Prey.

07.

"Are you okay?" Neela was snapped out of her sleep by a nurse. "I'm so sorry." Neela cried. "Neela, don't apologize. I'm here to help you." The nurse smiled, "should we give you some more medicine?" Neela slowly nodded.

When the nurse left, Neela began to ponder on what her father said earlier in that day. This always happened in Neela's family. Hasty things would be said, no one would apologize, no one would talk it out. They'd just go back to pseudo-happy after a few hours of ignoring everyone.

The nurse came back into the room and the nurse offered a small smile, "should we take you to the sleep ward so we can monitor you?" Neela shook her head, she didn't feel like it was necessary. "Okay, lay back and relax." Neela obeyed and went right back to sleep.

~~

"No, you don't get it! She was so pretty!" Ryan beamed, "she was in too much pain, so I couldn't talk to her!"

"That's great, Ryan." Sean massaged his temples, "when can she come here with us?" Landon groaned at his question, "she can't. She exists, great for you! But it's still dangerous for her." Landon put his thumbs up when he said 'great for you.'

"That's bullshit! She has all of you guys and so many rooms to go to if she feels unsafe!" Ryan's whole demeanor changed from happiness to anger. "You act like I would actually hurt her! Even though mother is not alive, she would rip me to shreds!"

"You've hurt people before, you've hurt mother before. What makes you think you won't hurt her?" Landon groaned as he repeated the thing he's been saying for over a year again. "Okay, I didn't hurt mother, I just snapped."

"And you think that's any better?" Sean asked, still annoyed. "Mark my words; I will find Neela again. I will bring her here with or without your consent. And I will love her."

Ryan then stormed to his room. He knows his true feelings, no one can tell him different. All of his brothers have girlfriends, so why can't he?

Ryan finished his dinner and made his way outside. Whenever he feels frustrated, this is what he does, he just walks. His journey brought him to a small, quiet neighborhood. "Neela is in the hospital." Whenever he heard that familiar name, Ryan stealthily crossed the street and secludes himself in the darkness so he was not seen by the man.

After the man hung up is when Ryan finally made his presence known. "I couldn't help but to hear your conversation. I believe I heard a name of my friend. Neela."

"Neela Oh?" Ryan nodded slowly. It took a lot of self-control to not smile at the sound of her name being spoken. "How do you know her?"

"My younger brother, Caleb, they're friends." The man nodded, "I'm Neela's father, Andrew. You are?"

"Ryan." He smiles, "so is this place where Neela resides?" He made sure to take in every detail of the home, not missing a thing.

"Yes," Neela's father stood to his feet, "she's lived here her whole life." Andrew smiled as beautiful memories of Neela comes back to him.

"Do you know how much longer she's going to be in there? I wanna see her but, I want to wait until she's well again."

"I have no idea, honestly. The doctors keep giving me differing answers. Some say another two weeks, others are saying a few days." Ryan nodded with his lips pursed. "Well, I gotta go back home. You do look exhausted also, I recommend a good nights rest. Whenever you see Neela again, can you please tell her that 'Ryan said hi'?"

"You got it. Have a good night."

Ryan walked back home feeling ecstatic. At least he has some more information on her. When the time is right, he will approach her. But it's not the right time, now.

He will continue to watch her through the shadows. He will be sure to stay secluded like he did this night. He'll make sure she's protected at all costs, she was already hurt and he couldn't stop it.

That's not his fault, though. He wasn't certain that she existed or not! He already hates himself for not protecting her from that. Perhaps the crash was a blessing.

If that crash never happened, he would still be clueless of her existence. He would've never even heard her voice in person if the crash wouldn't have happened!

Maybe he shouldn't feel so bad for letting the crash happen. This is fate.