Oaklyn.

Chapter 29.

I woke up to a throbbing headache, bright lights, and a white-tiled ceiling that was moving quickly, almost like a treadmill.

Am I dead?

My vision swirled, black dots clouding my eyes as I blinked them away a few times.

I made no effort to move my aching body while I adjusted to my new surroundings, my brain recapping all the events I remember before winding up here.
I slowly lifted my head, feeling like it weighed 100 hundred bricks.

I'm definitely dead.

I would've groaned if my throat wasn't so dry.

I blinked a few times before I scanned the room, quickly coming to the realization I was in a hospital. Panic flooded through me quickly, I hated hospitals.

I noticed tubes going into my skin in my left hand, immediately reaching up and pulling one out of my nose, hating the horrible feeling. I went to move my right hand to rip off the tubes when I realized something was weighing it down.

I looked to my right slightly, noticing Caiden's tattooed hand on mine.

My heart did a flip as I quickly looked up at his face, almost immediately noticing how dreadfully tired he looked. He was paler than usual, dark rims around his eyes, his hair more disheveled and his clothes crumpled. I also noticed he was asleep.

Catching onto the fact of how terrible he looked, I decided to remain very still and let him sleep. His hand was linked in mine, hit body slumped in the chair next to my hospital bed, most definitely at an extremely uncomfortable position.

My eyes worked up from his dark clothed build to his face once again.
I fought back the tears at the sight of him.
He looked exhausted.
His eyes were so, so dark.
Slightly red too.

Suddenly, the door opened, forcing my neck to snap in the direction of the sound.

Whoever the strange girl was, dressed in a doctor's coat, I quickly shushed her, gesturing over to Caiden. After seeing what I was implying, she shot me a grin as she walked closer, somehow settling my nerves.
Slightly.

"He never left your side," She whispered.

"What?" I questioned, feeling the blood drain from my face.
"How long have I been in here?" I questioned.

"You were brought in about 12 days ago? Surgery was 74 hours, you've been out for 9 days," She explained extremely quietly.

Caiden had stayed here for 12 days?!

"I kept telling him to rest, eat, go home. But he just kept saying you didn't like hospitals and would be nervous when you woke up," She grinned.

My heart melted inside my chest, he remembered my bad time at a hospital when I was 13.

"He's barely slept, eaten. He just sat there, watching the heart monitor," She continued, my eyes were now on his peaceful face.

"He looks terrible," I muttered sadly.

"If you think he looks bad now, you should've seen him the first day you were here. He came about 15 minutes after you were brought in, covered in blood, head to toe. He looked like death himself. He trashed everything, he waited the 74 hours you were in surgery, sitting on the floor, staring at his hands. I've never seen him like that," She explained.
"Oh, and someone names Lucas came by? He was pretty upset too, he said he had to go back home but to call him as soon as you could," She confessed, I nodded slowly.

Suddenly, Caiden's finger twitched in my hand, his head moving slightly as he slept, grabbing my attention back to him.
"I'll leave you to rest, you feel alright?" She questioned, I nodded with a smile.