Knightress

Chapter 27

Consciousness slowly seeped in, she was vaguely aware of the constant, patterned beeping from wherever she was. She felt warm and comfortable, as if she slept on a fluffy cloud with layers of thick blankets. She fluttered her eyes open, the bright blur brought a sharp pain through her head leading her to immediately shut it again. She stirred in place, bringing out her hands to rub her temples and opened her eyes again, this time it wasn't painful allowing her to sit herself up.

She peered around at the not to small, comfortable room she was in, she concluded that it was a hospital judging from the IV drip connected to the inside of her elbow, and the heart monitor attached to her finger tips. The room had soothing beige walls, baby blue floor tiles, and an open window to the right of the bed paired with fluttering transparent curtains. On the left of the bed were a few neatly arranged cabinets, shelves and a tiny seating area with three black, leather seats.

She sat up straight, realising she was dressed in clean warm clothes, a long sleeved cotton shirt with matching midthigh shorts and long pink socks. She got out of bed and gazed out the window that looked over a beautiful meadow, the sky was dark with thick grey clouds but a glimmer of sunlight shown beneath it that brightened the meadow just a little.

The small bit of sunlight wasn't enough to keep someone warm but enough to cast a gentle, gorgeous glow over the meadow. She could tell it was evening time, she wondered for how long had she been out, she was about to question how and why she ended up in the hospital when her mind grew distant. Everything that happened came back at full blast, the entire event unfolded in a flash to the point that it was overwhelming. The heart monitor beeped faster as her mind replayed every hurtful moment one by one against her will, it baffled her how the heart monitor even beeped when her heart was shattered.

All she felt was a deep indescribable sadness, a void of emptiness and hurt that she desperately needed to be filled.

She felt a surge of anger, surprisingly not at Dayne but at herself. The view of the meadow blurred as tears glassed her eyes and slid down at every blink, she felt drained, weak and not just physically. Her chest rose high and steadily lowered, she leaned against the window with crossed arms and in deep thought. Everything she had worked for crumbled right infront of her, all her dreams and hopes slipped through her fingers until she questioned if they were possible.

She gently wiped her tears, she shut the curtain and turned only to be startled by Andreas sitting at the edge of the bed. "Oh my- what is wrong with you?!" She blurted, her heart monitor struck high for a second before coming back to a normal pace.

"I didn't want to bother you, sit down." He said softly.

She silently complied and slid under the blanket, meeting his eyes with a questioning gaze, he placed a tray of food on her laps and observed her quietly. "How are you?" He asked, placing a hand on her ankle.

She blinked at him, feeling a bit shocked by the question, she then looked down moved by the raw emotions that bubbled in her. She didn't answer him, the silence morphed from comfortable to suffocating.

"The doctor said you're okay...physically. In a few minutes he'll let you know if you'll be discharged and when that's over with, we can begin a thorough investigation on this issue. I know you didn't put those audios and pictures up there, you were given a three day warrant so if we can find out the person before then, I'm sure they'll keep you in."

She watched him speak wordlessly, she tried to follow as he spoke, she really did but nothing entered. She already knew who was responsible for her predicament. She didn't feel herself in that moment, she was showing too much vulnerability but she lacked the strength to cover it. Dayne must have crushed her spirits along with her bow, she had no fight left in her. Where did the ambition go? The love for combat just seemed to have vanished. The self blame ran deep, all the hurtful words rang in her head, the hateful looks printed in her mind from Commander, from Dayne, from every Legionnaire and from Matthew. Matthew's was what hurt the most because she had never expected it to be him. "I'm tired," she voiced, interrupting him as he practically spoke to himself.