Green eyes, dark hair with a soft natural curl to it, chiselled face and small round ears. And he was staring at her so intently she wished she had the energy to lift her blanket to cover her face. So much attention from a stranger was unsettling.
Except he wasn’t a stranger, was he?
Elijah.
This man had announced himself as her fiancé despite her inability to remember having ever met him. She had been utterly mortified when he asked if she remembered him and had said she did in an attempt to save his feelings being hurt. Now Lucia didn’t know what to say, she had already embarrassed herself and while she had a long list of questions she’d like the answer to, she was also exhausted. So much information was trying to cram it’s way into her head which was already throbbing from the tumble she had apparently taken.
Overwhelmed was the best word she could think of to describe how she felt.
The morphine helped but only to dull the pain, she couldn’t think of a time before that moment when she had ever been able to even conceive of the amount of pain she had awoken with. It didn’t stop the endless torrent of questions knocking around inside of her skull that she didn’t even have the energy to ask. Where was her family? Why had he not explained where they were? How much time had she lost from her memory? Where was she exactly?
She blinked slowly, the drugs were making her drowsy.
The woman, Sariyah, returned with a small velvet box she could only assume held her engagement ring. She pulled back the lid slowly to present the sparkling ring, holding it up to her eye line for a few moments before pulling it out and handing it to Elijah.
“It belonged to my grandmother, it’s been in our family for generations.” He said quietly.
“It’s beautiful.” She whispered, watching it twinkle in the light as he held it up for her.
“May I?” He asked, pointing to her left hand.
She attempted to nod instinctively and quickly regretted it, a sharp shot of pain ran up her neck and round her ears. Her eyes prickled but she held herself together with a few slow breaths.
He took her hand carefully in his own and slid the ring onto her fourth finger, it fit surprisingly well.
Time seemingly stopped for a brief pause as Lucia smiled up at him and he smiled down at her, his beautiful eyes gripping her and filling her with comfort and maybe even an ounce of… excitement? A pulse of hope as she dared to look forward to her life with this seemingly sweet and adoring man.
She dropped her eyes to the ring and admired it as he supported her fingers with his own but the moment he took his hand back her own fell to the bed with the unexpected weight of the jewels.
“It’s so heavy.” She mumbled.
“It’s real silver and diamonds with one big fat sapphire in the middle.” Sariyah explained helpfully and cheerfully.
“Oh.” Lucia suddenly felt very self-conscious of the fact that she had never worn any piece of jewellery that could be described as ‘real’ anything. Did they know what kind of background she came from? Had she confided in her fiancé of the struggle she had faced growing up trying to stay fed and warm? Of working multiple jobs since she was old enough to apply to help keep her family afloat?
There was an unwanted warmth creeping over her cheeks and round her ears. Neither of them acknowledged it and Lucia continued to stare at the ring in awe, it was stunning. It was hers.
“Have you explained our non-human situation yet?” Sariyah asked quietly through gritted teeth, Lucia assumed she was speaking to Elijah as she hadn’t a clue what that question meant. She kept her eyes down and her mouth shut.
It wasn’t the first time they had mentioned something about being human or someone being not human but she knew she was probably misconstruing their words due to the bump she had taken. Their conversation made no sense to her because her brain had taken a jumbling with the tumbling.
Even when Elijah replied she continued to ignore them, “No, I haven’t.” He said, also restraining his voice.
If she needed to understand they could explain to her later when she wasn’t feeling as though she had been stuffed inside of a washing machine and put on the highest spin cycle. She decided that for now whatever they were talking about was none of her business.
As it was, the drowsiness of the drug layered over the fatigue from her sore muscles was enough to have her eyes pulling down heavily. She desperately resisted the urge to sleep but did allow her head to fall back fully against the pillows again, even holding it up to look at the ring had been exhausting. She fought valiantly against the drooping of her eyes but for every battle she won she would lose for a few more seconds.
“Sleep, you need it.” Elijah said gently.
She attempted to smile but couldn’t tell how noticeable it was, she hoped he knew she was grateful.
The nurse with the blonde bob popped her head into view, “Dr Farris made a note on her chart that she could have these tablets after five if she wants them.” she said, holding out a minuscule paper cup. “They’ll help relax her muscles as she sleeps.”
Elijah took it from her with a nod and she scurried away again.
“Would you like them?”
“Please.” Lucia whispered.
He leant forward, placing one hand behind her head incredibly gently and tipping the contents of the pot past her parted lips. Two bitter tablets landed on her tongue.The hand that had been holding the pot flashed away like lightning and returned to her mouth with the plastic cup, pouring the water in and washing the medicine down her throat smoothly. After putting down the second cup he stayed by her side, his hand behind her head now rubbing circles into her neck.
The combination of her already exhausted body, plus the pills and now his strong hand massaging just beneath the base of her skull didn’t so much as lull her to sleep as it did drag her, she couldn’t have clung to consciousness with an espresso and a foghorn.
~
Nothing had changed in the room when she awoke. The man was at her side still, the handsome one, she had already forgotten his name while she dozed. As if it wasn’t mortifying enough to forget your fiancé once, now she would have to ask him what his name was, as she wore his dead grandmother’s ring, and laid in a bed in his family’s house.
“Elijah, look, she’s awake!”
Bingo. Thank god for beautiful braided lady, whose name she had also forgotten.
“Hey, sweetie.” The woman cooed. “How’re you feeling?”
“Sleepy. Sore. Hungry.” She mumbled but quickly realised how snotty she sounded and added, “Sorry.” with a sheepish expression.
“You have nothing to apologise for, my love.” Beautiful braided lady said kindly, stroking a couple of fingers along Lucia’s hairline to brush away stray curly hairs hanging in her face, “I’ll go get you something to eat, while I’m gone try and have some more water for me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The woman gave Elijah a pointed look that Lucia didn’t understand and left.
“Should I… Would you like…” Elijah fumbled, picking up the jug and filling the cup with water, “I can bring it to your mouth?”
“Please.” Lucia croaked. “I’m scared to move my arms in case I jostle my back.”
“Of course.”
He brought the cup up and carefully pressed in against her lips with a slight tilt, she drank every drop. It was as if her body hadn’t noticed how dehydrated it was until it was reminded what liquid felt like.
“Mmm.” She licked her lips and rubbed them together, it only added a slight layer of moisture to her cracked lips but it helped. “Thank you.”
“Do you remember anything?” He blurted, “I mean, did sleeping help at all?”
She wanted to tell him she did, his face was so clouded with worry it made her heart hurt, but instead she just said, “I’m sorry.” and dropped her eyes to her hands.
“It’s not your fault.” He reassured her, “I’m sorry this has happened to you.”
Why was he so sweet and polite? Where had she found a man like this? He had a gentleman’s aura, like a British actor in a period drama. There had to be something wrong with him, this was real life.
She pinched her lips together before replying, “I’m sorry that I don’t recognise you, I can’t imagine how that feels for you…”
He reached out, stroking her head with the tenderest of touches. It was the first time he had touched her without reason to since she had woken the first time in the ward. It felt good, soothing and affectionate. She could picture herself curled up with him, sitting in his lap, resting her head on his chest. He had a softness that radiated from him.
“I’m just so glad you woke up, that’s so much more important than you remembering me.” He pulled his hand back as he spoke and she felt a wave of disappointment rush from her toes to her ears, he didn’t appear to notice as he continued, “While you were asleep Dr Farris came back to do your check-up, he said your vitals were fine but he still wanted to do a full examination…”
“Okay.” She nodded out of instinct and winced instantly, her eyes prickling and her fists clenching the sheets. Sharp stabbing pain jabbed along her spine for a few seconds until she could relax her body back into the pillows.
Elijah had jumped up to lean over her but there was nothing he could do to help, she huffed out a long breath and gave him a weak smile. She was okay, she was getting there.
“Do you feel up to it?” He asked and for a moment she had forgotten what he was referring to, the pain rendering her unable to remember anything before it for a moment. The examination. Dr Farris. That was it.
She tried to give a determined look, “Mm. I could do with some more pain relief too though…”
Elijah nodded, stepped back and leant his head out of the blue curtain surrounding them, “Julie, could you fetch Dr Farris?” he called.
“Yes, sir.” A high-pitched voice replied, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps drawing away from them.
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