The Night Children

Chapter 15

Edited. 

"Renee?"

I peeled my eyes open painfully, wincing against the harsh lights that blend down to assault my eyeballs. I let out an unattractive groan, fumbling for reality.

A repetitive beeping noise attacked my headache and I had to rapidly blink to clear away the sleep from my eyes. My arms felt like bricks by my side, bare skin brushing soft linen.

I turned my head slowly, allowing my eyes to adjust to the warm light. "Aaron?" I breathed, my voice cracking from dryness.

His eyes softened dramatically and he let out a long breath. His face was pale in the sunlight, however the light picked out the gold in his eyes. His expression was hard to understand and I couldn't comprehend the meaning behind his frown.

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly.

I eyed him off, my brain still reeling for some answers but all that escaped my mouth was the answer of, "If you tell me I'm back in hospital I think I'll go crazy."

The sympathetic look that he shot me clarified where I was.

I sunk back into the propped pillow behind me with another groan. "You have got to be kidding me." I noticed my lips felt charred, splitting painfully when I talked.

"And I didn't even get to take you bridal style to the ambulance this time," Aaron said with a small smile.
I shot him a dark look, the effect tedious considering I probably looked like a wreck. "Come closer Payne and say it again."

He held his hands up in a surrender, his eyes still blazing with mockery. However even I could tell he was strained. He was watching me like I was a wounded animal, one that was predicted to be put down from the pain it was in.

I stared at him defiantly. "Stop looking at me like that."
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Like what?"
"Like you're pitying me because I'm in pain," I stated, leaving Aaron to flinch openly.

"You did have a seizure Renee, you can't take that lightly," he said stiffly. His eyes travelled down my body, taking in my hospital gown. For a few split seconds I felt slightly self-conscious but then I reminded myself it didn't matter what my appearance was. This was Aaron, he had seen it all before. Mostly.

Seizure? I tried to recollect last night however all I could remember was snippets, most of them occurring after I'd arrived at the hospital.

I swallowed. "I can tick that off on my resume."

Aaron regarded me carefully, his smile thinning. "Renee, what happened to you was serious. You could've died, in fact it was a miracle you survived at all."
I felt my eyes narrow into slits and my pounding headache seemed to sear behind my eyes. I winced, clamping my mouth shut to avoid a whimper of pain. Once the moment past, I cleared my throat. "Well Doctor Payne, care to inform your patient about what happened?"

Aaron seemed uncomfortable, his leg jittering in its place anxiously. "I think your Mum better tell you."
Mum isn't going to show up, is was I wanted to say but instead I considered a more friendly approach. "I'm going to find out from the nurse soon. It'll be easier to hear coming from you."

He blinked against my honesty. Deep down I was petrified of what happened. If I tried hard enough, I remembered pain, blood, vomiting and those tricoloured eyes. And I remembered the moment in time when I thought I was going to die. I remembered unable to control my movements and my head splitting against the concrete and the way that people were staring at me in horror.