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When Odette woke up from her coma, she didn't just wake up. There was that moment where she finally opened her eyes, but they didn't stay open. Odette spent weeks after that in a blur of sleep with only moments of awareness, bursts of sound and light to break things up. Even when she could keep her eyes open for more than a few moments, she was on so many painkillers that it was just a haze at first.

But haze or not she'd still notice things, still hear things sometimes, though she wasn't always sure what was real and what was a dream. But as soon as she heard it said out loud, she knew her parents were gone and that her sister was in a coma barely clinging to her life; she knew that her sister might never wake up again. She didn't know who had said it or when, or why they had been so careless, but she knew it awake and asleep she knew. She noticed the fury in Claudia's eyes when she had told her that she knew, but she hadn't cried then, still too numb.

She still hadn't cried yet, staring up at the ceiling of her hospital room the sleeping pills the nurse had given her just starting to kick in. She almost shut her eyes, let herself drift off to sleep when she saw movement from the corner of her eye. Definitely not a nurse. She didn't sit up, but she didn't need to, even lying down she could see the figure standing by the mirror, illuminated only by the dim streetlights and the pale glow of the moon.

But Odette would recognise that figure anywhere, perhaps she would have recognised them even if her eyes had been closed. She was sure that her soul would know her sister in an instant. And Giselle looked like home. But she also looked the same and so different at the same, not a single bruise or scrape marring her warm brown skin and yet there was still something different about her, she looked radiant almost like she was glowing in the moonlight.

Her eyes went wide as they met Odette's, and neither of them said anything as the silence stretched out from moment into minutes.

"You noticed me?" Giselle asked, eyes welling up for a moment with tears that she blinked away before they could fall.

Odette frowned, eyebrows furrowed as she responded, "I'm awake of, course I noticed you."

Giselle took a step away from the window, coming to stand closer to Odette's bedside but stayed out of arm's reach.

"Well, I'm glad that you did, because there's something I need to talk to you about. Something important, I wanted to tell you before Claudia did."

"Wait," Odette said, cutting her sister off, it already felt like her brain was full of fog, but at the mention of Claudia's name, an idea jumps into her head like a spark. "Does Claudia know? Why didn't she tell me? And where is she? If you're here right now then shouldn't she be too?" Odette asked, the questions just spilling from her mouth and with each question, she felt herself sink deeper into layers of confusion.

"Just take a deep breath for me, it's all going to be okay Etta," Giselle said as a frown crossed her face. "I didn't want to speak to you right now, not when you're medicated. I thought that you'd already be asleep and that I could just wait until you woke up."

Odette did as she was instructed, taking in a big deep breath and then another one for good measure. Claudia must be at home or asleep, she'd never keep something like from her. Odette blinked, her eyes felt so heavy, but she struggled trying to keep them open. She didn't want to let Giselle out of her sight, she needs her sister to be okay.

"Well, I'm awake now so you should just talk to me," Odette said like it wasn't taking physical effort for her to concentrate enough so that she could speak or even just focus on Giselle.

"You're not just tired, you're exhausted. Trust me when I say now is not the right time to have this conversation," Gieselle said, looking away for a moment, her eyes shiny before she blinked and looked back. "Just go to sleep, I don't have any intention to leave you."

It would be so easy to just follow along with her body, give in to the need for sleep, but she didn't want to. Or at least, she felt like she couldn't, not yet.

"Do you promise that you'll still be here in the morning?" Odette said, her tone suddenly serious because it was serious. No matter what, Giselle would never break a promise, and she would never intentionally make a promise that she did not intend to keep.

"I promise that I will not leave your side, and I promise to still be here with you when you wake up in the morning," Giselle said as she took a seat in the chair beside Odette's bed settling in like it's going to be a long night.

"Love you, goodnight," Odette said as she finally allowed her eyes to shut. She was so tired that she fell asleep almost instantly, but she still knew that Giselle said it back.

Odette groaned as she felt the sunlight hitting her face and although it wasn't unbearable her right leg was already starting to throb. She didn't open her eyes right away, taking a moment to stew in her own discomfort. Then she remembered Giselle, she was in her room last night, she should still be there. But as her eyes flew open, it wasn't Giselle sitting in the chair beside her bed, it was Claudia.

She didn't look well; she was too pale, and the dark circles under her eyes made it look like she'd never slept a day in her life. She didn't look like herself either, she was still in yesterday's clothes, and her usually sleek black hair was a tangled mess, and it didn't help that she kept running her fingers through it. From the way she looked at her, Odette could only guess that she'd been waiting for her to wake up, maybe even for hours.

Odette couldn't see Giselle, not only was Claudia in her seat but she was nowhere to be seen. But she had been there, Odette saw her even in the fog of morning sleep and pain, she's sure that she was awake. So maybe she was going to let Claudia speak to her first, pretend that she hadn't gotten out of her hospital bed.

"I didn't realise that you were awake," Claudia said as she caught sight of Odette watching her, a tight smile crossing her face. "Once the nurse has come to see you, I'd like for us to have a little talk but only if you're feeling well enough something happened, okay sweetie?" Claudia said, but there was something in her tone that Odette couldn't read.

"It's okay, Claudia, it doesn't have to wait. I already know what you're talking about," Odette said, hoping to relieve the burden from her aunt. Yes, Giselle shouldn't have been out of bed, but she's back.

The smile on Claudia's face dropped as Odette spoke, she went completely still her shoulders set in a stiff line. She didn't say anything at first, but her jaw was clenched so tightly that Odette thought it might shatter.

"Oh, my sweet girl, I am so sorry," Claudia said her voice thick and her fists clenched. "I spoke to the nurses, and they promised to be more careful, it should have been me that you heard this from. This never should have happened to any of you. I won't tell you that she's in a better place, but the doctors told me that she didn't suffer, it was just over."

Odette didn't understand. She didn't understand what Claudia was talking about. She had seen Giselle last night, and yet there she was talking about her like she was dead. But that couldn't be true, it couldn't be but looking it to Claudia's eyes, she knew it was. She felt like there was a lump in her throat like she couldn't breathe like the room was spinning. All that was all it took, suddenly all of the tears she didn't know she'd been holding in had flooded out through choked sobs. This couldn't be it. This wasn't how things were supposed to go.

Hurts Like Hell {Rosalie Hale}Where stories live. Discover now