Elena POV
He was awake and really awake after eight months of lying in that hospital bed unconscious, and I couldn't stop crying, couldn't stop reaching out to touch his face and his hand to make sure he was actually real and not some dream I was having.
"You're awake," I kept saying through tears. "You're really awake."
I touched his cheek and then his forehead and then took his hand again, and every time I made contact I felt relief wash over me because he was warm and alive and his eyes were open and looking at me.
Adrian was trying to speak and I watched his mouth move and his throat work but nothing came out except rough painful-sounding noises, and he grimaced and stopped trying.
"Don't," I said quickly. "Don't try to talk yet, your throat must hurt so much."
He looked frustrat
