Dear Elle,

9. Healing Us.

Elle POV

Noah gripped my hand as he pulled me through the opening doors of the elevator and down the corridor to room three. I felt like a child being pulled along by a parent. I wished he would slow down a bit - every step he took was like three for me. I swear, I ended up running after him at some point.

June and Matthew weren't waiting in the lounge this time, rather Lee's door was wide open and we could hear the soft chatter of voices and I saw a smile break out on Noah's face as I gave his hand a squeeze.

'Thank God', I heard him breath as I led us into the room. Matthew was standing by the window, while June sat on the bed next to an upright and awake Lee.

'Elle?' Lee rasped as he watched Noah and I enter the room. I let go of Noah's hand and practically bounced over to the bed and pulled him into a gentle hug. I wanted to squeeze the crap out of him, but I didn't want to start disconnecting wires.

'Why aren't you in New York?'

'You honestly thought I was going to stay in New York in your time of need? Don't do that to me EVER again. Do you understand? You gave me a heart attack', I whispered as I felt him hug me tighter. 'Seriously, I didn't know what I was coming back to. I thought....don't do it again. Okay?'

I felt his arm go around me as we just held each other.

'Like I could control what happened?' Lee argued as we pulled apart. I rolled my eyes but kept a tight grip on his hand.

'I'm sorry for scaring you. I'm sorry for scaring all of you'.

I shrugged it off, 'Long as you are okay. Are you okay?' I looked over him, trying to analyse if anything else had happened in the hours that we had been gone. He was still covered in bandages, but a little colour had returned to his face.

Noah was still standing off to the side of the room and I shot him a look before glancing at June, who had moved from the bed and was now seated next to Matthew.

'His doctor is happy and much more relieved now that he is awake. He'll be in here for a few more days but', Lee pouted at his mother's words. I knew how much he hated hospitals. As soon as he would have woken up, he would have wanted to go home.

'Do you remember what happened?' I asked and the mood in the room shifted. Lee shuffled around on the bed, trying to get comfortable.

He was quiet for a few minutes as he looked towards the window as if trying to recall the exact moment. He shook his head. 'I don't remember it. I just remember hearing the bang and the tires....I remember someone screaming, I think it was Rachel? And I remember Noah...'

Lee looked towards where his brother was standing in the corner, leaning against the wall. Noah hadn't made a move to come towards Lee yet and part of me knew that he still felt guilty but also that he was scared to break. At that moment, I felt like an outsider. Everything that had happened was between Noah and Lee.

'I could hear you screaming my name', Lee continued. Noah was super still as he listened to his brother's words, as if he was relieving the moment with him.

'I could hear you screaming my name and cursing cause you couldn't do something.....but then you kept telling me it was going to be okay. You just kept saying 'It'll be okay, Lee. You're gonna be okay'.

It was quiet for a few minutes as we all soaked up Lee's words.

'I couldn't get you out', Noah conceded as he walked over to the bed and came to stand by me. 'I was pissed off that I couldn't get you out of the car and I didn't know what to do. I got Rachel out but couldn't get you out. I would have ripped the whole thing apart to get you out'