Truth or Dare?

Sleeping Beauty

Felicity's POV:

My head was pounding and my eyes were glued shut. I could feel everything around me but my whole body refused to move. Was I still drugged? Did I dream Marcus had come to save me?

My head was starting to spin but then I heard the faintest sound of machines and hushed voices. I tried to remember being brought to a hospital or even leaving the place I was kept in but it's all blank.

Focusing all my energy on listening into their conversation was like trying to put thread into the stupid tiny hole of the needle. It hurt my head but I needed to know who I had in the room with me.

"She's doing well, just give her time. You know how strong she is." It was a feminine voice but I couldn't place it. It was so familiar but my mind was so foggy.

"I know but she shouldn't need to be strong. This should never have fucking happened. He's lucky all I did was break his jaw and snap his leg. If the guys hadn't been there Mum...I think I would've killed him. The bit that worries me is that I feel no remorse for it." I could find Marcus's voice in a crowd of a million. I hated how horribly scared he sounded. This wasn't how we were meant to see each other again.

At least I now knew that the person he was talking to was Jane. I know she can get through to him.

"Marcus, it's natural to want to murder the twisted asshole. Christ, I don't think anyone would judge you for it. What he did was sick and unforgivable but the important thing is that we have her back and she'll be back to hiding on your staircase in just your T-shirt's in no time!" If I could blush I would. I wonder if my skin had changed colour on my face.

"I think she would seriously kill you if she could hear you right now. As funny as that was, I don't know how she's going to feel about the house now. She might not want to go back there and I'm not going to force it." He sounded so lost, so completely helpless and it pulled at my heart strings.

True, I had no idea how I would feel about the house but it's not going to stop me going and spending time with the man I love and the man that did everything he could to save me.

"We'll see. I know how much she missed you when you were away. Plus, she's got nearly all her things in your house already." The smile in her voice was enough to give away how happy she was about this. How many times did I need to tell her I wasn't living there, I'm just house sitting.

A woman needs her stuff even if it's only for a short while!

I mean, even when I used to stay over the girls' houses I would take a weekend back and I'd only be there for a night!

"I haven't really been back. Jonah said he'd call over there for me to make sure nothings broken and I know he's dealing with all the police stuff for me right now. My boss has done a lot with the police too so I'm hoping she'll only have to give a statement and then they'll leave her alone. She doesn't need to relive it over and over."

I tried pushing my body harder to open my eyes and help him but nothing was responding. The more I pushed, the more tired I got and my consciousness was being pulled away from me until I was back asleep.

It felt like years since I had woken up but when my mind switched back on I still couldn't force my eyelids open. It was getting so frustrating. I just wanted to see everyone and tell them I was fine.

"Fliss if you can hear me...I just want to say...I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," the sobbing next to my face was unmistakably my brother but where his confession was coming from was beyond me, "I shouldn't have left that night. I should've just stayed and made sure you were safe."

My heart was breaking for him. Oh Roman, it was never your fault. I just wish I could wake up already and tell you that.

I hear a slight creak and quiet footsteps before I hear the heavenly sound of my own mother's voice.

"You know she'll kill you if you said that to her when she's awake. It wasn't your fault Roman. No one blames you, she won't blame you so please stop doing this to yourself." Thank you for mother's who know just what to say and when to say it.

"But if I'd-"

"No Roman, that's enough. I won't have you blame yourself. None of us could've predicted he would ever go this far." My fathers stern voice was something my brother and I weren't familiar with. He very rarely had to use it.

"I can't even look at Marcus. I know he probably hates that I let him down."

"Marcus would never think that. He knows how much you love Fliss. You've always been protecting her since the minute she was born." My mother was trying so hard but I know the only thing that would reassure my brother right now is seeing me awake again.

I focused all my energy on trying to move or wake up but it was like there was a blanket pushing me back into the mattress and my eyelids didn't belong to me.

"You're right, I would never think that." Marcus must have come back and thankfully he sounds sympathetic. Not that I thought he'd blame Roman but he's having a stressful time right now. People do and act differently when they're stressed.

"Marcus I.."

"Rome seriously, stop. I don't blame you and you know deep down that Fliss would never blame you for this. The only thing we can do is be here for her and help her deal with what's happened. Trust me...I'm finding it so hard right now not to quit my job and take up the position of her personal security but I know she'd kill me for it." He chuckles softly at the end but it sounded more sad than anything.

He's right. I'd be furious if he thought of ever doing something like that. I'm not a baby. Guaranteed, I was just captured and battered by a lunatic but I'd like to think I coped as well as possible under the circumstances.

Marcus going back to work is the inevitable and something I'll never stop him from doing. I know I'll absolutely shit myself at first and I'll probably not stay in his house but with my parents, but it will have to happen. The same way I'll have to go back to work. Life moves on and stopping normality only holds us back from living life the way we want to truly live it.

When the hell did I become so deep?!

"But I could've stopped this from happening!" Romans voice is a near sob once again. Oh please will someone just slap or hug him, I'm not bothered which of the two but he needs some sense knocked into him.

"Roman, sweetie, you need to think about this. Do you think he would've stopped until he finally did this. Yes ok, he took her the same night you left, but what's to say if you stayed that night he wouldn't have tried some other way. You can't be with her all the time. She's a grown woman and a damn strong one at that." Yes! Thank you Mum!

I hear a soft chuckle in the room and I wonder who had the balls to laugh at my mothers perfect speech. Before I can listen to anything else, the blanket pushing me down tightens and I feel like I'm tucked in to the comfiest bed in the world before I slip back into the darkness again.

The next time I wake, I'm finally able to lift my eyelids. I felt like I'd run a marathon.

I swallow and feel the dryness of my throat. When I look around for water, I spot Marcus sleeping in the chair next to my bed. I didn't want to wake him so I slowly take the stupid thing off my finger that monitors my heart rate and sit up carefully. What I didn't expect was the high pitch beeping noise it made when it wasn't connected to anything.

Marcus's eyes shot open and he jumped from his seat. As our eyes met I instantly felt mine begin to water. This man, this perfect, wonderful man is my hero.