Stranger Love

3

"Is Ella okay?" a small voice asked. Eleanor knew that voice. She wanted so desperately to open her eyes but couldn't appear to find them. "Is she hurt?"

"Claire," a male voice said. "Do you remember when Ella got hurt last week?"

There was no answer. Eleanor could picture the small girl nodding.

"That was really scary for you, wasn't it?" the male voice asked again. "She was in the hospital for a little while so the doctors could help her. Uncle Jay knows a doctor, and he came to help Ella today. Ella hurt her arm again, but she's going to be okay. You and Lily are going to stay with Aunt Emily and Uncle Sam for a while."

"Where will you go?" the childlike voice asked. It sounded sad. Eleanor wanted nothing more than to open her eyes and comfort the child. She was still struggling to find where her eyes were, and now she was trying to find her hands as well.

"I'm going to be right here the entire time."

"What about daddy?" another girl's voice asked.

"He has a lot of work right now. But I know he loves you both and can't wait to see you," the man answered.

"Girls, come help me make some cookies," a friendly female voice called.

The sound of tiny feet pattering away faded out to two men talking.

"What happened last week?" a new male voice asked.

"Car accident," the first answered. "She was headed to the store, I think. I don't remember exactly. A lot of glass ended up in her arm from the car rolling. The doctors said she was really lucky she lived and didn't have any really bad injuries. They usually see people paralyzed or dead with the kind of accident she was in."

The second man stayed silent and Eleanor suddenly felt heat and pressure. It took her a moment to realized it in was one of her hands. Someone was holding her hand. She worked hard to move her fingers, just the slightest, but couldn't be sure whether she was successful. The second man spoke up again a short while later. "Dr. Fang said he gave her a lot of meds. She could stay under for a while. He found some glass shards the other doctors missed- said they were too tiny to do much damage or anything, but he fixed it anyway."

"I'll tell Sam," the first man said. "And Jake, I think it's great that you called him. I know you aren't exactly happy about the whole Bella situation."

"Bella doesn't matter anymore," the second man- Jake?- whispered. Eleanor felt more pressure on her hand, though it was gentle and pleasant. "She's all that matters now. Less than twelve hours and I couldn't keep her safe. I disgust myself. My one purpose and I couldn't do it."

"She isn't dead, Jacob. That's what really matters," the first man said. Eleanor heard a door open and shut before there was silence again. She thought she heard the second man whispering for her to wake up soon, his voice anxious, before deciding that he really had no reason to want her to wake up. Jacob, assuming that's who was next to her, didn't know her at all. She was friends with Emily, Kim, Rachel, and Leah- barely- but she really didn't know the others well. Quil was the only one truly concerned about her, and she had always chalked that up to the fact that she took care of Claire. It took a while before she finally located her eyes. Once that was done, Eleanor found her fingers again and squeezed the hand holding hers gently.

"Eleanor?" the second man, Jacob, said softly. "El, can you hear me?"

Eleanor let out a quiet groan as she blinked her eyes open. She looked around, realizing she was at Emily's, before her eyes settled on the man next to her. Her mind was still fuzzy from the drugs she was given, but she managed to somehow put a name to the face. "Jacob?"