Chapter 47: When Love Chose The Wrong Face.

Chapter 47: When Love Chose The Wrong Face.
Eric's POV

The sound of the gunshot swallowed everything.

It wasn’t loud at first, not the way movies make it seem. It was sharp, sudden, final. Like the world had cracked open for a second and then snapped shut again.

My ears rang violently as my body froze, my brain struggling to catch up with what my eyes were seeing.

I opened my eyes slowly.
Pain burned through my head as though I’d been struck, even though I hadn’t fallen. My breath came out in a broken exhale when I saw her.
Jade.

Her body lay motionless on the ground, her hair fanned out like she had simply collapsed mid-step.

For a second, just one stupid, cruel second...I convinced myself she was pretending. That she would sit up and curse and laugh and call this some sick joke.

She didn’t move.

My chest tightened so hard it felt like my ribs were folding inward.

“Sasha?” I rasped, my voice barely working.
No answer.
I looked around wildly.

The gun lay a few feet away, cold and abandoned on the floor. Nurses stood frozen, staring at me...at us..with wide eyes, as though whatever had just happened was somehow my fault.

“Help!” I shouted, my voice tearing out of my throat. “Why the fuck are you all just standing there?!”

That snapped them out of it.
Everything exploded into motion...feet running, voices yelling orders, a bed appearing from nowhere.

They lifted Jade onto it quickly, efficiently, like this wasn’t the first body they’d rushed down a corridor.

I followed them, my legs moving on instinct alone.
Please, I thought. Please let it be me instead.

The ward doors burst open.
Machines beeped.

The smell of antiseptic burned my nose. Panic wrapped around my heart so tightly I could barely breathe.

Doctors flooded the room. One of them placed a firm hand on my shoulder.

“We need privacy,” he said.

“No,” I snapped instantly. “No, no, no. She needs someone. She needs me. I’m staying.”

“If you want her alive,” another doctor said calmly, “you need to leave the room.”

My vision blurred.“Fuck,” I whispered. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

I stumbled out, anger and fear twisting together until I couldn’t tell them apart. I paced the hallway, my hands shaking as I dragged my phone out of my pocket and dialed Sasha’s number.

She picked up immediately.
“I’m so sorry, Eric,” she sobbed. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“What came over you?” I hissed. “What the fuck did you do, Sasha?”

“I didn’t think it would go this far,” she cried. “I just...I panicked. Is she okay? Please tell me she’s okay.”

My throat burned. “Where are you?”

Silence.

Then, quietly, “Somewhere safe.”

I laughed...empty and painful. “You shot someone and think you can just disappear?”

“I know you won’t take this far,” she said softly. “I know you.”

“Pray she lives,” I said, my voice shaking with rage. “Because if anything happens to her, I will make sure you rot in jail. I swear it.”

The call ended.

I stood there, staring at the blank screen, my heart pounding violently.This wasn’t me.I wasn’t the man who cared like this. I had always been selfish...brutally so. If your life didn’t affect my money or my future, you didn’t exist to me.

So why did this feel like my chest was being ripped open?Because she’s the key, I told myself.
She’s the way out.
She’s how I get free.
That had to be it.

Just then, a doctor stepped out of the room.

I rushed toward him. “Doctor?”

He sighed, exhaustion lining his face. “She’s likely to recover.”

Relief crashed into me so hard my knees nearly buckled.

“But,” he added, “there’s a complication.”

My breath caught. “What kind?”

He studied me. “What’s your relationship with her?”

I hesitated. “I...I’m her boyfriend. No. Her fiancé.”

He nodded. “Your name?”

I grabbed his jacket without thinking. “Quit this fucking questions and tell me how she's doing!!”

He gently pushed my hand away. “She’s been whispering a name.”

My heart stuttered. “What name?”

“Er...Erus,” he said.

The word slammed into me.“You mean… Eros?” I asked sharply.

He nodded. “Yes. We need him here. Right now. She’s responding to that name. Without him, her brain activity is unstable.”

I staggered back.
A robot.

Even close to death, she was calling him.
Jealousy...sharp and ugly..twisted in my chest.

What had he given her? How had he earned that kind of devotion?

“I’m Eros,” I said suddenly.

The doctor frowned. “Are you certain? Because bringing in the wrong identity could cause neurological collision. It could kill her.”

I swallowed.
I was lying.
But she needed someone.

And if her body recognized me, if there was any chance...I would take it.

“Yes,” I said quietly. “I’m sure.”

They handed me gloves, a mask, hospital clothing. I dressed quickly and entered the room.

She looked so small.
So fragile.

I took her hand gently. “I’m here,” I whispered. “I’m sorry. I should’ve stopped everything. Just be fine. Please… for the sake of me...nah ...Eros, be fine.”

Doctors whispered to one another.

One of them smiled faintly. “Is that your woman?”

“Yes,” I said.

He chuckled. “You’re lucky. Making a woman call your name on her deathbed? That’s rare.”

I forced a smile.
Inside, something ugly stirred.
Why did it bother me so much?

Immediately, She began to shake. Monitors screamed. Doctors rushed in.
Her heartbeat spiked.

“Eros,” she gasped weakly. “Eros…”

“Hold her hand,” a doctor ordered. “She needs you.”

I froze.

“I...” My voice broke. “I’m no...”

“Now!” The Doctors yelled.

Quickly, I grabbed her hand.

Slowly, her body relaxed. The monitors steadied. The room fell silent...then erupted in relieved murmurs.

“She’s stable,” someone said.

They clapped.“Congratulations, Eros,” a doctor said. “You saved her.”

I blinked.“I..”

A voice cut through the room.“You’re welcome.”

I turned.

A man stood there, calmly removing his mask and hospital clothing.

“Hello,” he said softly. “I am Eros-7.”

The world blurred.
And then...Everything went dark.