Chapter 10

Maybe the birds chirping were some indication she was awake, but it was probably the sound of the morning news blaring in the small hospital wing. Her head was pounding. She would definitely need some Aspirin, if they would give it to her. She did feel the needles as she ran fingers up the inside of her arms. She had had a fear of needles ever since she could remember, so it was probably the large amount of drugs being pumped into her that kept her from freaking out.

Elisa's eyes opened slowly and painfully, something not at all graceful. Her hand made its way up to the top of her head, running her fingers on her right temple. She gapped open her mouth to reflect her pain, hoping to get the attention of the nurse in the hallway with her voice, but was unable to. She blinked, her mind moving too slow to process what had actually happened.

The last thing she'd remembered was being drug out of Monroe's house into the dead of night, the cold, wooden porch biting at her toes and knees as she slid across the door frame. She shook her head slightly and sat up, looking out the hospital window and into the lobby. She saw Juliette, Nick, Hank, and Monroe all standing, laughing and talking with coffee in their hands. Nick looked unusually tired and sad, something completely out of the ordinary for Nick. Elisa looked at him a bit concerned, hoping he would sense her stare on the back of his head. He didn't move from his place, or turn around.

Elisa pressed her own fingers to the back of her neck for a minute, the crick in her bones making it somewhat impossible to sit up. She ran her hand down the side of her neck, feeling the strange sense of thread in her neck. They stopped at the middle of her neck, realizing that the stitches ran all the way around the front of her neck. Her mouth fell open slightly as she picked up Monroe's phone, which sat on the table beside her bed. She looked at her own reflection in the glass, seeing how ghost-like and horrible she looked. When she saw the stitches and dried blood, how pale her skin actually was, she let out a scream.

Nothing. There was silence in the air as she sat alone in her hospital room. Was she dreaming now? How could she not speak? She looked out into the lobby again, calling out Nick's name, but again, she heard nothing. Maybe it was her own ears. She pushed the blankets off of her body, sending Monroe's phone crashing to the floor. She winced at the sound of the glass hitting the tile, though the phone didn't shatter.

So her ears were fine. Then, it must be…

Fearful tears weld up in her eyes as she looked out the window again. This couldn't be happening. This had to be a nightmare, her own nightmare. For a split second, Monroe looked up, his eyes connecting with Elisa's. He had been laughing at some joke that Hank had told him, though his mind had been wiped clean once he looked into those deep, familiar green eyes.

"No fucking way." He whispered. He pushed his way between Juliette and Nick, basically running towards Elisa's room.

Nick turned, ready to ask Monroe what was wrong, but was left with his mouth hanging open as he looked into Elisa's room. The coffee fell out of his hands as he followed Monroe, taking two steps at a time until he reached Elisa.

"Elisa! Oh my god, you're awake." Nick took Elisa into his arms, feeling just how cold and distant she was. Monroe stood at the edge of Elisa's hospital bed, waiting for a chance to hug her as well.

Elisa didn't say anything, not that she could. She didn't look at Nick or Juliette as the red haired woman stroked her hair. Her eyes stayed towards the floor's molding, tears falling from her face. Monroe saw the tears as Nick walked into the hall to talk with the doctor. He bent down in front of Elisa. He gave Juliette a slight look, who'd gotten the hint.

"Come on Hank. Let's get Elisa some water."

As they left, Monroe wiped a tear from Elisa's cheek. She closed her eyes, falling down to the floor with him as she wrapped her arms around him. She couldn't speak. She couldn't tell him how scared she was, but how glad she was to be alive and awake. She couldn't talk, but Monroe had gotten everything Elisa had wanted to say in that one embrace. He felt tears fall from his own eyes as he breathed in her familiar scent.

He pulled back from her then, looking straight into her eyes as he ran a hand over her cheek. He pushed away strands of her unwashed blond hair, think how beautiful she was, even with stitches in her neck.

"I missed you." He laughed out a bit. She nodded, telling him with her eyes that she'd missed him too. Monroe cleared his throat, trying to get control of himself and his emotions. "We're going to take you home, Elisa. And no one is ever, ever going to hurt you again."

Elisa fell back into him, her hands wrapping around him tightly. Monroe pressed his lips to her cheek.

"I'm going to make sure of it." He whispered into her ear. "I promise you that."

Elisa cried into his shoulder for a while as Monroe just held her on the floor. It was nice to have her back. Monroe could finally breath, could finally go back to living outside of this damn hospital. And he'd prayed Elisa would be with him the whole way.