Then it happens again....a tiny twitch
My chair scrapes loudly across the floor as I stand.
"Elaine?"
Nothing. Then slowly, very slowly.
Her eyelashes flutter.
Once then Again and finally...Her eyes open.
Looking confused and Struggling to focus.
But they are open.
God.
They’re open. Relief crashes into so hard I almost laugh or cry.
Her gaze finds mine and for a second neither of us says anything.
Then her lips part, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"The baby?"
Elaine’s POV
"The baby?"
The words leave my mouth before I even think about myself. Everything hurts, my side, my head, my chest.
Even breathing feels strange but none of that matters.
Only one thing matters.
Mt baby.
My eyes lock onto Zane’s imdiately.
Waiting, terrified and desperate.
For a second he just stares at , like he’s trying to convince himself I’m actually awake.
That he’s not imagining this.
Then I see the relief on his face, so much relief it almost hurts to look at.
His eyes close briefly and when they open again they’re suspiciously shiny.
"Hey."
His voice is rough, like he hasn’t slept and he’s been through hell.
Maybe he has.
"The baby?"
I ask again.
More urgently this ti.
His hand imdiately finds mine, holding it tightly. Almost desperately.
"The baby is alive."
The breath leaves my lungs in a rush, a sob follows right behind it.
Oh thank God. Thank God.
Thank God.
I hadn’t realized how terrified I was until that mont. Tears imdiately begin sliding down my cheeks.
I don’t even bother wiping them away.
Zane lets out a shaky laugh.
One that sounds dangerously close to a sob.
And suddenly I realize... He’s been terrified too, far more terrified than he’s letting on.
His thumb brushes across my cheek, wiping away a tear.
"You scared the hell out of ."
I laugh weakly.
Then instantly regret it because it pulls at my side.
"Ouch."
His expression imdiately changes, concern replacing everything else.
"Don’t do that."
"What?"
"Move."
Another weak laugh escapes .
His shoulders visibly relax.
Just a little.
Like hearing laugh reminds him I’m still here.
Still alive.
But then I notice sothing.
Sothing isn’t right.
The relief is there.
But so is sothing else.
Sothing heavy.
Sothing sad.
My heart imdiately starts racing again.
"Zane."
His eyes et mine.
"What’s wrong?"
His jaw tightens.
Just slightly.
And suddenly I know.
Sothing happened.
Sothing he doesn’t want to tell .
Fear creeps back into my chest.
"What happened?"
Silence.
The kind of silence that tells you everything before the words even co.
My stomach twists.
"Zane."
His grip on my hand tightens.
And for the first ti since I’ve known him...
He looks lost.
Completely lost.
"We found sothing out during surgery."
My heart begins pounding.
Hard.
Painfully.
"What?"
His eyes lower briefly.
Then return to mine.
"You weren’t carrying one baby."
Confusion washes through .
What?
"I don’t understand."
A sad smile touches his lips.
The saddest smile I’ve ever seen.
"You were carrying twins."
The room goes silent.
Twins.
The word echoes through my head.
Twins.
Two babies, not one two.
I stare at him, certain I heard wrong.
Certain the dication is ssing with .
"What?"
His eyes close briefly.
Then he takes a breath.
"Twins."
The word cos out barely above a whispe and suddenly I don’t know what to feel.
Shock, confusion and isbelief all of it at once.
Two babies, there were two babies.
My hand slowly drifts toward my stomach, as if sohow I can feel them as if sohow I should have known.
Tears imdiately fill my eyes, not from sadness..... not yet.
Just pure shock.
"I..."
My voice breaks.
"I had two babies?"
Zane nods he looks devastated, absolutely devastated.
A fresh wave of fear crashes into .
"What happened?"
His face crumples for a second.
I see all of it, the grief, the heartbreak, the pain and suddenly I don’t want the answer.
Because I already know.
"We lost one."
The words shatter sothing inside and the room blurs instantly as a sob escapes before I can stop it.
No, no
I never even knew, I never even got to know.
Never got to imagine them, never got to dream about them, never got to love them properly and sohow that makes it hurt even more, the tears co faster now.
Hot and reelentless.
"I didn’t even know."
My voice breaks completely.
"I didn’t know."
Neither did he, I can see it in his eyes.
Neither of us knew. For a mont neither of us says anything.
The grief settles between us heavily.
I place a trembling hand over my stomach.
One baby gone, o still here.
My chest aches.
"I should’ve protected them."
Imdiately Zane shakes his head.
"No."
His response is instant.
"No."
His hand covers mine.
"You don’t get to bla yourself."
"But...."
"No."
His voice softens only slightly.
"This isn’t your fault."
Tears continue sliding down my cheeks.
"I was supposed to protect them."
"And you did."
His eyes lock onto mine, fiercely
"You fought."
His voice cracks.
"You fought for both of them."
My throat tightens painfully because he’s right I rember....the gun, Thomas struggle.....Everything.
And suddenly another mory surfaces.
My eyes widen.
"Aria."
Zane smiles, a real smile and I imdiately know sothing is up.
"What?"
His smile grows.
"She’s alive and well."
The next ten minutes pass in a blur. I’m glad what I did wasn’t entirely stupid, atleast no one died.
He tells everything, the confrontation with thomas. The ride to the hospitalAnd when he’ dkne. ....I’m crying again.
Different tears this ti.
"Lucas is going to lose his mind."
Zane snorts.
"He already did."
That makes laugh, then imdiately wince again.
"Stop making laugh."
"You’re the one laughing."
A knock interrupts us and both our heads turn toward the door and then it opens.
Lucas steps inside first, Aria follows imdiately behind him.
For a mont nobody says anything.
I just stare.
Because she’s here, actually here. Alive and Standing in front of And judging by the way Lucas refuses to stand more than two feet away from her...i have a feeling he’s making up for several years of missing her.
Good, about ti.
For the first ti in what feels like forever...
Looking at all of them standing there.
Alive, together and Finally reunited.
It feels like maybe...Just maybe...
Things were finally starting to heal.
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