When The Stars Align

chapter thirty seven | relapse

three days until

I REMEMBER hitting water. I remember falling, feeling weightless. The water consumed me, bringing me under. It pushed me down, and down, and down. I really thought that was it. I remembered the liquid entering my lungs, taking me. I really thought it was going to be the end. I really thought that I'd continue falling until I was numb, and I no longer felt the world around me.

And then I woke up.

It took me a second to realise where I was. It took my a second to realise that the blinding lights above me were not an entryway to heaven, but florescent lights lightly flickering above me. It took me a second to realise that my head rested against a soft pillow and clean sheets wrapped me. I was in clean clothes, and I no longer hurt.

Soft beeps surrounded me. A heartbeat monitor... no, three. They were on different timings, one beeping slightly before and one slightly after my own heartbeat, which was the loudest one in my ears. The smell of rubbing alcohol was strong. I was in a hospital. I was alive.

I tilt my head slightly to the left. Through my blurry vision, I see Tori on the edge of Leo's bed. He was asleep, his injuries bandaged up. My sister stroked her son's hair. Isadora was curled in a chair beside her brother's bed, her arm extended to hold Leo's hand.

I tilt my head to my other side. Lysander sat upright in his bed, his left arm covered in patches. Sophia leans on his shoulder, her eyes closed. Aurora is curled in a ball at the foot of the bed, about to fall off. I see a cast on my brother's leg.

My head throbs. My body finally registers the aches in my muscles. I know there's probably morphine in my veins, numbing most of the pain. The dosage isn't enough to numb all of me.

I lift my head slightly, taking a better look around me. There are still wires sticking onto my chest, monitoring my heart. Victoria looks my direction, finally noticing I'm up. She gets up from Leo's beside. "Vera, lie back down. You're in fragile condition."

I didn't want to listen to my sister. I try to sit up, but I can barely move. And it's not because of my condition - I was physically strapped down. My hands were free and it touched a strap that went across my chest and held me onto the bed. Another ran across my waist.

No. No no no. I pulled on the strap. It didn't come off. I couldn't pull it off. My breaths became shorter, shallower. I kept tugging on it, thinking it would do something. "Let me go," I said, my throat dry, my voice hoarse. I couldn't move. I was tied to the bed.

He was coming back. He was coming back. He wanted more from me. He's gonna bring the-

Tori rushed to my side. "Vera... Vera, calm down. It's okay, nothing's going to happen to you. Breathe, Vera."

"Let me go," I shrieked. He was going to come back. He's going to climb on top of me. He's going to take my clothes off and-

"Soph, can you call a doctor?" I hear Tori's worried voice. She's sitting next to me now, her hand on my leg. "Vera. Vera calm down. You're going to hurt yourself."

There are tears rolling down my cheeks. I try to break myself out of there, pushing against the straps holding me back. "Let me go let me go let me go." My thoughts are a broken record, repeating over and over again. "Please, Tori, please. He's gonna come back. He's going to hurt me."

She tries to hold me and a push her away. I'm positive I scratch her with a fingernail. She still doesn't move away, staying beside me. I keep rocking back and forth, trying to get up. The straps around me burn my skin as I rub against them. It's the same it's the same it's the same.