Beatty & The Beast

THIRTY-FOUR: Where Beauty Loves the Beast

That night

When she woke she wasn't confused by her surroundings. Something had told her – during her swim through unconsciousness – that she would find herself in a hospital room again.

Since she only felt a dull ache in her shoulder and none of the horrendous pain she had the last time she woke up in a hospital, she knew this time was different. This time she had not been destroyed, just beaten up a little.

Knowing this, the idea of waking up in the sterile, odd-smelling room didn't worry her. Hospital rooms had no effect on her anymore. What worried her was who was in the room with her.

Or, really, who wasn't.

Some random nurse – fat and middle-aged, wrestling unsuccessfully with a stubborn IV bag on its stand – stood to her left, cursing under her breath. Andie turned her head and scanned the room ... the nurse was the only other person there, just some nameless person of no significance to her. No Uncle Donnie, no Mrs. Featherstone, just some stranger.

Where was he? Why wasn't he there holding her hand? He had been there, he had held her, she knew he had come to her. But now he was gone.

Gone.

The panic spiked and she lashed out.

~*~

As Keefe made his way up the hallway, observing his now bandaged hands, he heard what sounded like someone screaming. It didn't really alert him until a doctor went dashing past him, down to the end of the hall and threw himself into Andie's room.

That sent Keefe flying. He yanked her door open only to be met by a huge group of people and frantic shrieking.

"If he's not here that means he's hurt! He wouldn't leave me unless he's hurt! Where is he? Where did you take him?" Andie was bellowing like a wild animal, thrashing against the seven nurses and doctors trying to restrain her.

Whistlebeck and Mrs. Featherstone were trying to calm her too, but her shrieks were louder than their naturally soft voices.

"What's wrong with him? What happened to him?" Andie yelped.

"He's fine!" a doctor struggled with her wriggling arms. "He just had to get bandaged up!"

A nurse was trying desperately to sedate her but the syringe kept getting smacked away by the thrashing Andie.

"Andréa! Andréa! Enough!" Whistlebeck cried.

"He wouldn't leave unless it was bad! He wouldn't leave me!" Tears were streaming down her panicked face. "Please don't say he left me!"

Heart pounding, Keefe wordlessly shoved his way through the horde of nurses and doctors and right into the peril. Somehow he was able to wrap his arms around her without getting pummeled.

He held her close and kissed her hair, shushing her in a soft voice.

"What's with all the yelling? I'm here, I'm right here." He struggled with his tremors. "I would never leave you, my prince. Never ever, don't be silly."

The moment she realized it was him surrounding her, she calmed, letting her assaulting limbs fall. She was limp and motionless in his arms, sliding and forming against his body like wet clay. The only movement she made was the heaving of her chest as she recovered.

Those who had restrained her pulled away from the bed, allowing the couple some room. Whistlebeck and Mrs. Featherstone collapsed onto the nearby couch, emotionally beaten.