Leonidas ✔️

Chapter 9 - Eleanor

Everything was blurry.

I noticed people coming in and out of the room, but I couldn't tell who they were. The room smelt nothing like my pack and reeked of medical supplies.

Slowly, my memory began to catch up with me and my head lolled back and forth on the bed.

"My father, where's my father?" I asked. The sentence came out garbled, and it sounded more like a prolonged mumble.

Though it was quiet, it seemed to catch the attention of one of the men in the room. He froze, and soon after so did everyone else. All of the sudden there was a flurry of action, men and women scurrying from my room as if something had scared them.

The only one that remained was a man standing to the left of my bed, near the window. He had a clipboard in his hand, and his eyes were as wide open as they could be. He audibly gulped before slowly stepping closer to me.

"Are you feeling alright? You weren't supposed to be awake yet, so the medicine may not be working anymore." He said. I clenched my eyes tightly shut and nodded my head as much as I could in answer to his question.

"My father?" I asked again, my voice coming out more clearly this time. He hesitated in his answer before giving me a small shrug.

"I don't know who your father is, I'm sorry." His voice was filled with sympathy, but I just gave a small huff. Closing my eyes, I searched through my memory as to who was in my house before I passed out, and snapped my eyes back open.

"Ana, I need Ana." My voice was raspy but working, and my heart sped up a bit when his eyes seemed to light up in recognition. He gave a small bow before heading towards the door.

"As long as you're feeling alright, I'll go grab her." He said. His voice was cautious, and he slipped out the door before waiting for a response.

My eyes shut tightly, wincing at the pain radiating through my body. I had been through this before, I didn't need medication to numb this.

A few minutes later I could hear footsteps thundering down the hallway, and my eyes snapped open. Had they found my father? Was he here to pick me up?

Tears began to flood my eyes at the thought of how angry he'd be that I was here. He never wanted me to receive medical help, I was supposed to learn to heal on my own.

Seconds before the door slammed open Ana's scent drifted into the room and my shoulders drooped in relief. She seemed to slow down before she reached the door and opened it carefully, peeking her head into the room.

"Eleanor?" She sounded hopeful and I released a small smile as she entered the room. "How are you feeling?" She asked. The closer she got, the more emotions I realized were flickering across her face.

"I'm okay, Ana. Thank you. Where is my father?" I asked. Guilt became the dominant emotion on her face and Ana released a sigh as she sat in the chair near my bed.

"He didn't make it, Eleanor." She said. My face crumpled as she spoke, but she was quick to explain herself. "He was trying to hurt us, Eleanor! We wanted to get you out of there."

I opened my mouth to argue, closing it when she raised a hand telling me to wait.

"How can you care for him so much? He hurt you!" Her voice raised towards the end of her sentence, and I winced before letting out a small sob.

I shook my head, curling into myself as I used my shaky hands to cover my face. My sobs became louder, and she carefully tried to pry hands off of my face.

"I'm sorry, I should have said it differently. That doesn't change how I feel, though, you don't deserve to be treated like that. Life is so much better than you've known." She said. Her voice was softer now, and filled with regret.