Stella Starlet

Drown

When I opened my eyes, I was beyond confused. 

Where was I? 

I was looking up at the ceiling and when I moved my gaze around, I saw that I was hooked up to multiple machines. 

I was panicking. Was I kidnapped by Enzo? He was the last person I saw, I had to get out. 

My hand reached for the tape-like fabric wrapped around my finger and ripped it off. The once steady, rhythmic beeping became more urgent. I ripped the IV needle out of my arm and stood to get up. 

After being hit with a wave of pain and weakness, I fell to my knees just as the door bursted open. 

I tried to lift myself up from the floor before one of, what I presumed to be, Enzo's men stopped me. 

"Stella!" A male voice yelled as they got down next to me. 

I had my head down, trying to let the wave of pain subside but it never did. 

I heard the faint sound of something dripping and I looked down. Small splatters of blood were dripping beneath me. 

I took my hand and frantically ran it over my skin, trying to figure out where it was coming from. 

"Nurse!" The man yelled. 

He put his hand on my shoulder, trying to lift me up but I started screaming.

"Get the fuck off me!" 

I finally looked up and saw a woman running to the door and over to me. 

"Stella, please, calm down."

"Where is he? Huh?" I yelled, demanding to know where Enzo was. "Fucking answer me!" 

"Carlisle!" The man yelled out the door. 

"Playing games with me now? You're sick," I spit with venom. 

I heard heavy footsteps and fear began to seep into my chest. 

I pushed myself backwards until my back collided with the wall, trying to ignore a searing-pain that came from my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see Enzo's face. 

My hands trembled as the sound of the footsteps got closer. 

"Stella, sweetheart, please calm down. It's me."

The voice did not belong to Enzo. 

I looked up and saw a familiar man with blonde hair and blue eyes.

He crouched down beside me and took my trembling hand. 

"Sweetheart, it's me. Carlisle."

Tears leaked out of my eyes and felt into the same stream of blood that slowly trickled down my neck. 

"Can my nurse fix you up and then I will explain everything?" He asked gently. "I won't leave your side."

I nodded slowly. 

I didn't understand. Hadn't Enzo taken me? 

I was lifted up gently and set onto a hospital bed. This room was unfamiliar to me, it was cold and had medical equipment organized around.

"You just disturbed some of your stitches. I can fix those," the nurse announced.

"Stitches?" I asked in a soft, confused voice.

No one answered me as she took a syringe and injected my neck with something. Whatever it was and burned a lot. 

After that, she restitched my neck.

When she was finished, I ran my fingers along the bumps and grooves of each stitch. My skin suddenly feel mine anymore. 

The nurse left with a sad smile and shut the door softly.

Carlisle sat on the end of the bed, facing me. He could see the fear in my eyes. 

"What happened to me?" I asked.

"No one really knows. I was away and Alex called me saying he heard you screaming and he ran upstairs to find you in the shower half dead. You had slit your neck, the blade was in your hand."

I took in the information and was greatly confused.

"I didn't do it. It was Enzo, he had attacked me and-" 

"Sweetheart, Enzo was not at the house. We looked at the possibility of someone attacking you and looked at the security footage. There were also men guarding the outside of the door and the windows."

I looked down and felt a surge of panic arise in my chest. "I did this?"

He gave me a sad nod. 

"It felt so real. Enzo was there and he attacked me. He punched me." I stopped and ran a finger over where he had attacked me and there was no soreness, no tenderness.

"It was all in my head?" 

I began to sob, tears loosely flowing down my cheeks as my body shook with each cry.

Enzo gently hugged me. 

"We are going to get you help. You're going to get better."

He kissed the top of my head and looked me in the eyes.

"To get better, we got to stop fucking around. No more coke, no more drinking, no more of any of that shit, okay?" 

I nodded profusely. I wanted to get better.

I never wanted to feel that way again, like I had no idea what was real or not. Everything felt real but it never was. 

I had to keep telling myself that Enzo was never there.

This whole thing scared me to my bones. I was deathly afraid of myself. 

Before I met Carlisle, I wanted to decay. I wanted to destroy my body from the outside and on the inside. 

But now that I have something to wake up for, I wanted to get better. 

I was not born to drown.