I think I'm lost without you [Paul Lahote]

Chapter 11: I awoke only to find my lungs empty

As she slowly regained consciousness, Noah became aware of three things in succession. The first, and perhaps most confusing, was that she was not dead - well, she supposed that she could be dead, but if that were really the case then this was a pretty shitty afterlife. The second, and certainly less confusing, was that she must have been taken to the hospital after passing out. Noah could feel the pinch of an IV in her hand and one poking into the crux of her elbow, and her ears rang with the incessant beeping of what could only be a heart monitor. The third thing, which admittedly took Noah much longer to even comprehend, was that someone was snoring like a lawnmower in the chair beside her.

Noah was pretty sure that it wasn't her father, frankly she didn't think Richard would sleep so soundly with the risk of everything he had ever done to her being exposed by the doctors, but Noah's heart still clenched despite herself. The snoring had a sense of familiarity and nostalgia but she couldn't quite place it. Gathering enough strength, Noah cracked open a single eyelid and was rewarded with the sight of one Jacob Black. Odd.

She supposed it made sense, seeing as this was a hospital and he was technically still family and her father wasn't here, but Noah didn't know exactly how to feel about it. A tiny fraction of her heart thawed at the fact that he had come to the hospital with her and stayed by her side. But mostly Noah just felt annoyed at the assumption that he was the one she would want to be there when she woke up, and at how obnoxious his snoring was.

Noah turned her head to the side in order to really observe him, which was harder to do than expected given how heavy her body felt. Jacob must have sensed the heat of her stare because all of a sudden his head snapped up from where it had been perched on the armchair and he lurched forward. Noah blinked in shock.

"Hey," Jake rasped, with a broad grin, regaining his composure and leaning forward in the armchair.

"Hi," Noah croaked back. She made a move to reach up and rub the sleep out of her eyes but her arms felt much too heavy and she quickly abandoned the thought.

"How are you, uh, feeling?" Jacob asked, clearing his throat. Immediately after, his eyes began shifting and he scratched at the back of his neck. Perhaps he realized what a silly question it was given the circumstances, but what else were you supposed to ask?

Noah honestly hadn't taken the time yet to fully assess the damage. She felt pretty floaty and disconnected from her body, every movement required extra thought and effort - probably from one of the lovely IVs sticking out of her. But upon further assessment she realized the reason her wrist felt so heavy was because it was wrapped in a black cast, and a slight twitch of her leg let her know that her thigh was wrapped in gauze. She must have been bleeding pretty heavily from there, more than she first thought - that was probably why she passed out, come to think of it. There was also an underlying soreness throughout her whole body that Noah knew would hit full force when she left here.

"I feel okay." Noah finally settled for, picking at a piece of thread on the blanket. She was bracing herself for the line of questioning that was sure to come next. How? Who? What? Why? Noah really wasn't sure how she was gonna get herself out of this one - maybe she would just tell him that she fell down the stairs - not a complete lie. But whatever she decided to go with would have to be believable or her dad would kill her and anyone she told. Mr Mustard in the library with the candlestick - maybe Jake would find that funny enough to forget about it.

"Oh! I was supposed to text the pack the second you woke up!" Jake yelped, the picture of someone who had forgotten the one thing he was tasked with. It seemed like only a few minutes since she woke up, but then Noah wasn't sure how long they had been blowing up Jake's phone, demanding updates. Either way, Noah was relieved for the subject change, though she tried not to show it. "Everyone was so worried but the docs wouldn't let any of them back here. I told Cullen I wasn't responsible if they burned the place down, but he wouldn't budge. Man, I bet Paul is absolutely losing his mind right now," Jake chuckled looking back towards the hallway as if he could see through the walls to the lobby. Maybe that was another wolf thing.