Chapter 4: Accident

“What!” I looked at Ava with wide eyes and couldn’t believe that she was the daughter of a billionaire. Miller’s textile group was the largest textile industry in the country and she had just told me her father was the owner of that group.

“Why are you working here?” I asked because I wanted to know why she was working here despite her father’s billionaire industry. She could work there.

“Um…honestly, I’m here just for Henry. I want to spend every second of life with him,” she said blushingly. “I like him so much.” I could see the joy, love, and devotion in her blue eyes. I was not surprised by her revelation as I had already assumed that these two were made for each other. On the first day of my job, when I saw them together, they were looking beautiful together.

“Oh, Ava, do you like him? Come here.” I gave her a soft hug. I was genuinely happy for her. “I’m happy for you, girl.”

Suddenly, her phone rang and startled us. She rose to her feet and shoved her hand into the pocket of her jeans. She was struggling to pull out her phone due to her injured hand.

“Let me help you,” I said, and took out her phone before handing her over. “Here you go.”

Giving me a thankful smile, she grabbed her phone with her other hand and walked away.

I got back to my work; I was adjusting an off-shoulder gown. It had an elegant and classic look with a triple layer of chiffon fabric which had shades of dark blue and white. It was a remarkably beautiful piece that I had ever seen before. Mrs. White, the manager of our department, assigned me this gown.

“Yeah, I’ve informed everyone and canceled your previous meetings.” I heard Ava talking on the phone. “What? Crap! S-sorry, Henry, I’ll do it right away.” I glanced at her over my shoulder, catching the sight of her worried face.

“What happened, Ava?” I asked while adjusting the back of the gown.

“Alice, I need your help.” She rushed towards me.

“Sure.” I smiled. I would love to help her because she had helped me a lot, and it was my time to pay her back.

“Could you please come with me?” Worry visible on her flawless face.

“Where?”

“My home.”

“Home! Why? Is everything okay?” I spoke out and abandoned my work, approaching her.

“I’ll tell you everything. Answer me first, are you coming or not?” She asked.

“Relax, Ava…” I said to calm her. I couldn’t say no to her, but what about my work? The fashion show was about to start in a few hours, and here she was requesting me to accompany her. Mrs. White would be angry when she learned that I’d left my work unfinished. “But, Ava, what about my work? Models will be here at any time.”

She glanced at the gown before looking back at me. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll ask Jennie, she’ll take care of all your work. Let’s go now.”

After a while, we sat in her car. “Because of some sort of emergency, my driver left early. And here I can’t drive with my injured hands. I have no choice but to trouble you,” she said with an apologetic smile.

I shook my head, smiling. “Hey, silly, you’re not troubling me.”

I started the engine and drove. It had been over a year since I had driven the car. We had no option except for this. Her hand was injured and Sarah had a tight schedule because of the fashion show. In the end, I was the only person who could drive at this moment.

“I forgot to bring one of the important files.” She sighed tiredly. “You know Henry was freaking out when I told him I forgot to bring that file.”

After fifteen minutes, we arrived at her place. The guards opened the gate as soon as they recognized Ava’s car.

“Wow! You have such a lovely house,” I said while peeping through the car window. The mansion was big and luxurious, surrounded by a beautiful garden.

Ava unclasped her seat belt. “There are many beautiful things to show you around, but sadly we are in a hurry. Maybe we can come after the fashion show and have dinner together.”

I looked at her. “I appreciate it. But first, collect your file before Henry gets angry again.” We both broke into a laugh.

She got out of the car. “I’ll ask my maid to bring the file over here.”

A few minutes later, an old woman walked out of the house with a black file clasping against her chest. She handed the file to Ava before giving her a slight bow of respect. Ava mumbled thank you to her and climbed in the car.

“God. Yes.” She grinned widely.

I started the car. “By the way, your botany garden is wonderful.”

“Yeah, I love greenery, the flowers, trees, and the forest.” She gave me her childish smile while clasping her seat belt.

“You like greenery so much that you have it in your food and your drink.” I joked, and she laughed.

“Nothing like that. I’m doing this all for Henry. He likes to eat healthily and I just follow suit. He wants everything perfect in humans as well in his work. He won’t be happy if I gain slight weight. So I’m always attentive and keep myself perfect for him,” she said, and I frowned because I didn’t like the idea of changing life for others. She maintained herself so that she could satisfy Henry.

Ugh!

“You are perfect, Ava. You don’t need to change yourself for others.”

Her eyes dropped to her lap. “Yeah, I’m perfect, that’s why he accepts me as his girlfriend.” I could feel the sadness in her voice. There was something deeply hidden in her voice like she wasn’t happy.

“Henry is my childhood friend. We schooled together, and college together and are working together. But he is three years older than me.” She immediately changed the topic. “You know, many girls used to be crazy for him. I mean they are still crazy for him…”

He was a Greek god. Who wouldn’t want him? We continued our chit-chat. We shared many things about our childhood, friends, and school. I was enjoying her company; she had a sweet voice, and she was such an easy person to talk to. Henry should be glad he had such a gorgeous and tender-hearted girlfriend.

“A-Alice, watch out!” suddenly Ava shouted.

Before I could realize anything else, a bright light flashed across the car. I could not see anything because of the lights. It was so bright that it pierced my eyes and blocked my view. Horn blasted in the air and then…

Thud!

Our car crashed!

“Ah!” My head banged the steering wheel hard, causing my whole body to shudder with pain. I moaned and tried to straighten myself.

But a bolt of fear slammed my chest when I heard the agonizing cry. I snapped my eyes at her voice and found Ava’s body lying on the road in a pool of blood.

“Ava!” I cried out, watching her with horror. Her body was unconscious. I tried to get up, but my body couldn’t cooperate. I was too weak to push myself up and helped my friend. “Ava!”

She needs help!

*****

I woke up and groaned when my head throbbed with terrible pain. One of my hands was wrapped in gauze and another one was attached with an IV. I straightened myself and winced when a sharp pain shot through my backbone. I looked across, scanning the room. I was in the hospital? Hospital? Last night?

Oh no! Ava, where was she? I quickly got rid of the IV and climbed off the bed and rushed out. I approached the receptionist and asked, “Could you please tell me the room number of the patient named is Ava Miller?”

“We can’t…”

“Please…” I begged.

She glanced at my wound before giving me a curt nod. After a moment she said, “It’s room number 155.”

“Thank you so much.” I hurried to 155. I knew she would be fine! I stayed positive and prayed she wouldn’t be hurt severely. I approached her room, and without hesitation, I dashed inside.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I caught the sight of her unconscious body lying in a hospital bed. They had attached various types of tubes and machines to her body. Her head was covered in gauze and an oxygen mask on her mouth. Her body looked pale and motionless.

Oh my God! I covered my mouth with a hand as tears gathered in my eyes when the realization hit my chest. She ended up here because of me. I shouldn’t have driven the car. If I didn’t drive the car, she assumed it would be safe.

“Alice.” I heard a familiar voice. I turned around to see Sarah. She was on the couch and her eyes were red and puffy. I turned back to bed and found a man sitting next to Ava’s bed. Henry! His hand was interlocked with hers, and he was looking incredibly sad.

But once he heard my footsteps, his head snapped at me. I shivered in fear when his burning eyes on me and his face turned monstrous. “You bitch!” He screamed, advancing on me. “What the fuck are you doing here!” I hardly had time to understand anything as he charged me. He seemed like he would murder me right then and there.

Catching this sight of him, fear clawed in me. I swallowed hard. “I-I am here…” Before I could speak further, he immediately hit my shoulder, slammed me to the wall, and wrapped his hand around my neck. He squeezed my throat, cutting off my breath. He continued strangling me until my vision got blurry. He was crushing me, but I wasn’t feeling the pain because my mind could only focus on that girl who was lying in bed unconscious.

“What are you doing here?!” Henry growled into my face. “You are not satisfied with what you have done!” I looked at him and my lips were trembling to let out anything. I felt like I was dying. I couldn’t breathe. I grabbed his hand to stop him, but he was too strong.

“Henry, stop it! You’ll kill her. Please stop it!” Sarah shouted and grabbed his hand to stop him.

He didn’t let me go. He wouldn’t let me go until I died. I could see the scorching hatred in his eyes. There was something hidden beneath those dark eyes, something deeper, which was very painful and pathetic. Like he had faced it before.

Finally, he released me and made me fall to my knees. Instantly, blackness spread across my sight. I couldn’t understand anything, I couldn’t hear anything, my mind stopped working. It was all blank and dark all around me.

“A-are you okay?” Sarah kneeled next to me.

After a few minutes, I looked at her with blurry vision. “What happened to Ava?” I asked.

Sarah wiped away her tears. “A-Ava is in a coma. She has a brain injury.”