Chapter 139: Chapter 139
She knew she was the one to blame. Celeste would never had been in an accident, if she hadn’t guilt tripped her to join the double date with Elias.
Dominic’s men might had planned the ambush, but she added the gasoline to the fire, when she asked then to join her double date that night.
She dragged them out.
She forced them out of their comfort zone, and set them out like meats, for preys, unprepared. And here she had been, thinking Celeste decided not to come because she strongly couldn’t stand Elias.
She had no idea her baby girl has been fighting for her life. If Celeste leaves, she’d never be the same.
Amara clenched her fists beneath the water. She wanted to scream, but all she did was whisper, her voice cracking in the haze of steam.
"You stupid, stubborn girl." Her voice broke further. "Why’d you let yourself get to this point?" she sobbed. "You should have ignored my stupid ass, and stayed healthy in your home."
The silence answered her. Silence always did.
The door clicked softly, breaking her fragile cocoon of quiet. She tensed, straightening in the tub as Rodger’s muffled voice carried itself into the bathroom.
"I left the bag on the bed. Clothes, snacks, and the tea you wanted."
"Thanks," Amara called back, her voice hoarse as she tried her very best to sound normal.
He didn’t linger. Rodger knew when to stay, when to disappear. Amara appreciated it more than she could admit.
Her phone buzzed again. She cursed softly under her breath.
She snatched it up, and there was another text. This tiem, it wasn’t one from Elias.
It was Dominic.
The name lit across the screen like a firecracker, startling her enough that her grip tightened on the phone.
She didn’t expect him to be awake just now. He’d been asleep for just four hours. What was he doing up?
For a moment, she simply stared, unsure if she was imagining it. He hadn’t spoken to her since she’d stormed at him earlier, and forcing him to eat in front of Celeste. She thought he’d keep his distance, wrapped in that cocoon of grief and stubbornness he wore like armor.
But the text was there, and evidence of him finally coming back to his senses.
"Thank you." The text read.
Amara blinked. Just that? She reread it three times, frowning. He should have just said it to her. She doubted he would. This was how far he’d go appreciating her.
She placed the phone back down, ignoring the strange twist in her stomach. She wanted to hate him more, but she shut her eyes, deciding to cut him some slacks, and let him breath. Dominic never thanked anyone, but he just thanked her. That was progress.
She slid further into the water until it lapped against her chin, amd until only her eyes peeked above the surface. She needed this warmth. She needed this quiet, and this reprieve before facing the next storm.
Another buzz came in again. She almost laughed, half on the edge of madness.
This time, it was from Elias again. He couldn’t take a no, and he’d call this protectiveness? He better not.
"Are you with someone?"
She shut her eyes. Damn him. Damn his timing. Damn his ability to sniff out the truth even when she was silent.
She didn’t answer.
The beeping of Celeste’s monitors echoed in her memory, louder than the water bubbling around her. She wrapped her arms around herself. If only she could wrap herself around Celeste like this, shielding her from the world, and from whatever had brought her here.
Her phone buzzed again. She snapped.
"For God’s sake, Elias, stop!" she shouted, jer voice reverberating off the tiles. The echo startled her into silence. She bit her lip, pressing a hand over her mouth.
She couldn’t do this right now. She couldn’t juggle Elias’ suspicion, Dominic’s silence, and Celeste’s coma. She couldn’t carry them all. But she had to. Who else would?
The water began cooling. She reached forward, turning the knob until heat streamed in again. She watched steam curl anew into the dim room.
For the first time since entering the hospital suite, she allowed herself to imagine a future where Celeste opened her eyes, grumbled at the fuss everyone was making, rolled her eyes at Dominic’s overbearing presence, and laughed at Amara’s sharp tongue. That was the Celeste she knew. That was the Celeste she needed back.
Her phone buzzed again.
She ignored it.
Instead, she whispered into the steam, as if Celeste could somehow hear her through the walls.
"Come back, Cel. I don’t care how long it takes, just... come back."
Her whisper dissolved into the steam. It clung to the walls, to her hair, and to her skin. She wanted to believe the hospital suite itself carried her plea, drifting into the room where Celeste lay, into her ears, and into her bones.
For a moment, there was no world beyond the sound of her own breathing.
She let her eyes close, sinking lower until the bubbles almost kissed her mouth. For just a second, Amara could pretend. She could pretend she wasn’t to blame, pretend Celeste wasn’t in that bed, pretend Dominic hadn’t shattered himself into pieces of grief, and pretend Elias wasn’t clawing at her silence from the other end of her phone.
But reality was cruel.
The phone buzzed again. Persistent and relentless this time.
Her fingers hovered over the device, trembling. She wanted to hurl it into the water, watch it sink, and watch the bubbles choke it quiet. But she picked it up anyway. Because that’s who she was. Because she couldn’t ignore, no matter how much she wanted to.
She braced herself, inhaled, exhaled, and unlocked the screen.
The text was short.
"I’m on my way." It read, from Elias.
Her blood froze.
Another bubble of text appeared beneath it before she even processed the first.
"Don’t bother lying. I already tracked your location."
Her grip on the phone went slack. For a heartbeat, she thought she might drop it into the water for real this time. But her hand tightened instinctively, and she stared, wide-eyed, at the glowing screen.
This protection of his no longer felt like warmth. It was beginning to strangle her lungs.
Her world narrowed to the two lines of text. Her pulse thundered. She immediately walked out of the bath, and turned off her location.