Depthless: Under The Library

Chapter Twenty-Three// Stella

Stella’s POV

My eyelids slowly flutter open. The world is in a foggy state. There is a sharp scent in the air, it pains me. I groan, moving my head a little.

This resulted in a massive burning sensation at the top of my head. A strong tenderness screams out, convulsing, hurting…

My eyes fling open, and I let out a mangled gasp. I feel something tight squeezing my head, and for a moment, I’m panicking. Half-blindedly, I reach out a shaky hand, and touch my head. To my horror, I can’t feel my hair. Something smooth and cold is covering my head. I gulp. What had happened?

My brain decided that it is now time to feed me the appropriate information…

I groan. Did I really make such a mess of myself? I chastised myself. I can’t even climb to the rescue without conking myself on the head. In the end, who is the one who needs the rescuing?

I struggle for a moment with the throbbing stinging in my head. Some part of me must’ve been knocked temporarily dumb, because I can’t seem to register my surroundings.

It took approximately two minutes for my sight to clear up. Whatever had happened during my blackout, and after, it hadn’t left me with all of my senses intact.

I squint in the darkness. I’m laying on some kind of bed, with cool white sheets, crisp and clean. I seem to have been placed into the hospital of the underground city. I can’t make out anything else about the room, except that it was really bare. Cutting through the bitter medicine smell is a strong, perfumed sweetness, which seemed to origin from somewhere at the other end of the room.

In the cool night’s atmosphere, I shiver, realizing that I’m now out of my jeans and blouse. Someone had switched my comfort clothes with a flowy garment, stretching from above my elbows to just below my knees. The material does nothing to ward out the cold.

I hold back a sneeze. Feeling miserably, I curl up on my side, and stare up at the walls on my left. Nothing, no pictures, no wall décor, no flaming torches. I stare until my eyes glazed over.

I heave a long sigh. What had I done with my life so far? I mused dismally to myself. How did I end up in a hospital--- again, when I thought I had left this sort of dangerous life behind me when I first stepped foot into this place?

I slowly rotate my body, taking precautious measures for my head. In my distorted mind, I found myself wondering where the air ventilation came from, and if the hospital area has special room air coolers. I wonder if there is a button on my bed that I could hit to gain immediate access to a nurse. I fumble around the underside of the bed, and came out disappointed. Anyway, I don’t hear movement from outside. All is still… all is quiet, except for the loud throbbing in my head that demands to be felt…

From out of the darkness, I hear a soft groan.

I give a sharp intake of breath. Who’s there? I frantically wonder. My eyes widen is horror, and they dart furtively around the walls. Long shadows leer down at me from the bare walls, scaring the wits out of me.

“Who’s there?” I call out, which was probably either the bravest or the brainless tactic at the moment.

My sharp ears pick up a shifting noise from the far side of the room. Squinting off into the darkness, I could make out a faint outline of an armchair… and someone’s in it.

My heart skipped a beat. “David?” I call out, half hopeful, half mortified. Had he spent the whole night here? Watching me? In this state?

“Stella?” A male voice responds. In that moment, my heart sinks. “Oh, it’s you, Kale.” I mutter, thwarted.