The Savior

Chapter 4

She felt pain, a lot of pain. Keeping her eyes closed she drifted in and out of consciousness, for how long she wasn't sure. She remembered being aware of her surroundings. She then picked up bits of conversations, a familiar voice asking when she would wake up, and nurses coming to check her vitals. She couldn't get her eyes to open yet, and part of her was afraid to because of the serious pounding in her skull. She also tasted metal and had some serious cotton mouth going on. She needed a drink bad, but she had to concentrate on getting her eyes open.
  She willed her eyes to open, and nothing. She wasn't sure if she could move. She felt heavy and like her brain was disconnected from the rest of her body. Trying to listen to her surroundings, she sensed she was alone in the room, no one to ask for help. After a few more tries she was able to open her eyes and had to let them adjust to the light. She found herself in a hospital room. Looking at the clock on the wall it was just after three AM. Dragging her eyes further across the room, she saw under a lump of blankets on a small couch, was Steve. A quick flashback of Steve's face coming into focus just before she blacked out came back to her. Beside the couch leaning against the wall was the unmistakable shield of Captain America. Steve was that Steve? As in Steve Freaking Rogers, as in Captain Freaking America. Man, did she feel like an idiot.
  She pressed the call button on her bed and tried to scooch up a little bit in the uncomfortable hospital bed. Her legs felt like lead, and moving was not a good idea. Her ribs, back and stomach screamed at her in pain. Hearing her poorly attempted muffled, cry of sudden pain, she winced as Steve began to stir. He sat up quickly once he realized she was awake and wiped his face with his hands.
  "Glad to see you're up. How are you feeling?" He asked as he walked over to the side of her bed to sit in the chair next to it.
  Her voice was hoarse and it hurt her throat and chest to speak but she told him she needed a drink. No sooner as the words came out of her mouth did the nurse walk in with a cup of ice chips.
  "Good evening Miss Thompson. I'm Brenda I'll be your nurse this evening. I've put a page in to your doctor. How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"
  "I'm quite thirsty." She croaked out. "and my head hurts pretty bad and my side and back too. Would it be too much trouble to keep the lights off in here?"
  "Absolutely ma'am." She said "you sustained a pretty severe concussion so that's what the sensitivity to light is from and the headache too I'm sure. I can only give you ice chips now until we're sure you can keep food down. You can have all the ice chips you want though so don't worry if you suck down the whole cup, just take your time."
She smiled and nodded as Brenda set her cup of ice down and laid out a white pill, which she said was a Percocet for the pain. After Peyton took her pill with a small sip of the melted ice, nurse Brenda turned off the lights as she left the room.
  "So really, how are you?" Steve asked with concern deep in his features.
  "Very sore." She winced trying to straighten up in bed again. "What happened exactly? How long have I been out?
  "Five days. You were lucky. They didn't get a chance to.." His voice broke off and he reached up to give her hand a small squeeze. "They beat you up pretty badly before I found you. I just happened to be out for a walk when I heard crying coming from the alley."
  Closing her eyes as she remembered the assault and she looked over Steve's shoulder and saw the Captain America shield propped up against the wall next to his jacket.
  "Steve Rogers?" She whispered "that's who you are right? You're Steve Rogers?"
  Steve shook his head yes with a quizzical look on his face. "You really didn't know?"
  Shaking her head no she laughed a little then winced in pain. Laughing, not a good idea. "I'm grateful you didn't know. I had a feeling you didn't know who I was, when you asked what I did for a living. But it's refreshing."
  "I guess that explains how you were able to take out four men." She smiled and winced at the pain in her lip. "Where are they anyway?"
  "Jail." Steve said matter of fact. "You've been out cold for five almost six days. I've been sleeping over there every night since they brought you here. I didn't want you to wake up alone after that, and I thought you could use a friendly face."
  She squeezed his hand and gave him a small smile.
  The doctor came in a little while later to go over her injuries. Even he told her she was lucky. She had a facial fracture near her right eye socket, broken ribs, bruised spine, hairline fracture of the skull and a concussion, a punctured lung which collapsed as it filled with blood on her way to the ER, and worst of all the knife wound to her abdomen lacerated part of her liver. The doctor inserted a tube to drain the blood from her lung so it could re-inflate, and they removed a chunk of her liver which they said would regenerate. She was going to be out of commission for a while, the pain in her ribs would keep her pretty immobile and she had to be careful not to pull her stitches in her abdomen. She had staples in her head, from hitting the brick wall and lost quite a bit of blood. She was to be kept over night again for observation, even though the doctor was happy with her answers to the "What year is it? Who is our president? Do you know where you are," questions. But, so long as her vitals remained stable and her lab work came back okay, Peyton would be released the following day.
  "You really don't need to stay another night with me Steve. I'm sure you have a life you should be getting back to." She told him as he gathered another blanket and settled into the chair beside her.
  "I'm not going to leave you alone. Plus you'll need help getting home in the morning."
  He pulled the small tv that hung from the ceiling closer for her to see. She flipped through the channels and they both slowly drifted to sleep with his hand covering hers, and the History channel on.
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