Chapter 112: Chapter 112

A tear strayed down Madison’s cheeks as she glanced at Damien’s still form on the bed.

She had her hands clasped in his left hand, and she brought his palm up, placing a soft kiss on his knuckles, pecking gently.

Her tears streaming freely now, she sniffed as she broke into sobs holding his hand tightly.

So tight that she didn’t want to let go at all.

She never wanted to leave him.

Her fingers tightening, she muttered a lengthy apology over and over again, wishing that it would be able to convey how sorry she was, but she knew her efforts were fruitless.

Oh, how she wished she could take everything back.

She wished she’d never tried to leave the country, and instead, she would have given him a chance.

At least then, they would be together, and they would know how to solve Katherine, who was a menace to their relationship.

If she’d stayed, maybe all these wouldn’t have happened, and she wouldn’t be in a hospital, by his bedside day and night, praying for him to wake up and look at her.

Fuck! She missed him so much, and whenever she remembered that she had put him in this position, it hurt all the more.

She didn’t even care about all the sufferings she’d gone through… or even the traumatic, horrific experience she’d endured at the hands of Katherine and her men.

She was still healing and trying so hard to be strong, but she just couldn’t.

None of those experiences mattered now, and they couldn’t compare to what Damien had done.

He’d taken a bullet for her. He’d died for her. He’d sacrificed himself and his entire being all for her.

“Oh, Damien, why did you?” She uttered softly, asking the somewhat rhetorical question.

“You could have just stayed right where you were. You didn’t have to save me, and now I’m suffering because of your decision. I’m dying inside, and it’s all… Oh gosh!” Madison cursed, her teeth gritting as another new torrent of tears fell down her face.

Sniffing and grabbing a napkin from her bedside, she dabbed at her wet face, trying to keep the tears at bay and instead think about other things.

A small, sad smile on her face, as her eyes roamed about the empty room - since she was the only one with him - Madison began to reminisce fondly about the past few days' events.

Passing by quickly like a blur, the last week had been a rather shocking one, and even as she tried to convince herself now and then that what had transpired in her life was a joke or dream, she could vividly see that it was reality.

She was practically living in it, and it felt so surreal.

Madison still couldn’t believe that she’d reconciled with her father and brothers and that the Connors and Daniels had put their lifelong chivalry to the side and forgiven each other.

Damien’s mother and sister had flown down from New York, and the nice woman had reconciled with Madison’s parents, claiming that the past was all behind.

Alvarez was also around, and he’d now developed a cordial relationship with her brothers.

Everybody seemed to be doing okay, forgetting irrelevant memories, dropping feuds aside, and now they were all united and trying to be strong for Damien.

If only all these reconciliations had happened before this incident, they’d have escaped it and… Well, fate was inevitable, but one thing Madison did know and strongly believe was that fate would make sure Damien woke up hale and heartily and they’d have their happy ending.

If he chose to go his separate way after all this or stay together, whichever way, Madison was ready to let him go so long as he was alive.

She couldn’t bear it, and she’d tried to imagine what life would be like if Damien died, but it was insanely difficult.

One thing was sure, though, life was going to be more incredibly difficult, and she might just have to end her own life so she would be able to take away some of the…

“Hello there…” Someone called from the doorway, and looking up; Madison saw the tall frame of Alvarez standing outside as he peeped into the room.

“Oh, Alvarez, come on in.” Madison offered, preparing to stand up from her seat at the same time.

“I brought some company too.” He announced as the glass door opened wide, and a smile graced Madison’s face when she saw it was Ivy and Mrs Daniel, Damien’s mother.

“Hello, ma.” She greeted, already standing, and gently she tried to remove her hands from Damien’s left palm, but just as she did that, she felt something twitch. His fingers?

“Huh?” She mumbled, her hands freezing as she glanced back at the bed, but she didn’t see anything move.

Damien lay still, and his eyes were closed.

She was definitely imagining things and hallucinating at this point. Or maybe the fact that she rarely slept made her hear and feel things because there was no way Damien’s finger would have twitched just like that.

He had rarely made a move since all these days. Just laying still, on life support, doing nothing whilst she kept praying and hoping that something would happen.

Madison could have given up because the doctor had informed them that the chance of Damien surviving that gunshot wound was 30/70, but honestly, she wasn’t ready to do that.

She still had the tiniest bit of faith that he would wake up, so far as he didn’t die immediately after the trigger had been pulled on him.

Sniffing sadly, Madison carefully disentangled her hands from his, and standing up; she gave him one last glance before going to meet his mother and Alvarez.

…….

He heard voices, Damien heard voices…

He tried to stretch his ear again, wanting to see if he could listen to what they were saying or recognize whoever was speaking, but he couldn’t.

Slowly his eyes flickered open, and squinting against the bright white light that shot directly into his face; he let out a soft hiss internally.

Where the fuck was he? He began to ask himself, his eyes roaming to the sides as he tried to recognize the room, but everything and everywhere looked unfamiliar and strange.

From what he could see, blue curtains were everywhere, blinding white lights, and the distinct smell of drugs and blood filled his nose.

Letting out a gasp, Damien dropped open his mouth as he came to realize where he was.

He was at a hospital, and he was in a hospital bed, but what was he doing here? What had happened?

Well, he didn’t need to ask much because just as he stretched his mouth to say something or call out to someone, he felt an object strapped to his face.

Blinking for the umpteenth time since he’d woken up, he tried to stretch his arms and whole body, but then a splitting pain shot through from his spine and to every single part of his body, and he let out a yell.

Suddenly he heard some commotion, and the voices he’d heard earlier became quiet.

He closed his eyes when he heard the sound of some approaching footsteps, and he mumbled incorrigible words to himself.

“Damien?” A familiar voice called out, and his eyes opened instantly.

“Madison.” He whispered, trying to stretch his lips into a smile, but he felt another splitting ache, this time in his chest, and he groaned.

“Damien? Oh my goodness, you’re awake.” Madison asked, and he could feel her warm hands all over his body.

He groaned yet again, trying to move, but he couldn’t. His whole body seemed to be bandaged or tied to something, and every single part of his body hurt like hell.

“Maddie… Maddie… What… what happened?” He started to ask, his voice coming out broken even from the oxygen mask, and he was sure she couldn’t hear him because she had a shocked look on her face.

He tried to use his eyes to demonstrate, his whole body shaking, but she didn’t say a thing; instead she gave him one last glance and then she was no more by his bedside again.

“Maddie… Madison, where are you?” Damien called out again, already becoming frustrated, and he was moving on the soft bed incessantly when suddenly he heard the sound of a door opening, and then some people flooded the room.

Before he knew what was happening, they flooded his bedside and began to help him lay upright while he tried to decipher who they were.

His vision was still somewhat blurry, and he looked at his body, and that’s when he saw how heavily wrapped it was.

His right arm was bandaged, his fingers were taped down, both legs were wrapped in plaster, and a tube ran out of his arm. No doubt those were the things that accounted for the throbbing pains throughout every muscle and bone in his entire body.

A sigh escaping his lips, he looked up from his body and back to the people helping him, and he finally recognized the faces - Alvarez and… Damien froze as his eyes widened in shock when he realized who was next to him.

His mother. It couldn’t possibly be her… Why?

Why was she here? Even though he had no recollection of what must have brought him to the hospital, Damien had a stringent rule.

He never allowed his mother to visit him in hospitals because she always became a quivering mess, and he didn’t like it.

“Mother? Mother, I can’t….” He began, his words somehow loud now, and even though he tried so hard, with the strength in him, to finish the sentence, the words fell flat as soon as they left his lips, and he stuttered.

His mother stood frozen, looking back at him, unable to utter a word. Her eyes were full of tears as she slowly reached out to his face, stroking his hair softly.

“You’re awake….” She spoke, her lips quivering slightly and her eyes brimming with tears.

“Help me, get this off.” He was talking about the oxygen mask, and he used his eyes to demonstrate.

“I don’t think the doctor….”

“Just take it off, mother.” He ordered, and shakily she did.

The second the mask got off his face, Damien exhaled loudly, his nose picking up the solid, distinctive smell of blood and medicines again.

He shook his head slightly, and looking at his side, he saw the bags of antibiotics and empty blood packs, amongst other things that had been attached to him, and he shuddered lightheaded.

His head pounding and his heart rate picking up its pace, he asked, “Where am I? Or rather, what am I doing here?”

“You don’t remember? Do you?” She queried, and Damien only gave her a strange look, his gaze straying over to look at Alvarez.

“You… you got shot, Dami.” She sobbed, crying as she sat beside him and reached over, grasping his hand in hers.

“What are you talking about?” He responded bewildered, “Shot? When? How?” He asked, starting to shake uncontrollably again and trying to get his bearings.

“Don’t you remember, honey? You… you were in a fight or some sort. You… it’s a long story which I don’t want to say now. I wasn’t there, but according to eyewitnesses, you bled so much that they had to rush you here. And you’ve been operated on, with the bullet taken out of your chest, but you’ve been in a coma these past few days up until this morning.” She explained, wiping tears away from her cheeks as she held onto his hand tightly, and as if in slow motion, Damien’s head did a flip.

Suddenly it all came rushing into his mind as the memory behind the attack played inside his head like a slideshow.

Everything that happened that day was so evident in his mind. The images flooded back into his brain as fast as if they had just been a few hours ago.

The abduction. Katherine… him arriving with his men at the beach just before she could shoot Madison and dispose of her body.

They’d argued, he’d tried to bargain and then Katherine had pulled the trigger.

He had been close to Madison, so he’d taken the bullet for her, sidestepping the shot, and the last thing he could remember was Madison’s yell and his falling to the ground with a thud.

His breathing had stopped… his heartbeat stopped… his eyelids fluttered shut… He had died. Oh no!

He’d been in a coma, and as the thought echoed in his mind, Damien began to wonder just what must have happened these last few days.

He took in a shaky breath, feeling sick to his stomach, and turned over in the bed again, trying once more to shift around until he could get his upper half free, and he immediately winced in pain.

“Damien?” He heard his mother’s voice calling out his name worriedly, and he turned toward her again, not caring how she’d react to whatever he would say next.

“I remember it all. Every single thing. I saw Madison hovering over me earlier, and I want to be sure I wasn’t just dreaming.”

“Yes, she’s here. She went to get the doctor.”

“Oh, thank goodness. What about Katherine? How about…”

“Man, we’re going to talk about that letter. Now, you need to rest, okay.”

This time it was Alvarez speaking, and the look he had in his eyes had Damien shutting up as an inaudible conversation passed through them.

Relaxing back on his bed, his eyes closing softly as a tear ran down his cheek, Damien muttered, “I’m alive now… Madison is also alive. She is okay, and honestly, that’s what matters.”

“Yes…” His mother sniffled and replied, “Yes, she is fine.”