MY HERO |T.BRADFORD

VII. anything to protect you

CHAPTER SEVEN
ANYTHING TO PROTECT YOU

valerie barnes had awoken. her eyes fluttered open, the morning light shining across her beautiful features. despite how rough she looked, and hurt. she still looked like an angel sent from heaven to tim bradford. valerie let out a small groan, immediately feeling the small pain through her body when she woke up.

it had been four days since her abduction, four days since the day she almost died, four days since she had fell into darkness. four days since tim bradford had saved her life and became the hero valerie always claimed him to be. he was her hero, always.

valerie barnes was in the dark for four days. surrounded by her family, wondering when and if she would ever wake up. but they all had faith in her, valerie barnes did not go down without a fight. they believed that she would awaken, and prove to be survivor she always was deep inside.

valerie turned her head, her blurry eyes just managing to figure out who was sat in the chair next to her bed. tim bradford looked up from his magazine, a relieved smile stretching across his face when he realised that valerie was finally awake.

valerie let out a small chuckle, ignoring the pain that she felt throughout her body. "what are you reading, teen rebel?" valerie asked, causing tim to push his chair forward to sit directly by valerie's side.

"they actually have some really insightful political articles." tim said, growing as close to valerie as he could. he'd been by her side for four days, refusing to leave until she woke up. he wanted to be there the moment her eyes opened. he'd taken four days off work, four. just to stay by valerie barnes' side. he hadn't slept a blink, which was obvious due to the eyebags underneath his eyes.

"oh." valerie raised an eyebrow, looking down at the magazine. "which one direction member is your soulmate?" valerie read from a page of the magazine in tim's hands. "mines is definitely styles, right?"

"oh, totally." tim nodded his head, his chocolate eyes locking with valerie's glossy green. "what's a styles?" tim asked after a moment of silence.

valerie let out a loud chuckle, shaking her head at the man before her. "oh, god." she laughed to herself, sending a bright grin to tim's face. "harry styles, timothy!" the two fell into a silence, gazing into each others eyes. "have you been here all night?"

tim looked at valerie, he couldn't take his eyes away from her. after what had happened, he never wanted to leave her side again. "four days, actually..." tim trailed off.

valerie's mouth fell in shock. "four days? i've been asleep for fours days? i- huh? what, that can't be right." valerie shook her head in denial, trying to push herself up from the bed but quickly stopping as she felt the pain shoot up her stomach. "wait, what about the bullet?"

tim glanced between valerie and where she had been shot, though it was covered by a hospital duvet. "you had surgery." valerie's face fell, she had surgery and was asleep for fours days? great. "but no worries, you'll be fine. actually, you want to tell me how you got shot in the first place? they never shot lucy."

valerie bit down on her lip, playing the moment where she'd been shot and forced into the barrel in her head. "lucy and i were separated. they were going to bury us in different places. i had this gut feeling that lucy would be found first. and i thought, she hears the gunshot, she knows what direction i'm in. you all find me." tim went to cut her off to give her a lecture but valerie shoved her finger in his face. "i know it was dangerous, risky, a little bit stupid. but look how it ended up. you saved me, tim."

tim shook his head, looking down on the injured girl. she had cuts, bruises all over her face, her body. a sight that tim could never forget, somebody had hurt his valerie. and he would never forget that. "i didn't save you." he denied.