Wingless {Clifford A.U}

Chapter Thirty-One

When Astrid woke up, she had no idea where she was, everything was bright and the room was freezing. She was breathing heavily and quickly.

"Hey, calm down." Michael said softly, taking her hand between both of his. "You're okay, everything's okay."

She looked around the room she was in. It was a plain hospital room. She hated hospitals. She looked down at her body, her right leg was in a cast and her arm was bandaged up to her elbow. There was an IV connected on her arm injecting medication. "H-how long was I out." She asked weakly.

"A little over a day. The hospital contacted your brother and he came back as soon as the trial was over. Your father's here too along with some other visitors. You'll get to see them once the doctors realize that you're awake." He said. "I'm just glad to see you're okay."

"God I hate hospitals." She said and he gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry, but you could've died. I wasn't going to risk that." He said. She tried to sit up but hissed in pain. "Careful, you might rip your stitches." He said and she sighed.

"You saved my life." She said.

"Of course I did. I love you."

"But why? If I died we wouldn't be different anymore, we could be together naturally, not have to worry about people like Ashton who want to hurt us." She said and he sighed.

"The thought crossed my mind, but if I had let that happen you would've been taken from everyone who cares about you in this world, you would have to go through what I did to earn angel wings like I'm having to do, and I wouldn't see you because I would be assigned to another person. I don't want you to go through what I did in the beginning, and I'm perfectly happy being with you the way we have been." He said and she nodded.

"I understand." She said and he kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"I love you." He said and she smiled.

"I love you too." She said quietly.

They sat in silence for several minutes, their hands intertwined, the only noise that was heard was coming from the machine beside her bed. Though their silence was interrupted when a doctor stepped inside the room.

"Good to see that you're awake. How are you feeling?" she asked and Astrid shrugged.

"Like hell to be honest, I'm in pain and my whole body feels heavy." she replied and the doctor nodded.

"That's normal after what you went through, the medication should help you. I'm Dr. Bennett by the way." she said walking over to Astrid's side and shaking her hand. "You have some visitors, would you like to see them?" she asked and Astrid nodded. "They will be sent in one at a time to keep your stress levels down." she said before exiting the room.

"I'm going to wait over on the other side of the room so you can talk." Michael said letting go of her hand and walking over to the opposite side of the room where there were a couple of chairs sitting. The door opened again and Luke walked in, a look of relief on his face when he saw her.

"Hey Luke." she said as he sat down by her bed.

"How are you feeling?  I was so worried when I got the call, I thought you said you were going to stay home?" he said.

"I'm fine, just in pain, and I was home." she said.

"Oh. I'm just glad that you're okay." he said.

"Yeah, I'm fine Luke. How'd court go?" she asked and he smiled.

"Well, let's just say that we will no longer be staying with Naomi anymore." he said and she grinned.

"Really? That's great news!" she said excitedly.

"Yeah, and while you're recovering, I'm going to help move all of your stuff and mine into Dr. Marx's home so when you get out of the hospital everything will be situated and you can recover the rest of the way." he said.

"That sounds like a great plan." she said.

"He's here, do you want me to send him in next?" he asked and she nodded.

"Sure go ahead." she said and he nodded.

"Love you little sis." he said and she smiled.

"I love you too Luke." she said and he left.

She talked with her father for several minutes after Luke sent him in, but mainly about the court session and the plan for after the two siblings moved in with him, though he did ask what happened but she told him she wasn't ready to talk about it. Cassie was there too. She was sent in after Dr. Marx and she and Astrid talked for almost half an hour. When Astrid told her the good news about moving, Cassie told her that she would be going to school with her which will make moving schools much easier. She enjoyed talking to Cassie, they could've talked longer if there wasn't another visitor waiting, so Cassie told Astrid that she hoped she felt better soon and that she'd see her around. She sent the next person in and to her surprise it was Lauren.

"Hey Astrid." she said quietly but Astrid just stared at her.

"What are you doing here Lauren?" she asked after a few moments and Lauren sighed sitting down.

"I came to apologize and see if you were okay." she said.

"I'm fine." Astrid said shortly.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you a few days ago. It was uncalled for. I was just angry, and I didn't mean it." she said but Astrid didn't really look convinced.

"You did mean it, whether you realize it or not, or else the thought wouldn't have ever crossed you mind." She said. Lauren looked down at her shoes and back at her.

"I am sorry. I mean it." She said.

"I'm sure you are, the sad thing is if only you would've let me explain, or better yet listened to me when you and Ashton started dating, I probably wouldn't be laying in this bed right now." Astrid said harshly.

"I know I should've listened." Lauren said and Astrid nodded.

"Yeah you should've. Please leave now, and send the doctor in for me." She said and Lauren nodded sadly, exiting the room.

"That was a bit harsh." Michael said and she sighed.

"She was a bit harsh last time I saw her. She was an awful friend. I can't just forget what she did." She said.

"I know. I didn't expect you to." He said and the doctor stepped in.

"Okay so I've come to talk to you about your injuries and ask you a few questions." She said and Astrid nodded. "So we x-rayed your right leg and found that the bone was broken in two places, you have a minor concussion, and the left side of your rib cage was bruised and then of course we stitched up the stab wound. Also there were several minor scrapes and bruises but those weren't our main concern. You lost a lot of blood. You were put through quite a lot of physical trauma. I have to ask about your arm, there were several cuts that went up it, I need to know what was self inflicted and what wasn't." She said and Astrid sighed.

"The scars were self inflicted. The cuts that were fresh weren't." She said in a bored tone. She thought it would've been quite obvious considering what happened. The doctor smiled.

"Thank you, I needed to make sure before reporting it back to the police who are dealing with this case. Also they wanted me to let you know that once you're discharged from the hospital they would like to bring you in for questioning." She said and Astrid nodded.

"Thanks." She said as the doctor left.

Michael took his place back beside her and kept her company until the pain medication kicked in and she fell asleep again.

A/N: Filler chapter! Yay! Not really. But hey an update is an update. I'm so happy I have ROWYSO on Friday and I'm so excited. Anyway vote and comment please.

-Xx E.J