—CHRISTIAN—I opened my eyes at a gentle touch on my hand and looked beside me, only to find Cally sitting there. Her eyes were fixated down and following her gaze, I realised that she was applying ointment to my knuckles that I had hurted about an hours ago. “ I'm fine.” I said quietly, trying to pull my hand away but she grabbed it strongly to pull back on its place to continue what she was doing. “ I can see that.” She replied before wrapping a cotton bandage around my knuckles but then stuck to knot it at the end.I kept watching her trembling hands struggling to knot the bandage for a few moments until I sighed and grabbed her hand to stop trembling. “ Calm down, Cally.” I said, meeting her eyes which were still wet with tears. “ I can't. I can't see her like this. I feel like I'm dying.” She could barely whisper before the tears were back, rolling down her face. “ No one's dying, Okay! Everything will be fine. She'll be fine.” I said, gentle pulling into my shoulder. I don
—CHRISTIAN—My phone started ringing and I pulled it out of my pocket to find that it was Jennifer's Dad. He has been calling since this morning on Jennifer's phone too and I had to switch it off finally.I know I can't ignore him anymore but I also can't tell him the truth until Jennifer's out of danger. He is a heart patient and I don't think he'll be able to take this news easily. The doctor has said that these twenty four hours are really crucial for her. If she wakes up within this time she would be out of danger otherwise there are chances of her going into a coma because of the severe injury she has gotten on her which had damaged her brain very much. It's already been nine hours but she still has not shown any single sign of consciousness. And I didn't know what I should tell her parents about her, so I disconnected the call and, sighing, I leaned back. Only sat up straight once again when the phone started ringing again. Knowing that they would have been restless since la
—CHRISTIAN—My sleep was broken when I felt a movement between my hands and I shot up straight. I looked at Jennifer and she was still sleeping peacefully. I drew a disappointed breath thinking that it must be my dream to think that she had moved a little but then I again felt a movement between my hands and looked down at her hand that I had been clasping since the afternoon. The movement was so small that it happened in a bare second and it would have gone unnoticed if I hadn't been holding that hand. With my bated breaths and quickened up heartbeat, I placed her hand on the bed slowly and pulled my hands back to me before fixating my eyes on her hand. I stared at her hand for a long moment but there was not any movement. “ Please, Princess. Give me a goddamn sign.” I whispered desperately and kept staring at the hand. A small negative part was telling me to stop and quit the stupidity but the bigger part inside me was telling me to continue staring. I wasn't even blinking to n
—CHRISTIAN—“Unfortunately, due to the extent of the trauma, it has affected a critical part of the brain responsible for various functions. In medical terms, we refer to this as a loss of half of the patient's life. Partial memory loss.” “ What? You mean she lost her memories?” Cally breathed out painfully while I couldn't even muster a word out of shock. “ Not completely. The brain is a complex organ, and when such injuries occur, they can impact not only physical abilities but also cognitive and emotional functions. And its effects on every person are different. In this case, Mr. Brown has lost half of her memories.” Cally gasped, stumbling back and Alex sported her, his face covered with the same shock as well. “ How much?” The doctor faced me again when I asked with a controlled voice trying to keep my tone stable. “ We can't tell right now. But she does remember her parents as she had been calling them before going unconscious again.” He informed me and my eyes snapped up.
—JENNIFER—A small, muffled sound that felt as if it was coming from afar broke my sleep and I slowly tried to open my eyes. It felt a little difficult to do that small act. The voice came again and I think I caught a word ‘princess’ or something while something gentle brushed against my forehead.It took another more minute to gather the strength that I needed to open my eyes and when I did, I found a white painted wall in front of me. It was a blur . I moved my eyes to look around and everything was blurry. Then I realised that it's actually me who was unable to focus. I felt something off with myself, but couldn't concentrate on my brain to solve this because of the headache. Ah, the headache. It kicked again. I slowly moved my eyes and looked around the room to try understanding something, anything, and it didn't feel like home. Home? The word got stuck in my head and before I could consider it, I felt a gentle tug at my hand. I looked at my side to find a man sitting near me.
—CHRISTIAN—I paced impatiently outside the ICU and stopped when I heard approaching footsteps. I turned to face towards the direction and saw Jennifer's parents running towards me. With Alex and Cally behind them. “ Where is she? Where's Jennifer? What happen-. “ First you have to Calm down, Please “ They started asking the questions as soon as they reached me. Interrupting them, I grabbed both of their hands and made them sit down on a visiting bench. “ What's going on, Christian?” Her father asked, with concern. “ I'll explain everything. But please, you need to keep yourself calm and listen to me carefully.” I told them and they gave me a hurried nod, clearly desperate to meet their daughter. “ When she ran from the house, she got hit by a car.” Her mother gasped out of shock while Uncle literally froze into his place. “ But she's fine now. The doctors said that she's out of danger now.” I informed them further, making them release their sucked up breaths. “ But because of t
—JENNIFER—When I opened my eyes this time, I was less drowsy and a bit more concentrated unlike the last time. The headache was still the same though, but thankfully, this time there was no man sitting beside me, holding my hand and calling me princess. Wait? Was that actually real?Ah,no. Jennifer. You gotta step out of your books girl. I blinked my eyes a few times to push away the flashes of that man that I was now sure as hell was fictional. I laughed at myself. Even in this situation, I can't stop being dramatic. “ Hello Jennifer; You seem happy. Mind sharing?” I heard a feminine voice from beside me and turned my face to look at her. It was a female doctor, smiling down at me.Last time there was a male doctor. Hah! Clearly it was a hallucination because of the injuries on my head. “ I was just hallucinating.” I replied. My voice was still weak. “ What exactly?” The doctor placed her elbows on her knees and placed her chin on her joined hands. “ That I had a husband. T
—CHRISTIAN—“ But?” I asked as a cue when she took a pause. “ But, it wouldn't be a very severe shock for her to take.” The doctor said, making me stare at her in confusion. “ What does that mean, Doctor?” I asked. “ Let me explain. When the brain gets damaged, It gets sensitive to a few things. Like memories. In this case, she has lost half of her life. The last thing she remembers is that she was going to celebrate passing their first year in graduation with her best friend. Now everything that happened afterwards can cause her shock according to how severe that incident was.” She took a pause and Alex spoke up. “ You mean, the bigger the incident will be, the bigger that shock will be.” He guessed. “ Exactly. And even though suddenly knowing that you are married is shocking. It does seem to have a big effect on her. Which tells that her brain or body have some weird kind of acceptance towards this thing. As if she had been expecting it even when she wasn't married and not grad
JENNIFER The next few days were spent with everyone celebrating my memory regaining and for our soon to be born child. Mom and Dad disclosed the whole truth about Catherine and I was just happy that they at least told me whatever it was. I was upset for being lied to but never angry. It eases their tension and we are back to normal. I looked at the clock and then towards the main door. With a sigh filled with disappointment, I had just turned back when the click of the door opening had me turning back again only to see my husband dearest entering with a bag in his hand. “You’re home.” I exclaimed, with a relieved smile while mentally thanking God. At first glance, he looked the same as when he’d left— black shirt, black pants, hauntingly beautiful face—but a closer look revealed the quiet storm brewing in his eyes. “You asked me to come home.” He watched, body still but gaze burning like an open flame, as I closed the distance between us. “So here I am.” His rough velvet
JENNIFER When I opened my eyes, my head felt heavy. It was hurting like someone had crushed it under a car wheel. With a wince of pain, I opened my eyes and the first thing I landed my eyes on was a pair of black eyes. Two moments of unblinking stare into those worry filled eyes before I took a sigh of relief. “ Christian!” I called out his name in my weak and hazy voice and saw him practically relaxing. As if a burden was taken away from her chest. “ Princess! You are awake.” His voice was filled with relief. “ What do you think?” I joked at his obvious question. A small sigh left his lips before a soft smile appeared as he bent down to kiss my forehead. “ You scared the shit out of me.” He murmured, straightening back. “ What? I don't remember anything?” I asked and he froze in his place. “ You don't remember anything?” He asked, repeating my words and emphasised on the last word. Now it was my turn to freeze in my place. I paused and all the events of the past
CHRISTIAN “Hello, Raphael.” I examined Jennifer’s stalker, who was strung up with heavy cuffs locking his arms and legs into a vertical spread- eagle position. Nails pinned his palms to the wall behind them, while black and blue bruises mottled his body like an obscene piece of abstract art. We were in the warehouse I’d bought for this specific purpose. Remote, soundproofed, and guarded enough that an ant couldn’t crawl across the floor without me knowing. Not all of my guys were okay with dirty work, which was fine. I only needed a few who were, and they’d done their job prepping the bastard for me. I couldn’t have him waiting too comfortably while I tended to Jennifer. My gaze flicked to the floor. A small pool of blood stained the smooth grey concrete. That was also fine. It will grow soon enough. Raphael’s face was so beaten up it was unrecognisable, but the heat of his glare made me smile. He had a bit of fight left in him. Good. That would make our session so much m
JENNIFER I slept in until almost noon the next day. It was the latest I’d ever woken up, but the previous day’s events had taken their toll. Even after a solid sixteen hours of rest, fogginess clouded my brain as I walked to the kitchen. Being drugged and kidnapped. Finding out my husband dearest has a brother about which I still have to ask him, Nearly dying, then getting rescued by Christian, and sort of/kind of making up with him. I’d had time to process, so it was easier to wrap my head around what happened, but yesterday was so surreal I still felt like I was walking on the edge of a dream. It was Monday, so I’d expected Christian to be at work. But when I entered the sun-splashed kitchen, I found him standing by the espresso machine, dressed in a black shirt and pants instead of his usual suit. I blinked with surprise. “You’re here.” I asked and he turned back swiftly as if pulled back harshly from another world. I guess I disturbed his thoughts. “It is my house,” he s
CHRISTIAN She’s here. She’s safe. I repeated the words in my head as I held Jennifer tight. Tiny shivers rippled through her body, and even though she was almost as tall as me, she felt fragile. Breakable. Fierce protectiveness burned in my chest. “It’s all right, princess,” I murmured. “You’re okay. You’re safe.” She buried her face deeper in my neck, her soft sobs twisting my heart like a wrung-out rag. Her hold on me felt like I was the only trustable and safe place for her. It felt like the old times, before her accident. It felt like I was holding her again for the first time in years, but this wasn’t how I’d wanted it to be. Not with her bruised, hurt, and terrified. Something struck my mind and my one hand automatically moved towards her belly. I felt my heart clenching in my chest at the thought of any possible harm to our child. The relief I’d felt at seeing her alive gave way to renewed rage. My cold gaze found Rapheal over Jennifer’s shoulder. He should pray t
Jennifer Lights washed across my vision at the force of the impact, but I didn’t have time to waste. I slammed my wrists down as hard as I could behind me until the frayed rope snapped against the protrusion. Luckily, Raphael hadn’t tied my legs, and I stumbled to the door. I almost made it before strong hands yanked me back. I hit the floor with a thud. Raphael pinned me to the ground and manacled my wrists above my head. “Let go of me!” I struggled against his hold. “You’re mine,” he said calmly, like we were at a picnic in the park and he wasn’t holding me hostage. “It’ll be so much easier if you give in, Jennifer. I don’t want to hurt you.” I couldn’t keep struggling forever. My energy was already fading, my muscles sore and my thoughts jumbled with panic. I turned my head a fraction to the right, and my breath hitched when I saw my purse lying a few feet away. My taser. I always kept it on me because since Christian forced me to do it. If I could only reach it… Raphae
JENNIFER A prickle of sensation dragged me from the dark, murky wells of unconsciousness. It started as a tingle in my fingers and toes. Then it was the hard press of wood beneath my thighs. Finally, it was the rough abrasion of ropes around my wrists and a pounding pain behind my eyes. I didn’t know what was going on. All I knew was, it hurt, and my throat was dry, and my head throbbed like someone had shoved a jackhammer or ten in there. Concrete anchors dragged down my lids. The darkness wasn’t soft and gentle like the gradual drift to sleep. It was endless and menacing, like the weight of the earth after being buried alive. I forced my lungs to expand past my rising panic. Breathe. Think. What happened? I struggled to sort through the day’s events. I remembered meeting my friends at the cafe. Morris running to the restroom. Nausea, dizziness, stumbling out for air…and the cold press of a gun against my ribcage. A voice, then blackness. Oh God. I’d been kidnapped. Th
JENNIFER A sharp stab of concern pulled my brows together. “Do you need to sit down? You don’t look so good.” Actually, I didn’t feel great either. My usual lethargy intensified and tugged at my limbs and eyelids. Morris’ face swam before me until I blinked the blurriness away. “Yes, I”—he gripped the edge of the table. “I”— his face turned ghostly white before flushing the crimson. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He bolted toward the bathroom. The door slammed shut. A second later, I heard the faint but unmistakable sound of vomiting. My own stomach twisted at the noise. I hoped we hadn’t gotten food poisoning, but something was clearly wrong. My vision blurred again. This time, blinking didn’t help. I stood, hoping the change in altitude would clear my head, but an instant wave of dizziness forced me back into my seat. What is going on? I’d only had tea and a pastry. Could you even get food poisoning from tea and pastries? Black dots danced in front of my eyes, and panic
—JENNIFER— As soon as our mouths collided, I felt colours bursting behind my eyelids, making them shut up automatically. Christian went frozen at my unexpected stunt and couldn't even move for a long moment. For myself, I was in shock about how the mouth of this cold man could be so warm and soft. I didn't give it any thought so I was as stunned as him at my own action and couldn't even move out of shock until I felt his hands coming up to grab my waist and he pulled me into himself. My body felt burns and chills at the same time where his fingers were digging into my skin in a firm but not painful hold. Suddenly I was too conscious about the things that his touch was making me feel. The pause we both took out of shock had me thinking for a moment that he would pull back but instead, he tilted his mouth and deepened the kiss with a sudden force that I almost lost my step. A gasp of shock couldn't find a place to escape me because of the way his mouth was perfectly occupying m