Without a Trace

Chapter Eight

I wake up hearing a beeping at a steady rhythm.  I open my eyes, and see that I'm in a hospital again.  I'm wearing an oxygen mask, and I'm the only one in the room. I take the oxygen mask away from my mouth.

"Hello?" I croak, my throat sore.  "Is anybody there?"  Nobody comes, and being alone in this room is starting to freak me out, so I press the nurse call button.  After thirty seconds, a nurse comes running in.  She has a name tag that says 'Amy'.  

"Hi there!" she says cheerfully.  "You're awake!"  I just stare at her, not knowing what to say.  "Are you in any pain?"

"My throat kind of hurts." I say weakly.  "And I have a headache."  

"Here's some water." She hands me a cup of water that I hadn't noticed was sitting right on the table next to my bed.

"How did I get here?"  I ask, after my throat feels a little better.  

"Somebody brought you here three days ago.  I think she might have been your sister you two look very alike."

"What?!" I gasp.  "Did she have blonde hair?"  The nurse shakes her head.

"It might have been blonde at some point, but it look like it was dyed red."  

"Was she really pale though, and did she have blue eyes?" She nods, and I can't help but smile.  "Thank you."

"You're welcome." she answers.  "I hope you find her. The doctor will be here in a few hours to explain the extent of your injuries."  She walks out, and I'm left in my room to think.  Haden and I had been planning on going all the way to California when she was right here.   

"Shit." I curse when I think of Haden.   I've been gone for the last two days, and he clearly doesn't know where I am, or else he would be here right now.  I pick up the phone that's on the table and dial his number.  After one ring, he picks up.

"Hello?" he sounds exhausted, and I feel guilty because it's mostly likely because of me worrying him.

"Haden?" my voice cracks, because it's just hitting me how much I need my best friend right now.

"Willow?" his whispers in shock.  

"Yeah, it's me." I smile through the tears that are now rolling down my face.  

"Where are you? What happened?  I left the lab after searching his office and-"

"Haden, calm down." I interrupt him.  "I'm at the hospital.  I'll tell you the rest when you get here."  I tell him the address for the hospital and he says he'll be here right away.  Ten minutes later, he appears in the doorway of my room, looking out of breath.  One second, he's staring at me, as if he needed to see me to believe the fact that I'm alive.  The next second, he's hugging me tightly as if I'll disappear again if he lets go. "I'm fine Haden." I say after a minute of him not letting go.  Finally he releases me.

"What happened to you? What did he do to you?" he asks, sounding angry.  I tell him about what happened after Zane took me from the lab.  I could barely get through explaining the torture I went through.  Telling him about Zane touching me was the most difficult.  I try not to go to in depth while explaining it because I don't want to burden him with the details.  

I've seen Haden angry before.  He usually yells a little, punches something.  But this is a quiet anger, and he is scarier than I've ever seen him.  He's gripping the bed rails so hard that his knuckles are white. 

"They left you there to suffocate and die." he says, his voice quiet, but still sounding deadly.

"Haden calm down-" I start to say.

"No Willow." he argues.  "They tortured you! This is the second time he's tried to kill you!"  

"You think I'm not angry!" I yell, tears rolling down my face.  "They tortured me Haden!  They put me through hell! They made me betray my sister!"  Before I can continue, Haden starts shaking his head.

"Do NOT do this to yourself."  he says sternly. "You are not going to sit around and blame yourself for this.  Most people wouldn't make it through half of what they put you through without telling them everything.  You are the strongest person I know, and I know that Emma wouldn't want you to go through all that in order to protect her."

"I think she's here Haden."  His eyes widen.  "Apparently she's the one who brought me here.  She saved my life." I smile.

"That's great!"  He hugs me.   "So it doesn't really matter that you told them!"  I nod.  

"We have to find her.  I hope that they'll be too busy looking for her in California that they won't bother to look here."  

"You have to be careful too." Haden warns, and I give him a confused look.  "They think you're dead.  If they find out you're not they'll be angry and try to hurt you again."  I nod, trying to put on a brave face, as if I wasn't terrified of them after they left me to die in a fire.  

"We're going to find her.  We're gonna bring my sister home."