CHAPTER 2

Rose

The slight 'beep', 'beep' of the hospital monitors woke me up.

Groaning under my breath, I twisted my head to the side prying open my lashes slowly to catch a glimpse of my whereabouts.

Where the hell am I?

As I attempted to sit up, a sharp blinding pain attacked me, making me nearly double over in pain. The memories of the past couple of hours were hazy and-

My eyes flew up, widening when I spotted the wires hooked up to my arm and the state of my room.

Why am I in a hospital?

Before I could answer that question, the door to my room swung inwards, a middle aged guy wearing a long white coat walked in, his eyes focused on the clipboard in front of him.

"U…uh…" I croaked out, my voice hoarse.

My pitiful attempt to speak caught the doctor's attention and he rushed to my side, a warm smile on his face.

"Hello, miss. I'm going to need you to calm down." He placed his hands firmly on my shoulders to force me to relax. "You need all the rest you can get, especially after what happened to you."

My eyes flew up to his, noting the way he worded that sentence. "Wh…what…d-do…"

He reached for something on the table behind me, bringing it up to my face. It was a covered glass of water. "Here, drink."

After suspiciously staring at the glass for a couple of seconds, I grabbed it from his hands and greedily guzzled down the entire thing, unable to stop the moment a drop of water touched my lips.

Sighing once I was done, I dropped the glass down on the bed.

Now that I could speak clearly, I had a lot of questions that needed answers. "How am I here?" I rasped out.

There was a slight change on the doctor's face after I asked that question. "Don't you remember what happened?"

I shook my head, signaling 'No'.

"What's is the last thing you do remember?" he asked again.

Blinking rapidly, I tried to recall the last thing I knew but I came up blank. Not satisfied with nothing as an answer, I tried again only for a dull pain at the back of my eyes to develop. "Nothing's coming to me." I whispered, partially terrified and shocked.

It's okay." He offered a comforting look. "It's totally normal at least for the first couple of days, you have survived a really traumatic event and it would be a surprise if you remembered anything out of it. Right now, I need you to relax and let me take your vitals. I'll have another nurse come in to check you periodically and administer your meds. We would like to watch you for a couple more days before you're discharged." He told me.

I did as I was instructed, staring blankly at the white ceiling as I tried to digest the information he just let out.

Now that I was more lucid, the pain was more acute, bouncing around my body but I tried to suppress it, thinking happy thoughts.

I closed my eyes, desperate for peace but I just have dozed off again because the next time I opened my eyes, there was a petite blond nurse leaning over me.

I started, jumping slightly in the bed when I saw her but she only offered a kind smile.

"Good, you're awake. I wanted to wake you up but I thought you needed your rest." She placed a hand on her chest. "I'm Elsa."

I nod, a little bit calmer. "W-why am I here?"

Her eyes turned sympathetic as she picked up her clipboard again. "You were involved in a hit and run in the middle of the road. According to the kind man who brought you here, the driver was nowhere to be found. I'm really sorry."

Soaking up this new information, I found that I was only able to focus on one thing. "Excuse me, you said…someone brought me here?"

"Oh, yes!" She nods eagerly as though she'd been dying to reveal that piece of information for a while. "He's also been camped outside the doors, said he's not leaving until he knows you're okay."

I didn't know how to take that so I just kept quiet.

The nurse took my silence as me growing distant and shortly after, she walked out.

The discord in my mind has only grown as pieces of the incident tried to worm it's way into my brain.

I remember now….

My car stopping on the middle of the road…

The dark skies breaking open and rain drops pelting my skin….

The traumatic moment when I turned around suddenly to meet the bright, overhead lights of the vehicle before it slammed into me, sending me a couple of feet away.

Those memories pushed into me with the force of a freight train and I gasped, my heart rate spiking up.

It was all making sense why I was here but what about…

Him?

Those vivid, green eyes that felt as though they were seeing into my soul.

His hair…

I couldn't really see his face in my concussed state but there was something about him…

Just as I was lost in my thoughts, the door to my room swung open and a man came barreling through.

Another side effect of staying in a small town was the fact that you knew almost everyone which was why it was that much shocking when I didn't recognize who the handsome man heading straight to my bed was.

His dark, ink black hair was curly although some ends were sticking up as though he'd run his hands through it a couple of times.

His suit, which looked tailored to his hard, muscled body was mussed and rough.

However, none of these things could distract me from the sheer dominant and powerful vibes wafting off his body.

He stopped a feet away, his hands coming to rest on the handle of my bed.

Being this close to him robbed me of my breath and reasoning, his musky scent invading my nostrils.

"Hi."