74

Isabella

I went back to Paula's room every day after the small conversation I had with Michael. She was sleeping for most of the time until the fourth day when I found her awake.

She had a bright smile on her face as soon as she saw me. She looked better, less weak, and more capable of getting up on her own.

"Hey," she whispered to me when I sat beside her. "You're okay?" she asked.

I was torn between saying yes and saying no. Yes would mean alive because I was constantly in a state of turmoil, and no would mean that I was in pain.

So, I chose both. She looked at me as though I had grown a second head and then giggled. This was the Paula I was familiar with, and I felt at ease.

"I'll feel better when I tell you something," I said.

"What is it?" she asked.

I told her about who I was, where I was from, and why she was kidnapped. By the time I told her about who Damon was, she gasped and covered her mouth.

"I knew it," she whispered, as though she had happened upon the secret o