Chapter 68 Chapter 68
Chapter 68 Chapter 68
Sirens wailed across the dark path of the tunnel as police vehicles arrived, flashing blue and red lights across the concrete walls. Darian was lying unconscious near the tunnel exit, blood trickling down his temple. And a few meters away, Carmine crawled toward the officers, her hair messy, and her face smeared with tears and blood.
“Help! Please help us!” she screamed, reaching for the closest officer as if her life depended on it.
Two policemen rushed to Darian first before another one hurried to help her up.
“They’ve been found. The male is bleeding heavily. Get the ambulance over!”
Carmine sobbed louder, deliberately dramatic. “They attacked us! Those strange men… Darian fought them off to save me. He…he’s my boyfriend, please! He tried so hard to protect me!”
The police exchanged quick looks, as they tried their best to calm Carmine down but she wouldn’t stop crying.
An ambulance soon screeched to a halt, and Carmine sprang up from where they had kept her. The paramedics jumped out and they wasted no time in loading Darian onto a stretcher. Darian’s shirt was torn, and his knuckles bruised from the earlier chase.
Carmine staggered beside them, clutching her chest as though her heart would burst. “He’s hurt so hurt… Darian, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” she chanted with regret in her heart.
She followed the stretcher all the way into the ambulance, her face twisted with fear but beneath all that trembling, there was a flicker of guilt she could not wipe away. It was obvious.
The hospital corridors erupted into chaos as nurses pushed Darian’s stretcher toward the operating room. The harsh fluorescent lights made the blood on his face look even worse.
Carmine’s breath hitched when a nurse wiped a streak of red off his cheek.
“Please!” she cried, reaching for the gurney, “Let me go in with him…please!”
But the nurse gently held her back.
“Ma’am, you can’t enter the OR. You need to sign the emergency consent forms as well” she informed her.
Carmine let go as she took the form tearfully, her trembling hand scribbled across the paper, her tears dripping onto the clipboard.
Darian disappeared behind the double doors and she sank onto the cold bench outside, hugging herself tightly. For hours, she paced, sat, paced, and sat again.
Her mind replayed every second with remorse; From the drugged wine, Darian’s principle, his disgust, and his rejection… and now this. She was up and thinking until 4 a.m. when exhaustion dragged her down. She curled up on the cold bench, sobbing until she fell asleep.
>>>>
Eight long hours later, the OR lights finally snapped off. The doctor came out first and saw Carmine sleeping in an uncomfortable position. He disappeared into a corner and returned after he had changed out of his clothes. He nudged Carmine awake “Ma’am?”
She jolted upright, eyes swollen. “Doctor…how is he? Tell me he’s alive…”
“He survived the surgery,” the doctor said, grave and tired. “But his head injury was severe. He has fallen into a coma.”
Carmine’s face crumpled instantly.
“No… no, please. Darian, I’m so sorry, you have to wake up”
She pressed a hand over her mouth to stifle her scream.
“He’s been transferred to a private room,” the doctor finished. “We’ll monitor him closely. Please do not worry” he assured her.
When daylight came fully, two police officers arrived for further investigation.
“Miss Carmine, we need your statement about last night.”
She sniffed loudly and dabbed her eyes with a tissue.
“I…I was kidnapped. Those men grabbed me and threw me into a car and… Darian came all by himself to save me. He shouldn’t have… but I guess he was too worried and couldn’t wait” She cried and paused “He didn’t wait for the police… he tried to be brave…”
Her voice cracked dramatically. “If only he had listened… now look at him…”
The officers noted her explanation, though their expressions hinted at uncertainty. They had to let her be when she was breaking down badly.
BACK HOME>>
Morning sunlight filtered weakly through Averie’s office window, but she felt none of its warmth. A sharp, uneasy pressure weighed on her chest all morning since she got to work.
She kept checking her phone but there were no messages, calls, or returned texts from Darian.
She was starting to feel uneasy when the door opened and Esther walked in with a bright smile.
“Surprise! Thought I would check on my favorite pregnant lady,” Esther teased.
Averie Quinn blinked at her. “I’m not even showing yet. That feels weird”
“A pregnant lady is a pregnant lady” Esther grinned and Averie scoffed playfully. Esther squealed loudly before hugging her.
“Sorry, but I didn’t want to ask when you told me about the good news… but does Darian know? Did he faint?
Laughing softly, Averie explained, “He knows. We talked it through. We’re… okay now. Really okay. We’ve decided to raise the baby together in love.”
“Awwww, you guys!” Esther nudged her shoulder.
“But why do you look so tense? Pregnancy jitters?”
“I don’t know. I just feel something is wrong.” Averie looked at her phone again. “He hasn’t called since last night.”
“Relax,” Esther said playfully. “Maybe he’s just jet-lagged. Come on, let me take you to lunch before this baby grows teeth.”
Averie allowed herself to be dragged along, though the unease never left her.
That night, Averie sat on the living room couch, phone in hand as she dialed Darian again. She did up to like five times before a call finally connected. But it wasn’t Darian, it was Carmine.
Her tone was cold. “Darian is busy with work. He can’t talk right now.”
“What? Give him the phone…”
“He said not to disturb him.”She said and hung up.
Averie stared at her phone, stunned. Then the anger rushed in. She kept calling but Carmine refused to pick up again.
Hours passed. But Averie finally drifted off on the couch, phone still in her hand.
>>
Early in the morning, with dark circles under her eyes, Averie rushed straight to the hospital to check on her grandfather.
He smiled warmly when she arrived. “Good morning, child.”
“Grandfather… did Darian call you?”
“No,” he said, frowning. “He promised he’d return today, but there is no word from him.”
Her heart sank when she heard that.
The old man noticed her distress and reached for his phone. “Let me try calling him.” He did but there was no answer.
So the old man dialed Carmine instead in which she picked up immediately, crying loudly.
“GRANDFATHER! Something terrible happened! We were attacked last night and armed men….Darian tried to protect me and…and he’s in a coma”
The old man jerked upright.
“What happened to my grandson?!”
“He even got ten stitches!” Carmine wailed.
The old man’s eyes widened, his breathing quickened and then suddenly, his face drained of color.
Immediately his body slumped and he collapsed.
“Grandfather!” Averie screamed, reaching for him. “Someone help!” She yelled, crying profusely because then she was torn between the horrifying news about Darian and the fainted old man in front of her.