Chapter 20 ~ A touch that hurts
Athena
Pain.
It’s the first thing I feel, a deep, searing ache that spreads through my entire body like wildfire. My limbs feel like dead weight,
my head is pounding, and my throat is raw as if I had swallowed shards of glass. My lashes flutter open, and the bright, lights of
the hospital sting my vision. The beeping of a monitor echoes in my ears.
Am I dead?
Moving my neck tells me the answer because the pain I feel is excruciating.
I inhale slowly, but even that hurts.
“Athena?”
The voice is soft, but also sounding panicked. I’m pretty sure my family doesn’t give a shit about me so that can’t be them.
Hell, they wouldn’t cross the road just to check on how I’m doing.
So who is it?
My brain is mushy and there is an annoying ring in my ears as I turn my head slightly–every movement like dragging through
molasses–and my gaze lands on Giana.
Her usually composed face is streaked with worry, her wrinkled hands trembling as they reach for me, smoothing my hair away
from my damp forehead.
“Oh, my darling girl,” she whispers, her voice a gentle whisper “You scared us.‘
>>
Us.
I blink sluggishly, my eyes shifting past Giana, only to meet Ariana’s soft eyes watching me with tears in her eyes.
Was she crying?
For me?
This woman is always so poised, it’s so strange seeing her shaken with an expression filled with concern towards me.
Something snaps inside me and tears prick my eyes.
It feels like I have a family that loves me but then guilt hits me like a punch in the gut.
I deceived them. Will they forgive me when they find out what Alex and I are keeping from them? They’ve been nothing but kind
and yet I’ve been nothing but a liar and selfish.
They will probably hate me and ruin my life while at it.
If there is one thing I know, is that The Kings don’t forgive and never forget. I’ve seen firsthand how it turns out when you deceive them. Just the thought of what they will do to me, makes me wish the bright light had just taken me.
“We were so scared,” Giana Mumurs, squeezing my hand snapping me out of my own death sentence. “You took a terrible fall,
sweetheart. What happened?”
Fall.
My memories crash into me like a tidal wave.
The stairs.
The pain.
Did someone push me Or did I slip?
I swallow, wincing at the dryness of my throat. My lips part, but my voice barely rises above a whisper. “I… I fell?”
Giana nods quickly, helping me take a few sips of water. The cool liquid soothes my throat, but it does nothing for the storm
raging inside me.
Then, I feel it.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Dear Ex Wife Please take me back