Chapter 147 Worried-Sick
The air was thick with the scent of antiseptic and the low, rhythmic hum of machines that were currently the only thing keeping Peach in this world.
‘Please be safe. Please be safe. Please be safe.’
Luke prayed desperately, pacing around the hallway, refusing to move an inch. His breaths were unstable, tears forming a screen in his eyes.
The surgeon had emerged three hours in, his face a mask of exhaustion.
“H-How is she, Doctor?”
"She survived the surgery, but the trauma was extensive," he said in a low, somber tone, "Internal hemorrhaging, a shattered pelvis... and the head injury. Now, we wait to see if she wakes up."
Luke felt the words settling into his bones like lead, suffocating him, draining his energy. He fell back on the chair, tears forming a screen.
Soon, she was shifted to the ICU. Luke was overwhelmed by grief when he saw Peach with the medical instruments.
He hadn't left the metallic seat in the waiting area for twenty hours. He was a wreck. He stayed still, stayed by Peach’s side during visiting hours until she was out of danger and shifted to a room.
His eyes were bloodshot, his jaw covered in a dark stubble, and his hands were still stained with the faint, dried traces of her blood beneath his fingernails.
He reached out, his fingers trembling as he took her hand.
"I am here, Peach," he whispered, his voice shaky, kissing her knuckles, pressing it firmly over his cheek.
"I am right here. I am not going anywhere. I promise."
He leaned forward, resting his forehead against the metal railing of the bed. Every time her heart monitor beeped, it felt like a needle to his conscience.
He kept replaying their fight, the way he had loomed over her, the venom in his voice when he called her unlovable. Everything rooted deep guilt and penitence into his heart.
"You're not unlovable," he choked out, the tears finally breaking through his exhaustion.
"At least not in my matters, you never one, for me… I am sorry, I am so sorry,"
He spent the night in a fever of devotion. He wiped her brow with a cool cloth every hour, whispered stories of a future he had never truly planned for them.
He smoothed her hair with a tenderness that was desperate, trying to redeem his actions. He wasn't performing anymore.
There was no Arabella to impress, no pride to protect. There was only the girl he had broken, and the terrifying possibility that he might never get the chance to fix… anything.
Not his shattered heart, not her lonely life, not their relationship.
His thumb grazing her knuckles, refusing to let go of her hand, collecting his thoughts, the path he had chosen.
"How can you leave me like this? Didn’t you want me at all cost? We haven’t even taken two steps together properly yet, Peach."
He sat back, staring at her pale, still face.
He realized then that Arabella had been right about one thing: he had been using Peach. He knew that too.
But, he also realized that the ‘distraction’ had become the only thing keeping his heart beating. Since Arabella left, Peach was all he had.
Peach had witnessed his worst condition, Peach accepted him when he gave up on his own self.
“I'll be everything William was for us, but better. I’ll be yours. Just wake up. Please.”
The silence of the hospital room was deafening, but Luke sat in it, refusing to move, a vigilante of regret, waiting for the one thing he didn't deserve: a second chance.
Soon, the sliding glass doors of their private room opened. William and Arabella walked in, their presence bringing a sudden, heavy weight to the room.
“Luke, how- how did this happen? Is she okay now?”
“They say she will be fine and might wake up soon.” He breathed out.
Luke didn’t look up, his fingers interlaced with hers as if he could physically pull the life back into her body. He looked destroyed, utterly miserable.
William stepped forward, he placed a firm, heavy hand on his brother’s shoulder for consolation. Luke shut his eyes, leaning towards his brother’s support.
“I failed as a protector, William,” His whimpered, tears refilling.
“This happened before my eyes and I- I couldn’t do anything… I failed, William, I failed,”
"No, you didn’t, Luke," William said softly, trying to reduce his ache, “This isn’t your fault.”
Not wanting to disappoint his brother, Luke chose silence. The couple stayed by Luke’s side who refused to move from his seat.
“Did you eat something?” Arabella asked hesitantly, noticing the redness, the anguish in his eyes.
“I don’t want to.” Luke’s voice was rough and exhausted.
“That won’t do. You can’t starve yourself. William, get something.”
“Okay.” Nodding, William went for the cafeteria, leaving them alone.
"I did this," Luke rasped the second they were alone, his eyes fixed on the heart monitor, "I chased her into that street. I told her... I told her she was nothing."
Arabella sat on the opposite seat, observing the wretched man carefully. She looked down at Peach, then at Luke, refusing to let her go.
"Then prove her wrong, Luke," Arabella suggested, lowering her gaze with a gentle smile.
"Stop looking at me. Stop searching for me. Even if William will hate me, I won’t regret marrying him.”
Luke’s jaw tightened, “Do you… love him that much?”
“Do you want to rip my heart open?” She chuckled softly, tugging a stray strand behind her ear, glancing outside the window, “I am William’s. I have always been William’s."
“You can hate me, curse me, cut ties with me all you want. But, don’t put your other relationships at risk for my selfish actions, Luke,”
Rising from her seat, she walked towards the sorrowful man, placing her hand over his shoulder for a brief consolation.
"Don't be like me, Luke. Don't wait until everything is ash, before you lose it all. Be hers now, while she’s still here."
She squeezed Luke’s shoulder one last time before glancing at the door, “If you want a future, you start it here. With her. Without me."
Luke shifted his eyes, falling on Arabella who walked towards the door and opened it only to find William there, no longer surprised.
Peach’s words knocked on Luke’s mind, his eyes widened in incredulity, ‘Truly, she didn’t need to know… he is here.’
Though Luke’s heart twitched for a moment but when it landed on Peach, the envy died down, replaced with repentance once again.
Strange sensations began to brim in his heart, placing her hand over his cheek, he remained motionless as William made him eat something at least.
Luke forced a few bites down and stayed for the time being. Eventually, they left as quietly as they had arrived, leaving Luke alone in the humming silence.