Her Vampire Prince

Chapter XXXVI

Two days later...

Slowly Faith's eyes fluttered open. There was a dull throb in her stomach, but apart from that, she felt normal. All she could see was white, white, white, the image not clearing even as she blinked. Was she in heaven? It was more likely to be hell, considering what she had done the past week. It was funny... she assumed it would have been hotter, or at the least dirtier...

"Faith... Faith..." A quiet voice called out, sounding like it was under water.

A pinch of pain shot into Faith's arm before there was a burst in her ears and her body made her take a deep breath in. It felt as though a bubble exploded in Faith's mind, and then sound rushed back to her and she was able to hear a clock ticking and machine beeping.

"Calm down Faith, you're all right." A foreign voice relaxed her.

Looking up, Faith noticed an older man with a thinning beard and stethoscope around his neck checking her temperature. She guessed he was a doctor - her doctor probably, and glancing down she noticed she was no longer in her ball gown (now a hospital gown), and there was a thick bandage wrapped tightly around her middle. She was surprised to see William, Hope and Florence in the room with her, and she gathered from the distrust in their eyes that they all knew she was a traitor, but must have still cared about her a little considering they were in her hospital room.

"How're you feeling Faith?" The doctor asked solemnly, gaining her attention.

"O-ok. My stomach h-hurts a little." She mumbled.

"Ok, I'll adjust your morphine dose." The doctor said as he turned around, opening a cupboard.

"Faith I was so worried about you... I thought I had lost you." Hope whispered as she took her big sisters hand.

"I'm ok Hope... don't worry." She replied softly.

Glancing inconspicuously at William, Faith felt heartbroken as she took in his dubious expression and cold eyes. Florence also looked uneasy, obviously not knowing whether she could trust Faith or not.

"I figure you guys heard... about... my, my involvement with the h-hunters." Faith began, wanting to cry as William's features hardened even more and he wouldn't even look at her.

This was no doubt going to be the second hardest conversation in her life – the first being the one with the police officer who informed her of her parents untimely death.

"I didn't want anyone to get hurt... I thought I was s-saving you all... They told me there was a cure... and I had to make sure everyone took a drink and became human otherwise you would all be... be killed. I just wanted to save you... I'm so sorry." Faith explained, her voice cracking on several occasions.

"You should have just told me Faith. It would have saved so much destruction." William spat.

"I know that now... I was just so, so scared at the thought of losing you. Losing you all."

"It's ok Faith, we all forgive you. You saved my father's life – heck, you saved all of our lives. If you hadn't thought of using the children to hold them off then we would all be dead right now." Florence said with a small smile.

"I'm no hero... it was all my fault." Faith whimpered, looking down with glassy eyes.

"No Faith. It wasn't your fault... you were doing what you thought was right at the time." Hope consoled her, leaning over to hug her.

"Why did you even bother trying to save us Faith?" William asked with a feral look in his eyes.

"Because you're my friends..." Faith said helplessly.