Chapter 131

Tessa’s POV

I was becoming aware of the darkness surrounding me. I wasn’t afraid of it; my body welcomed it with open arms. That is if I could feel my arms. I couldn’t really feel or see my body; it was like I was bodiless.

I floated in this darkness; I was completely weightless. I felt no pain; only warmth and what seemed like love.

Surrounding me was a warm blanket of love and it made my heartbeat quicken.

I wasn’t sure how long I had been like this; I wasn’t sure if I was still in that underground tunnel, or if I was somewhere different. My memory was a bit foggy, but I remembered how much pain I had once felt. I was dizzy from that vampire drinking my blood and he had beaten me to a point where I couldn’t move my body.

He had pumped me with so many drugs, that I lost the concept of day and night. But my heart continued to beat rapidly in my chest and at that moment, I knew I wasn’t dead.

Then, I started to hear the murmurs that surrounded me. They sounded so distant that I had to strain myself to hear them properly, but soon, I could hear the faint words of someone familiar.

“How much longer do you think she’ll be asleep for?”

“It’s hard to tell, but her vitals are still good. We just have to keep monitoring her.”

There was a pause, but then the first voice spoke again.

“We should get you back to the city. The longer you are here, the more danger you are in.”

“I’m not going anywhere until she wakes up,” a familiar female voice said.

“Ruby I’m not kidding—”

“Neither am I,” she said firmly. “Until Tessa wakes up, I’m staying put.”

Ruby…

She was here? With me?

But where was here? Had I been brought back to the city? There was no way Ruby was in the mountains with the other vampires.

I realized that the first voice I heard was Joseph’s and I felt even lighter than I did before. I wanted to open my eyes and tell him that I was okay. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and hold him close to me. I could feel his pain and frustration without even seeing him and I wanted to ease some of that discomfort from him.

But I couldn’t move my body regardless of how hard I tried.

It didn’t take long for exhaustion to take over my mind, body, and soul. I was too tired to open my eyes and to move; I was too tired to say anything.

All I needed right now, was to sleep.

Sleep came quickly.

…..

When I came back through, I no longer felt like I was floating and weightless. I felt heavy and weighed down. It was obvious that I was lying in bed, and I had the worst headache.

I winced in pain as I attempted to open my eyes, but I failed miserably.

My entire body ached as if I had just gotten into the worst accident. I guess I kind of did; I had been beaten brutally by a new vampire and most of my blood had been drained by me. I felt disgusting as the memories invaded my mind and made me feel even heavier; not just physically, but mentally too.

I felt my fingers twitch as I used my senses, other than sight, to gather my surroundings. It felt like I was on some kind of bed, and the bed itself wasn’t uncomfortable, but the bruises on my body made everything feel uncomfortable. I took in a shaky breath, which caused my lungs to throb in pain. They felt like they were going to explode.

I didn’t smell anything weird though.

A blanket covered my aching body. It was obvious I was wearing a hospital gown because I could feel it rubbing against my flesh.

It didn’t feel like I was[1] alone either. There wasn’t any talking, but there was breathing other than my own.

With all the strength I had left, I finally managed to pry my eyes open, wincing again as pain shot through my head.

I was thankful that the room lighting was dimmed, and the window curtains were drawn. However, the pain I felt throughout my body, especially my pain, was enough to make me groan miserably; and as soon as I did, I heard movement.

“Tessa?” I heard Ruby’s tired and worried voice from the far side of the room.

I managed to move my head, groaning again in pain, so I could look at her. As our eyes met, she gasped and ran toward me. I was right when I said she was tired; she had dark circles under her eyes, and she was very pale. She had her long curly hair tied into a ponytail, which she rarely does, and for once, she was wearing an old sweatshirt and a pair of shorts.

Soon, I felt another presence next to me and when I turned, I saw Joseph standing over me with an equally worried look in his eyes.

“Hey…” he said, giving me a gentle smile as he ran his fingers down the side of my face.

I wanted to lean into his touch and embrace him back, But I still couldn’t move my body. All I could attempt to do was give him a small smile in return.

“I was so worried…” he whispered and for the first time, I realized he had tears in his eyes. My heart squeezed painfully in my chest.

“We both were…” Ruby added from the other side of me.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Miss Tessa,” another voice, one I didn’t recognize, said from behind Joseph.

Joseph stepped aside, allowing a man with a long white trench coat to walk toward him.

“You gave us quite a scare,” he continued as he examined the monitors that sat beside me.

I must have been in the hospital.

“This is Dr. Cornelia,” Joseph explained, reading the confused look on my face. “He was the one who saved your life.” ‘

“Nonsense,” the doctor said, waving Joseph away. “It was a group effort. You wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for Ruby and her blood transfusion.”

I raised my brows, ignoring the shooting pain I felt in my head as I glanced at Ruby. She gave me a sheepish smile while running her slender fingers through her hair.

“It wasn’t much of anything,” she chuckled. “Tessa knows I’d do anything for her. Even walk through the trenches of a vampire-invested mountain.”

My heart immediately fell into my stomach and Dr. Cornelia looked alarmed as the heart monitor began to beat like crazy. Ruby’s eyes widened as she too looked at the monitor before looking back at me.

“Tessa, it’s okay. Calm down. I’m not upset…” she breathed, trying to remain as calm as possible.

So, we were still in the mountains. We must have been in the infirmary, and Ruby was here. How the hell was Ruby here? Why was she here? I had so many questions that began to surface in my mind that I immediately grew frustrated that I couldn’t speak.

“We had to bring her here…” Joseph said slowly, and I saw a little sadness in his eyes. “We needed to get you fresh blood because your body was rejecting the bagged stuff. We needed a human that we knew would willingly give you their blood.”

Ruby gave me her blood.

I couldn’t comprehend all that was going on around here. I felt dizzy and sick and so very tired.

“I’m going to give you some antibiotics to help fight your wounds. Your body went through a lot,” Dr. Cornelia said, shaking his head at the memory. “Honestly, with your injuries and the amount of blood that you lost… I’m amazed you survived.”

I felt my body growing warm; was it really that bad? I wanted to ask, but once again, I couldn’t move.

“Why isn’t she speaking?” Ruby was the one to ask, her voice cracking slightly. “She hasn’t moved either other than her head a little and her eyes.”

“She’s exhausted,” Dr. Cornelia answered. “Her mind, body, and soul need to rest. Once I give her some pain medicine, she’ll be able to sleep.”

“She’ll wake up again… won’t she?” It was Joseph that asked that question and he sounded seriously worried.

Dr. Cornelia gave him a fond smile and he nodded.

“Yes, I imagine she’s going to make a full recovery.”

“I don’t want to go home yet… I want to stay with her,” Ruby said, her voice cracking.

Joseph narrowed his eyes at her.

“It’s not safe for you here,” he said a little too firmly. I didn’t want Ruby to leave either; having her here was comforting. It was like having a little piece of home with me and I felt her warmth and love all around me.

“I doubt I’ll be in danger in the infirmary,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “I’ll be okay… but I don’t want to leave her.”

“I’ll stay stationed here so I can make sure nothing happens to either of them,” another familiar voice said from the doorway.

Connor slowly walked into the room, and I thought for a moment that I saw Ruby roll her eyes.

“Dr. Cornelia can push another bed closer to Tessa so Ruby can sleep beside her. You really should get home so you can take care of yourself, Joseph. Take a shower, eat some food, and get some real sleep. Tessa will be fine, and I’ll make sure nothing happens to her. You have my word.”

Joseph looked unsure.

“I suppose if I have to stay here with him I will,” Ruby muttered. “But he better not try anything funny.”

What was she talking about? Did something happen between them? I made a mental note to ask her about it once I could actually speak again.

“Don’t flatter yourself, princess,” Connor murmured, but he gave her a very sexy grin that made her face grow red. “I’ll be outside the door. I won’t disturb your beauty sleep.”

He gave her a mocking bow and she pressed her lips firmly together to form a thin line.

“I’ll grab a bed,” Dr. Cornelia said loudly to stop the arguing.

Joseph turned to face me, and I could tell he was struggling against himself.

“I’ll be back as soon as I sleep some,” he said, giving me a small and reassuring smile which I tried to return. “Try not to fall into a deep coma while I’m gone.”

He leaned down so he was at eye level with me, and I could feel his warm breath on my features. I closed my eyes, soaking him in and basking in his amazing scent. He smelled so good to me right now and I couldn’t help but smile at him as I opened my eyes and peered into his eyes.

Then, as if we were the only two people in the room, he leaned closer and kissed me.