Wonder Lost

The Hospital

He was standing in the dining room, with his back to her. He didn’t notice that she had entered. Gray moved his head to see her and scowled. Leo turned around and she ran into his arms, not caring who was watching them. He swung her off the ground, spinning with happiness. She forgot about the pain in her stomach, only focusing on the fact that Leo was safe, hugging her. She breathed in the scent of cinnamon.

“How’d you get here?” Leo asked, setting her on the ground. She didn’t let go of him, too scared that he would disappear. He tried to gently escape her grasp.

“Don’t let go,” she whispered. He hugged her tighter in response. “Simon drove me back.” Leo broke the hug, but he held onto her with one arm.

“How did you get back?” Simon asked.

“Tony decided that he was ready, and he rescued me. Why did you come back for Isa? Not that I’m complaining, of course.”

“She called me saying that Liam gassed her bedroom with some kind of gas, and that her stomach’s been hurting a lot.” Leo looked down at her.

“Are you okay, Isa? Do you need to sit down?” Isabella shook her head.

“The pain’s gone for now,” she informed. Gray left the room, and Simon brought her bag to her room, leaving Isabella alone with Leo.

“Are you hungry?” Leo asked. She shook her head.

“I just had dinner.”

“Are you tired?”

“Kind of. I think that it would help me to lie down,” Isabella said, her stomach pains coming back. Leo walked her to her bedroom, where she sat on the bed. Leo helped her get into the blankets and turned to leave.

“Don’t leave,” she begged. “Please.” He lied down next to her. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Leo made the mental decision to take her to a doctor tomorrow. She looked pale in the light from downstairs, and with one arm she was clutching her stomach. He shortly fell asleep after she did, and luckily, no one had any Lobelts.

Isabella woke up before Leo, and she didn’t move. Her stomach pain had gotten worse, and it was hard for her to breathe. She sat up.

She went to the bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face. Before she could fix her hair, her stomach jolted. Isabella went back to Leo.

“Leo,” she said, walking to the bed. “Help me.” Leo looked at her and practically jumped out of bed. He rushed her downstairs where she was depending on him completely.

“Am I hurting you?” she asked. He laughed.

“As if that would matter.”

“But am I?” she repeated.

“Of course not.” They walked downstairs, where it was empty in all of the rooms. He led her to the front door.

“Leo, where are we going?” she whispered.

“I’m taking you to a doctor,” he replied.

“What? They won’t know what’s going on. Liam said that it can’t be healed, and Simon’ll be worried.”

“Isa, calm down,” Leo chuckled briefly. “This doctor used to live in Elm Valley and should be able to help you. And I left a note last night.”

“When?”

“When we were falling asleep, I left a note on a piece of bark. It’s on the counter.” Isabella let him lead her to the BMW, where she sat in the passenger seat.

“How long?” she asked. Leo drove quickly across the busy streets of Liviette.

“Ten minutes, maybe?” Leo’s voice was pained, like he was worried deeply. His knuckles were white against the wheel.

“Leo, don’t worry, I’m fine.” She tried to speak in a regular voice, which required some effort. She steadied her breathing. Some color returned to his face.

“Okay,” he whispered. Suddenly, the stomach pain was gone. She gasped. “What happened?” he asked, slowing down the car to look at her.

“It stopped,” she said, sitting up. He sighed in relief. She took one of his hands and lifted it to her cheek. They rode in silence until they got there. By this time, the pain had come back.

“Hold on,” Leo said, getting out of the car. She unbuckled herself as Leo opened her door. She took his arm and they walked to the building. Leo walked fast and Isabella started to pant.

“Leo,” she breathed. “Slow down.”

“Sorry,” he said, slowing his pace. They entered the building and Leo signed in at the receptionist desk. He led her to a seat, where they waited.

“Leo,” she said. “I look awful.” She had yesterday’s clothes on and her hair wasn’t even brushed.

“No, you don’t,” he replied. “You look b—really nice, like always.” She looked away, a smile showing as her eyes became red. Her smile wavered as she thought of something she wanted to say to him. She took a deep breath.

“Leo, I—"

“Isabella Jacobs?” a nurse called. She stood up after sighing—the thought would have to wait—and followed the nurse into another room. The doctor came in as the nurse left.

“Good morning, I’m Dr. Schenk. What seems to be the problem?” he asked, in a deep voice.

“My bedroom was gassed and there was a letter saying that I would get stomach aches and that I would be really cold. Right now, my stomach hurts a lot.” The doctor nodded, writing something on a clipboard.

“And when was this?” he questioned.

“Yesterday night.” The doctor looked at his clipboard, then at her, and then at his clipboard again.

“Hmm… we’ve never seen anything like this before… Do you mind if I take some blood?”

“Go ahead.” He brought her into another room, where he put rubber bands around her elbow. He took a needle and inserted it into her elbow. Isabella jumped: she didn’t remember dealing with much pain.

“We’re done,” Leo said. “Come on.” She got up and waited in the other room with him. The doctor came back after a few minutes.

“The sickness doesn’t have an antidote, but I think it was a prototype. We are currently out of anesthesia, and we’re expecting more in a few days. Just say home and rest, and come back in two days.” She thanked him and left the room. Leo stayed and talked to the doctor, closing the door. Fortunately—or maybe unfortunately—Isabella could still hear their conversation.

“What kind of a hospital are you? You’re going to let her go home? What if something happens and it’s too late to go back to the hospital?”

“Listen, we have a lot of patients and for the past two days, our hospital rooms have been packed to the brim, and so we ran out of anesthesia. I brought these pills for her and if she starts to feel any pain, just give them to her. If anything goes wrong, you can come here and we’ll start the surgery early with whatever we have.” Isabella looked down, trying to hide her blush. She was having a surgery?

“You’re going to operate on her… without anesthesia?” Leo demanded. “Are you crazy? She’ll be in more pain than she’s in now!”

“We still have tranquilizers, so that should help. Here, take these pills and give them to her if she needs them. Have a good day.” Isabella backed away from the door to cover her tracks, and Leo entered the room.

When they were in the parking lot, a question made its way into Isabella’s mind.

“Leo, why was there nobody downstairs? It couldn’t have been that early, right?”

“Everyone left,” he explained. “They wanted to try to find out where Liam’s palace is. They said that they’d be back tomorrow. And, no, they didn’t bring the kids, they were evacuated when we thought Liam was attacking us.”

“And Simon?” she wondered, already knowing the answer.

“He left already.” Isabella nodded as they got to the car. She stepped inside and Leo backed out of his parking spot.

“So, what were you saying earlier? Before the nurse interrupted you?” Isabella’s eyes reddened and she looked outside.

“Oh, it was nothing,” she replied, trying to act casual.

“No, it wasn’t.” She mentally scowled at Leo for knowing her so well. She didn’t want to say it now. She was going to tell him that she was in love with him. But she didn’t know how to say it now. She had been planning to wing it, but now she wasn’t sure. “Isa?”

“Leo, it really was nothing.” He parked in front of the Oasis and turned off the engine.

“Isa, there’s no one here. Please tell me,” he said, flashing a large, irresistible grin at her. She groaned.

“You aren’t going to let this go until I tell you, are you?” He smiled wider. She hesitated and then laughed. “Wow, this is much more awkward than I expected it to be. I was going to say that I think I… am… in love with you.” She turned her head towards the window, expecting him to laugh at her. Instead, she felt a soft hand on her chin, moving her head to look at him, his face inches from hers. Her breathing became uneven as she looked into his brown eyes.

“Finally,” he whispered. He leaned into her, Isabella breathing in the sweet smell of cinnamon. She moved her hands to his neck, completely forgetting about the pain in her stomach. The kiss was indescribable except for one word: perfect. In that moment, Isabella remembered her memories of Leo, the times of protection against Maximus and Liam, the kisses they had shared, and the sweet conversations they had had.

He pulled away, his forehead still touching hers. Isabella chuckled lightly, smiling.