Chapter 275
Then it happens again….a tiny twitch
My chair scrapes loudly across the floor as I stand.
“Elaine?”
Nothing. Then slowly, very slowly.
Her eyelashes flutter.
Once then Again and finally…Her eyes open.
Looking confused and Struggling to focus.
But they are open.
God.
They’re open. Relief crashes into me so hard I almost laugh or cry.
Her gaze finds mine and for a second neither of us says anything.
Then her lips part, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“The baby?”
Elaine’s POV
“The baby?”
The words leave my mouth before I even think about myself. Everything hurts, my side, my head, my chest.
Even breathing feels strange but none of that matters.
Only one thing matters.
Mt baby.
My eyes lock onto Zane’s immediately.
Waiting, terrified and desperate.
For a second he just stares at me, like he’s trying to convince himself I’m actually awake.
That he’s not imagining this.
Then I see the relief on his face, so much relief it almost hurts to look at.
His eyes close briefly and when they open again they’re suspiciously shiny.
“Hey.”
His voice is rough, like he hasn’t slept and he’s been through hell.
Maybe he has.
“The baby?”
I ask again.
More urgently this time.
His hand immediately finds mine, holding it tightly. Almost desperately.
“The baby is alive.”
The breath leaves my lungs in a rush, a sob follows right behind it.
Oh thank God. Thank God.
Thank God.
I hadn’t realized how terrified I was until that moment. Tears immediately begin sliding down my cheeks.
I don’t even bother wiping them away.
Zane lets out a shaky laugh.
One that sounds dangerously close to a sob.
And suddenly I realize… He’s been terrified too, far more terrified than he’s letting on.
His thumb brushes across my cheek, wiping away a tear.
“You scared the hell out of me.”
I laugh weakly.
Then instantly regret it because it pulls at my side.
“Ouch.”
His expression immediately changes, concern replacing everything else.
“Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Move.”
Another weak laugh escapes me.
His shoulders visibly relax.
Just a little.
Like hearing me laugh reminds him I’m still here.
Still alive.
But then I notice something.
Something isn’t right.
The relief is there.
But so is something else.
Something heavy.
Something sad.
My heart immediately starts racing again.
“Zane.”
His eyes meet mine.
“What’s wrong?”
His jaw tightens.
Just slightly.
And suddenly I know.
Something happened.
Something he doesn’t want to tell me.
Fear creeps back into my chest.
“What happened?”
Silence.
The kind of silence that tells you everything before the words even come.
My stomach twists.
“Zane.”
His grip on my hand tightens.
And for the first time since I’ve known him…
He looks lost.
Completely lost.
“We found something out during surgery.”
My heart begins pounding.
Hard.
Painfully.
“What?”
His eyes lower briefly.
Then return to mine.
“You weren’t carrying one baby.”
Confusion washes through me.
What?
“I don’t understand.”
A sad smile touches his lips.
The saddest smile I’ve ever seen.
“You were carrying twins.”
The room goes silent.
Twins.
The word echoes through my head.
Twins.
Two babies, not one two.
I stare at him, certain I heard wrong.
Certain the medication is messing with me.
“What?”
His eyes close briefly.
Then he takes a breath.
“Twins.”
The word comes out barely above a whispe and suddenly I don’t know what to feel.
Shock, confusion and isbelief all of it at once.
Two babies, there were two babies.
My hand slowly drifts toward my stomach, as if somehow I can feel them as if somehow I should have known.
Tears immediately fill my eyes, not from sadness….. not yet.
Just pure shock.
“I…”
My voice breaks.
“I had two babies?”
Zane nods he looks devastated, absolutely devastated.
A fresh wave of fear crashes into me.
“What happened?”
His face crumples for a second.
I see all of it, the grief, the heartbreak, the pain and suddenly I don’t want the answer.
Because I already know.
“We lost one.”
The words shatter something inside me and the room blurs instantly as a sob escapes before I can stop it.
No, no
I never even knew, I never even got to know.
Never got to imagine them, never got to dream about them, never got to love them properly and somehow that makes it hurt even more, the tears come faster now.
Hot and reelentless.
“I didn’t even know.”
My voice breaks completely.
“I didn’t know.”
Neither did he, I can see it in his eyes.
Neither of us knew. For a moment neither of us says anything.
The grief settles between us heavily.
I place a trembling hand over my stomach.
One baby gone, ome still here.
My chest aches.
“I should’ve protected them.”
Immediately Zane shakes his head.
“No.”
His response is instant.
“No.”
His hand covers mine.
“You don’t get to blame yourself.”
“But….”
“No.”
His voice softens only slightly.
“This isn’t your fault.”
Tears continue sliding down my cheeks.
“I was supposed to protect them.”
“And you did.”
His eyes lock onto mine, fiercely
“You fought.”
His voice cracks.
“You fought for both of them.”
My throat tightens painfully because he’s right I remember….the gun, Thomas struggle…..Everything.
And suddenly another memory surfaces.
My eyes widen.
“Aria.”
Zane smiles, a real smile and I immediately know something is up.
“What?”
His smile grows.
“She’s alive and well.”
The next ten minutes pass in a blur. I’m glad what I did wasn’t entirely stupid, atleast no one died.
He tells me everything, the confrontation with thomas. The ride to the hospitalAnd when he’ dkne. ….I’m crying again.
Different tears this time.
“Lucas is going to lose his mind.”
Zane snorts.
“He already did.”
That makes me laugh, then immediately wince again.
“Stop making me laugh.”
“You’re the one laughing.”
A knock interrupts us and both our heads turn toward the door and then it opens.
Lucas steps inside first, Aria follows immediately behind him.
For a moment nobody says anything.
I just stare.
Because she’s here, actually here. Alive and Standing in front of me And judging by the way Lucas refuses to stand more than two feet away from her…i have a feeling he’s making up for several years of missing her.
Good, about time.
For the first time in what feels like forever…
Looking at all of them standing there.
Alive, together and Finally reunited.
It feels like maybe…Just maybe…
Things were finally starting to heal.