Taken • cth

twenty two | renewal

Beep, Beep, Beep.

Arrow's mind is a whirlwind of darkness and pain, a never ending ocean she can never swim out of. She slips in and out of subconsciousness, floating in empty space, her entire body numb and prickling.

"Oh my god, what are they covered in?" Luke says, struggling to sit up in the car as Ashton speeds down the road. "There's a lot of blood but also.. Something else."

"I don't know." Ashton's knuckles are white with strain as he presses down hard on the gas petal. "All I know is Calum could die in any minute and Arrow has a nasty bruise on her temple. We have to get them some help."

"What the hell are we going to tell the doctors?" Luke asks, his good arm pressing the blotchy towel from earlier down hard onto the wound in Calum's stomach, trying to stifle the bleeding as much as possible.

"I don't know." Ashton replies, and his voice is watery. "I don't know."

Beep, Beep, Beep.

Visions of green eyes, of blood splattering up her shirt, of a knife slick in her hand, the tearing of flesh, the snapping of bone. Arrow screams into the blackness, struggling to see.

"Thank you"

Images of Calum with blood on his chin, of his mouth opening in a moan, of his eyebrows knitting together high on his forehead, disfiguring the scar and opening a cut on his temple. Of him covered in sweat, shedding their blood stained clothes. Of him holding her, reassuring her that they would be fine. Of him fighting. Of him yanking a blade out of his abdomen and hurling it at the enemy. Of him running through the woods by her side.

Calum.

Her eyes peel open.

Beep, Beep, Beep.

She's staring at a white ceiling. The edges of her vision are blurred, her head pounds, and there's a steady pressure on the right side of her body. She can barely feel her legs. She can tell that she's in a sort of reclined sitting position, but that's about it.

Arrow lifts her right arm up in front of her face, wiggling her fingers. Her nails are patchy and broken, and there's a large white bandage covering her forearm. Two IV's disappear into her skin, one under the cast and the other in her hand.

Beep, Beep, Beep.

Everything seems to be in a sort of white haze. Her eyes shift from her arm to her lower body, finding it half covered by a thin sheet. Her feet are lightly bandaged. She appears to be in a hospital bed, and there's a heart monitor beating steadily next to her.

A hospital bed.

They escaped.

Relief floods through her body, relief and gratitude. Arrow's eyes move around the room faster now, taking in the blue curtains surrounding every side of her bed and the beeping machines next to it. There's a small table with flowers and several bottles of water. Next to it is an even smaller chair, and slumped over in it is Ashton.

His curly hair is wild and tangled, his chin resting on his hand. He's fast asleep. The amount of joy that rises in her at seeing him is enough to make her sit up. They were safe after all. They didn't get hurt.