Chapter 125 125

Chapter 125 125
Amy's POV

I thought I was going to fall asleep thanks to the fatigue of my pregnancy but I couldn't. I wasn't even going to try. I pulled the chair as close to my dad's bed as it could go and I sat there and I watched him sleeping. That was what I did for the entire night. Every time his chest rose I felt a little bit of the tension in my shoulders loosen and every time there was a slightly longer pause between breaths I felt it come right back.

It was exhausting. I was already tired from everything else and sitting there counting someone's breaths for hours does not help with that. But I was not leaving anyway. Nobody was going to make me leave. A few of the doctors tried to suggest gently that I should get some rest and I glared at them until they stopped suggesting it.

Damien came and checked on me twice. He didn't try to make me leave because I already told him not to. He just stood in the doorway, looked at me, looked at my dad, and left again. I appreciated that more than I would have admitted out loud. He's busy cleaning up the battle and helping out, I know he's worried about me.

The sun came up and my dad's color looked better. That was the first thing I noticed. He still looked tired and the bandaging on his side was a reminder of how bad the night had been, but his color was better and his breathing had evened out hours ago and the doctor who came in at sunrise told me quietly that he was going to make a full recovery.

I said thank you and kept sitting there. About an hour after sunrise, my dad opened his eyes.

He didn't do it dramatically. He just opened his eyes slowly, looked at the ceiling for a second, and then turned his head and looked at me.

I leaned forward immediately. "Dad."

He looked at me for a long moment without saying anything. His expression was hard to read at first. He looked tired obviously. He had obviously being through a lot and he already helped enough, I'm going to tell him that just in case he doesn't think so.

"You stayed," he said. His voice was rough.

"Of course I stayed dad." I didn't even understand why he sounded surprised. Where exactly did he think I was going to go?

He was quiet again. I waited for him to say something because I knew he was probably going to scold. He would probably lecture me about how I'm pregnant in not supposed to be in a place like this. But what do I care anyway? When have I ever let any limitation to stop me?

Then he said, "I'm proud of you, Amelia."

I blinked. He's not mad at me but actually praising me? I didn't know what to do with it immediately. I just sat there staring at him. My dad would scold me whenever he was worried about me. Should I be worried his head had some issues?

My dad was not the type of person who said things like that out loud. Especially not in dangerous situations like this, he has never calmed down even for a little danger. That wasn't how he was built. I had gone my entire life understanding that he loved me through his actions because his words were never going to be the thing that told me.

And now here he was saying it. Just like that. He was looking right at me.

"Dad—"

"I mean it," he said. Like he knew I was about to deflect. "You have become someone worth being proud of. I need you to know that."

I pressed my lips together very hard. I felt so touched but I didn't want to cry in front of him. I decided that immediately. He was the one who was injured. He was the one who had just had the terrible night. I shouldn't allow myself to fall apart in front of him when he needed to rest and recover. He wouldn't stop worrying by then.

So I nodded. I told him to stop talking and rest. I told him the doctors said he needed to stay still. I fussed about the blanket being positioned right and I got him water and I did every single practical thing I could think of to keep myself occupied.

He watched me do all of it with this small expression on his face that I refused to look at directly because if I looked at it I was going to lose it completely.

Eventually he fell back asleep. I sat there for another few minutes just to make sure. Then I got up very quietly, walked out of the room, pulled the door closed behind me, and stood in the hallway.

And then I completely fell apart.

I don't even fully remember deciding to cry. It just happened. Everything from the night before, the running, the blood, seeing him go down, sitting there for hours not knowing, and then him opening his eyes and saying that... it all came out at once and I could not stop it.

I wasn't even trying to be quiet about it. I was just standing in that hallway with my back against the wall crying like an actual child and I didn't care. I thought I was going to lose my dad. That was so scary for me that my heart was pounding at every minute.

I heard footsteps and I thought it was one of the doctors and I was about to wave them off without looking up.

Then I felt arms come around me. I didn't need anyone to tell me who it was when I felt arms wrapping around me and pulling me in and holding me there.

It was Damien. I knew it was him immediately. I mean no one else would dare to hold me except for my family like this. I didn't say anything either. I just let him hold me and I cried until I actually couldn't anymore. Until there was nothing left and I just felt wrung out and tired and a little bit embarrassed even though he was giving me absolutely no reason to feel embarrassed.

When I finally stopped shaking I pulled back a little and wiped my face with the back of my hand. Damien looked at me and didn't say a single word about the state of my face.

"Did anything happen between you and your dad? You were not like this before I left. Did he say something to you?" Damien finally asked me worriedly.

"He said he was proud of me," I said. My voice was still unsteady. "He's never said that before. Not like that."

Damien nodded slowly.

"Since he hasn't said this before, then he meant it," he said.

"I know." That was the thing. I knew he meant it and that was exactly why it hit me so hard. "But him saying that to me after having a near death experience only makes me scared. Is he saying that because he's going to die or did he lose his mind?"

He smiled, "Your father isn't losing his mind. He just realized how brave and wonderful you are so he decided to tell you. There's nothing wrong with that."

I reached up and put my hand against his face. He went very still. I could see that he had other things to worry about and I was pouring all of my problems to him.

"I see you," I told him. "Whatever it is you're holding right now — I see it. You don't have to tell me yet. But I can see it."

He closed his eyes. "You don't have to worry about me. I've got everything under control."

I sighed, "I focused too much of my father and almost forgot that you were in the middle of a crisis too."

"Your father is going to be fine," he said.

"I know."

"And I'm not going anywhere."

I nodded. "I know that too."

We stood there for a moment just like that. It was the most quiet and a little bit awkward we've been other than being in bed. I thought we were going to continue this silence and just stare at each other like this.

Then Lucas appeared at the end of the hallway and I could tell from his face immediately that he had something to report.

Damien straightened. His expression shifted back into the same serious one that he used to scare everyone away. He was focused, closed off, reading everything. This could only mean that something serious was going on.

"What is it?" he asked

Lucas glanced at me briefly and then back at Damien. "One of the captured warriors is asking to speak. He won't talk to anyone else. Only you."

"What does he want to say?"

Lucas paused.

"He says he knows who's behind all of it. All of it, Alpha. He says he knows the name."

The hallway went very quiet. I looked at Damien and he was already looking at me.