Underneath (Foundation/Pre-write)

Chapter 11

One Month Later

I took a sharp gasp of air. It hurt. My breathing felt as if someone had packed sand down my throat. I wheezed, trying to focus my eyesight. My eyelids were begging to close again, winning, only to be opened again. The room was darker now. 

"Kot-" I couldn't get full words out. Was he sleeping? Still panting, I reached to my side table for my glasses. I almost fell off my bed for two reasons. My body ached like I hadn't moved for ages, and there was no side table. Once I had balanced myself once more, I attempted to stand. There was a slight tug on my left wrist. I winced in shock. 

"No!" I hoarsely yelled. The watch was still on! I had to get it off, now! I tried to move farther away, but there seemed to be something holding me back. I collapsed onto the ground, pissed off to say the least. My wheezing gave me a moment to smell... I wasn't in my room. I was in somewhere... clean.. The infirmary. 

A curtain in front of me, harshly flew open. "Oh miss! You must lay down!" I could barely see her body move to behind me. She put her hands under my armpits to lift me up. Suddenly it was near impossible to move. She was strong enough to aid me back to my bed. 

After yelling, I couldn't talk at all. Everything felt like I had to start all over again. Once I was back to laying in bed, I rubbed my face, to wake it up. 

"You might want these." The nurse took my hand in hers, and places what feels like my glasses carefully in my hands. I nod my head, to say thank you. I slide them on my face. I sigh, finally seeing where I am. 

"There we go." The nurse smiled, beginning to pour a glass of water. "You need to hydrate properly." She set the cup on a moving table, that she pushed so it was in front of me. My chest felt heavy, but excited. I picked up the cup and began to gulp it all down.  "No no! You must sip! I don't know how much your stomach can take." She took the cup from my hands and set it aside.

 My throat soothed out, and I tried to speak with all my might. "Why am I here..." 

The nurse sighed. "Your roommate found you unconscious. Someone hacked into your watch and poisoned you. It was very impressive hacking skills. S-sorry! W-we tried to take off the watch manually. But we had to use a risky procedure to get it. But we had a surgeon talented enough to get off," She said with a nervous smile. I turned on my side, once again tired. 

I zoned back into reality about an hour later. My eyes landed on a clock. It was about seven in the afternoon. I felt so useless just laying here. For this past hour I rolled in self pity and guilt. Xavier's kiss, Kota's anger, my inability to do anything worth. 

I got to sit for about another hour, with my own thoughts. That's never been an issue until now. A small voice rises behind me. 

"Miss, your vitals are stable and you're body is able to hold it old amount of food. We changed your IV's a while back, so you're pretty healthy now. Just come back if you have any concerns." I nodded and sat up. I looked around the infirmary, now that my curtains were open. After a few moments, I stood up. I didn't feel weak anymore, just very uncoordinated. They gave me some kind of stick that they call a cane, for balance. 

I almost fell asleep as I walked down the hall. Walking was exhausting. I was ready to just take a nap. 

I opened the door to my room and say my bed was moved away from Kota's. In my spot was Arey's bed. My brain felt dead, and all I wanted to do was sleep. Pathetic. I moved to Kota's bed and snuggled into his blankets. They smelled like him. 

When I woke up, Arey was jumping on the bed, way too close to my head. 

"Oh my god, Arey," I said groggily, but trying to sound cheery. I sat up and wrapped her in a hug.

"We missed you!" She said, giggling into the hug.  I looked up to see Kota standing in the doorway. He smiled softly. 

"Hey," He said smoothly. A lump swelled in my throat. That one word brought back sweet memories. It was enough to drive me mad. I moved Arey off of my lap and ran the best I could to him. I swayed to the side, barely making it to his arms. I buried my face into his chest, dry sobbing into his shirt. "I missed you... I thought you were gone.." he said, hugging me tighter. 

"I'm here now," I said, looking up to him. His ocean eyes met mine, which felt weird. So I turned to look for Arey, who was now gone.

"Where did she do?" I asked, looking back at Kota. 

"She's gone off to Xavier's. He missed her, since she's been with me this whole time. He asked if when you got back, if he could have her." He looked down at me. 

"Isn't he supposed to be fighting?" I asked, looking up. He planted his hands on my hips. My cheeks began to heat up, so I hung my head and rested it on his chest. He lifted my head, resting my chin between his thumb and pointer. I blushed at the continued awkward eye contact.

"May I?" He asked leaning closer. I knew where this was going, so I nodded. He closed the gap, connecting our lips. I could tell he had more experience compared to my none. All I could do was play along and pray for the best. 

A while had passed, but that while was filled with many kisses. It felt like it was go to last forever. But then, he took his shirt off.  I began to panic a bit, and I pushed him off of me. Nobody had to say a word. I slipped away to shower, but it wasn't working. Kota told me after I found out that the private water lines were being tested, due to some concerns. So I slipped back into bed and we slowly fell asleep. 

The next morning I woke up early to get to the public showers without many others being there. I noticed a small discoloring of red. Half expecting it to just be some kind of feminine issue, I didn't pay much attention to it. I stripped down, feeling light headed from the mix of high heat and  just straight up exhaustion. I wrapped a towel across my chest, just in case someone else was there. I set my kept my glasses on, not truly thinking as I entered the shower, looking down. The blood was getting thicker.

I rose my head the slightest to see a fully dressed body underneath a running shower. I screamed, my knees giving out. I ran to them to see who they were. Samantha. She was still alive. I smiled out of the pain, "Hey, hey Sam. You're okay." I choked out. 

I pushed her wet hair off of her face as she was taking gasps for air. My eyes explored her body for where the blood was coming from. I lifted her shirt to find a single stab wound above her hip.

"Same, who.. who did this?" I uttered. Her face filled with more pain as she began to cry. 

"No..." she closed her eyes. "J- Jade..." A shock was sent through my bones, I went numb.