Chapter 46 AFTERMATH
Ava's POV
I woke up in the hospital and looked around trying to figure out where I was and what I was doing here.
Then it all came back in a rush, Marcus with the gun, the pain in my shoulder, the blood spreading across my shirt, and I tried to sit up but my body wouldn't cooperate.
"Don't move," a voice said softly and I turned my head to see Dominic sitting in a chair next to my bed, he looked terrible like he hadn't slept in days.
"How long have I been out," I asked and my voice came out rough and scratchy.
"Two days, you had surgery to remove the bullet and then there were complications," he reached for my hand carefully like he was afraid I might break.
"What kind of complications," I said even though part of me didn't want to know.
He was quiet for too long and I saw his jaw clench the way it did when he was trying not to show emotion.
"The doctor needs to talk to you about that," he finally said, "I'll get her."
"Dominic wait," I grabbed his hand before he could stand, "just tell me, whatever it is just tell me."
He looked at me and I saw pain in his eyes that I'd never seen before.
"You were pregnant Ava," he said quietly, "we didn't know, you didn't know, but the trauma from the gunshot and the surgery, you lost the baby."
The words hit me like another bullet and I couldn't breathe for a second because how could I lose something I didn't even know I had.
"I was pregnant," I repeated and tears started falling without permission.
"About six weeks the doctor said, it was too early for you to have noticed any symptoms," he was still holding my hand and his grip was tight like he was trying to anchor both of us.
"Whose was it," I whispered.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes it matters, was it yours or Marcus's or Adrian's, I need to know."
"The doctor said there's no way to tell now but Ava it doesn't matter because it's gone and I'm so sorry, this is my fault, if I hadn't brought you to that meeting, if I'd protected you better..."
"Stop," I said because I couldn't handle him blaming himself when my whole world felt like it was collapsing, "just stop talking for a minute."
We sat there in silence while I tried to process what he'd told me and I felt empty in a way I'd never felt before, like something had been taken that I didn't know I wanted until it was gone.
A nurse came in after a while to check my vitals and gave me more pain medication and then the doctor arrived, a woman in her fifties with kind eyes.
"Miss Scott, I'm glad you're awake," she said as she pulled up a chair, "I know Mr. Hayes has told you about the pregnancy loss and I'm very sorry, these situations are always difficult."
"Can I ever have children again," I asked because that felt important somehow.
"There's no medical reason why not, your body just needs time to heal from the trauma," she paused and looked at her clipboard, "there is something else we need to discuss though, your blood work showed some unusual markers that we'd like to investigate further."
"What kind of markers," Dominic asked before I could.
"Elevated levels of certain proteins that we don't typically see in normal blood panels, it could be nothing but we'd like to run more tests just to be safe."
"What would cause that," I said.
"Could be a number of things, genetic factors, environmental exposure, we won't know until we do more comprehensive testing," she stood up, "but for now you need to focus on resting and recovering from your injuries, we'll schedule the additional tests for next week."
After she left I looked at Dominic.
"Unusual markers, what does that mean," I asked him.
"Probably nothing, doctors always want to run more tests," he said but something in his voice felt off.
"You're lying to me."
"I'm not lying, I just don't want you to worry about something that might be nothing."
Before I could argue Isabella walked in carrying flowers and her face lit up when she saw I was awake.
"Oh thank God," she rushed over and hugged me carefully, "you scared us so badly, I thought we'd lost you."
"I'm okay," I said even though I didn't feel okay at all.
"Marcus is in custody, they caught him trying to board a flight to South America," she sat on the edge of my bed, "he's facing attempted murder charges plus everything else."
"Good," I said and meant it.
"Your mom was here yesterday," Isabella added, "she sat with you for hours, I think she's starting to come around."
That made something in my chest loosen slightly because at least one good thing had come from this nightmare.
Over the next few days I stayed in the hospital recovering and Dominic barely left my side except when Isabella or Maya forced him to go home and shower, he looked haunted like he was carrying guilt that was eating him alive.
The doctor finally cleared me to go home a week after I'd been shot and Dominic had the penthouse prepared with everything I might need, but when we got there I felt strange like I didn't belong in this space anymore.
"I'm going to take a shower," I said and walked to the bathroom before he could offer to help.
Under the hot water I cried for the first time since learning about the baby, silent tears that mixed with the steam and disappeared down the drain, I didn't know if I was crying for the pregnancy or for everything else that had happened or just because I was exhausted from holding myself together.
When I came out wrapped in a towel Dominic was sitting on the bed waiting.
"We need to talk," he said.
"About what."
"About us, about what happens now."
"I don't know what happens now," I sat next to him, "I lost a baby I didn't know I was carrying, I got shot by someone I trusted, everything feels broken."
"Then we fix it together," he turned to face me, "Ava I know I've made mistakes, I've lied to you and put you in danger and I can't take any of that back, but I love you and I want to make this work."
"I love you too but I don't know if love is enough anymore," I said honestly.
"What are you saying."
"I'm saying I need space, I need time to figure out who I am outside of all this chaos."
His face fell but he nodded slowly.
"How much space," he asked.
"I don't know yet, maybe I should stay with Maya for a while."
"You just got out of the hospital, you need someone to take care of you."
"Maya can take care of me."
"Please don't leave," his voice cracked slightly, "stay here, I'll give you all the space you need but please don't leave."
I wanted to say yes because being near him still felt right despite everything but I also knew I couldn't heal if I stayed in this environment.
"I'll stay tonight," I said, "but tomorrow I'm going to Maya's and you're going to let me go without a fight."
He looked like he wanted to argue but instead he just nodded and pulled me close, we lay there fully clothed on top of the covers and I fell asleep listening to his heartbeat.
In the morning I packed a bag while Dominic made breakfast that neither of us ate and Adrian drove me to Maya's apartment in Brooklyn without saying much.
Maya had already set up the guest room for me and she hugged me at the door.
"Stay as long as you need," she said.
I spent the first week sleeping and crying and not answering my phone when Dominic called, Maya didn't push me to talk she just made sure I ate and took my medication and gave me space when I needed it.
On the eighth day I finally felt strong enough to leave the apartment and I went for a walk through the neighborhood, the fall air was cold and it felt good on my face.
I was passing a coffee shop when someone called my name and I turned to see Adrian standing there.
"What are you doing here," I asked.
"Dominic sent me to check on you," he admitted, "he's been worried."
"He needs to stop worrying and let me breathe."
"Can we talk for a minute," Adrian asked, gesturing to the coffee shop.
I almost said no but something in his expression made me agree and we went inside and sat at a corner table.
"How are you really doing," he asked after we'd ordered.
"I'm surviving," I said, "some days are better than others."
"I'm sorry about everything that happened, about Marcus, about the baby, about my part in all of it."
"Your part?"
"I should have seen what Marcus was planning, I should have protected you better."
"It's not your fault Adrian, none of this is your fault."
We talked for a while about nothing important and it felt good to have a normal conversation with someone who wasn't treating me like I might shatter at any moment.
When we stood to leave Adrian touched my arm gently.
"If you ever need anything, anything at all, call me," he said and something in his eyes made my stomach flip.
"I will," I promised.
Walking back to Maya's I couldn't stop thinking about the way Adrian had looked at me and I felt guilty because I was supposed to be healing from losing a baby and dealing with trauma but instead my body was responding to a man who wasn't Dominic.
That night I lay in bed touching myself and thinking about Adrian's hands on my skin and I came quietly with his name in my mind and afterward I felt even more broken than before.
The next morning my phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number.
"I saw Adrian talking to you yesterday at the coffee shop, interesting how quickly you move on."
I stared at the message feeling ice run through my veins because someone was watching me and I had no idea who or why.
Then another text came through.
"Check your email, I sent you something you need to see."
I opened my email with shaking hands and found a message with an attachment, when I clicked on it my breath stopped because it was a photo of Adrian at the airport and the timestamp showed it was from two days ago.
But that wasn't the shocking part, the shocking part was that Adrian was talking to someone in the photo and that someone was Marcus.