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.
1/4
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.
A presence.
A shift in the air, heavy and suffocating. My pulse stutters, my breath catching as my gaze drifts past them.
And there he is.
Alex.
He stands in the corner of the room, his tall frame stiff, his hands clenched into fists. His jaw is tight, his expression unreadable. But it’s his eyes that make my chest tighten. Because for the first time in forever, I see something in them–something raw.
Worry?
Pain?.
Or maybe I’m just desperate to believe it.
Maybe I fell too hard and I’m now imagining stupid shit.
Alex doesn’t care about me. He probably had a party when he heard I was in the hospital.
My lips twitch into a bitter smile, my voice hoarse as I murmur,
“Didn’t think I’d see you again.”
2/4
you?”
and Ariana as if reminding himself that they’re here. That he has to play the role of
une concerned husband…
The fragile hope that had ignited for a split second flickers and dies, leaving nothing but an empty, aching void in its place.
I shift my gaze to the ceiling, forcing back the sting of tears.
Because no matter how much my body hurts, the pain in my heart is so much worse. So I shut my eyes and give in. The darkness swallows me whole and this time, I really hope I won’t wake up with the same pain.
Well, hope can be a bitch.
Because my heart is still as shattered as it was when I first woke up.
“Athena, can you hear me?” A voice calls me but it sounds so far away.
I push my heavy eyes open and I’m met with a bright light. Again?
Is that a touch? I try to blink, but a hand is holding my eyelids open.
“Pupils responsive,” a man’s voice says.
The doctor.
My head feels foggy, but the sudden realization slams into me like a freight train.
My exam.
“I have to go,” I croak, my voice hoarse as I try to sit up. Pain flares through my ribs, and I bite back a groan.
“Athena, stop,” Alex’s voice reaches my ears and I turn to where he’s standing, his hand moving to my arm, firm but oddly gentle.
I’d ask why he’s still here but I know the answer to that.
The touch is a jolt–not from pain but something deeper, something raw and unspoken.
I flinch, ripping my arm from his grasp like he burned me. “Don’t touch me,” I snap, my voice trembling, not from fear… but from him.
The doctor’s brow furrows. “Does it hurt?”
Yes.
3/4
But not in the way you think.
Alex’s jaw tightens, his hand slowly retreating to his side, his expression unreadable again.
“I have an exam,” I whisper, my voice breaking. “I need to go.”
There’s a beat of silence.
Then, in a voice so soft, so unlike him, Alex says,
“Athena… you’ve been out for three days.”
日
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