As Isabella began to crawl out from under the darkness and started to become more aware of her surroundings, it was anything but gentle. Her movements weren't just faster than they should have been, but they were also pretty harsh when she opened her eyes with a low groan and didn't immediately recognize where she was.

Her actions were regretted as soon as they happened, but she couldn't help it. She pushed herself up with both hands, fire shooting up to her shoulder from her broken forearm and her vision failed her when she snapped her head from side to side, making her dizzy and slightly nauseous. She was completely disoriented and her sight was blurry, keeping her from being able to focus on any particular thing in the far too bright room.

Closing her eyes against the light, she pressed the heel of her left hand between them, another groan slipping past her lips as she battled back her stomach. The head rush she gave herself was certainly the last thing she needed, but it was almost as her previous actions were not her own. The last thing she remembered was waking up that morning, so to wake up a second time when she didn't recall going back to bed, paired with knowing immediately she wasn't actually in her bed, was absolutely terrifying.

The world hadn't yet stopped spinning when she felt an unexpected hand settle on her shoulder, leading her to have to catch herself, once again on her broken arm, when she wrenched herself out of the hold and snapping the direction the person that hand belonged to had to be. Blinking to clear her still unfocused eyes, her body shook as she pushed herself as far from him as the railings of the bed would allow her.

She watched with shaking, panting breaths as the man she had no memory of ever seeing before backed up two steps, his hands up, palms forward in a sigh of near surrender, his dark green eyes slightly wider than would be normal. Nearly vibrating, Isabella finally took her weight off her casted arm, bringing it in front of her, but not lessening any of the distance she put between herself and this random man that was looking at her like he was as scared of her as she was of him. Her voice was quiet and shook as she pushed it past trembling lips. "Who are you?"

Keeping his hands up and staying back, hoping to come across as nonthreatening as he could possibly make himself, Alec kept his low and level. "My name is Alec, My Lady, and you really need to calm down." Watching a shadow slide through Bella's eyes, his own shifted from her to the heart monitor she was hooked up to, watching her heart rate climb. Not looking away from the screen, he continued to speak in a level tone. "You have a very serious concussion. If you don't settle, someone will be in to make you." Looking back at her, and though he slowly lowered his hands, he remained where he was. "Is that what you want?" Hearing a nearly silent no, Alec nodded slowly. "Then lay back down, and breathe. I can personally guarantee nothing is going to happen to you here."

She didn't. She did attempt to calm down by taking slow deep breaths, but she didn't move an inch from where she was, refusing to lay back down, but instead asked another question. "What happened?"

Brow sliding up to his bangs, Alec crossed his arms as he retook the seat he had been sitting in the for the last couple of hours. "Funny thing about that; I was hoping to ask you the same thing."

While she hadn't completely calmed down, Isabella did settle herself enough to lose some of the rigidness in her spine. It wasn't enough to actually lay down as she had been told to, but it was enough for her to lower her hunched shoulders. Her eyes, which had mostly cleared, went distant again as she searched for something, anything, to explain why she was in what she finally recognized as the hospital.

She took several long moments in the attempt, but finally, her eyes still looking off into the distance, she shook her head slowly. "I... I don't know. I don't remember."

Alec nodded in response, mostly ready for that answer since he knew what he did about head trauma. It didn't make it any less inconvenient since he needed to know who it was he needed to protect her from, but from what he saw of her house, it might actually be better for her if those memories never actually resurface. However, before he was able to ask her anything else, he very quietly heard her inquire as to the time. So, uncrossing his arms, he lifted the cuff of his shirt and looked at his watch. "It's twenty of twelve." Returning his eyes to her, Alec watched as her agitation returned once again, and in full fucking force. It wasn't until she started trying to remove the needle in her arm he intervened, though.

Just because her sight had cleared didn't mean her mind had completely woken back up. All it meant was she could see, and used that ability to pick at the tape that held the IV line against her skin, repeating over and over she had to go. Pulling away from Alec once again when he reached out a hand to her, she looked at him, still picking at the tape on her arm. "I have to go."

This time, refusing to back off, Alec once again reached his arm out, clamping his hand over the tape his charge was picking at, looking her dead in the eyes as he did so, and put some force into his voice. "Stop it."

This time she was a little more inclined to listen, but even though she didn't pull away from him, she did argue. "No, I have to go. I'm supposed to be getting married soon."

Keeping his eyes on hers, Alec softened, but only slightly. "That is being sorted out as we speak, but I promise you, you're not leaving for at least another several hours if you leave today at all." When she cut in with a 'but', Alec smirked at her. "The only way you're leaving this room is if you go through them to do it, so you may as well go ahead and just lay back down, My Lady, because you're not going anywhere."

Turning to look over her shoulder, Bella saw the backs of four men outside the window-like wall, two to either side of the door with about five feet between each pair, one of them even blocking the seam where the door opened, proving Alec right. If no one was getting in without going through him, it was only going to be through him that someone left. The fight didn't completely leave her, but changed from frantic and jagged movements to more glares and attitude. "I liked you a lot better a few minutes ago."

Alec, however, just shrugged as he released her arm. "I'm alright with that." Letting out a long, loud breath as he retook his seat, he picked up the puzzle book he had been playing with when his charge began to come to. "I'm not here to be liked." Crossing his ankle on his knee, he opened the back to the crossword he had been working on and pulled his pen back out of his jacket pocket as he settled himself back in to wait for Demetri to show up. "Get some rest while you can, My Lady. Someone is bound to be in to see you shortly."

A half hour later, Isabella discovered very quickly the last thing this Alex guy was, was a liar. That acknowledged, however, he also didn't seem overly inclined to give her all the important information, or at least, what everyone but apparently him would consider important.

When he told her someone was bound to be in shortly, she had assumed him to mean the doctor since she was in the hospital, but that wasn't who it was she saw the next time she opened her eyes. She couldn't remember falling back to sleep, but she didn't think it was for very long before one of those extremely unnerving falling dreams woke her up. Her eyes snapped open, and the monitor was going crazy, but she just closed her eyes again, waving off Alec when she heard him say 'My Lady' in a cross between a warning and curious tone. Instead of telling him shit, she just told him to 'fuck off', which prompted a snort from someone else she didn't know was present.

"What the fuck did you do to piss her off?"

That was a voice anyone would know, regardless of head trauma, and when Isabella heard it, she felt a flood of ice water slide down her spine. She was just about ready to rip the leads to the heart monitor off her damn self, because her heart actually stopped, confirmed by the stupid thing, when she rolled her head slowly to the side, and saw the Crowned Prince, of all fucking people, standing with Alec over by the door.

Alec, however, in response to Demetri's question, just grinned. "Well, Your Majesty, at least I'm not the one giving the lady a heart attack."

Face falling into one of annoyance, Demetri cut his eyes to Alec and pointed to the door. "Get out." He watched as Alec dipped his head, first to him, then to Isabella, before he twisted on his toes and stepped out into the hall, sliding the door closed behind him and taking up a position next to Felix. Shaking his head, he returned his sights to the woman in the bed. "I will say he isn't so bad once you simply accept the fact while doing his job, Alec does have a tendency to be an asshole at times."

Every step he took closer to the bed, the higher the heart rate on the monitor climbed, prompting Demetri to stop three feet away and clasp his hands behind his back. There was a grin on his lips and a light amusement in his voice when he addressed his betrothed. "Do I make you nervous?"

There was no thought on Bella's part whatsoever when she gave a shallow nod of her head. "Yes."

Lips twisting slightly, Demetri hummed quietly in the back of his throat as he looked to the ceiling. "Well, that's terribly inconvenient." Looking back at her, he smiled as he held out a hand to the chair that Alec had been using since she was admitted for observation. "May I?" Not moving an inch until he saw her nod, Demetri walked around the bed, shrugging off his coat and dropping it over the bed table as he passed it. By the time he took a seat in the chair, his Intended's heart rate was at a far more acceptable pace, so he gave himself a moment to take in what he could see of her and compare it to what he remembered from the last time he saw her.

Her color was certainly better, though almost anything would have been better than the near white she had been. Her cast ran from her knuckles to nearly her elbow, confirming Felix correct about the broken arm. He could only guess the random bandages that littered her arms were covering stitches since he had seen some pretty deep puncture wounds. The bruise on her face had finally surfaced, but it was still hard to tell if it was from a closed fist or a full force backhand. He could tell, however, the point of impact was just below her left cheekbone by the darkness of the bruise itself and the way it spread across that side of her face. She was lucky, he supposed, that whoever it was that struck her didn't have better aim, or there was a very real possibility they could have broken her cheek if they had hit their actual target.

The worst of the external injuries was still hidden from his sight by a bandage, and that was the gash on her forehead that had already been seen to by the plastic surgeon. He had been told due to the jagged edges there would always be a scar, but as time passed, it would eventually fade and become barely noticeable. As far as good news versus bad news when it came to some barbarian beating the shit out of a woman goes, the fact there wouldn't always be in her face evidence of it did sort of tilt the scale slightly more to the good news side of things, though he doubted she would see it that way, and he couldn't blame her for that. He didn't see it that way, either. He was no less angry over the situation now as he was three hours ago and he doubted she would be when she was told the extent of her injuries.

From the placement of the two facial injuries though, Demetri was able to figure out they were mostly likely sustained back to back, which would account for the concussion as well. Two massive head injuries sustained so closely together would allow the brain to bounce around within the skull enough to leave it bruised as it was. He also assumed that she was hit first, which then knocked her into whatever it was she whacked the right side of her head on. When she received her other numerous injuries was anyone's guess, but logic dictated one head injury was the direct result of the other.

While the prince was taking stock of her injuries, Isabella was doing much the same, only she was documenting every last perfect inch of skin he wasn't covering. She had no personal memories of ever seeing him in person, and the Master Guard always kept such a tight area of personal space around him that news cameras never showed videos of him so up close. She had seen close ups on the cover of magazines, but generally speaking, those were professional photoshoots, so she had always assumed the images were touched up prior to release. She hated him just a little bit after the discovery that that wasn't the case, and he really did look as perfect as those covers said he did.

It was his eyes, though, that she couldn't look away from if she wanted to. They were such a deep blue they were nearly inhuman. Around the pupil was a lighter persian, but the lionshare was a dark phthalo that commanded every ounce of attention she had to give. For as intense as his eyes were, though, Isabella found them so incredibly calming that not only did her heart rate fall back into a normal rhythm, she was also able to settle a little further into her pillow.

Having what could arguably be the worst day of her life, and having hands down the worst headache she'd ever had, Bella was finding it very difficult to muster up the ability to show the prince his proper respect, but she also couldn't say she really tried when she became the one to break the silence between them. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand why you're here."

Crossing one ankle over his knee, Demetri laced his fingers over his stomach, regarding Isabella for a moment, using that time to decide how exactly he was going to answer that. Coming up with several ways, he settled on direct to this particular conversation since he wasn't sure just how engaged she actually was. Tilting his head slightly to the side, he licked his lips and let out a thoughtful hum. "Considering the fact that we're to wed in oh..." turning his wrist and glancing at his watch, "twenty minutes or so," looking back at the now wide eyes woman, "I'm not exactly sure where else I should be."

Once again, the heart monitor gave away her internal reaction, though it was hardly needed by the look on her face. It lost all color and she choked on her breath she was already having a hard time catching because of the broken ribs she had. Gaping like a fish, making what had to be the worst fucking first impression in human history, Bella just looked at him, barely comprehending what he had just said. Eyes wide as dinner plates, her uncasted hand come up and covered her mouth, hiding quivering lips as she let out a shaky breath. "What?"

Demetri, that same grin from before returning to his lips, just lifted a shoulder slightly. "Surprise, My Princess." Having just about as much of the beeping from the monitor as Bella clearly had, he stood up and pushed a button on the screen to make the noise stop, and while he was standing, reached into his suit jacket he was still wearing, pulling out a long velveteen case. Presenting it to her, he smiled. "I believe this is yours, My Darling."

Something tingling in the back of her foggy mind at hearing him say that name, but she wasn't able to completely connect the dots when Demetri opened the lid, showing off the necklace that laid inside. Sucking in a breath at the sight of the glittering pink diamonds, her eyes snapped up to the Prince's, her hand only falling slightly away from her lips. "How did you..." trailing off, she looked back at the necklace, not able to recall how she lost it in the first place.

Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, Demetri set the box in Isabella's open hand, picking the necklace up by the replaced chain. Looking at it himself for a moment, he unlocked the clasp and waited for her to sit up and lean forward, reaching around her neck and clasping it, using the back of his hand to move her hair out from under it. Folding his hands on his thigh, he looked at the charm she was holding in her fingers, his lips turned down in the corners. "I found it under some glass on your living room floor."

A frown coming to her own lips as she looked at the necklace she hadn't taken off since she received it, her brows drew down as she bit into the center of her bottom lip. Flicking her eyes back to his, she blinked. "How did you know it was mine?"

To the question, Demetri just shrugged. "Because I'm the one that bought it."

Once again feeling like shock stole her breath, Bella's lips parted as her jaw went lax. "Wait... this was from you?"

One brow sliding smoothly up his forehead, Demetri clicked his tongue. "Is there another suitor I should know about?"

Jolting at the unexpected question, Bella was quick to shake her head, as bad of an idea as it was, but tried very hard to defuse the situation. "No; no nothing like that. I just... I just never knew who it was from."

Shifting slightly where he was sitting, Demetri leaned to the side, propping himself up with one arm stretched over Bella's legs while the other settled across his lap. Glancing at the necklace that was now resting on top of her hospital gown, he moved his eyes back to hers and his expression softened in the face of her clear distress. "When it arrived, who did you think sent it?"

Leaning back into her pillow, Bella wrapped her arms around herself as she looked at her lap and away from Demetri's piercing gaze. She wasn't sure she wanted to admit who she hoped the necklace was from, but eventually, she just shook her head slightly. "It arrived the day I graduated and even though I knew better, I had hoped it was from my mother." Lifting her eyes back to his, she made a face as she hunched her shoulders. "She left so long ago I guess, I just, I wanted to believe she still cared." Then, there was a spark of something in the back of her eyes Demetri didn't catch before she cleared her throat. "It never crossed my mind it could have been from," making air quotes, "'The Guy', because there wasn't supposed to be any contact, Your Majesty."

Unable to help it, Demetri smirked as he chuckled. "Out of the all the limitations place on us, I have always found that rule to be particularly stupid." Then, lifting his arm from his lap, he held his hand out. "And my name is Demetri."

Sliding her tongue along her bottom lip, she pulled it between her teeth as she looked at his presented hand. Not really sure what the protocol was here, but, figuring since he wasn't currently acting like the royalty he was, she took his cue and set her uncasted hand in his with a small smile on her lips. "Isabella, but please, just call me Izzy."

Grinning wider, Demetri closed his fingers around hers, turned their hands, and brought the back of her knuckles to his lips. "It's my pleasure, Izzy." Placing a light kiss on her skin, smiling at her when he saw her blush darken, he lowered their hands but didn't release hers. While he tried to broach the subject as gently as he could, it wasn't something that had a decent lead in. So, with a sigh through his nose, he rubbed her knuckles with his thumb. "We do not have a lot of time before my father arrives, and this is certainly not my choice of topic for our first conversation in a very long time, but I do need to ask," returning his eyes to her face, "what happened this morning?"

Bella, however, kept her eyes on their joined hands, the smile and blush from a moment ago gone as a thoughtful frown tugged at her lips. She hadn't lied before when she told Alec she didn't know, but she did go in more detail when she answered Demetri. "I don't know. I remember packing my bag before going to bed last night. I remember waking up earlier than I wanted to. Something woke me up, but I don't know what it was and I don't remember if I tried to figure it out. There was always something going on in that place, so I don't think I thought anything of it. I remember getting a shower, getting dressed, grabbing my bag and..." shrugging slightly as she looked at Demetri, "and then waking up here."

Nodding slow as she spoke, Demetri licked his lips and tilted his head. "Has anything like that ever happened before?"

Even not having a clear memory of what occurred, she could answer that, but only because she was in the hospital. Sliding the fingers of her casted hand through her hair, she swallowed hard as she scratched the back of her head. "Once, when I was fourteen. It was a couple of weeks after my birthday and on the ten year anniversary of the day my mother left. I don't really remember what I did that set him off, but... it was bad, I remember that much."

Knowing his father kept a certain number of tabs on her, and a trip to the hospital would have been one of them, Demetri's lips pursed. He was positive he knew the answer, but there was nothing quite like confirmation. "Did you receive medical care at that time?"

The snort was out before she could stop it, and her expression was overcome with a flat amusement. "Right, because he cared enough to make sure he didn't kill me on the dining room floor. Truth be told, he actually looked rather disappointed when I was finally able to get up."

It hadn't escaped Demetri's notice Isabella hadn't given a name and only referred to the responsible party as 'he', but it was enough to more or less convince him he had been right about her father's involvement considering this had been going on for, at minimum, six years being a handful of weeks past her twentieth birthday.

Before he was able to get too far down the road of what he intended to do to his impending father in-law when the bastard was finally located, his attention was pulled back to his Intended's when she lightly cleared her throat.

Bella, the corner of her lip between her teeth, decided to change the topic of conversation away from what it was and point it back to something that was already said. "So, before, you said our first conversation in a very long time." Seeing Demetri give a languish nod of his head, she licked her lips. "What did you mean."

Demetri, just shrugged. "Exactly what I said. It was only once, but we've met before as children."

While there could have been no other explanation for having past conversation than having past interaction, for her life, Isabella couldn't remember ever once being in this particular person's direct presence. Even with her, admittedly, overactive imagination, she also couldn't imagine an instance in which it would have happened. Her first clear memory was the day her mother left, and life didn't exist before then being only four at the time. With a shake of her head, Bella sighed. "I don't remember that."

Demetri, not surprised at all, just shrugged again. "That's not all that shocking, to be honest. I barely remember it and I'm older than you. Now, I don't suggest taking seventeen year old childhood memories as gospel or anything, but what little I can recall of it is, we met at a park, you couldn't pronounce my name properly, and at the end of the impromptu play date, during which I can only guess we had very good time, I told my father I was going to marry you one day. With no actual understanding as to what that meant, here were are because my father is an analytical jackass that took far too much to heart the excited ramblings of a five year old. I don't know what occurred that day to lead me to declare such a thing, but I can only assume it was the fact that you were the only person prior to, and subsequently since then, that didn't treat me as a prince, and instead just another child on the playground. Whether that's true or not, I have no fucking idea, but regardless of that, what I do know is, it was that day that lead to this one."

Completely unsure how it was she was supposed to feel about this revelation, Bella remained quiet for several moments as she tried to digest it. She had absolutely no recollection of what he was talking about, and she couldn't stop herself from wandering, albeit briefly, if her life went the way it did because of that innocent declaration he made as a child that no one in their right mind would have listened to. However, if she considered that, she knew she also had to take the same moment to consider the other side of the coin, and that was her betrothal to the Crowned Prince being very likely the only reason she was even still alive. She doubted even her smoothing talking father would have been able to come up with a decent enough explanation as to how it happened, and there would have been no hiding anything he had ever done to her once it got back to the king his son's chosen future bride was dead.

If logic dictated reason, then the only logical reason Isabella could come up with she was still among the living was because of the man the boy from a past she was young at the time to remember had turned into.