The Ivory Queen

6. Awake

*** Aurora's POV***

    The darkness which had consumed me for what seemed like an eternity, slowly starts to fade away. I hear voices fading in and out in my head. I could only catch a few words at a time.

     "…time before she wakes…"

     Wake? Am I asleep? s**t, Mom is going to kill me!

     "… book of the day…"

     What the hell is going on? What book? I groan. Wait did I just groan?

     Suddenly a burst of light appears and my eyes slowly open. I wince as the light enters my pupils and I instinctively shade my eyes. The smell of honey and green apples fills my nose. I glance around the room and see two men staring back at me. My eyes, however, focus on one: Oliver. I freeze up with fear.

     "I'll go get the doctor," the unknown man says as he rushes out of the room, leaving me alone with Oliver. 

     Reyna is shaking excitedly. Our mate is here!

     He's not our mate, I wince, remembering his cruel words. He rejected us, remember?

     Then the sudden realization of all the events that had happened to me at the creek send me into a trembling, crying frenzy.

     Hearing my heart beat accelerate and seeing me visibly panic, Oliver reaches out to hold me hand, but I flinch and he pulls his hand back.

     "Aurora, please calm down. The doctor is on her way," he says with a look of concern on his handsome face.

     He inches closer, causing me to inch backwards until I hit the headboard of the bed. I see a look of hurt flash across his eyes. Frightened that he'll get angry with me, I curl up into a ball, shielding my face with my arms. My heart rate accelerates.

     "Baby, I'm not gonna hurt you!" 

     Baby?

     Sensing his growing frustration, I begin to cry uncontrollably. "Please, just go!"  I cry. I hear the door open, but I don’t dare look up. The beeping of the heart monitor accelerates once again. 

     "Aurora you need to calm down sweetie. Nobody is going to hurt you anymore, ok?" I hear a soothing female voice say to me.

     A hand reaches my shoulder and I scream!

     "Alpha, I think she needs to be alone right now. You can wait outside while I examine her, " says the calm voice.

     "But she's my mate! I can't leave her!" Oliver protests.

    "Alpha, Aurora has been through enough trauma as it is. Please try to understand, she needs space," the woman pleads.

     There is silence. I bury my head in my pillow but I could feel Oliver's gaze settle on me. After a while, I hear the door open and slam shut.

     "Aurora, sweetie? My name is Meghan, I'm your physician. You can relax now. It's just you and I in the room, ok? You're safe. No one will hurt you," she says soothingly.

     I relax my arms and lift my head out of the pillow. I scan the room and see that she's telling the truth, Oliver and the man are nowhere in sight. It's just us now. I let out a sigh of relief.

     "Ok, now that you trust me, do you mind telling me how you feel. Does anything hurt?"

     I think for a second and point to my head. "It's pounding," I say.

     "Ok. Umm. I'm going to send you up to get a head CT in a little bit. Do you mind if I touch you to feel how your abdomen is doing?"

     I nod, but still flinch as she gently places her hands on my stomach and begins to feel around.

     "Any tenderness or stinging?" she asks.

     I shake my head.

     "Aurora do you mind if I take off your robe so I can check how the scar is healing?"

     I shake my head violently. "N-no. My clothes stay on!

     "OK, that's ok. You are in control. We won't do anything you aren't ready to do. OK?"

     I nod.

     "How would you feel about letting Oliver come-"

     "No!" I scream, shaking my head. The heart monitor starts beeping erratically again.

     "Ok, Ok, that’s ok. He won't come in. Just relax sweetie. Relax."

     I take a deep breath and my heart rate begins to descend into the normal range again.

     "Ok, let's take you up to CT."

    Meghan removes my feeding tube and catheter before mind-linking a nurse to bring a wheel chair for me. They wheel me up to CT. I'm up there for about half an hour and then brought back to my room. I pass Oliver and the man on my way in. Oliver tries to speak, but Meghan cuts him off.

     "Not yet, Alpha," she says.

     I see Oliver's eye glaze over and force myself to look away. I feel a lump in my throat and my heart aches for him.

     Let him in! Reyna cries.

     I'm deep in thought when Meghan's voice snaps me back to reality. I hadn't realized we're already back in my room and I'm still sitting in the wheel chair at the foot of my bed.

    "Aurora, do you need help getting into bed?"

    "No. I'm sorry. I-I can do it," I mumble as I lift myself onto the bed.

     "Ok, well the results from the CT scan should be ready in about two hours. I'm sure you have a lot of questions and I would be more than happy to answer them. I can bring in your mate so-"

     "He's not my mate," I croak. Tears well up in my eyes. "H-He rejected me."

     "Oh-Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. He's the one who brought you here and he's stayed by your side these past four months," she apologizes.

     I've been here for four months?

     Seeing my look of confusion, Meghan proceeds to explain the surgery, my head injuries and my four month coma. She tells me how Oliver brought me in and remained by my side through it all.

     Oliver must have been so scared.

     "Aurora," she pauses for a second, unsure how to continue. "Aurora, do you remember what happened to you the day they brought you in?"

     I close my eyes to stop myself from crying again.

     "I know what he did to me. But I- I wasn't awake for most of it," I reply with a shaky voice. My skin begins to crawl at the thought of Andrew touching me.

     "Ok, you don't have to explain it to me. I do think you should talk to someone about it," she states.

     "Ok."

     She shifts her feet uneasily. "Aurora, I don't mean to pry, but Oliver really wants to see you."

     "Ok," I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

     "Really? Ok great, I'll go get him!" she says excitedly.

     Before she can reach the door, however, Oliver bursts through it and rushes to my side. The mysterious man follows close behind.

     "Aurora, I'm so happy you're awake! You don't know how worried I was all this time," Oliver says, reaching for my hand.

     I feel sparks when our hands touch. I instinctively try to pull my hand away but his grip is too tight.

     "I'll give you guys some privacy," says Meghan as she turns toward the door.

     I panic. "No!" I shriek. "No, don't leave me." Don't leave me alone with them, I want to add, but can't seem to say it.

     I ignore Oliver's pained look, my attention focused on Meghan, begging her to stay.

     "Ok," she answers, closing the door and taking a seat in an empty chair. I immediately feel more at ease.

     "How do you feel, Luna?" asks the mystery man.

     I look at the man and feel a sense of comfort wash over me. I don’t understand and give him a skeptical look. I hear Oliver chuckle.

     "Sorry, I forgot you two haven't properly met," he laughs. "This is Evan, my gamma and your guardian."

     I have a gamma? But only Lunas have gammas and Oliver….he rejected me…

     Evan’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Luna,” he says smiling ear to ear.

     I give him a small smile and nod at him. "N-Nice to meet you," I say softly. I look down at his hand and see he's carrying something, a book perhaps.

     "What's that?" I point at the object.

     "Oh this? It's uh- It's Pride and Prejudice," he blushes. "I was going to read it to you," he adds sheepishly.

     I can’t help but laugh at his cute gesture.

     "What!" Evan protests. "This is a classic!"

     This sends me over the edge, and I'm practically crying from laughter. Oliver smiles brilliantly at me and I blush.

     "I love your laugh," he says. A tomato couldn’t compete with how red I am.

     He loves us! My wolf purrs.

     No, he's just saying that. H-He's lying. I dispute. He doesn't want us.

     Yes he does!

     Sensing my inner turmoil, Oliver speaks again, his voice going soft. "I'm sorry for what I did to you. I should have never rejected you. I want you. I want you more than anything I've ever wanted," his voice breaks. "Please forgive me."

     Yes! I forgive you, shouts Reyna.

     "I-I'm not ready to forgive you yet, O-Oliver," I stutter. "I-I need m-more time," I pant. It's getting hard to breathe. "Y-You hurt me… so much," I cry.

     "Oh baby, I'm so sorry. I take it all back. I-I hate myself for what I did to you. Please, you have to forgive me! I'm so, so sorry." He pulls me close to him and wraps his arms around me, sending sparks up my arms where his hands lay.

     It's all too much. "Don't touch me!" I scream, startling everyone in the room, including myself. I start crying uncontrollably.

     "Alpha, I think Aurora needs to rest right now. It's been a long day for her," says Meghan, opening the door for them.

     Oliver is shaking with frustration but he doesn't protest. "I'm so sorry," he whispers. He gets up and leaves with Evan close behind. 

     With the boys gone, Meghan asks if I am hungry and has a nurse to bring me some soup. After eating, I feel the exhaustion take over and I swiftly fall asleep again.