CHAPTER 072

CHAPTER 072
«JARVIS'S POINT OF VIEW»

"How many fingers am I holding up?" the doctor queried, holding up his hand. I ogled at it blinkingly, my head still feeling heavy, like it didn’t fully belong to me.

"Five," I reacted, and he nodded before stepping away. My gaze drifted past him, finally landing on the police officers stationed at the corner, loitering patiently. My parents were on the other side of my bed, tense and quiet, while Levi leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, his face unreadable.

Bloody bastard. It was his fault. I got shot by some crazy woman. Luckily, she had the worst aim ever, and there were officers nearby. I would have been dead. The thought caused a lump to form in my throat.

The officers then walked over. "We'd like to ask you some questions now that you're awake," one of them began, and I nodded slowly. "From what we got from your brother, you were once attacked?" he inquired, watching me carefully.

I nodded. "Yes."

"Did you ever see the person's face?"

I shook my head. "No."

"How about last night? Do you know the person whoshot you?"

Again, I shook my head. "No. I have never seen her before. She seemed crazy… she was babbling some bizarre words I couldn’t comprehend. She even said she was the one who assaulted me before, and then she shot me."

My voice dipped slightly as the memory tightened in my chest. The sharp pain in my left thigh flashed back vividly. Luckily, the second shot was from the police that arrived at the scene, but by then, she was already gone.

The officers exchanged a brief look before turning back to me. "Would you be able to recognize her?"

I nodded faintly. There was no way I could forget those bloodshot eyes… that brutal and unhinged glint.

One of the men took out his phone and reached it out to me. I stared at the screen and instantly recognized the features, but she looked different. On the screen, she seemed almost relaxed, her eyes the glossiest blue, though there was something undeniably gloomy behind them. Her ebony hair shimmered,  and she had a faint, almost unsettling, tiny smile on her face.

"That's her," I declared, my voice steady despite the unease curling in my stomach.

"May I see?" Dad asserted, taking the cell phone from the officer. He stared at the image for a long moment, and then his eyes suddenly widened. "Stella?"

"You know her?"

Mom and Levi were abruptly behind Dad now, both leaning in to see the picture. Mom’s eyes widened too, and she slowly lifted her gaze to Dad, disbelief written all over her face. "I thought she was locked up?"

"That's what I thought too."

"Do you know her?" the officer inquired again, taking his phone back carefully.

Dad nodded slowly. "We do. She was my ex."

"Tell us more, sir. It seems like she was targeting your son. Did something happen between you two before or after you broke up?"

Everyone turned to Dad now, waiting. He sighed heavily before speaking.

"We dated in my first year of college and broke up a few months later before I met Vivian, and we quickly started something new. But a drunken encounter with her… led to her carrying my child." His jaw tightened slightly. "She wanted me to take responsibility, and I accepted that part. But I didn’t want to be with her anymore. She wanted more… and threatened to terminate the pregnancy if I left her. I didn’t think she meant it." His voice darkened slightly as he continued. "She took miscarriage pills and blamed me for it. The remaining years in college were hell; she became obsessed. Eventually, she was arrested for drug trafficking. We were told she was taken to a psychiatric ward, and we never heard from her again."

Silence settled heavily in the room.

"How long has that been?"

"It has been more than twenty years," Mom responded instead, her voice tight. "I can't believe she attacked my son."

"We were given information that she escaped and had been declared wanted. We've contacted her family, but none had seen her or knew her whereabouts until last night," the officer explained.

"How did she get her hands on a gun?" Levi wondered out loud, his brows furrowed.

"It's not impossible to get a gun," one of the officers countered calmly.

"She is going to kill my son. You have to stop her," Mom insisted, panic breaking through her composure.

The officers nodded. "We'll do our best to catch her before any more damage is done. In the meantime, we have surrounded the hospital just in case she comes back for him."

I cringed, a heavy awareness settling in my chest. My life was in peril. Oh fuck, why did it have to be me? I didn’t infringe on anyone, and now some crazy woman was after me for something that happened over twenty years ago with my dad. How did I come into this… oh yeah. A child for a child? You've got to be kidding me.

"When do I get discharged?" I eyed the doctor, my voice lower now. I wanted to vacate. I felt entirely precarious in the hospital.

"A week. Get some rest," he said, tugging his hands into the pockets of his coat before leaving. The officers also left, while Mom and Dad followed them out, leaving Levi and me alone in the room.

I scowled at him as his brown eyes met mine. "You should leave, too. Get out!"

"I'm sorry."

"Save it. I don't need it. I nearly died because of you!" I spat, throwing my face away. I didn't want to see him. He was a pain in the butt.

I kept looking away until I felt a finger under my chin, gently turning my head back. My breath caught as I saw his face inches away from mine, and I didn't fail to notice the way his eyes flickered between my eyes and my lips.

"What should I do to have you forgive me? Name it," he whispered, his warm breath brushing against my face, his cologne filling my senses.

I couldn’t help it; my hands slowly went to the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer. I realized I could never stay mad at this man.

"I want you to stop being such a bastard."

"Done," he replied with a small smile.

And I smashed my lips against his. He instantly responded, pulling me in like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I pulled back a minute later and pressed our foreheads together, my breath still uneven. "I love you so much, Levi. I wish you knew just how much."