Chapter 76
When Emily’s eyes fluttered open, she knew immediately that something was wrong. She could feel it, deep within her bones, the emptiness that encompassed her and radiated through her entire being.
Her eyes didn’t suddenly flutter open, it was a slow game. A dull ache festering in her head and in her lower stomach as she tried to sit up but the room was dark and cold. The annoying beep of the monitor kept echoing back at her, the iv still stuck in her hand as she tried to focus an image but it was pitch dark.
The panic set it, a cold sweat broke out on her forehead and she gripped the sheets tighter with her heart pounding fast.
“Hello” she called out to the darkness but there was no response, only the silence echoes back at her.
Suddenly she felt footsteps around her, approaching her slowly. The slow tang of their shoes that she couldn’t tell if it was a high-heeled slippers or a flat sole sneaker, suddenly she couldn’t move, she felt strapped in with icy cold hands gripping her arms and her breath hitched.
“Please” she whispered, a single tear falling from her eyes and hitting the flat pillow she lay her head on. “Please don’t hurt me” she turned her head to see a face, but there was none only a faceless mask stared back at her, their hands now reaching for her neck and she could see the red crimson bracelet glowing brightly in the darkness.
The hand seized her neck, squeezing tight and the life out of her as she struggled to breathe, but suddenly her eyes shot open and she woke up in a start with people rallying about her.
“Emily!” she heard her name and it was Jackson, holding unto her hand as she tried to make sense of everything that was going on.
“What’s going on?” she managed to voice out but Jackson had a weird look on his face, something that she could only interpret as pity, why did he look at her like that? Was something wrong? She could see the doctors and nurses rallying about her, but weren’t saying anything just Jackson holding her arm, in that same tingly spot the person grabbed her in her dream. Suddenly, she remembered the bracelet and she looked down at Jackson’s arm but it was empty and she looked back at his face.
“The bracelet” she said and Jackson’s eyes stared back with confusion.Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.
“What bracelet?”
“The bracelet that I dropped at the masked ball, where is it?”
“I lost it a long time ago” Jackson said and Emily looked at him, the pieces not yet piecing together.
“Somebody came in here, wearing it and ” she stopped suddenly, the realization dawning on her on why the doctors were rallying about her. Something happened to her, and that was when she felt it, the dull ache at her lower belly suddenly going sharp and look at Jackson suddenly.
“What happened? What happened to me? The baby – ” she was going to say but the doctors responded first, confirming her fears.
“You were injected with misoprostol but it wasn’t the right dose the baby is fine. Thankfully we intervened on time” the doctor didn’t need to complete his statement for her to understand what was going on. She was losing the baby, and there was nothing they could do about it, it was evident on the doctor’s face.
“We’re already carrying out thorough investigation to know how this might have happened”
Emily stopped breathing and her world began to spin as she tried to understand the words that were spewing out of the doctor’s mouth. She clutched the bed sheets tightly with one hand, her other finding her stomach that almost felt empty to touch but slowly a sigh of relief escaped her lips the baby was fine but was everything fine, someone was after her, but who? Who hated her enough to want to harm her and her unborn baby?
“Who ” she tried to say but no words came out “Who who would do that to me?” she cried out and Jackson went beside her but she didn’t want him beside her, she didn’t want him around her when she felt this way, this empty and broken.
Jackson held her face up “I’m going to find that person and I’ll kill them, I promise” he said but Emily wasn’t listening to him, her ears whirred and the tears had begun to spill.
“Whoever it was had on that bracelet” she said “When last did you have it?”
“I don’t remember” Jackson said after thinking for a while, trying to connect some invincible dots together but they weren’t linking.
“We have to take you in for a scan now to assess the state of things” the doctor cut in, interrupting his thoughts
“It’s going to be okay Emily, I promise. I’m here, I’m right here with you and I’m never leaving. I promise”
After Emily was wheeled away, Jackson walked out to the waiting room with his heart in his hands. His hands were shaking, trembling and it felt almost impossible to hold them in one place. This was his one chance to have her to himself, to take her away from Ethan rightfully but that moment everything almost seemed to shattering before his eyes, but it wasn’t the moment to dwell, he needed to find out whoever did that her and to do that, he needed to work with Ethan.
Immediately, he brought out his phone to call Ethan and he picked on the first ring
“How’s she?” Ethan asked, he knew the details already but it was better with Jackson by her side
“The baby is fine, she’s gone in for a scan” Jackson said and he could hear Ethan release a sigh of relief, after the silent that followed.
“So what’s next?” Ethan asked and there was a pause before Jackson spoke
“We have to find whoever did that to her”
“You don’t think it’s that ditsy fiancee of yours”
“I can’t say, it could be anybody. Emily made mention of a certain red crimson bracelet. That bracelet had always been with me but for some reason I don’t have it and I don’t remember losing it”
Ethan stayed quiet for a second, his brain racking about this bracelet that sounded familiar but he wasn’t entirely sure how it looked
“We have to do this together Ethan, I won’t let them get away with this” Jackson said walking out of the hospital building unto the parking lot and he stood beside is car for a moment before he ended the call, but he stopped for a minute feeling the hairs stand at the back of his neck.
That was when he felt it, something strike him for behind and knocking him out completely. He saw someone stand before him, their face unfocused in his vision as they raised their foot to strike again.