Chapter 149 Sheer will
CHAPTER 149
Sheer will.
SCARLETT – POINT OF VIEW
I wake up to the rhythmic sound of the heart monitor.
I’m in bed. Roman isn’t here, and I’m hooked up to drips.
My head feels heavy, and my body aches as if I were run over.
I feel groggy, and my eyelids are heavy. How long have I been asleep?
I push myself off the bed, gasping as pain shoots through my back, and climb up my spine. I seem to have cracked a rib. I remember how one of those bastards kicked it till it broke. Then, the gunshot to my thigh, and the knife to my arm. Yet, here I am, refusing to stay down.
Now that I am awake, I feel the tightness return.
Roman knows. He knows everything, and he isn’t happy.
I can hear sounds from downstairs. The thought of going down there exhausts me already, but I need them to know I’m not a liability.
Thankfully, the drips are done, so I remove them. All the blood has been cleaned from my body, but I still need a bath. I don’t think I can do that alone, though. I’ll need Eve and Adeline.
Carefully, I step out of the bedroom. The soles of my feet ache. Everything aches.
I reach the stairs and descend them carefully. I hold on to the railing, ignoring the agony shooting through my body. I cannot live in suspense anymore. I need to know what Roman wants to do. I need to know if he’ll kick me out. I need to know where I stand. I have enough money saved from the eight months of our contractual agreement. I have friends now. I won’t be alone if he does not want me anymore.
“Scarlett!” Eve gasps, horrified when she sees me.
Everyone turns to me. Roman is here. Adeline, Luca, Damian, Elena and Caleb.
“What the fuck is your problem!” Addie storms towards me.
Fatigue spills into my joints, and I stop moving. Instead, I sit on the stairs, panting and sleepy. Only then do I realise there’s a strange man in the living room. He is wearing glasses and has a large laptop.
“You should be in bed for the next week, not limping around like an idiot.” She stands in front of me, hand on her hips.
I run my gaze over her. She has cuts all over her face, a bandage on her hands, and something wrapped around her left leg.
I smile at her, look behind her, and see Roman there. He is looking at me, but he does not see me anymore. Everything has changed.
Caleb walks forward and helps me up, “Come on.” He leads me to the couch, but even there, I am tense, unable to relax. Roman is still staring at me.
Eve and Addie fuss over me. Roman steps out to the patio, and I watch him go. I brace myself for what is about to happen. He is going to rip out my bruised heart, and that’s fine. I deserve it. It is fine.
“Where is Celeste?” I ask, even though I keep glancing his way.
“She’s asleep. You should be, too.” Elena points out.
I shrug. While I am grateful for the direction of this conversation, I am a bit too tense for it. I want us to delve straight into it. I do not want to cut corners. I am tired of hiding. It is stifling. It has been a noose around my neck, and now, I just want to be done with it all.
I can feel their gaze on me, burning and uncomfortable. The truth hangs in the air over us, suspended and uncomfortable. Everyone is looking at me, including the glasses guy, so I turn to him, eyebrow raised, and order, “Speak.”
His eyes widen in shock, and he falls over his words, “Y … you are … you are … Scarlett … well, Elena Rossi, uh, Rosalina Diaz.”
All the names I’ve been, all the faces I have worn, the identities I have swapped like a different dress.
Heat burns through me, and pressure builds behind my eyes. My lungs feel like they’re filled with splinters and shards of glass. My wrist stings from the chains. My whole body aches. I feel like I have been turned inside out.
“Hold that thought,” I tell him, smiling dryly as nausea rushes through me.
“You should be in bed, Scarlett.” Eve feels my temperature, and I lean into her, holding her as if she is my lifeline.
“I’ll help you back to the bedroom,” Damian says, and he is on his feet already.
The pressure builds in me, and pops, “I don’t want to sleep. I don’t want to go to bed and pretend my worlds have not crashed down. I want to talk about this. I want to know where I stand. I cannot sleep. I cannot find peace yet, not with all these hanging over my head. I want to know if I still have a home here or not, because you better believe it — Emiliano is coming, and we need to strike while the iron is hot. I need to know if I am going to fight alone, or not, so please do not tell me to sleep.” My words come out broken and fragmented.
Roman walks in at the most inconvenient time, but he’s not alone. There’s a woman behind him, a Doctor, judging from her coat and stethoscope.
“You’re awake, Ms Brooks,” she walks to me, smiling warmly.
I inhale slowly. He went to get the doctor. That means nothing. It does not change what has happened.
“I need to run a quick check on you.” She informs me, and I nod.
She checks my bandages, my stitches, and my ribs, and I do not make a sound.
“You have a high pain tolerance, Ms Brooks. The fact that you’re on your feet already is a miracle and evidence of your sheer will. Your heart rate is a little elevated, and your blood pressure is high, so let’s work on that. I know you probably don’t feel hungry, but you should eat, even if it’s just soup. Your body needs the energy to heal, so you can feel brand new in time for your wedding.” She steps back, satisfied with my recovery.
My ears are ringing, though.
“W … wedding?” I look at Adeline, Eve, and Elena.
“Earlier, before everything, we announced the wedding date,” Elena confesses.
My heart sinks, and I whisper, “When?”
“In two weeks.”
In two weeks, I have to walk down the aisle and marry Roman, but I doubt I’ll be alive in two weeks.