For an entire day I sat here. Now, I’m still here; waiting; watching. Nothing yet. They won’t release him from this medically induced coma until they’re sure he’ll be okay… or as close to okay as possible.

The knot that’s been stuck in my chest since I found out still hasn’t gone away. It might not even fade once he’s awake. There’s still a bit of uncertainty.

Victor is passed out on the couch again. When he gets up he only drinks coffee, a glass of water or two and some soup; then he sits here with me for a while before going back to the sofa. Marc and Gabe check in every so often, along with Victor’s two guards. One of Ben’s guards came in yesterday, but had to leave. I think it was too much for him. Plus, his partner received a bullet to the leg. Apparently the gunmen—yeah, that’s right plural—managed to get off more than a few rounds. Then, about fifteen people were injured in the chaos; the stampede of frantic Vladesvyans.

With my head still laying on the bed and my hand still clutching his, I begin to doze off again. My neck is cramping and I’m exhausted but I refuse to move to the other couch.

Dr. Mulrov comes in just like always every hour. Except this time she taps on my shoulder instead of leaving me to sleep.

“Your Highness,” she whispers carefully—probably so as not to wake Victor. She probably saw I was partially awake, though.

“Your Highness, we have decided to pull him out of the coma. His lungs are healing fine,” she explains carefully and quietly. “We are going to need to take the tubes out though, so I need you to um, move for a moment.”

With a groggy nod, I get up and pull the chair away. A nurse and a physician’s assistant walk in, bowing slightly before going to Ben’s bedside.

Wait… is she serious?

“W—what?” My question is a little late. “Y-you’re waking him up?”

I sniffle and drag a palm across my bloodshot eyes as she answers. “Yes, we are. However, it will take some time for the drugs to wear off… probably a good couple of hours.”

Great. More waiting.

I decide not to tell Victor. I don’t want to wake him up. He needs all the rest he can get now because once Ben wakes up he’ll need to attend all sorts of press conferences and stressful crap like that. I might even have to.

The thought makes my stomach churn.

Instead of taking another nap, I grab the textbooks, notebooks and homework packets that Kassy brought over from America. While trying to solve Statistic word problems, I still manage to hold Ben’s hand. If he wakes up I want to be here to tell him he’s okay. The doctor said he might be disoriented and it's always good to have family members there to calm patients down.

The hours seem to stretch out in front of me. I finish two A.P. Stat packets and finish reading Catch 22 by the time dinner rolls around.

Then I feel it.

A squeeze.

“Victor!” That’s my first instinct; to shout at him. “Victor!”

I hear a thump and glance back at him, sprawled out on the floor.

“Sorry,” I apologize quickly, but then I hear Ben take a deep breath; it’s that noise that everyone makes upon waking up from a deep sleep. I know that noise. He makes it when he first gets up in the morning. “Look!” I shout.

His eyelashes twitch and I jump from the chair, sending my medical terminology book with a thunk! to the floor. My other hand attaches itself to his arm as I ask, “Ben?”

Another deep breath and his lashes flutter. He lips part and he lets out a little whimpering noise—then a groan.

“Ben,” I call out, hoping he’ll hear my voice and wake up faster.

Victor suddenly appears on the other side of the bed. He also tries. “Benjamin,” he says in a voice that sounds much older than usual. He doesn’t sound like himself anymore.

His hand also takes hold of Ben’s. We both stand there, hovering over him silently for a while. He makes noises, flaps his eyelashes and tries to move his lips.

That familiar lump in my throat is swelling to an unbearable level again. I can feel tears stinging my eyes.

His eyes open and I can’t help it. I let out a small cry and squeeze his hand again. “Ben…. Ben…?”

______________________________________________

The light hurts my eyes. I can’t open them. I desperately want to, but it stings. I hear Anna and dad; those two voices from my dreams sound closer now. I have to wake up. I have to get out of my head.

When I move my lips they crack. It makes me groan, along with the soreness of my neck as I turn my head. My whole body feels numb from the neck down; like I’m floating in water. My head is still fuzzy as I open my eyes.

Anna’s face is the first thing I see. It’s blurry and seems to be moving around a lot, but I see her. I recognize the blob of blonde hair thrown over one shoulder. My head turns the other way and I see a blob that can only be my father; graying hair and stubble on his jaw.

“Ben,” Anna calls out. He voice still sounds a little like I’m underwater, but I hear it.

I have to pull myself out of this haze. It’s killing me.

“Ann… dad,” I try to speak. My throat isn’t having that. it’s so dry I’ll be surprised if I can even swallow anything ever again…. And my lips are stinging.

“Shhh,” I hear dad chastise me, “Don’t talk yet. We’re here, Ben. We’re here.”

They really are here… but where is here? I’m not dead am I? No, he and Anna couldn’t have died.

I’m alive.

The beeping of hospital machines tells me that.

I hear a commotion as Anna starts to pet my hair. Her touch makes me smile, no matter how dry my lips are.

She’s crying. I listen to her cry quietly, clutching onto my hand and brushing her fingers through my hair. Then, more heads pop up around my bed; more blobs. I flinch back when someone goes to touch my eyeball.

Someone shines a light in my eyes and says, “He’s clear. Come on, let’s give them some time.”

The bobbing heads reluctantly leave. My vision gradually gets better. Now I can see Anna and dad’s worried expressions, even if they’re a little blurry still. I see the tears welling up in both of their eyes and beg, “Please, no more crying.”

Dad puts a cup to my lips and I automatically try to gulp the liquid down.

“Slow, Ben,” Anna whispers a warning.

Finally, water coats my throat and lips. I can speak.

“I missed you,” I mumble, turning my head towards her. She lets out a noise I can’t decipher; a cry or a laugh?

“Hey, what about me?” Dad’s voice even has a hint of humor in it.

“I’ve been with you all day,” I joke.

Silence. Anna clears her throat and sniffles. Dad sighs, “Ben, you have been in a coma for two days.”

“What?” I almost choke on my own saliva. Two days? What happened? Where did I get shot? Did he get hurt? What about Anna? I don’t even remember where we were or what we were doing. I can’t remember anything past getting in the car with dad.

“We’ll explain everything later,” he says quietly. “For now you need to rest and start eating again.”

With no filter I just blurt out, “I’m hungry.” My grumbling stomach reminds me of that.

This time I can tell Anna laughs. It’s a crying kind of laugh, but I know that’s a lot better than her sobbing. Dad snorts, “Don’t worry it’s almost dinner time.”

“I’ll go see what I can get you,” he gives me hand another squeeze before letting go. Part of me doesn’t want him to let go. In fact, I don’t want to let go of either one of them. Not ever again. I need to know they’re both safe.

“I love you.” Anna’s quiet voice startles me.

“What?”

I need to hear it again; to make sure it’s real.

“I love you, Ben. I love you so much.” Her voice pops and cracks and she ends up breaking down into soft cries again.

I reach up with my free hand. Even this sore I can reach her face. She’s so close to me I can see her eyes now; those beautiful blue eyes. My hand shakes as I touch her cheek. I want to wipe away the tears, like I always do when she cries, but my muscles won’t let me. My hand still feels heavy as a brick and I can’t maneuver my fingers well.

She takes my hand and lowers it back down to my chest, clutching it like I might vanish out of thin air.

“I love you, too,” I reply with a voice that doesn’t sound like my own.

She said it. She actually said it. She does love me.

“I thought you left me,” she whimpers.

My eyes burn with tears when she says that. I can’t stand hearing her say things like that.

“Never,” I state in a shaky voice. It’s taking a lot not to break down right now. My head is foggy, my body aches, my mouth is dry and I’m under the assumption that I almost died. My mind tries desperately to remember something, but I only remember hearing shots.

“I have food!” Dad’s voice brings me back to the present and makes me grin. I can smell food; I can’t tell what kind but I’d eat anything right now, even my own arm.

Anna giggles and sits down beside me. I can’t help but comment, “You look beautiful.”

Dad laughs, “Is he still loopy from the medicine?”

Someone answers quietly, “it should wear off in about a half an hour or so.”

“Hey!” Anna yells defensively before saying, “And… you look terrible, Ben.”

And for once I don’t tease her back. I just cough out a laugh and agree. “Yeah, I know.

-------------------------------------------------------

Hey so sorry this chapter might feel a bit rushed. It kinda was lol I didn’t want to keep you guys waiting any longer so I skipped editing for now. I’ll probably go back and tweak it later. What’d you think though? Where do you think it should go from here? (no, Ben is not going to die that would kill the entire series I’m planning lmao).

Anyways, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE COMMENTS <3 please keep commenting it really means so much to me! And of course thanks a ton for voting and reading it in the first place! You guys are the best like srsly I love you ALL you’re amazing readers (I just had to do a little persuading to get you to comment but that’s okay! Lmao)

Go forth and spread the word about my story, too! It would help a lot. Also, thanks for all the PMs! You guys are so nice and really encourage me and give me the motivation to keep writing <3

(((P.S. 10 comments for the next update? ;) can you guys handle that?)))

(((P.P.S. Here are my two questions for you guys for this chapter: Do you think Anna should participate in one of the press conferences? And: Who would you like to see come and visit Ben in the hospital?)))