lost and found // calum hood

87 | Elizabeth

To say that I was in pain was an understatement.

I woke up, lying down in a bed with stiff, white sheets and all I could see was the ceiling. There was a constant beeping sound like a heart monitor and there was that sickening smell of disinfectant. I didn't have to be a detective to know where I was. My vision was slightly blurred and there was something heavy on my leg and I could feel myself panicking as flashbacks of the reason why I was here came back into my mind.

Tommy showed up. The psychopath had spiked my fucking drink and apparently had been stalking me the entire week that I was in Boston, maybe even longer.

My breathing started to go faster.

I couldn't remember much from what happened in the dark, cold alley. He called me names, called me a cheater, hit me because thanks to me, he went to jail. His hand was around my throat at some point and I could remember how hard it was for me to breathe as his hands roamed up my thigh.

Thanks to whatever he put in my drink, I couldn't remember what happened after he did that.

Did he rape me? Did he actually rape me?

The beeping from the machines attached to me started beeping faster and breathing was getting harder with the second and I could feel myself slipping into a panic attack.

Suddenly, the weight from my leg shifted and stirred and I looked up at my legs, the tears blocking any clear view I had.

I had to breathe, but I couldn't breathe, it was like Tommy's hand was still wrapped around my throat. I noticed the IV in my arm which was freaking me out even more. Especially because I had no idea what was going in my body. Without even thinking I ripped it out of my body, making an alarm go off.

The pressure on my leg disappeared and was replaced for a hand on my arm. "Liz, Liz, breathe. You're okay, breath, love."

It was Calum, Calum was here. "I'm here, you have to breathe. Please, baby," he said, grabbing my shaking hand. A nurse basically ran in the room as well, already holding a needle or whatever, which made me panic even more. No more drugs, no more drugs.

Calum seemed to notice that I started to panic more and asked the nurse to wait.

"Liz, remember the last time you had a panic attack? You gotta breathe, love. Let's breathe together, just like last time. Okay? Breathe in...and out." he said. I squeezed his hand as I tried to breathe with him and after a few tries, I actually started to breathe again. The nurse took a few steps back, seeing that Calum could calm me down without any medication.

"You're doing good, baby. You're doing just fine," he said. "Keep doing that," he said as the tears still streamed down my face.

After what seemed like an eternity I was breathing on my own again and calmed down. Calum carefully removed the tears from my face with his sweater paws and I could finally see him clearly now.

He looked exhausted, his eyes were red and puffy and there were dark circles under it. His hair was messy and his clothes didn't match, but he looked relieved.

Once I was fully breathing on my own again, Calum wrapped his arms around me as he tried to hide the tears in his own eyes. "What happened?" I whispered and he closed his eyes, burying my face in his green sweater. He sighed. "We don't have to talk about this now," he said. The nurse came back to us.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth, I need to replace your IV.," she said and I looked at Calum, terrified. "It's okay, Liz. You need it," he said and I bit my lip as the nurse sat down to replace it, who also paged the doctor to come and see us.

"What day is it?" I asked Calum as I tried to ignore the needle going in. "It's Friday," he said, kissing the top of my head. It was dark outside, so I guess it was Friday night. We went out on Thursday.

The nurse cleaned up everything and told us the doctor would come in a few minutes.

I looked at the IV that was now back in my arm and noticed the bruises that covered both of my arms, especially my wrists.

Calum didn't say anything, he just held me.

Just as the nurse said, the doctor showed up a few minutes later. "Hello Elizabeth, good to see you're fully awake. You gave us a bit of a scare when you showed up here," he said and smiled at me. I wasn't sure what he meant by that.

"How are you feeling?" he asked and I shrugged. "My entire body is sore, it hurts. My head hurts, it's like I have a terrible hangover." I tell the man and he nodded. "When you came in there was GHB in your blood, a high amount. That's probably the reason for that headache, and that's the reason you have the IV." he said.

"You have a lot of bruises that are probably the reason why you're so sore," he said. "The police want to come later and ask you a few questions if you're okay with that," he said and I nodded. "Yea, sure," I said.

I had to know, I had to ask. "Did - Did he rape me?" I asked and I could see Calum's jaw clench.

The doctor looked up at my question and shook his head. "We didn't found any evidence that you had sexual intercourse when you were brought in," he said and I nodded, a bit more relieved.

"We would like to keep you for one more night, just to make sure you're fine," he said and I nodded. "Okay," I whispered. The doctor left us alone and I looked at Calum who stood up and sat down on the bed, wrapping his arms around me once again. "You're gonna be just fine," he said, kissing my temple.

"What happened?" I asked Calum again and he sighed. "Please, Liz. You have to rest," he said. "I want - I need to know," I said. I rested my head against his chest. "I don't know, Liz. I don't know. You called me and no one knew where you were. We went outside and Amy showed up out of the sudden, saying that Tommy was here somewhere. Ashton found you in an alley and you were unconscious." he said, his fingers playing with my hair.

"You were bleeding and you looked dead. I was fucking scared, I thought I had lost you," he said and I bit my lip. I couldn't remember any of it. "And Tommy?"

He shrugged. "He's been missing. Police are looking for him," he said and sighed. "I don't think you should come to Europe," he said and I looked at him. "No, I want to come," I said and he shook his head. "Liz, you need to recover, you need time to heal. You can join once you're feeling better," he said and tears formed in my eyes. "You're leaving me," I said.

"No, no, no. Oh god, no. I would never leave you." he said, holding me even closer. "As I said, you can join later. Just take a few weeks off, baby. The tour is so emotionally draining, I don't think it's good for you." he said.

"I have nowhere to go, I'm fucking homeless," I said and he shook his head. "You're not. You're moving in with me in LA. You can babysit Duke. I'll make sure there's a bodyguard at the house at all times." he said.

I started to cry again, silent sobs as I curled myself against his body. "I just want to be near you. You'll be on the other side of the world." I whispered and he sighed. "I know, baby. Think about it. You can come to Europe, but I just want what's best for you." he said and I nodded.

"I know."

He gave me another kiss on my temple and sighed. "I'm glad you're okay," he said. "Did you sleep?" I asked him and he shrugged. "I took a nap on your leg before you woke up. Must've fallen asleep." he said, dragging a hand through his curls. "Where are the others?" I asked. "In the hotel, they weren't allowed to come because you were still unconscious, so it was family and partners only," he said, smiling at me softly with his tired eyes. He grabbed his phone. "I should text them though," he said before typing something.

I relaxed in his arms and I could feel myself slowly drift away again. I was safe.

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woA she's finE but is shE mENtALLY?