The rideto the hospital feels endless, but at least they’ve given Amelia something for the pain, and she’s sleeping deeply. She’s hooked up to the monitor now; everything else will soon be revealed by the CT scan.
I don’t let her go for a single moment—much less take my eyes off her. Inside my head, chaos reigns. My thoughts swirl uncontrollably as my brain scrambles to process the flood of revelations crashing over me. And I still don’t know everything.
When we stop in front of the hospital, the paramedic’s voice sounds again.
“We’re taking her to the CT scan now, then to the private wing, Your Highness. You can wait for her in her room there.” Slowly I lift my gaze, a dangerous promise in it, but this time he doesn’t back down.
“You can’t come to the examination, no matter how much you threaten me,” he tells me curtly, and I swallow hard.
I need to know she’s okay. I don’t want to leave her alone. Everything in me revolts at the thought of losing sight of Amelia even for a second.
“I want to be informed immediately when the results come in. Immediately. And make sure my sister and my best friend come to me,” I reply harshly, avoiding any thought of Damien.
My gaze sweeps over Amelia again, and everything tightens painfully. The pressure on my chest grows once more. My fear for her still takes up too much space, almost bringing me to my knees, but deep inside, I feel something simmering and boiling. Hate. So much hate.
“Nicolas?” Amelia suddenly whispers, and I lean toward her, gently squeezing her hand.
“I’m here, Goldilocks,” I murmur, kissing her gently on her split lip.
“He…” She hesitates, swallows hard, and a tear runs down her cheek as she closes her eyes in shame. And that sight tears me apart.
Fuck, damn it.
“Shhh, babe. Not now. Rest, okay? I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. You’ll be examined soon, and then we’ll see,” I say, stroking her hair nonstop, and she nods, tears silently streaming down her cheeks.
Oh, I’m going to kill them all. I will kill every single one who dares come near her in the future.
And that bastard of a brother? He’s the first to go.
The pain that once tore through me, that burned itself into my heart, my soul, into every part of me, is now just a distant throb. My body floats, weightless, while thoughts drift in and out, leaving only fragments behind. My head, my mind, are veiled behind a dense white fog. Again and again, something flares up, reaching for me, trying to cling, but each time I slip away, drifting beyond its grasp. It feels dark, threatening, even here, in the serene stillness of my quiet, weightless bubble.
Voices keep reaching my ears, sometimes so close, sometimes infinitely far away, and I smell him, feel that he is here. I feel the safety he radiates.
“Come on, Goldilocks, open those beautiful eyes for me. Please.” There it is again, my favorite voice, and unlike before, I want to respond, I want to open my eyes and look at him.
I’m right here. I can hear you. Can’t you tell?
He sounds so desperate, so scared, but he doesn’t need to be. I’m okay. I think.
Where am I, anyway?
The fog lifts a little, and images flash before me, images I do not want to see.
No. No. No.
Pain. So much pain and fear.
Where is my fog? Where is the bubble?
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
The sound pounds in my ears, syncing with my heartbeat.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Amelia. Hey. DOCTOR! QUICK! SOMETHING’S WRONG.”
Nicolas. That voice belongs to Nicolas, and he sounds panicked. But he’s right. Something is wrong, because my protective fog is gone, my body is throbbing dully, just like my head, and those images are chasing me. They are chasing me, and I can’t run. But are they real? Because if they are, it would mean…
