The Beast

Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sacrificing For Her

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HANNAH

   Awareness trickled in at a steady rate.

   It began with seeing white before everything turned to black. The muffled sounds. Voices. Machines. My senses started to come back to me, but I wasn't able to open my eyes, or even move my fingers.

   When I heard sniffling, I tried to open my eyes. But all I managed to do was let out a low groan in frustration.

   The sounds stopped, followed by a soft, "Hannah?"

   I moaned in response. A chair violently scrapped the floors.

   "Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit." A hand—I think it was a hand?—brushed the hair out of my face. "Wake up for me, woman. I feel like I'm fucking hallucinating."

   Another noise came from my chest, but I struggled to find the strength to part my lips. Luckily, I was able to crack my eyes open after a few seconds, only to instantly shut them when the light blinded me.

   "Oh fuck." There were sudden movements. Once the curtain was pulled shut, I tried to open my eyes again. When I was able to keep them open longer than a second, my body relaxed.

   Nico's blurry figure came into my line of sight. His lips wobbled into a smile.

   "Hey, Hans." Before I could try and muster up a smile, his eyes began leaking tears. "Shit. I told myself..." He shook his head aggressively and sat down on a chair next to the bed.

   The bed... my gaze flickered to the white, sterile walls. Then the ceiling. Somewhere in the room, the steady beating quickened. Then the machine started to yell.

   "Han—Han! Calm down, everything is okay. You're at the hospital. You're okay." Nico stopped my head from moving around, so I could focus on him. "Please, take a deep breath. You're scaring me to shit, woman."

   With my face still in his hands, I finally opened my mouth and let in a deep breath. He sagged, relief dripping from his expression. A few moments passed until the machine's loud ringing disappeared.

   Only when he sat back down did I realize he'd stood up during my moment of panic. Nico took my hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. When I brought my eyes to his, I could see fear settling in on his expression.

   "I don't know how much you remember..." From my confused look, he clenched my hand tighter--not that I could feel much. Everything still felt a little numb. "I... didn't know anything, Hannah. I fucking swear. Please let me explain, but I swear on my goddamn mom that I didn't know anything."

   My eyebrows moved together, trying to understand where he was getting at.

   When my mouth opened, I struggled, but managed to say, "Nico... what's happened?"

   He broke down, his body shaking in silent tears. "We—me and Quinn—were at Diego's club. You know, the one we went to on New Years? And like, halfway through my dad called me. He asked if I was home..."

   Nico paused when I pulled my hand out of his grip, with the strength I didn't know I had.

   My dad. Ricky.

   It was like a million pictures flashed in my mind.

   Coming home. Getting attacked. Waking up tied. Seeing Ricky. Him holding his gun. Aiming it at me. Aiming it at Lev... Lev. The gunshot. Two gunshots.