Counting Sheep

Chapter 36

HIII EVERYBODY!!! I am BACK and I have a new chapter with me :D I cannot wait for you guys read this. IT IS NOT, I repeat, *NOT* the last chapter! There still is a one or 2 left before the epilogue. So keep your eyes peeled for the chapter after this! Also, I think this song, just playing on repeat is PERFECT for this chapter. It is called "Soldier by Fleurie".  Now without further ado, lets get a-reading! *snuggles up next to you in comfy clothes with a box of tissues and a bowl of popcorn* LOVE YA! -Hannah <3

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CHAPTER 36:  Consciousness slowly dawned like a veil of black silk had been lifted from her mind.

The first thing Layla noticed, was the beeping.

It was constant and incessant and honestly, quite annoying.

The next thing she noticed was the warmth the emanated from her side.

Slowly, carefully, she let her eyelids flicker open, releasing the veil as she blinked away the residual floating spots in her eyes. A beautiful sheer ivory canopy over the bed she laid on was what she saw and instantly she knew where she was.

Not in a hospital.

At the Amaro's.

A breath slipped past her split lips and she blinked further as she turned her head to find the warmth that was by her side, near her thigh and hip area.

Her heart skipped.

Hazel...

The little girl was curled up like a small cat next to her, her little hand laying gently on the cast that her hand was wrapped in as though even in her sleep she was afraid of hurting her. Her face was peaceful, even with the bruise on her forehead.

Hazel was here...and she was okay.

A sob of pure relief that she couldn't hold back escaped her as tears fell down her temples, her head falling back against the soft pillow. She breathed in through her nose as she tried to keep more sobs from escaping.

Lifting her other hand without the cast that still held an I.V. line, Layla reached over, just barely able to reach without the plastic line tugging painfully at her vein, she caressed the little girl's face softly-only able to stare at her.

At her beauty.

She smiled as her tears cleared, but she began to remember something Hazel said before she had blacked out...

"Please. Please don't leave me."

Her heart broke, but sang as she remembered the mere sound of Hazel's voice. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard.

Suddenly the door to the room opened and Layla looked over to find the man she loved walking in, his head down as he read something, but he froze as if he could sense something was immensely different.

As if he knew Layla was awake.

His gaze slowly moved up until he met hers and her lips parted at the intensity she found in his eyes. He stared at her and she stared back at him, neither of them talking.

It lasted a long moment, both of the soaking in one another's presence before finally Julian released a breath that sounded as though it had been punched from his chest.

He muttered something like "thank you, thank you," over and over as he looked upwards before he finally—finally—came to her side.

He sat down on the bed next to her and gently took her hand into his own as if she was a piece of porcelain. His thumb ran over her palm and she shivered, eyes falling shut.