Blood in the Water | 18+

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘛𝘸𝘰

𝘈𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘢

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Waking up was a series of events.

I had come to a few times before I finally woke up. But I didn't have the strength to open my eyes. The first time I came to, I heard Steve, Dante, and Enzo talking, something about taking down Papa. I wanted to wake up, I wanted them to know I was okay, but when I commanded, no begged my eyelids to open they wouldn't budge. They were so heavy, and eventually, the noise muted around me, sealing me off in another world, in another land, in a place I was the only occupant, and I was terrified, so terrified. But then everything went dark, completely dark, so dark it was almost calming and I was gone again.

The second time I was conscious, was just minutes before my heart stopped. I felt strange, like my chest was seizing up and I couldn't pull air into my lungs. I felt heavy like an elephant had sat on my chest. I was trying to move my body, to ask for help, but nothing was working. I started panicking, what if no one was close by? What if I was in the room by myself? Would no one check on me? Was I going to die alone, my worst fear? I thought the panic would at least kickstart my heart, but it didn't and I could hear the slow beat in my ears. And then there was an explosion of white and I was everywhere and nowhere at once. I was screaming but crying in relief because I was no longer in pain. I was air and wind and everything in between, I was free. But I was crying because I'll never see Steve again.

And then it was like someone hit rewind, and I was slammed back into my body with my heart beating and someone crying, but I was tired, I was hurting, and darkness took over again.

The third time, I was conscious only by muffled hearing, but I could finally feel my limbs. I could feel the delicate weight of someone's hand in mine. And then I heard Natasha, telling me all about the new enforcers Steve had hired around her property. How she had been monitoring my father to make sure he couldn't hurt me, how she had instilled a safety plan to get my mamma and nana out of his grasp. And then she went quiet and I wanted to sob. I wanted to beg her, Natasha please keep talking, I wanted to say, please give me something to hold onto so I don't leave again, I'm scared, I want to live. But I couldn't, I couldn't open my mouth to speak, and then I realized my fingers must have twitched because I was holding her hand tighter, squeezing it almost. "Aurora," She whispered, and then I heard a chair drag across the linoleum and her frantically breathing. "Steve," She croaked and I realized she must have looked for a phone, or something to call him, "Come back now," She was crying, "Her fingers moved, she's waking up." And then before I could hear anything else, I faded into darkness, screaming into the endless void at the cruel gods doing this to me.

The fourth, and final time I came to, I could hear everything so clearly. Before it was muddled like I was underwater, I could make out words but hardly the tone. Now I could hear the incessant beeping of the machines next to me. I could feel my entire body, the IVs attached to me, I could feel the sheets scratching across my legs. I could identify the heavy weight of Steve's hand in mine. The calloused skin was so comforting after so long without life. I could feel the first tear slide down my cheek. I was alive. I won. I was alive and it wasn't a joke. I was breathing, my heart wasn't giving up, and my brain kept fighting. This time I begged for my eyelids to open, and when they did, I was blinded by the white light of the hospital ceiling, and a quiet sob broke from my lips. I won, my body won. I wasn't dead. I couldn't stop chanting that. I couldn't stop telling myself I won, I was alive.

And then I slowly turned my head, smiling when I saw Steve folded up in a chair next to the bed, his hand in mine as he slept. I ran my thumb over the back of his hand, the beautiful rose that he got for his mother gracing my vision. The vision I had missed so much. I studied every part of his exposed body, loving him more every second. And then I saw what he was clutching in his free hand, my purple elephant, Nelly. And a smile broke out in my mouth, I needed to talk to him. So for the first time in god knows how long, I parted my lips, and spoke, "Steve."