CHAPTER FIFTY TWO
ALICE
There is a soft hand cradling mine...
its gentle warmth the only anchor keeping me from slipping back into the velvet void.
Slowly, painfully, I force my eyes open.
Everything comes to me as a blurry, disjointed mess.
The harsh fluorescent light beaming from the ceiling assaults my eyes,
forcing a sharp throb to echo through my temples.
I blink against the glare, my vision gradually clearing as the shadows in the room take shape.
"Doctor! She's awake!" a frantic voice calls out.
Instantly, the quiet room erupts into a shuffling pattern of footsteps.
I turn my head slightly against the stiff pillow, taking in the scene.
Mio is standing right beside my mattress.
It was her hand wrapped around mine, her skin incredibly soft against my rough knuckles.
"Hi..." I whisper, my voice sounding like raw sandpaper.
Mio's face instantly crumples. "Oh... oh, I... am... sorry, Alice..."
She breaks into a string of jagged, breathless sobs, her shoulders trembling.
"Miss, move aside, please,"
a female doctor calls out firmly, stepping into the space between us with a clipboard.
Mio nods quickly, wiping her face as she steps back to give the medical team room to work.
The doctor shines a small penlight into my eyes,
checking my pupils before looking down at me with a calm, professional smile.
"What is your name? Do you know where you are right now?"
"Yeah... I am... Alice," I say, a faint frown twisting my features.
Why on earth is she asking me my name? Did she think the nail hit my brain, too?
"Good. Airway is clear," the doctor reports to a nurse standing somewhere out of my line of sight.
She shifts her attention to the foot of the gurney, pulling back the light blanket covering my lower half.
"Hi, Alice. Can you wiggle your toes for me?"
I concentrate, forcing my brain to send the signal to my feet.
I manage to move them, but the sudden effort triggers a sharp,
white-hot spike of pain deep in my left side, making me hiss through my teeth.
"She's wiggling them. Slight delay on the left side,"
the doctor notes aloud.
She reaches out, tapping the bottoms of my feet.
"Can you feel me touching your legs? Does it feel numb or tingly at all?"
The relentless stream of questions pisses me off even more than the physical pain racking my body, but I swallow my irritation and nod anyway.
"Are you having any burning pain shooting down your legs? Do you feel tightness in your chest like you can'tbreathe..?" she presses, her eyes focused on my reaction.
"No..." I rasp out, clearing my dry throat.
"But my left leg hurts whenever I try to move it."
"Are you on any blood thinners, taking any daily medications... or were you, by any chance, pregnant?"
she asks casually.
I shake my head against the pillow, the movement making the room spin for a brief second.
The doctor lets out a long, audible sigh of relief, the tension leaving her shoulders.
"Okay, Alice, everything is going perfectly from here. We're going to keep you admitted here for the next week just to monitor the infection and your fever."
She offers a reassuring smile, unbuckling the blood pressure cuff from my arm before turning on her heel to leave the room.
Once the door clicks shut, my gaze drifts back over to Mio.
She looks entirely exhausted.
She's wearing a simple black t-shirt paired with pajama pants,
her hair tied up in a messy, hurried bun with a few short strands falling loosely against the nape of her neck.
"Hi..." she whispers, her voice tiny as she slides into the plastic chair right beside the bed.
"Am I forgiven...?" I ask softly, trying to use my pathetic hospital state to my full advantage.
Mio lets out a breathless, watery laugh, but she doesn't cry this time.
Her eyes are heavily bloodshot, ringed with deep, dark circles that give away the fact that she hasn't slept a single wink all night.
"Oh, Alice, I am sorry. I am so, so sorry,"
she whispers, her fingers tentatively reaching out to brush against mine.
"I am such a useless friend. I am so sorry."
"You... are not useless, idiot," I murmur, though the plastic oxygen tubing resting in my nostrils is tickling my nose, making it hard to speak properly.
"You're not an object to be useful or useless. So shut up."
Mio swallows hard, a faint, grateful smile touching her lips.
But as the fog completely clears from my mind, the terrifying memory of the basement comes crashing back into my chest, making my pulse spike.
"How is Ellie...?" I ask, my voice rising with a sudden wave of panic.
"Is she okay? The baby... is her baby okay?"
"Easy, easy, Alice," Mio says quickly, placing a calming hand on my shoulder to keep me from bolting upright.
"She's fine. Alice... the babies are perfectly fine."
I blink, staring at her blankly as my fragile heart thumps wildly against my ribs.
"I... I think I'm hallucinating. Did you, by any chance, just say babies?"
"Yes. In the plural. Like twins," Mio says, breaking out into a wide, bright smile, fresh tears gathering in her eyes.
"She's going to have two babies, Alice."
A sudden, overwhelming burst of pure happiness floods my chest.
It is a feeling so bright and beautiful, it's the only thing keeping me from passing out from exhaustion.
I part my lips, about to tell Mio that I need to see her immediately, when the heavy wooden door swings open.
The sound cuts through the room.
I turn my head, and my breath hitches.
Standing in the doorway is the one person
I thought I despised the most–the man I have fought, the monster who claimed my soul, and the very person I almost gave up my entire life for.
He isn't wearing his blood-stained clothes anymore. But he has a bandage covering his hand entirely...
He's dressed in a clean white tee, dark navy blue jeans, and a deep maroon leather jacket that makes his broad shoulders look impossibly wide.
The exact moment his fierce, bloodshot eyes fall on my face, Zade completely freezes in his tracks.
The dangerous, untouchable King of Oakhaven looks entirely undone.
"Hi..." I whisper, my lips curving up into a weak, tentative smile.