Unbreakable

Chapter Eleven - Awake

Pounding...my head was pounding as I opened my eyes. My body felt like it had been ran over by a semi truck, every muscle in my body ached to be moved but I didn't have the strength. I felt completely disoriented as my brain tried to catch up, I was in a hospital bed. My left hand had an IV sticking out of it, the surrounding skin around the needle was purple and yellow from bruising. My throat was burning with thirst. The last memory I had of pushing Sierra out of the way kept replaying in my head. I had been shot. The more it sunk in, the more it pissed me off.

I've been through my fair share of things on the job- I've been blown up, I've been T-boned off the road, I've been beaten, hell I've even had someone try to drown me before, but I have never been shot. 10 out of 10 would not recommend, my chest ached with a burning sensation. I tried to crane my head down towards my chest to get a better view of where the pain was localized but it felt like the wind was knocked out of my lungs when the burning sensation roared into a sharp stabbing pain.

A small knock pulled my focus from my pain to the door, before I could even try to speak the door cracked open and Nathan's head peeked through the doorway. He let out a loud involuntary sigh as he closed the door behind him, his brows were furrowed as he approached me, he looked unkempt. His hair wasn't tousled to the side like it normally was, his dark strands of hair fell over his forehead in mayhem. His dark eyes looked glossed over, the bags under his eyes had bags. The facial hair he usually kept neat and short was longer and messy. This man looked like he'd been to hell and back.

"Hi." His voice was soft, a faint smile across his lips.

"Hi." I choked out, my voice was hoarse and sounded like a whisper. I didn't know how long I'd been laying in this bed but it felt like I hadn't used my voice in awhile, I could barely recognize my own voice. The burn in my throat grew hotter as I spoke, I needed water. I tried to push myself up to an upright position but my arms gave out beneath me, my muscles were too weak to work properly.

"Don't try to get up." Nathan cooed while stroking my hair back from my face. He lifted the corded controller that was attached to the hospital bed and pressed a button. A whirring noice hummed to life as my hospital bed slowly raised me up into a more upright sitting position. I pointed a weak finger towards the cup of water that sat on the hospital bed table and Nathan nodded in response handing me the salmon colored cup that had a straw in it. The first sip of water was like heaven, the cool water immediately quenched not only my longing thirst but the fire that resided in my throat as well.

"You look like shit." I murmured between sips. Finally a genuine smile crossed his pursed lips and I think I even heard him laugh.

"I'm just glad you're okay and awake Spencer. You scared the hell out of me." He gently gave my hand a squeeze and wrapped me in an embrace with his eyes.

I wasn't sure I'd say I was okay, but I wasn't dead so that something I suppose. Luckily the gunshot wound was beneath my clavicle and close to my shoulder, it missed all major arteries when the bullet flew into my chest region. I didn't regret jumping in front of Sierra, in fact if I could do it all over again I wold and wouldn't change a thing,

"How's Sierra?" I asked, I could feel my chest tighten with anxiety as I waited for his response.

"She's okay, she not injured. She's shaken up and blames herself for what happened to you. She's been here every single day waiting for you to wake up, she's actually just left the hospital to go and shower."

"And Elara? Did anyone find her?" I felt a lump growing in my throat with every passing second.

"Elara is okay, she's got a nasty bump on her head. One of the shooters caught her by surprise and stripped her of her clothing and put them on to blend in with the crowd." My heart settled knowing that Elara was okay and safe.