Six (Countdown book 1)

Chapter 7

I awoke some time later in what was either a small hospital or a big nurse's room. Three beds lined one wall, and medical equipment was all over the place. I was in the bed on the end, next to the window, overlooking the courtyard where Aiden and Andy were sword fighting. I looked down, and saw that  had a drip in my right arm. Then I realised that my other arm was held tight in a sling. 

On the next bed, was Mackenzie who was fast asleep, curled up tight. I hoped she was okay. She didn't look like she had any serious injuries, but she had her back to me, so I couldn't tell. 

"Morning, sleepy." a voice said right next to me, making me jump. I hadn't noticed Scarlett sitting next to me.

"Hi." I muttered. "W-what happened?" I asked. 

"You don't remember?" she asked, looking worried. 

"I, um, it's a bit fuzzy." I said. "How long was I asleep?"

"Three days." Scarlett replied. 

"Th-Three days!" I shouted. 

"Shh!" Scarlett said. "You'll wake Mackenzie up." 

"Is she okay?" I asked, looking over at her. Scarlett nodded. 

"She's got some scratches and bruises, but other than that, she's fine. She's just tired, still in shock, I think and worried about you." 

"She's worried about me?" I asked. 

"We all were, Eli." Scarlett said. "You could have gotten yourself killed! You could have fallen, or-" she reminded me of when I'd gone round Tom's house, and his big sister had shouted at him, because we played stair races with washing baskets. "-Of all the stupid, irresponsible things..." 

"Who won?" I asked. She looked at me like I was crazy. 

"We all thought you'd die!" 

"Really?" I frowned. "I didn't fall." I smiled at her. She just shook her head. 

"You were in really bad shape, Eli. I'm being serious! If it weren't for Wyatt's medical training, you'd be dead." 

"I know." I muttered. "I shouldn't have gone out onto the wall in the first place." There was a long silence. "I need to talk to Wyatt." I said, trying to sit up. Scarlett put a hand on my shoulder, which suddenly felt like it were on fire, and pushed me gently back down. "Ow." I moaned. 2What's wrong with me?" 

"Your still in really bad shape. You need lots of rest." Scarlett said. 

"I need to talk to Wyatt." I said through gritted teeth. 

"Okay, I'll go and get him when I leave." she said uneasily. I suddenly noticed that there was something very wrong. I couldn't place it, but I knew that something was different. Too different. I put a hand up to my head. 

"Where's my hair?" I cried out. 

"Oh." Scarlett said, trying not laugh. "We had to cut it off. You were getting too hot. We had to get your temperature down." 

I ran a hand through my newly-cut hair. It was about the same length as Tony's but messier, cut slightly unevenly. I guessed it was hard to cut off someone's beautiful hair while they were unconscious. Scarlett smiled. 

"It makes you look older." she said. "Much more mature." I scowled at her, and she laughed. 

"Do you do this to everyone while they're unconscious?" I asked sarcastically, clearly annoyed. 

"We had to do it to Tony." she replied seriously. "His hair used to look like yours. We waited until he was sleeping and then me and the other two girls went into his room and cut it." She smiled at the memory.