Twists and Turns

Three weeks?!

I woke up, head pounding with an incredible ache and my body numb and heavy. So much pain, and I was so tired, I wanted to fall back to sleep. Trying to move only made the pain worse, and a distant scream filled my ears.

"No, don't!" Someone said, pushing me down to the soft bed I was lying on. I opened my eyes as much as I could, looking into Isabelle's eyes. She was frowning at me with worry, her black hair only adding up to the sad sight she had on her eyes.

"What happened?" I groaned eventually, turning to my side with limbs that felt like they belonged to a rag-doll, and not to me.

"I don't know. There was the alarm, and we just found you on the steps of the institute" Isabelle said, lifting her shoulders. I closed my eyes, giving a long and deep sigh. "I will go get Magnus"

Magnus had emerged in a speed that seemed un-human now, as things seemed to move in slow motion.

"She is pretty lucky to be alive even..." Magnus said and appeared into my vision. I had no idea what had happened, only that I felt like I had been ran over by a truck. Manugs' cat eyes flickered from the top of my head to the very tip of my toes, studying me. "... But she is lucky"

"I hurt" Magnus, who had been looking away from me, turned his attention back to my raspy voice.

"Where does it hurt?" Magnus asked.

"I mean, all of me hurt" I croaked and closed my eyes. And that was true. it felt like my arms was grinded to nothing but a pile of bone meal, my legs felt like they had grown teeth and was trying to chew themselves off, my upper body felt heavy and like every single rib was fractured and not to mention my neck. It felt oddly stiff, while as of my head, was hurting. It felt like my eyes would pop out of the skull if the pain did not subside any time soon.

Magnus frowned, before he waved his hands in his signature flourishing, and traced the air above my body. His frown deepened, before he turned away and walked off. A door was slammed shut behind him and I could hear muffled noises from behind it.

The words I tried to grasp slipped away as soon as I picked them up and I closed my eyes tightly together, holding a hand to my forehead.

I must have fallen asleep, because someone shook me violently, and the voice that followed was filled with panic. But it was distant and distorted that I could not hold on or grasp the words and understand them. It was like it held a static around it.

Still pictures of the scenes that followed was confusing. They shifted from Magnus, to Isabelle to Jace. All wearing worried frowns over my shape and lack of life.

As my head started to hurt again, I heard a distant scream. the distant scream had made Magnus run over to me, and for hours on end, I was tormented by unbearable pain and suffering. I tossed my self around in the bed, trying to find a position that would hurt the least. But every movement I did made my head and body hurt more than ever, and at some point, Magnus gave me something to drink. It held a bitter taste, and I refused to drink more.

I fell into the bottomless pit again, but this time, no piercing light emerged from it. I was surrounded by blackness and nothing was hurting. I found it to be bliss to stay there, and for a second I wanted to stay there forever.

How much time had passed, or how long I had been conscious and not able to move I had no idea of. I only made out fragments of conversations going on around me.

"She's too weak to be moved..." Somehow it drowned out by my heartbeat and summing in my ears. The voice was deeper than Magnus'.  And as I wasn't able to make out who it was, I tried, time and time and time and again to open my eyes, that seemed to be glued together.

After several tries and fails, I eventually opened my eyes and coughed. Isabelle, who had sunken down on a chair in a corner, jumped to her feet and was by my side in three leaps. She grabbed my hand and held them gently in her hands. If Isabelle had grabbed my left or right hand I had no way of finding it out. I was disorientated and could not make a difference of my limbs the moment I woke up.

"Oh my god, Elise" Isabelle breathed and pressed her forehead to my hand. "we've been so worried about you"

"wh... w.... wa..." I swallowed, trying to soften and moisture my sandpaper throat, but swallowed nothing more, than what seemed like a mouthful of dust. "Water" I croaked in a whisper and blinked.

Isabelle smiled and leaned over to a table next to the bed, filling a glass of water, and helped me sit up, before she carefully held the glass to my lips.

"That was quite a scary three weeks you had us go through" Isabelle commented and caressed my hair. "Raphael has been here too"

I gave Isabelle a confused look, and she chuckled before Isabelle made her mind to actually continue her tale. "He was worried, of course he did not show it to Jace, or bane or Alec. He made a false reason of 'he had to check up on the little girl he had saved', but he spent hours here"

I closed my eyes and sighed. Was it him I had heard? Isabelle's smile saddened. "When Jace asked him to move you to Magnus', he said you were too weak"

*** ***

I had barely got out of the hospital bed, when Jace practically ran me down, taking a hold of my t-shirt. His blue eyes lightened with fury, and for a split second I was scared that he would actually hit me. But no. As angry and out of control of his temper Jace could be, he was never quite there. "Never leave without your stele! Never" He spat at me.

I turned my head and shut my eyes closed, not wanting his face up in mine. "Maybe you should brush your teeth, your breath stinks!" I mumbled, before pushing Jace off, who was stunned by my comment. Taking advantage of the situation, I hurried down the corridor, my arms wrapped over my chest. Even just walking down to my room was a pain, and I could feel how my heart started beating faster and harder.

Finally at my room, I ripped the door open, only to find my favorite vampire sitting on my bed. His head was bent and his arms supported on his knees. I slipped in and quickly closed and locked my door. "What... But... Raphael! What are you doing here?" I stumbled out.

Raphael lifted his eyes to look at me, before he smiled and was in front of me before I could blink. "Elise" He whispered, before embracing me in a cold, but comfortable hug. It took me a few second to realize what was going on, but I eventually embraced him and inhaled the sweet scent of his skin. "I was so scared"

"Say that to someone who had no idea how long they've been out" I chuckled. Raphael scooped me up bridal style, carrying me to my bed, and placed me down with care. He climbed in with me and wrapped an arm around me, letting me support my body to his. These was the moments I cherished when I was with him. Those moments when I could just be myself. Not having to pretend to hate someone I actually had genuine feelings for.

Now, i would not dare say I love Raphael, but I dare say I care deeply about him. "But what are you doing here?"

"Isabelle let me in, and I am here, because I care about you" Raphael murmured in my neck, his breath giving me goosebumps. Raphael gave me a small kiss in my neck. "Sleep" He whispered, and I had no objection to his demand. I closed my eyes, my lips curling up in a smile, drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

A/n: Sorry for the short chapter, but I have to update sometimes, right? So, I am going to write more, but be warned, it might take time as I have a severe case of writes block. Also: TY FOR THE 6K reads :D You guys are AMAZING!

-Mystique