Chapter 156 RESTORED
LUCIEN’S POINT OF VIEW.
I kissed my wife’s hands three times before stepping away from her for a moment so her family could see her while I headed to see my mother.
Hmm….my wife…..
That sounds so fucking good.
Will most people call me crazy for knowing who my wife is at age nineteen… a few weeks before I graduate from high school?
Yeah.
But if I cared about what people think, I wouldn’t be Lucien fucking Ravenscroft.
“Bye.” She whispered, her beautiful eyes twinkling with stars as she watched me walk out with my back to the door. I was scared of taking my eyes from her for a second. I still believed Eldric would somehow find his way here and try to take her from me.
Even though the bastard’s shackled, and chained to a hospital bed in one of the hospitals provided by the government, and awaiting his sentencing……I still didn’t believe he would simply quit.
It was why Valerian, I, and my grandparents combined our efforts into hiring more bodyguards than any world leader…because I’d taken a chance before…and the love of my life was ripped from my hands.
Not anymore.
The door shut behind me with a soft click, and outside the shut windows, I clearly caught sight of the horde of reporters waiting for a word from the family about everything that had happened….but they wouldn’t be getting anything, not even a peep from us; not until Sloane and my mother were ready.
Speaking of my mother… for some reason, I’d found myself turning away from her. Not because I hated her or anything of the sort…but because a part of my brain that wired itself in believing that she was gone convinced me there was no way she was right here….in front of me……in my life….it was simply impossible.
On getting to her door, I paused just as my hand gripped onto the handle…if I opened the door….what if she suddenly disappears?
What if she wasn’t real?
What if she were truly dead, and my mind conjured her up to cope with the loss all over again?
What if she……so many questions……I wasn’t ready, but at the same time, I knew to rip the band-aid off immediately.
With a deep breath, I pulled the door open, my eyes scanning the room, the pink daffodils surrounding the entirety of the place; courtesy of my grandparents, who’d sobbed loudly at the news, and at the sight of her.
My grandmother was so happy, she bought every single bouquet of my mother’s favourite flowers from any and all available flower shops in the state, filling the room with the pink flowers so much that it was almost blinding.
My grandfather, on the other hand, babied her; she wasn’t allowed to stand, walk, eat, or do anything on her own. He was always there by her side; unlike right now, because they’d left to get her something to eat.
Did I mention they rented the hospital kitchen only so they could make her dishes themselves?
Well, they did.
And it wasn’t just so they could spoil her; it was for safety reasons….because no one knew where Eldric might choose to strike next…and if he did, I was certain that either Sloane or my mother, ot both of them, would be his targets.
Because he knew how damaging it would be for me.
I glanced at the television on the other side of the room, the televised drama my mother loved, and watched with me, feigning sleep while she held me in her arms over a decade ago, and I couldn't help but smile at the sight.
At least there was some sense of normalcy……with the harrowing experience she must have had at the hands of my father….I was worried, no….terrified, I would never get even a semblance of her ever again.
“Lucien.” I heard her gasp, and I glanced in her direction. She wasn’t in bed.
No.
Instead, she was just coming from the bathroom, her face wet with droplets of water, a towel in her hand.
“Mom,” I whispered, my heart pounding from the weight of the emotions violently coursing through me.
She was here.
She was real….not a figment of my imagination.
She wouldn’t wither away into the air if I dared move closer…no, she was here to stay.
“My beautiful boy.” She cried, and instantly, I rushed to her side, my arms wrapping around her as I pulled her into a hug, my tears running down my cheeks again.
I’d done a lot of crying in the past few hours.
Partially out of fear, hope, pain….and despair; and later, relief.
I’d begged whatever entity rested in the universe to please….not take them away from me, because I knew I would follow them instantly…..there was no life without Sloane…none at all.
“You’re here…..you ‘re really here.” I gasped, wrapping my hands tighter around her, waiting for the moment she would finally disappear…but even as seconds ticked by, she stood there, her arms wrapped around my midsection, her small frame practically disappearing into me as I towered over her.
I pulled back the second a droplet of her tears dropped onto my shirt, and wiped them away softly. “No….” I sighed, my vision blurry as I smiled sadly at her. “No yeatrs, mom….not anymore.
You never have to cry over this, not as long as I'm alive…. I’ll protect you.”
“Oh, baby….I should be the one protecting you. I'm the parent, not the other way around.” She sighed, but I shook my head.
“No, mom….I’m a grown-up now….and I swear to you, I’ll never let evil come near you ever again. You won't have to suffer the same things, and justice will be served.
Eldric will get what’s coming to him; that I vow.
“I know, son.” She whispered. “But enough of this, what's up with you and that beautiful young woman….care to tell your mother?”
She smiled, and instantly, the mention of Sloane brought a dreamy smile to my lips and lightness in my chest.
“Mom, she….she is everything I hoped I would get secretly when you told me the kind of girl I should give your jewellery to…..she’s perfect; and I am going to marry her.”
“Marry? My son’s a big boy now.” She laughed, and I followed suit. The sound of his laughter was like music to my ears as I helped her get onto the bed, so she could lie down.’
The doctor said she should be off her feet as much as possible because some of the injuries she sustained at the hands of that monster weren’t properly treated; so they would have to start with it now, and for her safety, her energy needed to be conserved as much as possible.
“I see the way you look at her, Lucien….I know how you feel, son.” She chuckled.
“Am I that obvious?” I rubbed my neck sheepishly.
“Yes…anyone with eyes can see it. You’re crazy about her… and honestly, it’s refreshing to see.” She smiled. “I want you to have the kind of love I wanted but could never have…..you need to break that curse in the family…..But I know you'll never be anything like that abhorrent person I have the misfortune of marrying.”
“I’m so sorry about that, Mom,” I whispered, my hands pressing into her feet in a massage fashion.
“No, Lucien.” She chuckled, although it was both sad and… relieved. Almost as if she’d managed to find a little light in this huge map of sadness. “You know why?”
I shook my head.
: Because, although I had a horrible marriage, you came out of it. And although I know you wouldn’t be perfect, you are everything I could ever want in a child.
And when you have your own children, I know you’d do better.”
“I promise, Mom….. nothing about Eldric will make manifest in me…. I’ll make you proud.”
“Good.” She sighed, grabbing the bottle of water before taking a sip of it. “Now, when is the wedding? Five years, ten….after college….what do you guys have in mind?”
“Well….” I trailed off, readying myself for her reaction to my next words. “Sloane doesn't know it yet, but I want us to be married immediately after graduation, Mom.”
“What?!” she gasped. “Isn't that too soon?”
“For Sloane….. I’ve wanted to marry her from the moment I saw her….but you know….she might get scared if I propose that…so I’ll just wait to putch the idea.” I chuckled.
Before she could utter another word, the door pulled open to reveal my grandparents walking in with another bouquet in each ot their hands, and a bag full of food in the other.
“Grandma, grandpa, with the amount of flowers already in here, I’m sure we can open a flower shop of our own at this rate.” I opined, and instantly, my grandmother smacked me across my back with a stern expression crossing her features.
“OW, GRANDMA!” I hissed….her hits were always brutal.
“Why are you bothering my daughter? Huh? Get up, now.” She grabbed onto my hands and tugged me off.
Or rather, she tried, but she was too old for it, so I pretended to be moved by her strength, and with a groan, I pushed myself off the bed.
“Mom.” My mother chuckled and coughed at the same time.
“See…she didn’t cough when it was just your grandfather here and me….you did this,” Grandma whined, handing the bouquet of tulips to my mother with a smile only for her.
“You guys should remember the golden child,” I said with a pout.
“Who are you?” The echoed, and bellowed with a hoarse laugh.
And in that moment, I felt a sense of completion, because after my family suffered a huge gash from someone who should have been one of theirs, we were finally restored…and nothing would shake it.
Nothing at all.