AU: Echoes of the Past (unrelated to what Coastal_Tavern is doing with it, I'm just writing a scene explained in the AU chapter)

Context: After being rescued from the caved-in ruins he found, Sabre wakes up in the hospital.

Warning: Mention of injury

I'm sorry this one is only being published now, Wattpad was having some issues on my end-

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[Sabre's POV]

I wake up to a quiet beeping noise, and open my eyes to see I'm in a hospital bed.

Looking around, it's the usual simple layout and white color for everything. My backpack is sitting on a chair next to the bed I'm in, thankfully undamaged. I have important stuff in that.

I feel something on my head, and reach up, feeling a large bandage there on my forehead. I think that's where I hit the ground, from what I remember... what even was that place? It was pretty, sure, but I have no idea what it could have been. And that book... maybe whoever found me found it too?

The door opens, and I turn my head to see a nurse walk in. He looks surprised for a second, but smiles at me and walks over.

"Hey, glad to see you're awake." He greets me, checking something on the monitors. "How are you feeling? Anything still hurt?"

"Just my head." I reply.

"That's to be expected! You took quite the fall, you're lucky you don't have any major damage. The doctors were able to patch you up just fine, and you'll probably be ready to be discharged soon."

There's a bit of quiet, but then I break the silence with a question.

"Uh... how did I get here?" I ask. "The last thing I remember is falling..."

The nurse looks up, seeming a little confused.

"The police picked up on your phone's SOS signal, and found those ruins and you in that hole. Didn't you turn on the signal on your phone?"

"I didn't have my phone out the entire time I was in there."

"Strange... you must have just turned it on after you hit the bottom and don't remember. It'd be plausible, with the head trauma you received after the fall. By the way, the police and some other authorities are probably going to ask you how you found that place. And... why you were in the forest."

"Did they see the book in there?"

"What book?"

Now I'm confused. Since I was holding it, it should have been right next to me, right?

"I found an old book in that cavern. It was leather, and had a big gemstone on the front." I explain. "Nobody found it? I was holding it when I fell."

"Well... maybe it was buried under some rubble then." The nurse replies. "I'll make sure the investigators are told about it. Now, I need to go see the rest of my patients, so just press the call button if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay..."

The nurse leaves, and I'm left alone in the room again. I just start looking around the room again, looking for something to do. There isn't much in here. I'd get up and grab something from my backpack, but I don't think trying to do that with the monitor wires in my arm is a good idea.

Thump.

I look over, and speaking of, my backpack has fallen off the chair... within reach of my bed. I carefully reach over and grab the strap, lifting it up and setting my bag down on the bed with me. That was lucky.

I zip open the backpack and go to look through it, but I stop when I notice something in there that shouldn't be. Slowly, I grab onto the weathered leather cover and pull it out, my fingers touching the cold gem.

Flipping it around to see the front, I confirm it's what I think it is. How did this even get here...?

It's the book I found in those ruins.