The Fall of a Jewel

Chapter Twenty-Four

The first thing I felt was pain. A deep, burning and hollow pain that started in my chest and spread throughout my whole body. It made my limbs pulse and my lungs constrict. I began to cough, even though it felt difficult to. It took me way too long to realize that there was a tube down my throat.

Once I faced the fact that cough was futile, I opened my eyes. When I was saw a speckled ceiling, I sat up and looked around to see a hospital room.

It wasn't the same one I had been in after the incident with Athena, but it was definitely the same hospital. More advanced and expensive looking equipment was latched onto me. The walls were a minty green, the same pain scales and motivational posters hanging on them. Low light slotted through the window blinds, suggesting that it was early morning. The beep of the heart monitor and the sounds of soft snoring filled the room.

When I actually realized that the sound was snoring and not just my labored breathing, I looked around. My eyes landed on a small lump on the couch in the corner. It rose and fell evenly as the person slept, but most of them was covered by a maroon blanket, save for the fluffy tail that poked out and hung off the side of the couch.

Since I couldn't speak with the tube down my throat, I had to resort to making random noises to wake them up. I sounded like a dying bird, but it worked after a minute. They stirred under their blanket, then shot up after a split second. The sight of them made my heart nearly stop.

Annabelle looked awful to put it simply. Her hair was greasy and frazzled, large tangles evident in it. The clothes she wore looked like they hadn't been washed in a few days and had a lot of tear stains on them. Brown eyes searched the room before landing on me, and her face practically lit up with teary relief. Before I knew what was happening, she had launched herself towards me and was encasing my body in a tight hug.

"Oh my Irene, Jewel!" she cried, squeezing me even tighter, "I thought I had lost you!"

I felt tears begin to stream down my cheeks as I wrapped my arms around her middle. My face found the groove between her neck and her shoulder and I burrowed into it, since it was my favorite spot to snuggle into. I shook with happy tears, small noises coming out of my throat, since it was impossible to form words with the tube down my throat.

I pushed Annabelle away after a minute, wanting to see her face. My hand formed into an ASL 'A' and it made a couple of clockwise motions on my chest. 'Sorry' I sign I used a lot more often than I should.

"Jewel, please don't say that," Annabelle whispered, giving me a watery stare, "I was so afraid that it was my fault,"

She balled her hands into fists and began to rub her eyes roughly, loud sobs racking her body. I pulled her hands away in surprise, bringing them down to rest in my own hands on my lap.

I shook my head, telling her that it wasn't her fault, but it just made her cry harder. "But it is!" she wailed, squeezing her eyes shut as more tears streamed down her face, "You wouldn't've done this if I wasn't there to help you!"

She leaned towards me and placed her forehead on my shoulder, the front of my hospital gown begin to get soaked with tears. My hand came up to rub gentle circles on her back in a calming motion, reminding me of our childhood. We stayed like that for a while before a nurse came in, a surprised look on her face when she saw Annabelle.

"I thought I told you that you couldn't be in here!" she exclaimed, shooing her out, "Only family can be in here when the patient is asleep!"

Annabelle sht me a smirk and I began to laugh, the motion making my chest seize up, but I didn't care. It just felt good to laugh a little.

"Now," the nurse said, shooting a glare towards the door, "Let's test those vitals,"

She took my heart rate and my blood pressure, and some other stuff, but I didn't really pay attention. I was trying to figure out of my dream with the angel was real or not. My memory was a little fuzzy, but I could still clearly remember her, even if I can't remember a lot of anything we talked about.

"Is there anything else you have concerns about?" the nurse asked, snapping me out of my trance. I looked up and shook my head, a calm look on my face that held distress. Then, before she could say anything else, I quickly made the signs for 'friend' and 'family', hoping she knew some ASL. She got it and opened the door, letting Annabelle in and telling me that the front desk had already called my parents.

A few minutes later, my whole family came in, looking worse for wear. Mom's hair was a mess, knots and fuzz hiding her ears from sight and her clothes mushed up. Dad's face was fully exposed, his lips parted in worry and his own hair pushed around, like he had been pulling at it. Nora looked well taken care of, but she still had sight tear tracks running down her face. Despite this, however, they all looked alert, relief washing over them in one, quick motion.

Nora reached me first, her little legs carrying her over to my bed as she ran, her whole body launching onto my lap. She gave me a big hug and kissed all over my face, laughter bubbling up from her throat. Mom and Dad quickly joined us, a snuggle pile quickly ensuing. Something warm went through my body, and I think it was happiness.

"Honey, we were so worried about you!" Dad exclaimed, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

"If Annabelle hadn't been able to call an ambulance and drag you out of that treehouse, we would've...." Mom whispered, trailing off, like she didn't want to think about what was gonna be said. I looked down at her face on my shoulder and saw that her face was twisted into a distressed look. Her eyes were shut and her whole face was pinched, her lips twisted into a grimace. She looked so small.

I gently pushed them all away and signed 'sorry' again, earning a hard look from my dad. "Don't you dare say sorry!" he said, twisting the hospital bedsheets in his fists, "You have no reason to be sorry!"

'I scared you' I signed, the shame evident on my face. My ears drooped and my whole body slumped forwards, a deep, emotional pain spreading throughout my whole body.

"You may have scared us," Mom whispered, placing a hand on my own, "but you never have to say sorry for what you did,"

All at once, fresh tears and small, distressed noises came out of my mouth as happiness and relief washed over my whole body. Everyone saw and surged towards me, including Annabelle. As we all laid there in a snuggle pile, I made a silent promise to them and myself that I would never try anything like this again.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed! Until next chapter! Bye!