Chapter 233 AWAKE
AWAKE.
KAI’S POINT OF VIEW.
The pasta was tasteless, like chewing on rubber, but the warmth of it hitting my stomach past my mouth started to clear the fog in my brain. Silas was right, as much as I hated to admit it; a starving man is a desperate one who makes mistakes, and I needed to be precise. If Armando was still biting, we would need everyone at full strength, no matter what.
As I finished the last few bites of food, the heavy silence of the room was punctured by a sound that made my heart stop. I turned the second I heard it; the faint, muffled, almost non-existent sound of her groan. “Aurora,” I called, my steps slow as I approached the bed, heart pounding with anticipation and hope.
The doctors claimed she wouldn’t wake up early, or at all. Marloise’s medicine had done almost ninety percent of its work. ‘If you hadn't administered the antidote when you did, she would never have made it into the next five minutes after that.’ I remember the horror at the doctor’s words when he walked out of the operating room. The air in the room was thin, as if sucked out by the heavy emotions racing through me.
Dropping the plate, I barely glanced at dad who rushed out, probably for the doctor, shutting the door quietly behind him. “Aurora..” I called again, and I swear, I saw her fingers twitch.
I didn’t dare blink, not even when my eyelids pricked at me, tearing up, but I was too scared to follow my body's needs. If I blinked, I could miss something…and never get it back.
“K….kai…” I heard another muffled whisper, and it nearly brought me to my knees. I rushed closer, grabbing hold of her hand in a feather-light grip. Peppering kisses all over it, I whispered slowly into her ears, “Baby…”
"Kai..." she called again, her eyes still shut, the oxygen mask around her nose fogging slightly from her breath. The sound was paper-thin, a rough vibration that barely pierced the still, tense silence, but to me, it was loud as thunder. I’d prepared myself for her voice so many times in the past two days that even her thoughts would be loud to me.
Her eyelids fluttered, her beautiful, long lashes casting soft shadows against her cheekbones before they finally, painfully, peeled open. For a second, her green eyes were unfocused, probably still lost in the sedatives administered about five hours ago. I gasped, thanking the heavens silently at the sight of those eyes again.
“Oh my…. you're awake…..you’re here.” I breathed, kissing her hands again, my thumb brushing the length of her slender fingers. She turned to me, her perfect eyes full of recognition and hope, the second we made eye contact. "Kai..." she rasped again, her voice sounding raw and pained. She tried to swallow, but it seemed difficult and painful. I quickly reached for the bottle of water with my other hand and grabbed the straw in the basket Dad brought over.
"Marloise….where are we?”
“The hospital, baby….you’re safe now. I swear.” I helped her sit, holding the bottle of water and straw to her lips. She gulped greedily, a sigh of relief with each gulp left me feeling overjoyed again. The fact that she was able to drink…..she’s really here.
“So Marloise is….gone?” She cleared her throat as soon as I pulled the water away.
"Yes, green. She’s gone, never to return."