CHAPTER 29

Sebastian's POV

We heard screaming coming from the hallway.

"What's going on?" my father asked, rising from his chair, and I followed suit. We rushed out the door and followed the noise to the stairs, and my eyes dreaded the sight.

Emily was lying on the floor with blood circulating the back of her head. Cuts and bruises were visible, and she wasn't moving.

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"We don't know, Prince Sebastian. We were in the kitchen, and we heard a tumbling. When we got here, we found her just like this. She must have tripped over her shoelaces and lost her balance or something," one of the maids explained with tears in her eyes.

"We already called the emergency number, they're on the way," another one stated before I could even ask.

I dropped to Emily's level, carefully trying to wake her up.

"Don't move her son," my father commanded.

"Emily, baby, can you hear me? Emily, please make a sound, a movement, anything. I need to know that you're alive." Tears were pouring from my eyes, and I found it difficult to breathe. My chest was getting heavier by the second. "Emily." I took her motionless hand, hoping to get a reaction from her, but nothing came.

"Emily, it's Sebastian. I'm right here. If you can hear me, I need you to hold onto my voice. I love you. Please don't die. Please don't die, I'm begging you. Don't leave. Wake up, baby," I was breaking.

I felt my father's hand on my shoulder as he tried to comfort me. He pulled me upwards and into an embrace. "Son, you need to be strong. She's going to be okay."

"SHE DOESN'T LOOK OKAY!"

"You need to calm down..."

"I CAN'T CALM DOWN!" I yelled, the anger getting the better of me, and I punched a vase off the wall. It shattered at my fist, making everyone look at me with fear and deep concern.

"WHERE'S THE FUCKING AMBULANCE!" I yelled again.

"They're here," a maid ran into the room with a team of emergency medical technicians following right behind with a gurney.

I watched as they got to work, quickly bandaging her head from the bleeding before hoisting and strapping her onto the gurney. They rushed her out the door to the back of the ambulance, and I followed right behind in my private vehicle, with my father at my side.

_______

When we arrived at the hospital, she was already ushered to the emergency room, and we weren't allowed to see her. I waited with my father in the waiting room area, but I was very unsettled. I couldn't sit still, and I kept pacing and praying silently to myself. I didn't know what I'd do if anything terrible happened to her or the baby. I might go insane.

"Son, please sit and wait," my father's voice came, but I wasn't obeying. I couldn't sit, and I didn't want to wait.

After five hours, we heard rushing footsteps in our direction in the waiting area.

"Where's Emily? Where's my daughter? What happened to her, Sebastian?" Emily's mother asked. Her and Emily's dad were now standing in front of my father and me.

"It was an accident. She fell down the staircase," I explained.

"Oh my god, is it bad?" she asked.

I nodded my head yes.

She held onto her husband and starting crying.

"Why weren't we called sooner? She's our daughter!" Ethan said. His emotions were anger and sadness.

"We apologize," my father put in.

"Have you seen a doctor yet, is there any update on her condition?"

"No. We haven't seen a doctor yet, and we've been here all morning."

At that exact moment, a doctor walked into the room. Everyone turned in his direction, searching his face for an answer before he could even speak.

"Emily Hollen?" he asked.

"That's us," we answered in unison.

"I'm Dr. Shaw, and I'm afraid I have some bad news," he began, and my heart sank more than it already had.

"Emily has a traumatic brain injury, and as a result, she has gone into a coma," he finished.

I covered my face with the palms of my hands as I cried into them.

"A coma, for how long? When will she wake up?" her father asked the doctor.

"We're not sure. That will depend on the individual, not us. There's nothing much we can do now. Again, I'm so sorry."

"The baby, what about the baby?" I managed to ask.

"The fetus is okay for now."

"Doctor, please be honest with us and very clear, what are the chances for my daughter and the unborn baby?" Emily's mother asked now.

"I can't say ma'am because the chances depend on the fight of the individual. Right now, all she needs to do is wake up. She doesn't have any broken bones, and as I said, the baby is going to be okay. The pregnancy will continue."

"That's a relief," my father stated at the silver lining.

"So, she's alive?" I asked again.

"Yes, she's alive," he confirmed, and I looked up to the heavens to thank the miracle worker himself.

"One more thing, when can we see her?"

"She'll be placed in her own private room in ten minutes, so you'll be able to see her soon," he answered.

"Thank you so much. Thank you." We shook his hand before he left us.

______

After ten minutes and the go-ahead from Dr. Shaw, we filed into the private room where Emily was placed. Her cuts and bruises were concealed with band-aids, and her head was still wrapped.

"Oh my poor baby." Her mother was crying just looking at her state. Emily's eyes were shut, and she was not moving.

"Wake up, baby, wake up for mommy."

____

Her parents took turns saying things to her, trying to get a response, but that didn't work. After more hours of trying, they grew tired. It was now nightfall, and my father had invited them to stay at the palace. They left, but I stayed behind, by myself, in Emily's room.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I love you. I am planning our wedding. You have to be my wife, so don't you dare think about being in this coma for a long time, but even if you are, I'll always be waiting for you to wake up. I'm not going anywhere. I love you too much."

I held onto her hand, and I don't know if it was my mind playing tricks on me, but I felt her holding me back.

"Emily?" I moved in closer, but there was no other movement.

Then something caught my eyes. Her sneakers. They were perfectly tied. I tried to remember if they were tied when she was laying at the bottom of the stairs.

They were.

"You couldn't have tripped over your shoelaces. How the hell did you fall down the stairs?"

An image flooded my mind, and I was hoping I was wrong because if Naomi had anything to do with this, I was going to kill her.