1. Questions

The next morning you awoke to find yourself in a hospital bed. The night before a mere jumble of vague memories and questions. According to the reports, you had swerved to miss a deer. You, and your car, were discovered early the next morning. It appears the EMTs presumed you dead at first glance. It was only after further inspection that a weak, nearly undetectable pulse was located. After that you were immediately rushed to the nearest hospital. It just being your luck that said hospital resides in the very town you were so **** to escape. The hum of machines, and blip of your heart monitor, loudly drum in your ears.

The sound of people chatting outside your room, mixed with the general clamor of a hospital, are initially unbearable. Wincing, you try to sit up only to find a good portion of your body in various casts and bandages. The beeps from the ECG machine increases as your heart rate does. After a moment of panic the door in front of you quickly opens. A nurse steps in, her expression a combination of surprise and concern. Your own expression quickly sours as you recognize the woman. It's no surprise given the size of the town. She takes a hesitant step forward as she glances over at the source of the offending noise. Anxiously brushing a lock of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear, she turns her attention back to you.

"Lillian, you're awake."

Frowning softly, you note a distinct, and rather distracting, throbbing concentrated on the center of your brow and spreading down the left side of your face. Using your one free hand, you manage to prop yourself into an upright position. The nurse watches, unmoving, her eyes periodically drifting back to the ECG screen. Once somewhat comfortable, you raise the hand to your pounding forehead.

"What happened?"

Your voice is hoarse and ragged, the inside of your throat feeling like pieces of sandpaper rubbing together as you speak. There's a long pause before the nurse somewhat apprehensively fills you in on the assumed details. Your brow continues to furrow as you attempt making semblance of the information you're told. Though it doesn't match the limited memories you have of the evening, you make no attempts to correct her. Before you can ask any further questions, the clamor outside your room seems to grow. As you glance past the nurse towards the door, you note a sudden look of what appears to be conflict on her face. Ignoring this for now, you turn your attention to the sudden racket.

The voices grow louder and all of a sudden the door is flung open. You can't help wincing again as the sight of the commotion is revealed. The familiar, frantic face of the man before you is far from a welcomed sight. Tense brown eyes quickly switch from a look of annoyance to one of concern after landing on you. You quickly divert your gaze as an angry flush begins covering your face. You can hear one of the other nurses begin arguing with the man again.

"I don't care what the rules are," You hear a deep voice growl in return. "You're going to let me see her, I'm her fiance."