A cold fear crawled up from my feet, wrapping around my chest.
No…
The next second, everything turned chaotic. Hands grabbed me. I struggled, but it didn’t matter. I was dragged out, shoved into a car, and taken straight to the hospital.
Before I could even process what was happening, I was tied down in the emergency room.
“Hold her still,” someone said.
Cold ropes tightened around my wrists. A needle pierced into my vein.
“Draw her blood,” Argus’s voice came, cold and final. “As long as it saves Grandpa, I don’t care what happens to her. Even if she dies.”
My heart clenched.
I turned my head, looking at him through blurry vision. “Argus…” My voice shook. “Even if I didn’t say anything… I would’ve given blood for Grandpa. You didn’t have to do this. You didn’t have to tie me up like this…”
My throat tightened.
“But I didn’t push him,” I said, forcing the words out. “I swear I didn’t. You can’t just decide that and treat me like this. You can’t take what little dignity I have left.”
He let out a cold laugh.
“Still lying?” his eyes was full of disgust. “Grandpa treated you so well, and this is how you repay him? Dahlia, you really have no bottom line.”
“I didn’t—”
“Enough,” he cut me off sharply. “You better pray he survives. Because if anything happens to him, I’ll make you pay for it. In blood.”
In blood.
The words echoed in my head.Anger. Pain. Fear. Something broke inside me, quietly and completely.
I could feel it… my blood leaving my body, little by little. My fingers turned cold, my vision dimming at the edges.
Was this how it felt? When you had no way out? When no one believed you? A tear slipped down the side of my face.
Dad…
Did it hurt like this when you were lying there alone? When you needed help and no one came?
My breathing grew weaker, my thoughts drifting. For a moment… I thought I heard his voice.
Soft.
Calling me.
Dad, are you here? Did you come to take me with you?
…
I had a long dream.
In that dream, Celine hadn’t come back yet, and everything was different.
Argus and I were still together like a normal couple. No tension, no fear. He would introduce me to his friends without hesitation, his hand always around my waist like he was proud of me. Like I actually belonged there.