Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 161

Chapter 161

Chapter 161

Luna’s POV

19

When my eyes slowly opened, the first thing I saw was a spotless white ceiling above me, and for several long moments. I simply lay there staring at it while my mind struggled to catch up with the fact that I was awake again. Everything felt strangely peaceful. There was no loud cheering crowd anymore, no announcer speaking through giant speakers, no athletes running around the track, and no Coach Ramirez barking instructions at anyone.

Instead, the room was quiet except for the soft hum of an air conditioner and the faint sounds of people walking somewhere outside the room. I blinked a few more times before slowly turning my head, taking in my surroundings. The room I was in was far too luxurious to be an ordinary hospital room. The bed under me was huge and unbelievably comfortable, there was a television mounted on one wall, a large couch near the window, nice–looking wooden furniture, fresh flowers sitting on a small table, and even what looked like a mini fridge in one corner, and as my eyes wandered around the room, my memories slowly came rushing back.

I remembered standing on the field after receiving my silver medal, Ivy hugging me while acting like she had been the one who won the race, and then I remembered smelling Orion before I saw him walking toward me, and somehow, with every step he took closer, I had grown weaker and weaker until I had suddenly collapsed. That was the last thing I remembered before everything had gone dark.

The strange part now was that I didn’t feel sick in the slightest. I had expected to wake up with a terrible headache, aching muscles, dizziness, or at least some kind of weakness after blacking out so suddenly, but none of those things were there. If anything, I felt better than I had ever felt in my entire life. My body felt light, every trace of soreness from this whole week had disappeared, my breathing felt easier than usual, and there was an odd feeling deep inside me that I couldn’t explain. It was almost as though something within me had quietly changed while I had been unconscious, and whatever that change was, it wasn’t making me feel worse.

It was doing the exact opposite.

I slowly turned my head again, and this time my eyes landed on a familiar head of bright red hair resting beside my bed. Ivy was asleep with her head resting on her folded arms, which were placed on the edge of the mattress. Even while sleeping, there was still a worried crease between her brows, and the sight of her sitting there made guilt immediately settle inside my chest. She had obviously stayed beside me instead of going back to school with everyone else.

Wanting to avoid waking her, I carefully tried to push myself up into a sitting position as quietly as possible, but the slight movement was enough to stir her. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and the moment she realized I was awake, every trace of sleep vanished from her face. She immediately jumped to her feet so quickly that the chair behind her almost tipped over.

“Are you okay?” she asked in a rush as she hurried closer to the bed. “How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? Are you dizzy? Do you need me to call the doctor? Should I go get someone right now?”

Her words came out so quickly that they almost blended together, and judging from the panic on her face, she looked like she was only one second away from running out of the room whether I answered her or not.

I couldn’t help letting out a small laugh despite how overwhelmed she looked. Raising both of my hands slightly in surrender, I looked at her and said, “Ivy, calm down,” I said gently. “Take a breath before you ask me another hundred questions. I’m awake, aren’t I? I’m fine.”

Even though I tried to reassure her, she still looked unconvinced. She stood there for another few seconds, carefully studying my face like she was trying to decide whether I was lying to make her feel better. Eventually, she slowly sat back down in the chair, although her eyes never left me for even a second. Taking advantage of the calm, I carefully adjusted the pillows behind me before sitting up properly.

I was honestly surprised by how easy the movement was. After everything I had put my body through over the last few days, I expected even sitting upright to hurt, but there wasn’t even the slightest discomfort. The more I moved, the stranger it felt because I genuinely couldn’t find anything wrong with me.

“How long was I unconscious?” I asked quietly after getting myself comfortable, my curiosity finally getting the better of me.

Chapter 161

Ivy immediately lifted her wrist to check the watch she was wearing before looking back at me with a tight sinile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Almost five hours,” she responded. “You’ve been asleep for almost five whole hours. Luna You scared absolutely everyone. The doctors have been in and out of this room all afternoon trying to figure out what happened to you. but somehow they still don’t have an answer.

I slowly nodded while processing what she had just told me. Five hours felt impossible because it honestly seemed as though I had only closed my eyes for a few minutes. I lowered my eyes toward my own hands, opening and closing my fingers slowly while silently checking how my body felt. There was absolutely nothing wrong with me. In fact, saying felt fine didn’t even seem like enough because I felt incredible.

It almost felt like I had somehow recovered from months of exhaustion in one long sleep. My hearing seemed sharper.m breathing deeper, and my thoughts clearer. There was definitely something different about me now, but no matter how hard I searched myself, I couldn’t figure out exactly what had changed. All I knew was that something had, and strangely enough. it felt like a good change rather than a bad one.

“The doctors honestly couldn’t find anything wrong with you,” Ivy continued after noticing the thoughtful expression on my face. “Every test they ran came back normal. Your heartbeat is fine, your blood pressure is fine, and according to them. you’re perfectly healthy. The only reason they’re still keeping you here is because nobody can explain why you suddenly collapsed and stayed unconscious for hours. They decided to keep you under observation just in case something else happens.”

Her explanation only confused me even more because everything she was saying matched exactly how I felt. If the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with me, maybe there really wasn’t anything wrong. Still, I couldn’t ignore the strange feeling inside me. It was almost like my body had somehow become… complete. That thought sounded ridiculous even inside my own head, yet it refused to leave me.

I quietly searched for Moon’s presence, expecting her to immediately comment on how strange everything was, but to my surprise, she remained unusually quiet. Normally she would already be teasing me or offering some opinion, but now there was nothing but silence, and somehow that silence unsettled me even more than waking up in a hospital.

“Luna?” Ivy called softly after noticing that I had gone quiet again. “Do you want me to go and get the doctor? He’s probably not too far away.”

I slowly shook my head before looking back at her. “No,” I replied calmly. “Honestly, I don’t think I need him. I feel perfectly fine. Better than fine, actually. I really don’t think there’s any reason to panic anymore.”

Ivy let out a long sigh before crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re unbelievable,” she muttered while shaking her head. “You faint for absolutely no reason, sleep for hours, wake up like nothing happened, and now you’re telling me not to get the doctor?” If you suddenly pass out again, I’m ignoring whatever you say and dragging every doctor in this hospital into this room.”

I smiled apologetically because I couldn’t even blame her for reacting that way. If our positions had been reversed, I probably would have reacted exactly the same way. The room fell quiet for a little while after that, and as I sat there trying to make sense of everything, another thought slowly entered my mind.

“How did the rest of the meet go?” I asked curiously, hoping Blackridge had managed to perform well after everything.

Ivy stared at me like I had completely lost my mind. She actually opened her mouth slightly before blinking twice, looking almost offended by my question. “Seriously?” she asked in disbelief. “That’s the first thing you’re worried about right now? You literally collapsed in front of half the stadium, scared everyone out of their minds, spent hours unconscious in a hospital, and the first thing you want to know is how the meet ended?”

I couldn’t help giving her an awkward smile because hearing it said out loud did make my priorities sound a little strange. “I was just curious,” I admitted with a small shrug. “Coach and the others worked really hard to get us here, so I just wanted to know how everything turned out after I left.”

Ivy rolled her eyes dramatically before leaning back into her chair. “Honestly, I have no clue,” she admitted with a tired sigh. “After you fainted, Coach Ramirez looked like he was about to lose ten years off his life. The medical staff rushed over almost immediately, they brought a stretcher, and before I even fully understood what was happening, they were already bringing vou here. Coach stayed until the doctors admitted you, but eventually he had to go back because the rest of the

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Chapter 161

team couldn’t exactly stay behind forever. As for the competition itself, I never went back to watch it I stayed here with you

the whole time.”

Hearing that made my chest tighten slightly with guilt. Ivy had completely missed the rest of the competition just to sit beside my hospital bed. Looking around the room again, another thought suddenly crossed my mind. This hospital roo looked far too expensive for someone like me. The furniture, the private room, the huge bed, and everything else around me looked more like something reserved for wealthy patients rather than scholarship students who happened to faint during a race.

“I didn’t think Blackridge would pay for a room like this for me,” I said thoughtfully while glancing around the room again. mean… I’m just a scholarship student who happened to collapse. This place looks way too expensive for the university to just hand over to me.”

Ivy immediately let out a loud scoff before laughing under her breath. “I’m sorry to ruin your little theory,” she responded with an amused smile, “but Blackridge isn’t paying for this room at all. The university only brought you to this hospital. Everything after that has been taken care of by someone else.”

I immediately turned to look at her properly, completely caught off guard by what she had just said. “If the university isn’ paying for it,” I asked slowly, “then who is?”

Ivy folded her arms again before smiling knowingly at me. “Jace Callahan and his friends paid for this room,” she answered. “Your lovely soulmates decided that you were absolutely not staying in an ordinary hospital room, so they upgraded you to this one almost immediately after you arrived. Speaking of those five…” She nodded toward the closed hospital room door before continuing, “they’re all sitting outside the room right now. They’ve practically been taking turns waiting for you to wake up, so if you want to see them…” She slowly stood up from her chair and walked straight to the door before placing one hand on the doorknob. “I’ll be more than happy to call them in.”

AD