Chapter 52

Ella

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Faint sounds slowly began to stir my senses. Soft whispers sound all around me as my head begins to throb. Pain radiating from behind my eyes as I slowly try to focus on those around the room.

The smell of disinfectant and lysol filling my nose which carefully alerts me to that of a Hospital. Bleach also moving to greet me the longer I lay unmoving within an uncomfortable bed.

The voices still hushed but louder. Allowing me to identify each voice individually.

"Who the fuck is after her?" growls one of the voices within the room.

Reece, whispers my mind as I lay there listening to them further.

"She didn't say. All she mentioned was running into some goons and then a man she identified as James. Apparently he's Nicholas's cousin?" says another.

Hayden, I think, as he and Grant were the only two who knew about the current situation other than Kris.

"That little fucker? I thought I told him to stay away from her or else I would personally see to it that his hands were removed from his body" adds another.

Caleb, my sweet yet wonderful Caleb. Totally overprotective. A silent chuckle now filling my lungs as he speaks. I told him to leave me alone, I say to myself more than to anyone else. My voice unable to physically speak at the moment as I continued to lay there and listen to them argue about my situation.

"Forget that little fucker for now! The question here is, where were you? She tried calling you back, and you didn't bother to answer her" growls another.

Grant. Boy does he sound pissed and rightfully so, because I would be too, if someone didn't bother to answer my phone call.

"I'm sorry alright. I was taking another phone call. I couldn't answer it. Adam was telling me vital information about something that I asked him to look into," says another. The voice sounding like Dylan's before it was cut off. A soft thud rising which meant he had been pinned against something like a wall of some kind.

"NO! STOP IT!" cries a female voice. "If Ella wakes up and hears of this she'll be mad. We need to work together not sit here and yell at one another" scolds the voice to those within the room. My insides smiling at who it was. Kris. My ride or die. My best friend in all the world for as long as I could remember.

"Sorry" murmured both Grant and Dylan.

"Now then... We need to-" pauses the sound of Kris's voice only to gasp when she notices something. "OMG... Ella? Are you awake?"

Am I awake? Hmm, I don't know. It's hard to focus with the lights so bright, makes opening my eyes that much harder.

"Quick, someone dim the lights" replies Kris, the person in question doing as they were told. The lights finally dimmed low enough for me to finally see. My eyes slowly opening on their own accord.

"Kris?" I choked, my voice dry from the lack of speaking.

"I'm here. So is everyone else too. Grant, Hayden, Reece, even Dylan and Caleb too. We've been waiting for you to wake up" replies Kris softly.

"W-What happened?" I asked softly, still trying to use my voice.

"You ended up hitting your head against the car door window. Some idiot driver rammed right into the side of Grant's car and caused an accident. Luckily, someone saw us and managed to call us an ambulance" answers Kris.

"M-My head" I whimpered, my head throbbing in pain.

"Easy Princess, you're here, you're safe. You just have a slight bump on your head as well as a slight gash from where your head collided with the window. But don't worry, everything will be okay, I promise." replies Reece, his hand coming over to take mine in his.

Tears threatening to spill over at the thought of losing either of my brothers or worse, being taken from them. The very thought unsettling.

"Whoa... Easy there... Easy now. Nice and slow" coo's Caleb, his fingers gently touching my head, careful not to touch any of the bandages that could be up there in his attempt to sooth me.

Feeling a few tears begin to fall, all I can do is sniffle in response. This experience teaching me that life was too precious and no matter how you looked at it or what came your way, tomorrow was never granted, because today just proved that we could have all died. Yet we didn't. Fighting back a sob, I continued to lay on my hospital bed. Reece still gently holding my hand with his, his thumb stroking the back of my hand, while Caleb continued to run his fingers gently along my hair, their presence welcoming to the stark contrast of the room.

Grant, Hayden and Kris are each at the foot of the bed. Kris sporting a few minor injuries from today's events, while Grant and Hayden each only had a couple of bandages as well. Neither of them serious while here I was lying in a hospital bed, lucky me.

"I-I'm sorry" I cried, suddenly feeling bad for putting them into this situation.

"What? Oh, Ella, honey. It's not your fault sweet Princess. Don't blame yourself" whispers Dylan as he moves to stand next to me as well, having sensed my inner turmoil.

"Yes it is" I sobbed, tears now spilling over from my eyes.

"No it's not, so stop it" orders Grant, my eyes now searching for his.

"None of this was your fault. It's theirs, so trust me. They'll pay for hurting you. They'll pay in the most painful way possible, but for now don't lay here and blame yourself, because it wasn't your fault."

Sniffling softly, I slowly move to nod my head careful of the injury. Willing myself to just accept the fact that for now and relish in the fact that I'm surrounded by people who love me. By people who care and treasure me enough to want to risk their lives for someone such as myself. A few more sniffles later, and I'm now trying to look for Dylan, a part of me needing to know why he hadn't answered his phone when I needed him the most.

"Dylan?" I called to him softly.

"Yes Princess?" answers Dylan.

"Why didn't you answer me? I thought something bad happened to you"

"Oh sweetheart, no. Don't think like that. I know I screwed up. And because of that, I'll always try and make it up to you, but you must know, Adam called me right before you did to explain to me about something he found," explains Dylan, his eyes on me.

"Adam?"

"One of my high ranking Tech Security guys. I asked him to hack into your phone this morning, to see if he could find any information about your unknown caller. Which now makes sense if Nicholas was somehow behind all of it" admits Dylan.

"Why?" I asked, a part of just confirming that Dylan had been the one to find my phone that morning, and it was Dylan who had just confirmed that he was the one who saw all of my unknown caller's text messages.

Surprised by my response, he moves to continue speaking, "Because your ours Ella, always. I mean call it jealousy or overbearing protectiveness, but you're ours, and we don't take kindly to other people harassing what is ours."

Shivering at his words, I know it's completely true. I am theirs just as they are mine. Always. Yet a part of me isn't sure how to process this new-found information. Shock still evident within me as I shiver yet again. My body heavy with sleep once more.

"Sleep Ella, we'll be here until you wake up. Doctors say you'll be here for at least 2 days, maybe 3 depending on how you're feeling" whispers Reece, his hand still on mine as my eyes begin to droop.

Nodding, I slowly surrender to the darkness that is my mind. Safe by the people that love me. By the people who would give up everything to ensure that I was completely safe.