Fall From Grace Part 19

"That's for ruining my perfect face, d.i.c.k."

Then everything went black.

Chapter 35.

Recovery's a b.i.t.c.h.

Opening my eyes has never hurt so much or taken so long. Focusing was even harder but I can tell it's dark and I'm back in my own bed. I'm still half asleep and unsure how I got here. As my eyes adjust I glance at my clock declaring 3AM as the time. Was it all a dream? The whole thing? Leaning over on my side I can hear the crinkling of bandages as a pain like no other shoots through my stomach. Looking down I peel back the tape, revealing a long, thick red line where the sword opened my flesh. Nope not a dream. A feeling of relief pa.s.ses over me which I really didn't expect. You'd think after my encounter with the Ubiquatar, I would have killed for it to be a dream. Bad choice of words perhaps. Suddenly my memory of Ash comes rus.h.i.+ng back as panic grips my soul.

Pulling back the covers I hastily pull my legs over the side, and stand up. Pain burns my belly and arm, but my need to find him trumps everything. Fumbling in the dark I make my way downstairs to the kitchen where I find Gabs and Hunter. I'm completely disorientated and tripping over my own toes almost every step of the way.

"Well Hi there! Sleeping beauty has risen," he says with a grin and throws down the magazine he was thumbing through. This wakes the sleeping Gabby next to him as she bolts upright and runs over to me, arms open. She was a little too boisterous though and knocks me back, sending fresh pain waves through my middle.

"Oh s.h.i.+t! Sorry Stella, did I make it worse?" She pulls back and lifts up my tank to see better. Leaning slightly forward but no real worse for wear I tell her it's ok.

"Give the poor chick some s.p.a.ce Princess, she just got sliced open like a Christmas ham you know." Hunter doesn't get up but places his arm on the back of the couch to join in. His face looks much better, but still could use a few days healing time.

"Where's Ash?" I squeak out, my voice sounding strained and foreign.

Gabby replies. "It's ok Stella. He's up in your Dad's room resting. He lost a lot of blood... "

I turn too quickly, feeling dizzy but still pus.h.i.+ng forward to see him. Booking it up the stairs as fast I can, I barrel through the double doors and see Ash asleep on the bed. The moonlight is coming in from the window and s.h.i.+ning right on his face. He looks so peaceful and serene. Slowing walking over to him I crawl up onto the bed, careful not to disturb him and cuddle up next to him, unbelieving that we actually survived the night. His breathing is shallow but steady as I lean in to press myself as close to him as possible. Just being near to him, knowing he's alive, my body gives out once again today and I fall into a deep sleep beside him.

ASH.

Blinking my eyes to adjust to the suns.h.i.+ne beaming through the window, I'm confused as to where the h.e.l.l I am. I feel a warm body next to me as I slowly creak my neck to the left and see her. She is alive. I can't believe it. She's alive, right next to me, and drooling all over that pillow.

Stirring slightly she begins to wake up. I can tell she was pretty out of it, and it takes a little while for her to gain her consciousness. I don't mind, not one bit. I am content to just sit and stare at her right now, I've never seen anything so beautiful.

Memories of what happen flood my mind, slicing her skin, the sensation of her blood on my hands. I've never experienced anything remotely as grotesque as that. Being unable to move and inflicting so much pain in Stella was unbearable. No words can describe the helplessness, the anger, the disgust. I push these dark thoughts away for the moment, I'll deal with them later. Right now I just want to look at her.

When her eyes finally open, she sees me awake and launches herself over me sending huge pain waves into my gut. As I flinch back, she realizes what she's done.

"Oh c.r.a.p! I am so so sorry As.h.!.+ Are you ok, did I tear the wound?"

"I don't think so. I think I'm ok." I lie. I'm pretty sure she did but I don't care. Lying still to avoid more damage I search Stella's face for answers. She looks alright considering she was sliced open too, but there are dark circles under her eyes and a gaunt look in her once rosy and beautiful cheeks.

"No wait. Scratch that. I'm better then ok Stella. Can you enlighten me on how in h.e.l.l we managed to walk away from that?"

"I wouldn't say either of us are walking right now," she says with a huge smile.

"Yeah, good point," I say in a bit of a laugh which wasn't smart, feeling the gash opening further. I try to smile back at her though as she rolls over off the bed. "Wait, where are you going?" I ask.

"I'm going to get Hunter, I think we owe him big time for saving our a.s.ses and I'm sure he's dying to get some gloating in. Must be absolutely killing him down there!"

STELLA.

A few days have pa.s.sed and Ash is feeling much better. I've pretty much healed up, as well as Hunter's face. Gabby finally went back home after I couldn't take the constant bickering between her and Hunter anymore and Dad came back to this house of weird. He has been surprisingly amazing through all of this though and we've had some long talks about mom which I think he's starting to be ok about. Shocking really, with all this new stuff we've thrown at him.

After way too many jokes on saving our a.s.ses and cleaning up the demon mess we made, I demanded that Hunter take Ash back to the lodge. Ash needs to rest and get back up to 100% which would be a lot easier if he wasn't here with me constantly squeezing him. I can't help it though. As non-tactile as I usually am, I am just uber grateful we are all still alive. I don't really know how, but I'm pretty sure it was plain dumb luck.

I've just finished getting ready for the day and am about to head over to the Lodge and bring some homemade soup to the guys when the door bell rings. Dad's gone to work already so I jog downstairs and fling open the door. Standing before me is a drop dead gorgeous woman with long blond hair and an eerily familiar face.

"Can I help you?" I say.

"Hi Stella," she replies. My nerve endings spring up at the sound of her voice.

"How do you know who I am? Who are you?" I ask.

"I'm your Mother Stella, and I think it's time we had a little talk."

end.