Chapter Thirty–Three
Ava’s POV
Darkness wrapped around me like a suffocating blanket. I felt weightless, lost in its cold emptiness, until a bright image suddenly appeared, swallowing the darkness. And then suddenly, I found myself in a familiar room. My mother’s room.
This memory or whatever it is, was the night of my mother’s death.
Rain pounded against the roof, and the cold seeped into my bones as I stood frozen in place, watching the scene replay in a strange corner of my mind. The room reeked of something I couldn’t identify until my eyes landed on the red stain on her dress. My mother lay on the bed, her breaths loud and short, as if she were trying to muffle her pain. Her trembling hands clutched her stomach, her face pale and contorted in agony, yet she refused to move or do anything.
A night before, she had a fight with my father who had changed drastically after the loss of the company. The fight had broken something inside her, however, instead of seeing a doctor, she kept it all to herself until
it was too late.
I had begged her to let me call for help as soon as I saw the blood on her dress. I pleaded with her. But she had only shaken her head, telling me it was just a little cut and I had believed her. That night she had a fight with my father who had changed drastically after the loss of the company. The fight had broken something inside her, however, instead of seeing a doctor, she kept it all to herself until it was too late. Until the following night when I found her lying still and bleeding out before me on her bed.
I watched in horror, too stunned and scared to move as the light in her eyes faded. Her lips parted as if she had one last thing to say, but all that came was silence.
A deafening cry consumed me entirely and shook my very being. There, I understood she had wanted to leave. She must have gotten tired and thought that would set her free. But she was wrong because that day
broke me.
And once again, I was stuck in that night. Alone and lost. Trapped in that same sick and terrifying memory. No matter how hard I tried to fight or wake up from this nightmare, it felt as though an invisible force was binding me back to the darkness.
A sharp voice broke through the fog of my mind. “She’s crashing! We’re losing her!”
I wasn’t sure if it was real or a memory, but the panic in that voice made my chest tighten. My heartbeat
raced, and I felt a slight prodding of my body. I heard the machines beeping faster, blending with the urgent voices of people.
Raw pain sliced through me.
Then, there was nothing.
Pain jabbed through my body before I even opened my eyes. A dull, insistent ache settled deep in r. abdomen, sharp whenever I so much as breathed too hard, and my limbs felt heavy as if I weighed a ton.
I swallowed, but my throat was dry and scratchy, that it was hard to push down my saliva. A dizzy sense of
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<Chapter Thirty–Three
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awareness washed over me, and my eyelids fluttered open. The sterile white ceiling above me blurred in and out of focus. The room smelled like antiseptic and something else, something familiar like a…..
Hospital.
A strangled groan escaped my lips as my mind struggled to piece things together. Then, like a dam being freed, the memories rushed back.
The confrontation with Kyle. The pain. So much pain I felt I was going to die. The blinding light of the surgery room…..Surgery? Oh my God! My baby!
My breath caught in my throat, and panic surged through my veins. My fingers twitched as I tried to move, but the moment I shifted, a tearing pain shot through my abdomen, knocking the air from my lungs. My chest rose and fell rapidly, and before I could stop myself, I gasped out, my hands reaching for my stomach. “My baby… where’s my baby?”
A warm hand grasped mine instantly, and my eyes snapped to a ragged–looking Phoenix. “Ava, calm down,” she soothed, her voice thick with emotion. “The baby is fine. Just breathe.”
I couldn’t. My heart slammed against my ribs, forcing me to breathe out loud and fast. “Where is my baby? What happened to him?”
Phoenix leaned closer, brushing damp strands of hair from my forehead. “Your baby is safe. He is in the NICU. He was born premature, but he’s strong. He’s holding on, just like you.”
A choked sob of half relief and fear ripped from my throat. “I…I need to see him.”
Phoenix hesitated. “Ava, you’re weak. You just woke up…”
“Please,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Please.”
Phoenix exhaled shakily before nodding. “Okay. Let me get the doctor.”
Moments later, my doctor entered, “Miss. Ava, your baby is stable. He was born prematurely, which means his organs are still developing, but he is receiving the best possible care in the NICU.”
Tears filled my eyes as I listened. “Right now, he is in an incubator and being monitored constantly for his heart rate, oxygen levels, and feeding. For now, he’s fed through a tube since his sucking reflex isn’t fully developed, but we’ll transition to bottle or breastfeeding as he grows stronger.”
My breath shuddered. “Can I see him?”
The doctor offered a reassuring nod. “Yes, of course. We’ll take you to him now.”
Moments later, with the help of a nurse, I was carefully lifted into a wheelchair. Every movement sent sharp waves of pain through me, but I gritted my teeth. Nothing mattered more than seeing my child and knowing he was truly fine.
As I was wheeled into the NICU, my heart pounded wildly. Then, through the glass window, I saw him.
Tiny, fragile, and perfect.
My lips trembled as I pressed a hand against the glass, my vision blurring with tears. “Oh, my ba whispered, laughter and sobs mixing. “He’s so beautiful.”
“Yes, he is,” Phoenix whispered beside me, her hand on my shoulder, her presence comforting.
I stared at him for what felt like an eternity, memorizing every detail, from the rise and fall of his small chest
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<Chapter Thirty–Three
to his tiny fists and the soft tufts of dark hair on his head.
He was here. He was alive.
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A nurse gently touched my shoulder. “It’s time to go back to your ward, Miss Ava. You are not properly healed to sit for long, or your wound might reopen.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but my body ached and felt heavy as if the two days of unconsciousness had
left me weak and sleepy.
Reluctantly, I nodded, exhaustion weighing me down. As a nurse wheeled me back while Phoenix stepped away to speak with the doctor, my mind swirled with guilt. I could have been more careful. If I had, my baby wouldn’t need machines to survive. He would have been in my arms, warm and safe like I had promised him. I wiped a tear that escaped from my face; however, just as we turned the corner, I froze when I saw what, rather, who I hadn’t expected to see again.
Kyle.
He stood outside my hospital room, his hand hesitating near the door handle. His head was slightly bowed. When he sensed movement, he turned, and our eyes met.
A sharp, violent pain struck my heart at the thought that my secret was revealed. That had to be why he was here. Something bitter and intense whirled inside me until my fists clenched on my lap.
Kyle’s lips parted as if to speak, but whatever words he had died in his throat when he saw the look in my
eyes.
Hatred.
Cold, unflinching, and unforgiving hatred.
He swallowed hard. “Ava…”
”
The_oddluna
Hi everyone, I need your help with some corrections in this book to make it more enjoyable to read. Please respond to the following questions:1. Is the book boring so far?2. If yes, at which point or chapter did it start to bore you?3. What specific changes would you like me to make to the book?4. Do you have any suggestions on how I can make the book more interesting? Are there things you’d recommend I remove or add? I await you all response in the comment section. Thank you!
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