Conditional Love

Chapter 22

Beep... Beep... Beep... Alec groans, wondering why his alarm clock sounds like it's running very low on battery power; it's beeping so slow! He tries to open his eyes, but quickly closes them due to the brightness of the room. With his eyes still closed, he starts to feel a burning pain in his abdomen. He raises his hand to rub his stomach, when he feels a pulling sensation on his right hand.

Huh, that's odd, Alec thinks as he slowly opens his eyes.

It takes him a few minutes, blinking rapidly to make his eyes adjust to the light, when he realizes he's in a hospital bed. Looking around, he notices that he's all alone. Why is he even in a hospital?

Pushing the Call button on the side of the bed, a blond woman with green eyes walks in. He quickly recognises her as the woman Magnus went off with at the bar all those months ago.

"Ah, Mr. Lightwood. It's nice to see you among the living," She says in a southern accent, giving him a friendly smile. "My name is Camille, but you can call me Cam if you like. I'm going to be your nurse for the next five days." Alec nods in response. His throat feels like there's sand stuck in it, so he doesn't even attempt to try to speak.

Camille checks all of his vitals, then reaches over to the table beside his bed and pours some water in a styrofoam cup. "Here you go sweetie. I'm sure you're thirsty." Camille says as she hands him the cup.

He gives her a closed lipped smile, then starts drinking. He hasn't realized just how thirsty he is until the cup is nearly empty. "Thank you," Alec hands the cup back to her, and she fills it again.

"This time drink a bit slower. You've had nothing in your stomach for the last seventy-two hours, so we don't want you throwing up, okay." Camille hands the cup back to Alec, filled of water once again.

He nods his head, and drinks it slower this time. "Why am I here? What happened?" Alec asks now that he's had more water. He looks up at Camille and she has on a look of understanding.

"Well sweetie, three days ago, you were shot. From my understanding, you were one of the medics who responded to that gang shooting, and there was someone hiding." She says.

Alec looks down at his hands and thinks about what she told him, the next thing he knows, his memories are rushing back to him. His fight with Magnus, going to the scene, then the pain and the darkness.

"Honey, I know it's a lot to take in," Camille says as she places a reassuring hand on Alec's shoulder. Knowing who Camille is, he's having a really hard time hating her. She's been nothing but nice to him ever since she walked into his room.

Just then, the door opens revealing Magnus. He looks like hell, Alec observes as he walks into the room, eyes casts down.

"Magnus," Camille says, with venom laced in there. Hm, what is that about? Did he miss something in his unconscious state?

"Hello Camille," Magnus responds sounding completely defeated. Alec can't stand to see his boyfriend sound like that.

"Hey Magnus," Alec says, voice still a bit scratchy. Magnus' head whips up towards Alec, and his facial features go from what looks like heartbreak, to utter happiness.

"Alexander!" Magnus says as he rushes over to the bed, "God, how long have you been awake?"

"I don't know, maybe ten minutes," Alec looks over towards Camille for confirmation. She nods her head.

"I'm going to go let the doctors know that you're awake. Call if you need anything before then, okay sweetie." With that, Camille leaves the two alone.