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It doesn't feel like it did before. This is true devastation, deep, underlying fear that she is gone for ever, and so is our baby. But there's something else. Despite the decay of the chapel, I can feel it… like a bright, shining light that makes me remember my faith. And I believe she's going to be okay and survive this, because she has to.
We deserve a happy ending of our own.
The doctor hands me a thick blanket, tells me to make her warm. I wrap it around my woman and tell her everything is going to be alright as I hug her to me.
Relief like I’ve never felt before floods through me as her eyes open. She smiles when she realizes it’s me.
‘Thank you,’ is all she manages to say before her eyes close again.
I bury my face in her hair to hide my tears, saying a silent thank you of my own.
For a second, I think I hear gunshots, but quickly realize it’s our helicopter arriving.
The doctor tells me he wants her taken straight to the hospital. He says he will have to run more tests to determine the baby's health, but he’s sure that Aurora will be fine. Still, having found out I'm going to be a father and facing the possibility of losing my unborn child in a matter of minutes is almost too much for me to handle.
I don't let anybody else touch Aurora. I carry her to the helicopter myself and stay by her side as she's flown into a hospital we have ties with. I'll never leave her side again. I already know I'll spend an eternity regretting leaving her in the dungeons, where she didn't belong.
Now, I'm more convinced than ever that my anger for Aurora was misplaced. I should've dug deeper, I should've known her papa was to blame, not my beautiful, innocent bride.
But that realization has come too late.
And perhaps there's no way to fix this – not anymore.
All that's left for me to do is to pray Aurora will come back to me and fill my life back up with the light only she possess. My lips whisper prayers as I wait by her hospital bed, waiting, hoping for her and the baby to come back to me safely.
If they don't, there's no reason left for me to live. Aurora is my everything.
At her bedside, I swear to myself I'll take care of her until my dying breath. We'll have many children, but the heir she's carrying will be the apple of my eye. I will be a family man, not a killer, not a mobster. I'll turn myself around. I'll do it all to protect her and our family.
I just hope it's not too late.
33
Aurora
When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is Ryder.
He's slumped over in a chair by my hospital bed, one hand holding mine and the other resting on my belly. He's fast asleep. There's stubble on his chiseled jaw and he looks exhausted.
Strangely, I'm not disoriented at all. For days I've been swimming in the sea of darkness filling my mind, trying to resist the shadows from calling out to me, asking me to follow them. I resisted. I looked for the bright light instead, and I found it in Ryder Bernardi.
Since before I came to the Estate, I needed this. A bright light in my life that would guide me toward better things, not allowing me to get near to the dark side. And Ryder was just that.
"Ryder," I speak up, my voice hoarse as it breaks over the words. My lips feel so dry I can barely speak. "Ryder..."
His eyes fly open in an instant, filling with hope. It has never been this easy to read him. To watch the confusion written all over his face turn into hope and then pure joy.
"Aurora," he mutters. "I thought I was dreaming... Are you truly awake, principessa?"
"I am," I whisper. "Please, Ryder... Water..."
Hurriedly, he fills a glass with water and passes it to me. I take hungry gulps of the ice-cold liquid, trying to ignore all the wires leading out of my body. Ryder takes my hand, and my eyes meet his fearfully. We both know what I'm going to ask, and I'm terrified of his answer.
"The baby..." My voice cracks and I can't get another word out.
"He's okay," Ryder interrupts hurriedly. "It was touch and go for days, which is why they needed to keep you under an anesthetic. But he's okay."
My bottom lip trembles at the sound of that. I can barely muster a reply, but finally my mouth opens and I ask, "He?"
"Oh." Ryder grins at me in that way that makes butterflies flutter in my stomach. "Yes. It's a boy."
"I knew it," I whisper, my smile widening. "I felt it. I'm so happy."
