Erin tried to open her eyes but her whole body felt like a lump of led. The funny thing was she wasn't in pain like the last time she had been slightly conscious, Erin couldn't make any sense of it. The room was very noisy, there seemed to be a constant beeping in her ears and it was starting to annoy her. She felt a small amount of pressure on one of her hands and she assumed someone must be holding it.
Erin had been able to hear lots of voices that she knew but she felt too weak to open her eyes. Harry and Nikki had been there a few times, each taking turns to talk to her and try and persuade her to open her eyes. She's really tried but she'd just been too weak. Leo had been there too, many times as far as Erin could remember. She'd liked it when Leo had come and read to her; 'Wuthering Heights', 'Pride and Prejudice' and now they'd just started on 'The Origin Of Species'. She loved it when she came round and could hear Leo there next to her, it comforted her when the pain got too much and lulled her back to sleep when the fatigue threatened to overwhelm her.
But Erin was getting stronger day by day, her vigour was flowing back into her veins and the distant sounds were getting much louder. She knew it was time; Erin knew she had to wake up
Leo turned the page in the book and cleared his throat before he started the next paragraph. He looked down as Erin who was still lying unconscious; the Doctor's had kept her on the ventilator as she wasn't quite strong enough to breath on her own yet. During surgery they had found one of Erin's lungs had collapsed after a rib had badly perforated it. They'd told Leo she was getting stronger but she still was dependent on the machines which were keeping her going.
He shook his head to try and stop himself dwelling on the dark thoughts and looked down at the page again. Taking Erin's hand in his, he started to read where he'd left off
"Reflecting on this case, it occurred to me that if the Melipona had made its spheres at some given distance from each other…."
Leo was cut of by the rapid beeping sound of the monitors and he looked up alarmed. A nurse caught his gaze and immediately ran over to the bed, taking one glance at the monitors she moved away and paged the doctor on call
Suddenly the room flooded with medical staff and Leo felt helpless just standing there watching, unable to do something. The doctor was calling her name and trying to get her to respond. The beeping was getting rapid now and they were shining a light in her eyes, her body abruptly convulsed and there was a gagging sound as a tune was removed from her throat. The doctor stepped back apparently satisfied by his work and moved over to Leo
"She was fighting the ventilator" he told the pathologist "That's why the monitors went crazy. Erin's stronger than we thought; we estimated it would at least be another day before she was strong enough to wake up"
"She'll be okay though?" Leo asked looking concerned
The medic nodded "We'll keep her in intensive care overnight and if she keeps making an improvement and doesn't deteriorate, we'll move her into one of the wards"
Leo nodded his thanks as the doctor left the room, he moved back to Erin's bed and rook up his position on the stool next to her. The masses of tubes down her throat had been replaced by an oxygen mask and Leo was relieved to see her chest shakily rising and falling of its own accord
"She's worn herself out" the nurse smiled as she took note of a reading on the monitor
Leo looked down at the sleeping girl and clutched her hand "She's getting better" he said and for the first time in what seemed like an age, he had a proper smile on his face
The next time Erin woke she felt different, she had a dull throbbing sensation all over her body and her throat felt like it was on fire. Her mind felt less cloudy as if the fog had finally lifted. She carefully opened her eyes and immediately shut them as the bright light almost seared her eyes, her senses were coming back to life now and she could smell the strong stench of disinfectant all around her. The beeping noise was still there and she could hear a distant hum of noise going on around her.
She tried again to open her eyes and this time was more successful, her pale eyes scanned the room as she tried to work out where she was. The room was bright white except for the bed-cover which was a pale blue. The smell of disinfectant was overpowering now and as she glanced around she saw there were a number of machines placed around her. Erin's mind was working quicker now and putting the pieces together at a rapid rate. Suddenly a young woman in uniform swam into her vision and that was all it took for the final piece to be put in place.
"Welcome back" the young woman said giving her a warm smile
Erin opened her mouth but all that came out was a long piercing scream
Leo was walking along the hospital corridors still feeling the euphoria of last night's events. He'd phoned Nikki and Harry to tell them the good news about Erin and he'd noticed the relief in their voices was as strong as his. As he turned another corner he heard a noise that he knew he would never forget; a scream echoed down the corridor and that was all it took for Leo to pick up his pace. He knew that scream anywhere; Erin was awake
As he darted into the room where she'd been transferred too, he saw Erin in floods in tears still letting out little shrieks as the medics tried to calm her down. They looked relieved when they saw Leo standing there and stepped back to let him through
"Erin" Leo said taking her hand "Look at me"
The young girl turned her gaze towards the familiar voice and she visibly relaxed
"Don't..like..h..hospital" she croaked, her voice hoarse from disuse
"Don't try and talk just yet" he soothed her "You need to calm down okay?"
Erin still looked very shaken and gripped on to Leo's hand tightly whilst she nodded in affirmation
"Well I think we can assume your lungs are all right" the doctor was saying "Though it probably wasn't a good idea for you to test them out quite so soon" he frowned "We'll keep you on oxygen for a little while yet Erin"
Erin said nothing but just tightened her grip on Leo who winced a little at her pincer like hold
"You need to rest Erin" the doctor told her "I'll be back to check on you in a little while" he said giving her a brief smile as he left the room, the nurse following quickly after him
Erin leant back onto the pillows and let out a little cough, Leo leant forward and poured herself a glass of water which she gratefully accepted. She drank quickly, spilling a little down her front in the process. When she was finished she settled back down but Leo noticed she was unable to meet his gaze
"How do you feel?" he asked her
"A little sore" she croaked but Leo could hear her voice was coming back to her
"Well that's probably from the surgery" he said noticing the lumpy outline of Erin's bandaged chest underneath the bed-covers
"I'm sorry…" Erin said suddenly
Leo nodded and gave her hand a gentle squeeze "I know…"
"I just wanted to know about my dad" she said and Leo could see a stray tear making its way down her cheek
"Of course you did" Leo said as he pulled the photo out of his pocket "It's completely natural"
He put the photo of her father on her lap but she turned her gaze away from it "I don't want to see it" she said and he could hear the emotion building in her voice
"Alright" Leo said softly taking it away and putting it back in his pocket
"Do you hate me?" Erin asked after a moment's silence
"Why would I hate you?" Leo asked looking shocked
"I went with her" Erin said unable to say her godmother's name
"You weren't to know what was going to happen" Leo told her and Erin nodded
The two of them sat there in companionable silence, knowing that nothing more needed to be said. Erin gazed around the room and suddenly took note of the white lump stuck to her arm
"What's that?" she said looking at her arm like it was going to attack her
"You broke your wrist, they had to put a cast on it" he told her
"But it's my drawing arm!" Erin cried out in shock "How am I meant to draw?"