#Chapter 246 Catch a Break

I awoke to the sterile smell of cleaning chemicals. As my eyes fluttered open, fluorescent bulbs blinded me, causing me to squint and blink several times before I could finally keep my eyes open. Even so, my head pounded when I tried to take in my surroundings. It was a setting that I was all too familiar with: a hospital room. This time, though, there were no visitors. Instead, lying in the bed beside mine, hooked up to as much equipment as I was, was Noah. My heart sank. His neck was in a brace, and his right leg had been set in a cast. Bandages, now stained bloody, had been wrapped around the crown of his head and several other parts of his body. I tried to sit up, instinctively wanting to comfort Noah, but a pain shot through my head, back, and arm. I groaned and collapsed back onto my bed. The heart monitor beside me pinged more rapidly. “Be calm, Crystal,” Noah croaked, his raspy voice causing me to cringe. “Everything’s fine. We’re fine.” “I know,” I croaked back. “I just…I