Nadia could faintly hear the sound of a slow, steady beep as she began to wake up. She softly groaned as she slightly turned her head, seeing a cardiac monitor machine.

It was her heartbeat.

Her left arm was in a cast; she felt a heavy bandage wrapped around her head. Every time she inhaled, it was painful. Her left leg was straightened out in a cast as well.

She shut her eyes, shakily sighing, feeling the urge to cry. There was a knock at her door.

"Miss Marie, you have a few visitors, would you like to see them at the moment?" A nurse asked.

Nadia nodded her head slowly.

Amelia and Leo appeared from behind the nurse and Nadia lightly smiled.

Amelia smiled back at her, taking a seat next to Nadia's bed. "Hey, how are you feeling?" She spoke softly.

"Okay I guess." Nadia's voice was a hushed whisper. "What happened?" She asked.

Amelia sighed, glancing back at Leo. Nadia's eyes looked away from Amelia, landing on Leo who stood away from her hospital bed, holding a bouquet of red roses in his hand.

He cleared his throat, stepping closer to her. "We were on the way to find you and I was driving too fast and I-," Leo began to stutter, not wanting to say what happened. He sighed deeply.

"I hit you with my car." He admitted, taking a moment to pause. "I'm sorry."

Nadia blankly stared at him, a small smile appeared on her lips. She scoffed, lightly laughing. "No, don't be. I probably deserved that."

"Nadia." Amelia sadly furrowed her eyebrows at her.

"No, I did, I did. What I did was selfish and you didn't deserve any of that Leo." Nadia sighed, dwelling on the next thing she was about to say to him.

"So, I understand that once this is all over and you don't wanna be with me anymore," She curled her lips back, fighting back the tears in her eyes. "I can accept that."

Leo looked away from her, blinking rapidly to stop his eyes from watering. He covered his face with his hand, quickly wiping his eyes dry.

Amelia took out her phone. She seemed to search for something and whenever she found it, she placed her phone down on Nadia's bed. Amelia kindly smiled at her. "Listen to this."

"Do you love her?" Nadia's eyes widened at the sound of Amelia's voice. She looked down at her phone. Leo glanced at Amelia with the same amount of shock in Nadia's eyes. He remembered that day.

"Of course I love her."

"No, Leo, I need a real answer, a meaningful one."

"Truth is, Nadia means everything to me. I didn't think much of it at first. She was just a girl I met at a bar. I brought her to my home when she was too drunk to go back to her own and in the morning, I thought that was the end of that. But I asked her to stay and here she is three years later, still by my side."

"I helped her with her recovery and essentially, she helped me too. When I'm with her, my drinking impulses aren't as strong. I tend to have more control over myself."

"And I feel like shit, you know it's only been a few days and I've already woken up hungover."

"It just makes me realize how much of a positive influence she has on me. She's a wonderful person, and she makes me feel like I'm one too. So, when I say I love her, I mean it."

Amelia pressed pause and Nadia suddenly burst into tears, sobbing loudly.

She knew that recording was taken while she was in Vegas with Danny and contradicting Leo's words, she felt like a horrible person.

"I'm so sorry." She choked out. "Leo, I'm so sorry." The beeping of her heart rate monitor began to speed up. Nadia was crying and wincing in pain with each deep breath she took.

Amelia quickly held her hand. "Hey, Nadia are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

A nurse barged into the room. "What's going on here?"

Nadia continued to cry excessively, trying to breath properly. Amelia let go of Nadia's hand, stepping away from the bed. "I need you both to step out right now." The nurse spoke sternly. Fear of the unknown clouded Amelia and Leo's faces, but they nodded, slowly leaving Nadia's room.

Leo peered through the door's narrow glass window, anxiously gazing at the nurse who was trying to calm Nadia down. Amelia and Leo patiently waited for the nurse to exit Nadia's room.

As she closed the door behind her, she sighed, giving Leo and Amelia a warm smile.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Leo hastily asked.

"She'll be alright." The nurse kindly reassured him. "She's got a couple fractured ribs so, it can be painful to take deep breaths. Her crying certainly wasn't helping."

Leo frowned. "When can we see her again?"

The nurse looked at him apologetically. "I'm afraid you can't see her at the moment. It's best to try later in the evening once she's stable again."

Leo disappointedly nodded, dragging his feet back to the waiting room. "Thank you." Amelia politely smiled at the nurse, following behind Leo.

She sat next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" She asked. Leo sighed, slightly nodding. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine, I just-I just need to see her that's all. I need to talk to her."

Leo faintly chuckled after a moment of silence between them. "You recorded our conversation about Nadia?"

Amelia blushed in slight embarrassment. "Well, I was hoping it would come in handy one day." She bashfully giggled.

...

Amelia was curled up in her seat, quietly sleeping. Leo seemed to be the only attentive person in the waiting room.

After impatient hours of unconscious leg-bouncing, foot-tapping, and checking the clock, Leo stood up, walking to the front desk. He leaned over the counter.

"Can I see her now? Nadia Marie, can I see her, please?"

The receptionist sympathetically glanced at Leo before flashing him a kind smile. "Give me one moment." She stood up, looking for a nurse to attend to Leo's demand.

He faced away from the desk, sighing deeply as he brushed his hand through his hair.

"Mr. Mansefield?"

Leo spun around upon hearing his name being called. A nurse smiled at him. "Follow me."

"Thank god." Leo mumbled under his breath, quickly going back to his seat, picking up the bouquet of roses he had wanted to give to Nadia earlier.

The nurse led him to Nadia's room, opening the door for him. "Thank you." Leo nodded. "No problem." She spoke softly, lightly smiling.

Leo waited until the door closed behind him. Nadia weakly smiled at him. "Hey."

Leo cleared his throat. "Hey." He slowly made his way over to her bedside. "I, um, I got these for you. I wanted to give them to you earlier but," He trailed off, handing her the roses.

"I know. Thank you, they're beautiful." She whispered, placing the roses at her side.

"You're welcome."

They grew silent for awhile.

Nadia sighed. "Leo, I don't know how long I'll be here, but you don't have to-,"

"I forgive you."

Awe transformed her face. "W-what?"

Leo softly chuckled, cautiously taking hold of Nadia's hand.

"I, I don't think I can let this go, as much as I feel like I should, I just can't."

Nadia was at a loss of words. "You-you really want to give this another shot?"

Leo slowly nodded. "I'm willing to if you are." He sighed, gazing into her eyes. "You've really had an impact on me Nadia, I'm sure you've noticed." He lopsidedly grinned.

Nadia attempted to laugh. She nodded. "Yeah." She sniffled. Her heart rate progressively began to increase as she tried not to cry.

"Please, don't cry. I wouldn't want to get kicked out again." Leo sheepishly joked.

Nadia giggled, trying to regulate her breathing. "I'm trying not to."

Leo leaned forward, lightly hugging her, taking consideration of her fractured ribs. She quietly wept on his shoulder. "Thank you." Nadia mumbled. "Thank you so much."

...

Nadia's eyes darted towards her hospital room door as there was a loud knock.

A nurse swung the door open, smiling at Nadia as she noticed her attentive manner. "Miss Marie you have a couple visitors today." She cheerfully spoke.

Nadia sat up, brightly smiling as she saw Christian walk through the door.

"Christian!" She beamed as he grinned at her excitement.

"Hey Nadia." He leaned in to give her a hug. "Oh, watch my ribs, they're fractured." She sheepishly laughed. "Oh, sorry." He quickly loosened his embrace.

Christian pulled away, lightly chuckling. "I got these for you." Christian eagerly handed her an arrangement of different colored flowers with a 'get well soon' card attached.

Nadia happily took the flowers from his hand, admiring their beauty. "Thank you Christian, these are lovely." She smiled at him, furrowing her eyebrows for a moment as she finally noticed his face was bruised and a bandage hugged his nose.

"What happened to your face?" She softly asked.

Christian smirked. "I had to hold Danny off remember?" He joked.

Nadia stifled a laugh as she became aware of two other people in her room. Christian quickly turned his head back to see what she was staring at.

His shoulders relaxed as he saw Detective Myers and Collins.

"Oh, right." He laughed. "I forgot you guys were here for a second."

"Sorry to interrupt your moment." Detective Collins teased.

Detective Myers stepped closer to Nadia's bed. "I'm glad to see you're okay Nadia."

"Oh, um, thank you." Nadia nervously smiled.

"They're the detectives that were looking for you." Christian chimed in sensing that Nadia was a bit lost. "Ooh." Nadia nodded in realization.

Detective Myers sighed, not wanting to beat around the bush. "Nadia, whenever you're ready, and of course, comfortable, we'd like to ask you what happened when Danny kidnapped you."

Nadia apprehensively glanced at Christian before looking back at Detective Myers. "Where's-where's Danny now?" She timidly asked.

"He's on the run." Detective Collins scowled.

...

1 week later

Nadia had been released from the hospital. Her broken arm, leg and fractured ribs would heal in a given six to eight weeks. She was primarily in a wheelchair, actively waiting until her arm healed before switching to crutches. The trip out of California was relieving as Nadia was glad to finally be back home after a chaotic month.

Before she left California, Christian returned all of her belongings that had been in his vacation cabin while she was being held by Danny.

Leo and Nadia were on the road to recovery, slowly building their relationship back up.

She hadn't heard from Danny since her escape.

...

Amelia cheerfully entered her apartment complex. She took the stairs instead of the elevator, hearing a commotion near her apartment.

Maia's apartment door was open.

Amelia cautiously walked over to Maia's and before she could peek through, a man came out of the room, startling her.

"Oh, my god." Amelia placed her hand over her heart.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. Are you okay?" He asked.

Amelia chuckled. "Yeah, I'm fine." She brushed her hair back. "What's going on?" She curiously pointed into the room.

"Oh, I'm just unpacking. I moved in a couple hours ago."

Amelia raised an eyebrow at him, confusingly peering past the front door. "Is it...just you?"

He looked at her strangely before answering. "Uh, yeah," he awkwardly laughed. "It's just me."

Amelia quickly fixed the conversation. "Oh, I was just wondering, since I live literally right next to you."

He glanced at her front door. "Oh," he laughed. "I was wondering why you were asking me if I lived alone. Was the girl who lived here before loud or something?" He asked.

"Um, yeah a little bit." She lied.

He chuckled. "Well, I promise I'm not a loud person, so hopefully that gives you some relief."

Amelia smiled. "Thanks."

"I'm Jay, by the way." He extended his arm out to shake her hand.

"I'm Amelia." She took note of his wild brown-blonde highlighted curly hair and the delicate flecks of hazel in his brown eyes.

"Well, nice meeting you Amelia, I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see you later." She slightly waved goodbye, walking towards her door.

She didn't know how or what to feel. Maia was suddenly gone and she had no clue as to where she had run off to.

Sorry if you guys hate me for making Leo and Nadia get back together hehe...
But at least Maia's out of the picture, right...?
Until next time! Thanks for reading :)
Feel free to leave a vote if you'd like 🤍