Chapter 74 - Alive

JULIET POV

There's an incessant pounding in my head, and my eyes feel as if it was glued together. My throat is sore and parched, and panic washes over me. What the hell happened? Was I back in the clutches of my father?

I can't breathe. I CAN'T BREATHE!

My eyes fly open, and my hands scratch at my throat, willing air to come past my constricted windpipe, but it's like I'm a fish out of water.

"Juliet!" My head flies to the man standing next to me, and I'm for sure going to die now. This is the end for me. After everything, this is how I'm going out.

"Nurse!" He shouts frantically, pressing a button repeatedly next to my bed.

Darkness blurs my vision as I lose oxygen, but then there's a lady putting a mask on my face, her hand soothingly stroking my hair.

"Breathe angel." Her voice is soft and gentle, her smile warm and welcoming, making me take in a huge gulp of air that I almost choke on it. "That's it, girl. You're okay. You're going to be just fine. Just breathe."

Something must be given to me because I suddenly feel my eyes drooping and my limbs becoming heavy until I fall into a deep sleep.

I don't know how long I'm out this time, but when my eyes open, the blinds to the room are drawn, and there's almost complete darkness, creating an eerie atmosphere.

It must be nighttime.

Images of a white SUV run through my mind, and the beginning of another panic attack threatens to take me over again, but I take in slow deep breaths to not feel like I'm dying over and over again.

That SUV was no accident. It came right for me. But why? Who the hell was driving it?

The door to my room slowly creaks open, and my eyes widen in horror. What if it's him? What if he comes back?

But I instantly recognize the silhouette because he's bigger than the other two, his muscles more defined from all the training he puts his body through, and I swear he's an inch taller, too.

He quietly closes the door behind him and tries to walk over to my bed without making a sound.

His mouth drops open in surprise when he sees me looking at him. "You're awake?"

I simply nod, my throat still too sore to talk.

"Oh my God, do I need to call a nurse?" Alonso picks up my cold hand and rubs it, the calluses from his hand are familiar and welcome.

"What..." I swallow and my close my eyes, the words struggling to come past the dryness.

There's a pitcher with water on the bedside table, and I show him with my eyes what I want.

"You want water? " He leaves my hand, and I wish he wouldn't, but he pours water in a cup and then adjusts my bed, so I'm sitting a little upright. "Only tiny sips, okay? The nurses here are vicious, I don't want to get into trouble. They told your father to leave the room when you woke up this afternoon and said he can only come back when you say so. "

So I wasn't imagining it. He was here.

I must have had bad injuries if they got my father to come here.

The water is soothing on my throat as I take small sips of the cup that Alonso holds at my lips.

"Good girl." He smiles gently and wipes my mouth dry with a napkin. "You really gave me a scare there. I thought I was losing you."

"Who ran me over?" The words are croaky, but they come out much better.

"You remember." Alonso frowns and pulls a chair closer so he can sit next to me. "They haven't found him. They don't know who it is."

Who would want to kill me? It feels absurd.

Unless the triplets found out I came here with an agenda. I always knew this was no fairytale and that it wouldn't have a happy ending.

I just didn't think the ending would be like this.

"Whoever it was was extremely smart. " Alonso stares at the wall. "No number plates, the driver seems male according to the built, but he had on a ski mask. We lost track of the car when he parked in an apartment building, but there was no exit car."

It doesn't seem one of them was behind this then. So who?

"It doesn't make sense." I shake my head. Does this mean I have to watch my back now?

"Don't worry about it." He kisses me softly on the forehead. We'll find whoever did this. Your dad said he will be back in the morning."

"No!" I clutch Alonso's hoodie desperately, my eyes pleading. "I don't want to see that man. Ever!"

Confusion clouds the beautiful eyes of Alonso Moretti, but he nods.

The exchange must have been too much for me because I suddenly feel exhausted, and I allow myself to drift into a deep sleep with Alonso by my side.