Another One (Book 3 of selection fanfics)

Chapter 36

Beep. Beep. Beep.

All I could see was darkness. But it wasn't the same never-ending blackness I remembered. This felt...warmer. Welcoming.

Whenever I thought about what came after death, I expected a white light. Brightness.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I certainly didn't expect this consistent beeping. Frankly, it was starting to get annoying. I struggled to even flutter my eyelids, hoping to find the source of the sound. But as I managed to open my eyes, I wasn't met with the light I expected.

Harsh fluorescent lights made me flinch as I stared up at the ceiling. The ceiling. Was the afterlife supposed to have a ceiling? Lightbulbs?

Though, as I adjusted to my surroundings, I began to wonder if this even was the afterlife. Just by glancing across the room I could see...hospital beds. White curtains. Nurses scurrying about, tending to wounded men and women. It was only when I caught a glimpse of familiar uniforms that it sunk in.

I wasn't dead. But if I wasn't dead...

I shifted my gaze towards myself, noting that I lay in a hospital bed of my own. A white blanket draped across my legs, the rest of my body clothed in a thin hospital gown. I tried to shift in bed but bit down a scream as my side ached in pain. I could suddenly feel a thick bandage encircling my waist, likely holding God-knows how many stitches in place.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Erika?" A soft voice cut through the incessant beeping, which I finally realized was a heart monitor.

I managed to tilt my head towards the voice and didn't stifle my cry as Everly, Genevieve, and Liana watched me in disbelief.

"Oh, Erika," Everly spoke again and rushed to clasp my hand as Genevieve and Liana moved to my other side. "We're here. We're all here."

I sniffled, realizing that it hurt just as much to cry as it did to move. "You-you're all okay?"

"We're okay," Liana squeezed my shoulder. "And you are too, though you had us all worried for a while."

I swallowed, noting their grim expressions. Each of them still wore their gowns, save Liana who hadn't attended the Gala, as if they refused to take the time to change. "I did?"

"Of course you did. Once the attack began...well, I suppose Rowan had lured you out already by the time it started. Nobody knew where any of you had disappeared to, only that you weren't in the safe room with the rest of us," Genevieve recalled and I could see the echo of fear in her eyes. "It wasn't until the guards gave us the all clear and they began to move the injured into the hospital wing that we found you and James."

"James?" I tried to sit up, wondering if he was among the injured. My memory of the attack was foggy, mixed with horrible images of blood and Rowan's sneering face.

"He's okay, don't worry. But when we walked in and saw him, covered in blood, pale as a ghost...and then we saw you," Everly shuddered as she explained but managed to fight through it. "There was so much blood, it was unnatural. The doctors were so frantic and James was just in shock. We could only think the worst..."

"But you're here. You survived," Liana cut through. "I knew you wouldn't go down without a fight."

I found myself smiling at the sentiment but it didn't last long as the rest of my memories came flooding back. "Oh God. Oh God, Derek...where is he? Is he here? He has to be here because if he isn't..."

I shoved my pain down as I forced myself to sit up and look across the room. But I couldn't find those kind blue eyes anywhere and my heart began to crumple.