Where was she?

Everything was black. She couldn't hear anything except a constant hum. There was no smell to give away where she was. Her senses were all but useless to her.

Her mind itself felt foggy, and she couldn't think. What had happened? Why couldn't she remember anything?

Slowly, Skylar forced her eyes to open, despite them feeling as if they had been glued shut. Immediately, a bright light flooded through and blinded her. Letting out a low groan, she threw her head back and shut her eyes again.

Her heart skyrocketed at the thought of not knowing where she was, or who was near her. She became accurately aware of an erratic beeping to her side, front and back. She couldn't pinpoint the exact location as it seemed to be echoing on the walls.

"Baby," a soothing voice came out of nowhere. "Hey, baby. Calm down. I'm here now."

She couldn't place the owner of the voice but the deep, rumbling sound of it made her feel relaxed almost instantly. Skylar tried to feel panicked but the thought passed as a rough hand softly ran through her dark brown hair.

"I know it's hard for you, okay? But stay still, baby. You hurt yourself." The same voice was gold to her ears. Suddenly, a cool, plastic object was placed on her dry lips. "Drink this, okay? It's just water. It'll make you feel better."

Her mouth parted as soon as he mentioned water. She was all too aware of how parched her mouth felt. Feeling the cool liquid run down her throat made her moan in relief. "That's it. Slow sips, okay?"

The coolness was pulled away, making her frown. However, the hand started playing with her hair again making her eyes flutter. "Go back to sleep, baby. You need to rest."

She shut her eyes for what she thought as a couple seconds. But after a few attempts of opening them, she noticed that the light was gone, replaced with dusk. Pain exploded in her side when she shifted to the side, making a soft whimper escape her lips. It slowly passed, and with the pain leaving, Skylar opened her eyes.

The vibrant white in the room made Skylar's eyes squint. Tilting her head to scan the room, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Even with having her vision back, she still could not decipher where she was.

Her attention shifted towards the door, where Carlisle peeked his head through. Looking relieved that she was awake, he entered the room. "Skylar. We were wondering when you were going to wake up."

"What... Where am I?" Skylar muttered.

He walked towards her as if he got too close, she would get hurt. "You're at the hospital. You got hurt, Skylar, and bad. You've been out for four days."

She got hurt? While it was evident with the pain in her side, she couldn't remember. How... What happened?

All of a sudden, it flashed through her eyes in fast forward. Hiding from the vampires. Victoria finding them. The wolves. Edward. Bella.

"Bella," she choked out. "Edward and Bella were fighting with her... Victoria..."

Carlisle quickly held his hands up in reassurance. "They're fine. Victoria's gone - forever."

Skylar immediately sighed in relief only to have her heart speed up again. "Paul. Where is he?"

Carlisle face twisted at the mention of the werewolf. "He's okay, Skylar. But Jacob..."

"Jacob?"

"He got hurt protecting Leah. He's alive, but he's suffering many of the same injuries you are," The oldest vampire said regretfully. "Skylar, you have six broken ribs, a cracked skull along with a major concussion. With the injury to your head... Well, we weren't sure if you'd wake up anytime soon."

Skylar processed the information for a second. "Where is he? Where is Paul?"

"He had to go back to see the pack, but I will call him to come again if you want." She nodded before her head shot up, making her flinch. "Wait. He was here?"

"He was here for the first couple of days before Sam forced him to come back to the reservation," Carlisle confirmed. The pair sat in silence for a moment or two longer before he clapped his hands together. "Okay. I'll get Bella. She's been wanted to know if you were awake."

He left the room, giving her one last smile before exiting. Skylar slumped down on the bed, not realizing until then how tense she had been. She felt as if her body contain all of these emotions boiling inside of her, confusion and worry tying for first. Carlisle said that everyone was fine, including Jacob, but he really didn't go into detail.

What had happened after she had passed out? Honestly, the events beforehand were a little blurry as well. Honestly, Skylar didn't remember much of the morning before the fight.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the door, only this time it was Bella peeking in. Her sisters face went from apprehension to relief in the matter of a second. "Skylar, oh thank God!" Bella ran up to get her twin a hug but stopped right beside her, as if she just remembered her injuries. "I wasn't sure if you okay... You were so cold."

"Bella, what happened? I don't remember anything."

Her sister hesitated before nodding. "I'm not surprised, with the hit you took. What's the last thing you remember?"

Skylar clenched her jaw, trying to remember the fuzzy moments. "I think I remember sitting with Seth before the fight, and then coming back... but after that it's hard."

"Victoria found us - Edward, you, and me. We fled, but she still tracked us down. Only she was with a local turned called Riley. He attacked Edward, but Seth came out of nowhere and fought him off. But while they were fighting, Edward and Victoria were going at it... But then both started losing and I didn't know what to do." Bella's voice became shaky. "And then Riley got to you and he was - he was going to kill you."

Skylar got goosebumps thinking of the events. Events that she couldn't even remember. "Why didn't he? If Seth and Edward were down, how am I still here?"

Bella gave the ground a long, hard stare. "It was Paul. Seth must have told him because he came out of nowhere. When Riley threw you over to the wall, I heard the crack. Skylar, even I could smell the blood, so I can't imagine what Victoria and Riley felt. But Paul... He jumped and took down Riley in a snap, and Victoria wasn't that far behind with the two wolves and Edward."

Skylar couldn't say anything. What was she supposed to say to that? "Can I see Paul?"

"He went back to La Push, but I think that's one of Sam's gag orders. I haven't seen him in a day or two."

A thought shot through Skylar's mind. "What about Charlie? Oh my, God, what does he know?"

"Charlie thinks that you were in a car accident on the way back from Paul's house. He's been here most of the time with you."

Skylar took in a shuttering breath. "I want to see them both, but Bella... I need to know that Paul's okay. I know you've both told me but I need to make sure. I need to see him."

Bella stared at her twin, sighing before nodding. "I'll get Carlisle to page him in."

Skylar laid on her back, mindlessly staring at the walls while waiting for Paul. She ignored the doctors, the nurses, everyone. It was only when Charlie walked through the door that Skylar snapped back into focus, blinking back tears.

"Skylar, don't cry," Charlie whispered.

"Dad," Skylar whispered. "I don't know what happened. I don't remember..."

Charlie immediately went towards his daughters side. "Shh, shh. Sky, it's okay now. You're going to be okay, alright? I'm here now."

Her dad comforted her for what seemed like hours. Every time she sobbed harder, he would hold her tighter. It really hit Skylar that she nearly died.

The room went completely silent, and both Charlie and Skylar looked up to see why. The younger girl's eyes widened when she saw him.

Paul was standing there wearing clothes with wrinkles in them, hair disheveled and deep, purple bags hanging under his eyes. He looked as if he hadn't slept for weeks.

Charlie awkwardly stood up, eyes darting around. "I should, uh, go." Looking at his daughter, he gave her a pointed stare. "I'm going to go get some coffee. I'll come back, okay?" He leaned down, placing a long kiss on her forehead.

The room quickly cleared out, but Paul never budged from the door, as did his stare. His gaze stayed focused on Skylar as if he couldn't believe she was there.

Minutes passed before either made a move. Skylar simply lifted her hand, but the gesture set Paul in motion. He stalked towards her and pushed away her hand, opting to carefully climb in her bed. After he got himself situated, he pulled his imprint towards him until she was firm against his body.

Once again, the pair sat in silence for moments, only this time Paul broke it. "I thought you were dead," he whispered into her hair. "I saw you there laying on the ground. You had blood all over you and the way those two bloodsuckers were looking at you..." HIs breath increased rapidly, as if the mere memory enraged him. "I don't remember what happened. I saw red. And then they were trying to take you away from me."

Skylar nuzzled her head into his neck. "I'm here. Paul, I'm here. I'm okay."

His grip around her tightened ever so slightly without hurting Skylar. Whether it was being in her imprints arms or the pain medicine the doctors had given her, she was content without pain.

"You're mine," he lowly growled. "I'm not going to let another bloodsucker anywhere near you. I' promise, I will make sure nothing will ever hurt you."

"The Cullens helped, Paul."

He scoffed. "That leech left you on your own to take care of his own mate. I told you he would. He would leave you in an instant to attend to his own needs."

"Paul," she whispered. "I'm here now. And I'm alive."

"And you're mine."

"Forever."

This chapter was a bitch to write. And I was gonna make y'all wait longer, but I couldn't handle the wait myself. I've actually had most of the chapter written for like a week but kept forgetting to post it. My bad.

As always, hoped you enjoyed.