Chapter 10

"Roman?" Aden yawned, having only just got up, he had slept through the day after hardly getting any sleep the previous night.

"Yeah mate?" Roman replied, looking up to see a slightly perkier looking Aden stumbling down the stairs.

"Where's Belle? She's usually back by now." He asked, a trace of worry lining his handsome features.

"I'm sure she's fine, she's probably just gone back to the beach house for a bit; she'll be here soon. Anyway what's got you so worried? You're not usually like this." Roman asked, returning to the counter where he was preparing dinner.

"I know…" Aden sighed, "It's just… I've got a bad feeling, I dunno why, something just doesn't feel right."

Roman gulped, hoping he was wrong, the last time someone had a bad feeling, Aden was found half-dead on the beach. "She'll be fine, look, if she's not back in an hour, we'll go look for her." He looked up to see what Aden's response would be; he looked deep in thought but nodded slightly in reply. "How are you feeling anyway? You looked pretty rough earlier"

"…Yeah, I'm okay, sorta." Aden distantly replied, and Roman sighed knowing he wasn't alright, he was still in pain, it wasn't that long since he had got out of hospital and now he was plagued by nightmares.

"Name?" One of the nurses asked as the casualty was rushed through the hospital corridors.

"Belle Taylor, 19 years old, involved in RTC; side of car hit her as she was crossing the road, unconscious from arrival, most likely from hitting the ground more than the actual impact." The paramedic listed off.

"Right." Rachel nodded, she was the doctor in charge of Belle's case, "Get her into recess and do a full body and head CT scan, an x-ray for any internal damage, and give her 10ml of morphine, I'll be back in a minute." She called to the doctors and nurses rushing to Belle's side.

"Hey," Kelly, the receptionist called as Rachel rushed down the corridor and round the desk, reaching for the phone. "What's got you all worked up?"

"I need to call Aden, Belle's just been brought in." She replied breathlessly, hurriedly dialling Roman's home number.

RingRing…RingRi…

Roman reached the phone first as he was closer, but both of them had instantly dived for it the moment they heard it ring, desperate for an news, it had nearly been an hour since Aden had wondered where Belle was and as the growing feeling in him got worse by the minute he couldn't help worrying what had happened to her. A few more minutes then he and Roman were going to go out and look for her.

"Hello" Roman answered as soon as he picked up the phone. There was a reply on the other end before Roman started speaking again,

"Oh, hi Rachel, what's up?" He asked as Aden watched him intently, as soon as Roman said Rachel's name, his heart dropped and suddenly he was drowning in the sinking feeling that had been threatening to consume him all evening.

His worst thoughts were confirmed when Roman's faced suddenly dropped and shock filled his eyes.

"We'll be right there." He finally replied before hanging up and grabbing the car keys.

He turned to Aden,

"Aden, we gotta go mate, Belle's in hospital, she was hit by a car."

No… He sat there in shock, although he had already known it from the minute Roman answered the phone, hearing him say it just made it all so real and he couldn't deal with that.

"Is… Is she okay? I m-mean… she's not d-dead…?" He asked, pure pain burning in his eyes as he looked up at Roman, causing him to grimace at the sight of it.

"I don't know mate, Rachel didn't tell me anything other than that she had been hit, come on, the sooner we get there, the sooner we find out."

With that Aden dragged himself off the sofa and followed Roman out the door, dreading what lied in wait for him at the hospital.

"There's no sign of any head trauma and her scans came back clear. She got a few cuts and bruises from where she hit the floor but other than that she's physically fine, she's just lucky she only got hit by the very edge of the car and not a full on impact or it could have been much worse." The nurse explained her condition to Rachel who had come to see how Belle was doing.

"She's still asleep, it's her body's way of coping with the shock plus the fact that judging from the bags under her eyes she probably needs it. She'll wake up when her body's good and ready, until then you'll just have to wait." The nurse finished, Rachel nodded before heading back to reception, she was expecting Roman and Aden pretty soon; in fact she didn't even get to the end of the corridor before she knew they had arrived.

"Where is she?" Aden shouted at the receptionist after she had ignored him the first few times he had asked. That finally got her attention and she turned to him,

"Who?" She asked worried about the way the young man in front of her was reacting, he seemed on edge and panicky.

"Belle, Belle Taylor." He panted, having run straight from the car the second Roman pulled to a halt with fractured ribs and a sore chest, but he didn't care he had to know.

The receptionist turned to the computer searching through the records and was about to reply to Aden just as his attention was captured by Rachel hurrying up to him,

"Aden!" She exclaimed.

"Where is she? Is she okay?" He asked quickly, the panic he was trying to hide seeping out through his wavering voice.

"Yeah, she…" Only Aden didn't hear the rest, he was staring straight past her down the long corridor, eyes focused on something far away.

No… No, No please no…

His breaths came in short gasps as reality sunk in, the world started to spin around him and he could faintly make out Rachel asking if he was alright but he couldn't concentrate on anything, it was all too overwhelming. The breath had been knocked out of him, he fumbled round for something to grab onto as he suddenly felt faint. His chest was tight and restricted, sharp pain shooting through his already aching ribs and weak lung; his vision was blurring before him, though one image was still as clear as day before him. Then suddenly he was swimming in the darkness, trapped in his own nightmare, screams and terrified whimpers surrounding him.

"Aden?" He heard both Rachel and Roman call before collapsing to the ground as his whole world went black, his one last thought,

No, it can't be…