My chest burned. My legs felt like they’d been crushed. I let out a weak sound without meaning to.
“Hey, don’t move,” the nurse said quickly, pressing my shoulder down. “You’ve got three broken ribs and internal bleeding in your liver. You’re lucky you even made it through the night.”
I blinked slowly, trying to focus on her face.
She kept talking, like she didn’t realize every word felt heavy. “Last night was chaos. Only Dr. Jones was on duty, and another patient’s family kept insisting he treat their wife first because she’s pregnant. They were loud about it too.”
My fingers twitched slightly. Pregnant.
“But don’t worry,” she added, softer now. “That woman only had some minor injuries, so the doctor came to you right after. You got treated in time.”
Of course.
She hesitated, then asked gently, “Where’s your family? Your mate? Someone should be here with you.”
I stared at the blanket. My voice came out dry and cracked. “I don’t have anyone.”
She went quiet, and I could feel the pity in her eyes without even looking.
Then I heard voices outside.
“Drake… I’m sorry,” Chiara’s voice trembled, full of tears. “I really don’t know what happened. They were fine before. I didn’t mean for them to lose control. Miss Brightman got hurt because of me.”
Drake’s voice came right after, soft, full of concern. “Chiara, stop blaming yourself. This wasn’t your fault. You got hurt too, remember? You shouldn’t be standing around like this.”
“I don’t care about myself,” she cried. “I just… I feel so guilty. I want to apologize to her properly. I need to tell her I didn’t mean it.”
I clenched my hand. Apologize again.
Drake sighed quietly. “You’re pregnant. You shouldn’t be stressing like this. Come on, go back to your room and lie down. I’ll handle things here.”
“No, I don’t want to go,” she insisted, voice shaking more. “Please… just let me see her. I need to say sorry. I won’t feel better if I don’t.”
Something snapped in me.
I grabbed the cup beside me and threw it against the wall. It shattered loudly.
Silence outside.
Then hurried footsteps.
Drake rushed in. “Wife? What’s wrong? Do you need water? Are you in pain? Tell me, I’ll get whatever you need.”
I looked at him. Really looked at him. His eyes were full of worry, just like before. Just like always.
And suddenly… I felt tired. So tired I didn’t even want to fight anymore.
“Did you check it?” I asked quietly.
He paused. “Check what?”