CHAPTER TWO

ELIZABETH'S POV

My eyes fluttered closed as the darkness engulfed me in a world beyond my understanding and control.

I could feel myself sink deeper into the world that existed on the other side. 

Was this how death felt like?

Peaceful.

If dying was like this I didn't want to leave this place at all. My thoughts wandered to the guy who was next to me.

He called me Azalea.

I've never heard of that name before but yet I felt a deeper connection to him.

It felt like I had known him for years.

But I just couldn't wrap my finger around it.

What was going on?

When I tried to walk further I suddenly became stuck. A redline was only a few inches from me.

I couldn't cross it.

But the strange guy was in the middle. Half of his body outside the redline.

"His hanging between both worlds of good and evil, his fate is unknown" a voice out of nowhere.

When I turned around no one was there.

Was this some kind of sick prank?

I looked around again more cautiously but I saw no one.

The guy was bleeding to death so was my own body but I was helpless.

Our collided damaged vehicles had caused a lot of traffic jams.

But got out of their cars and rushed towards the bloody scene.

People took out their phones quickly. Some called for an ambulance while others reported the accident to the police.

It wasn't long before I heard sirens coming towards the bloody scene.

I moved out of the way but the ambulance just went through me like I was visible.

The cruel realization made me gasp in shock.

If my soul had left my body that meant that I was dead.

My soul disappeared and went into my injured body.

I was aware of the paramedics putting me on a hospital stretcher and carefully placed the both of us into the ambulance.

Me and the other guy.

Everything went dark and I zoned out.

PRESENT DAY

Twenty minutes later the ambulance had arrived at the hospital and both Elizabeth and the mysterious were rushed inside by nurses. 

Verona rushed inside sobbing painfully and the hospital contacted her. And told her about her daughter's critical condition.

She immediately rushed to the hospital. Both Elizabeth and the other guy were taken to the operation theatre.

They both lost a lot of blood.

VERONA'S POV

Doctor is my daughter going to be fine?" I sobbed miserably. But the doctor shook his head negatively.

"Madam she's in a bad condition I can't say anything right now."

The nurses wheeled Elizabeth Jones into the operation theatre. I kept pacing around the hospital halls anxiously.

The doctor's statement instantly shattered the little hope I was holding onto. A part of me kept saying that Elizabeth was going to survive. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

Elizabeth was going to live and see the sunshine feel it's warmth and I couldn't wait to hug her.

And tell her how much I loved her.

FLASH BACK 

My husband had walked out on me when I was 5 months pregnant . He had left me for another woman.

That night I felt broken and I couldn't bear the pain. I found comfort in alcohol and it became my best companion.

But the drinking also took a negative toll on my pregnancy and my little girls. I was going to have twins.

A month later I began getting unbearable stomach cramps and I started bleeding.

I thought that I was going to lose my girls. Despite the pain I managed to call the ambulance by the time it was arriving my vision was blurry.

I was about to pass out.

I was aware of being put in the back of the ambulance. The pain in my stomach didn't stop either.

What had I done?

I was slowly killing my babies with my alcohol addiction. I wasted most of my savings on nothing but liquor.

I didn't deserve to be a mother.

I kept my eyes open breathing in out harshly. I couldn't close my eyes not now. I had to fight for my babies.

It wasn't before I was rushed to the operation theatre. They had to take out my babies before they died inside my womb.

I remember being restless and wandering into the darkness. The darkness that swallowed people like me who put innocent babies in danger.

People who were swallowed never came back. They always stayed in the darkness and got tormented by their inner fears.

I didn't want to face mine.

Four hours later.

My eyes slowly opened when I tried to sit up right and I winced in pain. The crib beside my bed was empty. Another woman with dirty blonde hair was sleeping a few metres away.

It looked like she had given birth as well.

I looked at my other side and saw no sign of my babies.

A shiver went down my spine.

The words left my lips before I could stop them and tears rolled down my pale cheeks. 

"I killed them..." 

The doctor walked in and quietly closed the door behind him.

"My babies are dead right?"

He gave me a pitiful look and shook his head negatively.

"Come with me there is something that you should see."

I nodded and followed him.

He led me towards a nursery of premature babies who were in incubators.

Each incubator had the parents last name.

He took me towards mine.

My incubators were labelled A and B.

I took slow steps towards the incubators.

Baby A was instantly asleep. She had a lot of tubes connected to her. The mere sight made my heart shatter.

Baby B was next; they had placed her incubator at the last row far away from her sister's incubator.

I stared at the doctor and he urged me to go.

Something was wrong.

"Go ahead."

I walked towards the last row when I saw my baby a shocked gasp escaped my lips and I clamped my hand over my mouth.

The little thing in the crib kept wiggling uncontrollably it's face was disfigured.

It looked like it was made of clay.

I shook my head in disbelief and hot tears burned my eyes.

"Mrs. Jones due to the excessive drinking one of the twins was affected. The other is in a critical condition,but we'll still have to keep baby A for a few months in the hospital."

I turned to the doctor and grabbed his hand.

" What about my other baby?"

He sighed deeply.

"Unfortunately baby B has only twenty hours to live she won't make it."

A painful sob escaped my lips. My knees gave in and I slumped to the floor sobbing painfully.

I killed my baby and put the other in danger. I didn't deserve to become a mother at all.

The doctor left all alone as I suffered in my misery I had brought this upon myself.

Six months later.

I never left the hospital ever since my other baby died. I always devoted my attention to my other daughter.

I named her Elizabeth.

She was all I had. Over the past few months she had recovered and she weighed like a healthy baby.

The doctor had prepared the discharge papers when he gave her the final check up to make that everything was good.

DOCTORS POV

I stared at the large amount of money in my hands. This was against the law but when that couple offered me millions if I could only do one favor for them.

Swap babies.

Mrs. Jonas had given to two premature babies they were perfectly fine but the couple that paid me had a disfigured baby due to her drug and alcohol addiction.

Her husband asked me if I could exchange the babies. 

And I agreed if I refused to do what they wanted they would have made me lose my job. 

I was helpless but the guilt inside me was eating me up. I had separated a child from its mother.

PRESENT DAY

ELIZABETH'S POV

I woke up with a big headache. My head was pounding. I rubbed my temples gently to try and ease the pain.

I sat upright leaning against the headboard. I could feel my heart thumping loudly in my chest but it wasn't mine.

I could sense that someone was hurt and heartbroken.

"She left me all alone" a voice sobs.

But it wasn't in this room.

I shook my head in disbelief.

"No. This can't be real, it must be the medicine affecting my thoughts."

Just then mom walked in before I could comprehend what was happening she engulfed me in a big tight hug causing me to wince in pain.

"My dear Elizabeth I thought I had lost you just like your father."

I sigh deeply as she releases me.

" Please mom don't talk about my father" I muttered bitterly and mom quietly nodded.

She grasped my hand gently.

" I'm sorry honey I didn't mean to make you upset get some rest while I go talk to the doctor" she said softly and I nodded.

Once mom left I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.

I whispered something incoherently in my unconscious state.

It seemed like I shared a special bond with that stranger. We were somehow connected and our thoughts and feelings were linked.

I dreamed of a guy with a deep shade of blue gorgeous eyes. They held many emotions and dark secrets that I wanted to find out.

Who was he?