WAKING UP
1402 Words
Chapter Six
Everything felt heavy
Not just my body, but my mind too, like I was trying to push through something thick and slow
My eyelids fluttered slightly before opening halfway
Blurry
That was the first thing
Everything around me was blurred, shapes and shadows mixing together until nothing made sense
I blinked again
Slowly
Trying to focus
A ceiling
White
Too clean
The faint smell of antiseptic hit my nose and my chest tightened slightly
Hospital
That was the first thought that came to me
Or at least something like it
I tried to move but stopped immediately
Pain
Sharp and sudden
My wrist
Something was holding it
I forced my head to turn slightly
A strap
My hand was strapped to the bed
My breath hitched
“What…” my voice came out dry, barely above a whisper
Panic started creeping in slowly, rising from my chest to my throat
I pulled lightly against the strap
It didn’t move
Of course it didn’t
“Easy”
The voice came from somewhere beside me
Calm
Too calm
I froze
That voice
I knew it
Slowly, I turned my head
Ethan
Sitting there like nothing was wrong
Like I wasn’t tied to a bed
Like he hadn’t just had me taken
My heart started pounding harder
“You…” my voice shook slightly “What did you do”
He didn’t answer immediately
Just watched me carefully
Like he was studying every reaction
“You shouldn’t have run,” he said quietly
My chest tightened
“I didn’t run,” I shot back weakly “I left”
A small pause
Then
“You left without understanding anything”
“And whose fault is that?” I snapped, the little strength I had pushing through “You lied to me”
His gaze didn’t shift
“Not everything was a lie”
That almost made me laugh
Almost
“Enough was”
Silence stretched between us
Heavy
Then I forced the question out
“What accident”
His eyes changed slightly
Not softer
Just… different
Like I had finally asked the right thing
“You don’t remember anything from that night?” he asked
“No”
“Not even the drive?”
“No” I repeated, my patience gone “Stop asking me questions and answer mine”
He leaned back slightly in his chair, like he was deciding how much to give me
“That night,” he began slowly “you weren’t supposed to be out”
My brows furrowed
“What does that even mean”
“You were told to stay home”
“By who?”
“By me”
I let out a small, disbelieving breath
“And why would I listen to that”
“Because you had already seen something you weren’t supposed to”
My heart skipped
“What did I see”
He didn’t answer immediately
Instead, his gaze dropped briefly to my wrist, to the strap, then back to my face
“You followed me,” he said
My stomach dropped
“No, I didn’t”
“You did” he repeated calmly “You followed my car that night”
The words didn’t feel real
Like they belonged to someone else’s memory, not mine
“That doesn’t make sense” I said, shaking my head slightly
“It doesn’t to you,” he replied “because you don’t remember what happened after”
My chest tightened
“Then tell me”
Silence again
Then
“You got into an accident”
“That’s not enough”
“You were hit”
My breath caught
“By who”
This time, he didn’t hesitate
“By one of my cars”
Everything inside me went still
“What…”
“You shouldn’t have been there,” he continued, his tone still calm “It wasn’t planned for you”
Not planned for me
The words echoed in my head
“So who was it planned for” I whispered
He didn’t answer
And that silence said everything
My chest tightened painfully
“Ethan…” my voice dropped “What were you involved in”
He looked at me then
Really looked
And for the first time, I saw something I had never seen before
Not love
Not care
Something darker
“You ask too many questions,” he said again
“Because nothing makes sense,” I replied quickly “You’re talking like this is normal”
“It is,” he said simply
My heart dropped
“No, it’s not”
“To you”
That sent a chill down my spine
I pulled against the strap again, harder this time
“Why am I tied here”
“For your safety”
I stared at him
“You call this safety?”
“If I didn’t do this, you would already be dead”
The words hit harder than anything else he had said
Dead
My breathing became uneven again
“From who” I asked
His jaw tightened slightly
“From people who don’t like loose ends”
Loose ends
“That’s what I am to you?”
He didn’t answer
And that hurt more than anything
Before I could say anything else, the door opened quietly
I turned my head slightly
A woman walked in
Well dressed
Composed
Familiar
My stomach dropped instantly
Her
The one from the picture
She stopped a few steps inside, her gaze settling on me with a calm confidence that made my skin crawl
“So she’s awake,” she said softly
Ethan didn’t respond
She walked closer slowly, her heels clicking lightly against the floor
Every step controlled
Planned
She stopped at the side of the bed, looking down at me like she already knew how this would end
“Lena,” she said, almost gently “we finally meet properly”
My jaw tightened
“Stay away from me”
A faint smile touched her lips
“That won’t be possible”
I turned my head slightly toward Ethan
“You brought her here?”
“She’s part of this,” he replied
Part of this
That didn’t sound good
“Part of what?” I demanded
But the woman answered instead
“Of the truth you’ve been chasing”
My chest tightened
“Then start talking”
She tilted her head slightly, studying me
“You really don’t remember anything,” she murmured
“Stop saying that and explain it”
She glanced at Ethan briefly, like asking for permission
He gave a small nod
That was all she needed
She looked back at me, her expression calm but her eyes sharp
“Three years ago,” she began slowly “the accident you were in… wasn’t supposed to happen to you”
“I already know that part” I said impatiently
“Do you?” she replied softly
Something in her tone made my stomach twist
“You think you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time”
A small pause
Then she leaned slightly closer
“But Lena…”
Her voice dropped just enough to send a chill through me
“You weren’t the target”
My breath caught
“Then who was”
She smiled
Slow and cold
“Me”
The room went silent
My heart started pounding harder
“That doesn’t make sense”
“It does,” she said calmly “because I was the one in that car that night”
Everything inside me froze
“What”
“You didn’t just follow Ethan,” she continued “you followed us”
Us
My head started spinning again
“No… that’s not”
“And when the crash happened,” she added quietly
Her eyes locked onto mine
“You took the hit that was meant for me”
My chest tightened painfully
The room felt smaller
Colder
Too much
Everything was too much
“But that’s not even the worst part,” she said softly
My breath ca
ught
“What do you mean”
She straightened slightly, her expression shifting into something more serious
“The worst part is…”
A pause
Long enough to make my heart race faster
Then she said it
The one thing that made everything inside me shatter
“You weren’t supposed to wake up after that accident”
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