired during the surgery. We need to keep you here for forty-eight more hours to make sure the healing process is starting well, and no infections are coming up."

Sara nodded, but she just wanted to go home. "After the surgery, you had some trouble breathing on your own, until about eight hours ago. Your throat might feel rough because of the endotracheal tube," the doctor continued, writing down some things on some papers while he evaluated the information of the machine. "You were also given a blood transfusion, as you had lost quite a bit. Your vital organs are intact and alright," the doctor summarized. "You were lucky, Sara. You arrived just in time for us to clean out the leaking of the intestinal content. It is obvious that your body was fighting very hard. You will experience exhaustion for a couple of more days," the doctor concluded. "We stitched up the wound and put a bandage around it. A nurse will come and replace it with a new one in an hour," he said. "I will leave you be now, but don't hesitate to press the button if you need any help." The doctor left the room after. Charles' touch was sweet and familiar on her face again, caressing her cheek as he sat on the edge of her bed. "The last twelve hours have been terrifying," he spoke up. Sara looked into his eyes, seeing the tears well up she had never seen before.

Her hand reached up to cup his cheek. "I thought I was going to lose you," his voice was a whisper. She wiped his tears away. "You saved me," she said. "And in two days we're going home," she continued, feeling the lump in her throat, her eyes becoming watery. "I can't even remember how we got here," she said. "Carlos' helicopter brought us straight to the hospital in Valencia. You passed out when we went into the air, Carlos gave first aid, but you weren't responsive at all," Charles explained. "They immediately put you in surgery when we came here, and I couldn't see you," he continued. "Afterwards, they told me you couldn't breathe on your own. It was horrible to see you like that, with the tube in your mouth," he said. "I'm okay," she said, her hands squishing his cheeks a little when she pulled him closer. He was careful as he embraced her, nuzzling his nose against hers before he kissed her lips. "You need some chapstick, though," he muttered, causing her to laugh and then groan as it hurt. His phone started ringing, and he looked at the screen, showing it was Carlos. Charles was about to decline. "You should take it," Sara said. "It's fine," she reassured him.