Black spots appear in my vision as my strength withers.
A faint crashing noise tickles my ear.
In the next second, Rakesh is ripped off me.
I clash with the ground, gasping for oxygen.
“Arya!” Bianca’s frightened face stares down at me as she cups my face. “Arya… look at me.”
“N-Nathan,” I croak out. “Check-k him.”
Multiple pairs of shoes enter the room and walk past me. I turn my head in time to catch Kian’s fist flying in his bloodied and bruised father’s face. It takes two police inspectors and Dash to pull him off Rakesh.
“Fucking bastard!” spits Kian.
Bianca helps me sit up. A traumatized Iris is kneeling behind her. At the same time, Nova and Rosalie storm into the cramped room, followed by nurses who immediately rush to Nathan.
“Jesus! What happened?” Nova demands.
“It was Rakesh. He poisoned Nathan.”
Every pair of eyes turns to me.
“He attempted to kill him again,” I say in a broken voice. “I walked in on him suffocating Nathan with a pillow.”
In a flash, a rage possessed Nova lands a solid right hook to Rakesh and knocks him out cold before anyone can stop him.
The cops gape at him.
“Get him the fuck out of here!” Nova snarls.
“Someone check her over!” Dash barks at one of the nurses while flicking his chin in my direction.
“I’m fine,” I meekly say.
“You’re bleeding, Arya,” Rosalie murmurs.
The nurse kneels beside me, but I shrug her off and try to stand up. “Nathan… he needs you.”
“The doctor is taking care of him.” She twists to the side, pointing behind her to the tall doctor fiddling with the machines Nathan is hooked to. The oxygen mask is back on his mouth. “See, he’s taken care of. In the meantime, please let me examine you.”
“Arya...please,” Bianca begs.
“I’m not leaving this room.”
The nurse agrees. “That’s perfectly okay.”
Bianca sticks by my side, while the rest of the people exit the room.
“Is Nathan okay?” I ask the doctor.
Turning around, he gives a small smile. “You saved him again.”
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Nathan
A terrifying nightmare where I hear Arya’s gut-wrenching cries and I’m unable to reach her startle me awake.
