Bella's eyes felt heavy. She blinked. She held her head in her hands before glancing at Miles again.
It's already been three hours.
She closed her eyes. The soft mummurs of the heart monitor lulled her to sleep. The world slowly faded to black.
Beep!
Bella jerked awake. Her heart stuttered. The soft mummurs of the heart monitor became erratic beeps. It punctuated the silence with unyielding screeches.
She scrambled to her feet before bolting to Miles. His face was scrunched. Beads of sweat swept down his forehead.
He looked whiter than he had before. He gripped the sheets tighter.
Bella's stomach lurched. Biting her lip, she was about to call the doctor when Miles shot upright with a strangled scream.
His eyes looked unfocused. The heart monitor's screeches turned shrill. He curled into himself, tugging on the IV as though he were a caged animal.
Bella tried to grab his arm but he shrunk back.
A lump formed in her throat.
His right eye was red. His hospital gown was completely soaked with sweat.
He was trembling.
"Hey, it's just me." Bella soothed as Miles watched her with unfocused eyes.
"Leave me." His voice cracked. He himpered. His eyes scoured as though he were a sitting duck to circling vultures.
"Miles. It's just me. You're safe."
"No. He isn't he-re. H-e isn't here." She heard him mutter as he wrapped his arms around his torso. He still shivered, now whiter than the very sheets that once surrounded him.
"What are you talking about?"
He didn't answer. He looked like was caught in a trance. In a loop. His eyes circled the room. He would shiver. Then he would repeat the same words again.
Was it a nightmare?
She'd never known they were this bad. Bella was still caught in confusion and worry by the time the doctor came rushing in.
Dr. Doris pushed past her before stopping by his bedside. She switched the heart monitor off, silencing the shrills.
"Miles- you're safe. You're in the hospital. I need you to breathe in with me. In. Out. In. Out."
Miles was unresponsive at first but it seemed to soon break through the panic as he began to do it. In. Out. Then she patted his shoulders.
"It isn't real. Nothing you're seeing is real. You're safe. In a warm bed. With your sister. And me. No one here is going to hurt you. They won't hurt you."
After a few seconds of her repeating that, Miles fell silent. Now he stared at the bedsheets. Still curled up but at least looking somewhat sane.
Bella sat down and watched Dr. Doris say something to him. Then he lay down again and she covered him with the blankets. Bella could see that there was a fondness with which she did it.
Although professional but with an almost motherly touch.
Bella sighed. After a few minutes, the doctor asked another nurse who had come in to dim the lights and she watched the doctor inject him with something.
"What did you do?" Bella asked as the doctor turned to leave.
"I gave him a light sedate. It'll help him rest. When he wakes up, his vitals should be stable. He's safe." She assured her with a smile as though sensing Bella's anxiety.
With a nod, the doctor took her leave.
Miles fell asleep soon after that.
***
Bella was close to falling asleep again when Miles woke up, an hour thirty minutes later. He struggled to sit up. Bella rose and gently helped him sit up, easing him against the pillow for support.
Bella grabbed the water bottle beside her chair -she'd bought in the cafeteria for Miles. She unscrewed the cap then raised the bottle to his lips.
He didn't open his mouth.
"Don't be stupid. You need it."
Almost reluctantly, he opened his mouth and chugged down the water in the bottle. Once he could take no more she screwed the cap back before returning the bottle.
"Are you feeling better?"
Miles was silent for a few seconds before nodding.
She struggled to make sense of the storm of emotions that she'd been keeping bottled up until now.
Calm down. He won't understand you if you rage.
"I-"
"What happened to you? Did you see something? Why did you return home looking so....."
Frightened? Afraid?
Miles was silent, again. A few beats passed and Bella thought he didn't hear her. She was about to repeat her questions when he cut her off.
"What happ-ened to me? Why am I ev-en here?"
Bella inhaled slowly. "Coffee. You drank too much coffee. You blacked out."
Miles exhaled. He sat up straighter with a hiss.
"You-"
"H-ow long h-ave I been out?"
"About five hours in total."
"Five hou-rs? But how?"
"The doctor said your body shut down by itself."
"Can I see the doc-tor-
"Would you just shut up!"
Miles right eye widened slightly as his lips curled.
Bella tried to quell the growing tension in her system. She clenched and unclenched her fists before massaging her forehead. She rolled her shoulders back then leaned on the wall.
Bella gave him a narrowed look.
He was obviously avoiding the question.
Again.
"I asked you a question. I need you to answer. Truthfully." Bella said slowly, enunciating each word as though that would make him understand. That it would get her the reply she wanted.
That she needed.
"What happened before you got home? Why did you look so... on edge?"
"That doesn't matter. I'm fi-ne now."
"Don't you dare tell me you're fine! You're going to tell me what exactly that is or I won't be driving you back home!"
"Don't g-et so ahead of you-rself. I can get ho-me on my o-wn."
"Just. Answer. The. Qu-"
"This has not-hing to do with y-"
"It has everything to do with me!" Bella exploded, cutting Miles off.
"I've been in this hospital for almost five hours! I haven't slept! I haven't eaten! I've been stuck here with you! So don't you think I have a right to know?"
"But-"
"You came home looking like someone who'd seen a ghost! Start drinking coffee like you'd die without it! Then pass out! Then you expect me to mind my business?"
"You sho-uld. I'm alive. I'm fi-ne." Miles hissed, the tightened very evident in his words.
"I thought you were going to die." Bella inhaled again to still her now trembling fingers.
Breathe. She flexed her fingers.
She continued again. Softer. Biting down on the edge in her words. "I just want to know what happened? You obviously saw something that scared you. And I want to know. I want to help. Just, please."
Bella looked at him expectantly. Waited. She leaned back against the wall and tapped her wrist.
He didn't speak. He didn't answer. He didn't share. He folded his arms over his shoulder and his cold eyes were strapped to the wall.
Walls formed in his eyes. Like he was on the defensive. Guarded. Closed off.
A bitter smile curled her lips.
He still can't trust you.
"I see you've made your choice. Good night."
With that, she spun on her heel and walked out the door.