Chapter 59 Pressure
Isla’s POV.
Beep beep beep. I opened my eyes to the sound of a cardiac monitor.
“Where am I?” I tried to sit upright, but a sharp pain pierced through my chest.
“You’re awake!” A familiar voice said, walking toward me.
“What happened? How did I end up in the hospital?”
“You passed out. Thank goodness you’re okay. I’ll go get the doctor to examine you…”
I breathed, my lungs flared hot.
“You’ve been here with me all night?” I tilted my head.
He gently slipped his hand into mine. “You need some rest.”
After the doctor was done with the check up, he turned to Damian.
“It’s nothing serious. She’s just in shock. She needs to rest.”
“When can I be discharged?” I asked, voice low.
“Hmmm. Damian cleared his throat. You just got here. You don’t need to worry about anything else.”
When the doctor walked away, I grabbed his hands.
“How are my siblings doing?”
“They’re fine now. I had my assistant look into that.”
I let out a deep sigh, laying back on my pillow.
“What happened? How did you end up getting yourself into this mess?”
My body jolted. I didn’t really know how it happened.
I was driving home and then, a car bashed on mine.
When I got out to take a look, I was suddenly grabbed by some strange person.
I hit my head.
“I almost lost it, Isla. I finally know what you really meant to me.”
Uhh? What was he saying? Did I mean nothing to him all this while?
“I really can’t go a day without you. I thought I’d lose you.”
I almost burst into laughter. “Come on, it’s not like I’m dying, I was just kidnapped.”
“You really don’t understand how hurt I felt last night.”
There was a knock on the door.
The handle twisted and the door opened. And there he was, my husband, Dante.
“Are you okay?” He quickly closed the distance between us.
Damian sat beside me, our hands held each other.
“I…I'm fine. Why are you here?”
“I’ll have to excuse myself,” Damian said, standing up to leave.
I held him back, eyes twitching. “Will you be back?”
His eyes locked with that of his brother, he cleared his throat.
“Sure, I will. Just call me whenever you need me.”
He turned and walked away.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it here last night. Something happened to Lucia. I couldn't leave her all by herself.”
What was I expecting? That he would change? Or care about how I feel?
A bitter laugh left my lips. I tried to control my emotions.
“You shouldn’t bother coming here then,” I argued.
“What happened to you? Why do you look this way?”
I hissed, turning to the other side of the bed.
“If you have nothing else to say, you should leave.”
“Come on, it was just a little delay I didn’t mean to…”
“I never needed you here. I don’t want any argument. I'm tired, I need to rest.”
“Why don’t you need me? Do you hate me that much?”
I didn’t say anything. I closed my eyes, pretending like he wasn’t there.
“I saw the way you looked at him. Like he meant a lot to you.”
“Yes he matters to me so much. If you can have Lucia in your life, why can’t I have Damian in my life?”
“You’re my wife. You wear my ring. You don’t get to be with anyone apart from me.”
How ridiculous he sounded.
I was already in pain, I didn’t need anything that would make it worse.
“Did your father do this to you? I’ll make sure he doesn’t get away with it.”
“You don’t have to, Damian has taken care of that.”
He closed the distance between us, tapping my body.
“Why don’t you ever tell me anything? We’re husband and wife, you shouldn’t keep secrets from me.”
Hmmm. Playing affectionate to get my attention. Don’t even think about it.
Every time I doubted if he really cared or was just playing sympathy.
Two nights ago he pleaded to have a conversation with me. I almost considered his feelings.
Today he was acting unbothered. Always giving excuses and then pinning them on me.
“You should get going. Lucia must be waiting for you. I’ll be fine alone.”
“Must we do this all the time? Why can’t I have a quiet moment with you?”
He quietly walked away, without hesitation.
He didn’t even hesitate to walk away… if he had persuaded more, I would have let him stay.
I haven’t heard from Josie. I reached for my phone.
Twenty missed calls from Josie. She must have been so worried.
My hands pressed on the dial button.
She wasn’t responding. My heart skipped.
Damian said he had taken care of them, did something happen again?
I dialed for the second time. It connected.
“Hey… Jo. How are you?”
“You scared me to death, Isla. Thank goodness you’re okay.”
“I was so lucky. Damian came to my aid.”
She paused, a deep breath left her lungs. “I tried calling you last night, your number wasn’t going through so I had to call him.”
“Thank you Jo. I didn’t know what I would have done without you.”
“How’s Iris? God! I feel so horrible right now.”
“He’s okay. Damian’s assistant arrived on time.”
“Did he touch you?”
“Who? Dad? He was so furious last night, I had to suffer in place of Iris.”
“He dared to lay his filthy hands on you?” I yelled.
“If I had known that the news would affect you, I wouldn’t have released it. Sorry I was a bit selfish, I didn't think about it.”
“It’s fine. You just have to get better. Iris and I are hoping on you, for your survival.”
“I will honey. You’ll hear from me soon.”
The call ended.
The room was so quiet. Only the sound of the heart monitor beeped.
Her words cut me like a sharp knife. I folded my hands into a fist.
She was right, they needed me more than I needed myself.
And every step I step determined if they’ll survive or not.