My Beastly Mate

Recovery

    Lemons. 

    The first things I noticed was the strong smell of lemons. I groaned, my body heavy and my mind ached. With every thought, I wanted to cry. It was difficult to even focus. My eye lids were heavy, reluctantly opening. Blinking a few times, I adjusted to the bright, uncomfortable lighting. 

 Just where am I? 

    I sat upon the white bed, the pillow flat. Looking around the small room, I noticed quite a few things. For starters, various medical machines were around the upper half of my bed, but none of them attached to me except for a heart EKG machine. No IV's, no wires. Secondly, the door was closed, but I could several figures pass by, with one blurry on standing still just outside the door. They seemed unmoving, as if they were waiting for something. And finally, I noticed him. 

    He sat, crossed arms and all, in the clearly uncomfortable chair beside my bed. To my immediate right, James sat with his eyes closed. I tensed, holding my breath as I stared at him wide eyed. A part of me was terrified. My kidnapper and clearly insane stalker was sitting next to me. Another part of me admired him. His chest slowly rising and falling, his face relaxed and calm. His dark hair was messy, if not a bit greasy. He was beautiful. 

But what happened? 

    Oh! I gasped, covering my mouth quickly as to not wake my kidnapper. It hit me like a freight train. The pizza. The chase. The car crash. Natalie. Natalie! Oh, my Gods! Where is she?! Is she okay? Oh, Gods! What if she wasn't? I had to get out of here. I had to find her. Hurriedly, I toss my aching, pleading legs over the left side of my hospital bed. Gripping onto the plastic railings beside the upper half of the bed, I slowly stood up. My body ached, hurting like nothing before. But I could definitely tell from my sluggish movements that they, whoever, had probably given me some pain medication. I held my breath, trying to get up, ignoring the rising heart rate on the machine. 

"Where do you think you're going?" A calm voice asked. 

     Wiping my head around, I met his piercing blue eyes. James stared tiredly at me, his hands now gripping his chair's arms. "Answer me." He simply ordered. 

     Despite my initial instinct of spitting some insult or even cursing out at him, I remained quiet. As much as I hated it, he could help me find Natalie. I could barely stand, ignoring every response by my own body. But with his help, I can find my best friend. On the other hand, he is my kidnapper. What if he does something? His eyes bore into my own brown ones, demanding a response. 

With a loud sighed, I responded, "That's none of your business."

"Why can't you ever just behave?" James sighed in return, running one hand through his greasy hair. 

"Behave?" I repeated with a disgusted tone, "Behave? Like some bitch? Uh, no, thank you." 

"No! That's not what I mean-"

"Shut up! You literally kidnapped me." I said, exasperated. James remained quiet for a while, searching for something in my eyes. However, he must have found nothing as he sighed again, leaning back into the reddish chair. I slowly asked, "Could...you help me?"

"Help you?" James raised his eyebrow, clearly trying to figure me out. 

I shrugged, "Natalie. Can you help me find Natalie?"

"That girl who was driving?"

"Yes, that's her."

"The same girl who literally tried to fight me?"

I smiled, shaking my head slightly at the mere image of Natalie fighting James. It was a funny thought, if only I had witnessed it. "You didn't hurt her, right?"

"She slapped me."

"That's my best friend right there." I said with a proud smile and a matching tone.  Maybe someone recorded that fight. Gods, I would love to have seen it. She has to tell me about it.

James shook his head, standing up from the chair, "Yeah, she's alright. The airbag in the driver's side did most of the damage. Some bruises and cuts, but she's alright."

"Oh, thank G-"

"But you're not." 

I stared at James for a moment, my legs aching, "What? What do you mean?"

James slowly walked out from beside my bed, his eyes never leaving mine, "I said, you're not. You're not fine. You almost died."

"D-Died?" Over pizza and a car chase? 

"Do...you..have...any...idea what that would've done to me?" James quietly asked, his voice deep and angry. A small lump in the back of my throat suddenly prevented me from speaking. "Well, do you?"

"I-I'm sorry." Wait, why was I apologizing. He was literally chasing me! And Natalie. "Can I see Natalie?"

"No." He simply growled. "You can't. You're never leaving me again."

"What?" I felt the lump in the back of my throat grow, preventing me from barely saying a word despite all my efforts. 

"I said," James repeated, stepping closer to me until he was mere inches away, "You're never leaving me again."

"J-James, listen buddy, you're not well." I tried to say, explaining in a quiet voice. He had none of it. 

"Shut it! Belle, you're mine. Mine, mine, mine!" James wrapped his hands around my waist gently, pulling me closer to his tone body. I was unable to speak, fear gripping hold of me tightly. And despite my efforts on that end, it would not let go. 

   Suddenly, there is a knock at the room's door. Opening, a rather large man in a lab coat with black slacks and a light blue button up was revealed. He smiled, greeting us, "Ah, hello! I'm Dr. John. It's nice to see that's you're awake. I just have a few check ups to do with you, and you should be ready to go, okay?" 

"Doc! Oh, help me! This man kidnapped me!" I shouted.

James and Dr. John laughed, making my stomach sink. "Ah, don't worry, dear. I know."

"You...know?" I felt my heart sink along with my stomach. He wouldn't help me. 

"Yes, but welcome to our pack!" Dr. John smiled.