Chapter 5

Esmeralda slowly opened her eyes. She blinked several times in a row, bewildered. She saw a white ceiling with a tube in her arm, probably an intravenous line.

She sat up with effort and looked around her. How had she ended up here? She tried to analyze the situation without understanding anything.

- Ash: Esmé, are you okay? This was the voice of her boyfriend who asked this question.

The brunette looked at him with a surprised expression. It seemed weird to her that her boyfriend asked this question when he had disappeared into the forest with the others. She turned to her friends and looked at them for a few seconds without saying anything.

She was confused to find them there, and especially perplexed to understand how she ended up in the hospital. All these questions hurt her head, she couldn't remember anything. She had a bit of a raspy voice due to the fact that she had just woken up.

Esmeralda slowly opened her eyes. She blinked several times in a row, bewildered. She saw a white ceiling with a tube in her arm, probably an intravenous line.

She sat up with effort and looked around her. How had she ended up here? She tried to analyze the situation without understanding anything.

- Esmeralda: It's up to you to tell me. I can't believe you dared to leave me there. said, annoyed.

Zayla had an embarrassed look, and Dorian had a guilty expression. They both looked sorry.

- Zayla: Esmeralda, what are you talking about? You were with us. We didn't leave you.

- Esmeralda: Don't take me for a fool. When I turned around, you guys were gone. I called, but to no avail. You abandoned me in the middle ofnowhere. She was outraged that they dared to lie like that.

- Dorian: But I swear you were with us, Esmeralda. You yourself told us that we should go back to the camp. responded Dorian.

- Esmeralda: What nonsense!

- Dorian: Esmeralda, I assure you that we didn't separate until we reached our tents. You went to yours, and Zayla and I went to ours. Dorian said sternly.

Esmeralda, who still found it hard to grasp the situation, asked Ash:

- Esmeralda: What about you? Where were you during all that time?

Ash calmly observed her before answering:

- Ash: I was looking for the mansion, like I said.

Ash approached Esmeralda's bed a little closer and kept looking at her.

- Ash: But I admit I didn't find much except some old stones and bad weeds. When I came back, you weren't in our tent, and that's when we went looking for you. And on the way back, you weren't there either.

After a long, awkward silence, Esmeralda continued:

- And... Where did they find me exactly?

Dorian spoke up as he gave Ash a quick glance.

- Dorian: It was kind of weird, actually. We found you motionless at the edge of the stream, as if you had passed out.

- Esmeralda: That's ridiculous! How did I end up there when I was at the location where we separated?

Zayla felt bad about the situation. Everyone around Esmeralda was confused. Ash remained impassive, with a rather cold and distant attitude, unlike usual. He hadn't added anything to the conversation.

Zayla spoke up as she looked at Ash and then at Esmeralda.

- Zayla: It's just... we don't have an explanation, except for the fact that we found you there.

- Esmeralda: So that's your flimsy excuse for abandoning me out there? Lying and trying to make me look crazy?

Zayla reached out to her:

- Zayla: Esmeralda, we don't want to make you look crazy. But do you think we really would have left you there knowing it was dangerous?

Ash remained silent. He stared at Esmeralda very coldly and without any emotion. Dorian hesitated before approaching Esmeralda with an uncertain look.

- Dorian: Look, it's true that it's very strange what happened. But we're not stupid enough to leave you alone in the forest when you don't usually go there and especially not at night.

Zayla and Dorian had looked at Ash with a rather embarrassed look. Ash rolled his eyes and turned away from the bed. He headed for the exit.

The room remained silent for a moment. Zayla and Dorian were still silent, staring at their friend in a hospital bed.

Then, Zayla approached the bed and said to Esmeralda with a touch of compassion in her voice:

- Zayla: We're going to leave you to rest, okay? I promise you'll be fine.

- Dorian: Don't hold Ash's behavior against him. He just feels sorry for causing the argument and is feeling guilty for what happened to you.

He tried to comfort her, but the truth was that he didn't really know what Ash was truly thinking. However, he didn't want his friend to feel any worse than she already did.

Esmeralda says nothing. When her friends leave, her parents enter the room. They look deeply worried about their daughter.

Esmeralda's mother rushes forward a step and drops a huge bouquet of flowers on the bedside table.

The concern and sadness show her face.

- Liliana: My darling, you scared me so much! How are you feeling?

- Esmeralda: I don't know. Everything is so confusing.

Esmeralda's mother puts her hand on Esmeralda's. She is smiling with great difficulty.

- Liliana: You need to rest, you seem to have had a very bad night.

Esmeralda's father also approaches the bed and looks at his daughter with relief.

- Eliezar: The important thing is that you're alive. You scared us greatly. We don't understand what exactly happened, princess.

He added:

- I can't believe this happened when your boyfriend was with you. This guy is just irresponsible. How can I trust him to take care of you in the future?

Esmeralda's mother looks at her husband with reproaches. Esmeralda's father shrugs in response.

Esmeralda usually defend her boyfriend, but now she didn't know what to say. His new behavior was completely strange to her.

Her mother approached the bed and leaned towards her daughter.

- Liliana: Try not to worry too much about your boyfriend. You're going to have to rest. You've been unconscious for almost twenty-four hours.

- Esmeralda: 24 hours? How is that possible?

Her mother slowly nodded:

- It was very difficult to wake you up. Your entire body was exhausted, as if your life force had vanished in an instant.

- Eliezer: They couldn't even tell us why you ended up unconscious in the forest. This is rather frightening and dangerous.

Her mother looked at her daughter with sadness.

- Liliana: The most important thing is that you're here with us.

Her father gave an angry shake of his head:

- And your boyfriend is lucky it's you who ended up in the hospital and not him. I'm going to seriously give that punk a piece of my mind.

- Liliana: Stop it right now. Esmeralda feels bad enough as is.

Her father looked at her wife with displeasure.

- Eliezer: I'm still sure it's his fault. That punk abandoned our girl in the middle of a forest.

Her mother gently placed her hand on the bed and looked at her daughter with pity.

- Liliana: The most important thing now is for her to rest.

Esmeralda didn't intervene in the discussion. Her mind was still confused. She had no answer to her questions and it frustrated her terribly.

Her father looked at her daughter with annoyance and a bit offended.

- Eliezer: I want to have a good talk with her boyfriend. And believe me, he won't get off easily. What an idiot....

He added:

- Rest my baby. I love you.

Her father kissed her forehead. Her mother caressed her hair with affection.

- Liliana: We'll come back to visit you a little later.

Once the door closed, she closed her eyes. She had a severe headache when she tried to think about what happened. She sighed and looked at the ceiling not know what to do.