10

Aspen

DAY TWO

I stayed in my room for the rest of the day and I did not even come out to make dinner. I felt down after remembering Clear and I spent the rest of the day wondering how she was.

Was she alive? What condition was she in? I badly wanted to see her again. I still strongly believed that she was alive. And that I was going to find her someday.

The next morning, after I had freshened up, I decided to call the doctor. “How is my mother?” Those were the first questions that I asked after he picked up the call.

“Miss Aspen, it's good that you called. The surgery went well and was successful.” Finally, I let out a breath of fresh air at his words. Mom has been treated and the surgery was successful. For the first time in so many days, I felt happy.

I was about to say something when Doctor Luke beat me to it and the smile on my face fell. “But I have some bad news. Your mother is in a coma. But she is out of any danger. She was sick for too long and that is one of the factors contributing to her coma. For now, all her vitals are stable.”

“I'd suggest that you visit often to talk to her. She will recover quickly. And you can come along with family members and people closest to her. Their interaction will go a long way.” His words made me bite down on my lower lip as I took out a shaky breath.

That was impossible. We had no one. Dad and Mom were never too close. And Clear was missing. Clear had always been their favorite and I knew that my mother would recover quickly if Clear was around.

“I'm the only family member around. I'll visit her soon.” I informed him, my voice solemn.

“Alright then. That will also work. I'll see you around.” The call ended with a beep and I fought to blink my tears away. There was no need to cry. Mom was fine now. She would get out of her coma, the problem I had to be looking for how to solve was how I was going to convince Kill to allow me to see her freely and from time to time.

I stepped out of my room and I was met with the same quiet house. But when I arrived downstairs, I met Killian in the dining room with a cup of coffee in front of him.

Once he noticed my presence, he stared briefly at me. But that moment was very uncomfortable. His gaze lingered on my face too long whenever he looked at me, like he was trying to figure out something. I did not like that one bit and I knew it had something to do with me looking like someone. But who?

As I went into the kitchen to make breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, I kept wondering how I was going to approach Killian. How to start the conversation and make him agree.

Thankfully, he was still around by the time I finished breakfast. “I want to talk to you,” I uttered softly, setting my tray down on the table as I took my seat.

“About what?” I stared briefly at Kilian and he seemed to have gotten more handsome that morning.

“Mom’s surgery was successful.” I began.

“Am I supposed to give a fuck about that?” Came his straight reply. His voice was low and he had his eyes fixed on his laptop. His tea had gone cold and I wondered why he made it if he was not going to drink anything major from it.

“Right. You are not. Well, I want you to know that I will be going to see her more often. This is the time that I need to be by her side all the time. So I need your permission, you know, to leave.” A heavy weight of silence fell upon us and my heart was beating loudly. I wanted him to say yes.

“Okay.” His next reply shocked me.

“Okay?” I was shocked. As Killian just agreed. Before, he'd say no and would probably give a thousand reasons why he was not going to allow me to leave.

“I'm allowed to leave?” I asked again, wanting to confirm his words.

“You met me busy, Aspen.” He sounded impatient. “I'm not in for your whining today. A driver will take you to the hospital. But you have just an hour to spend there.” I scoffed at his words. I knew it. Him telling me yes was too easy.

“You have to be kidding me.” I angrily stood up on my feet. “We have 24 hours a day and you are telling me that I get to spend just an hour with my mum?” I asked, pure disbelief written in my eyes.

“If that is not enough for you, I can cancel the damn arrangement and you will not step a foot out of this place.” Was he fucking serious?

“Killian, what is wrong with you?” I suddenly yelled out of anger.

“What?”

“The fuck is wrong with you. It's just my second day here and you are making my life so difficult. What the hell is wrong with you? I’m not your prisoner!!" I yelled at him, but Killian did not take my words so nicely.

He angrily stood up on his feet and then the next thing, he grabbed my jaw tightly, forcing me to look at him. “You are my wife!! A fucking Davenport. Let that sink in ya head! Okay? Know that I own you and I get to do whatever I want with you. Do you understand?” His hold on me was tight and I struggled trying to release myself from his tight hold.

When I refused to give in, he yelled, “Do you fucking understand?!!” He looked so deadly and anger flashed in his eyes that I was forced to nod. That was when he finally let me go.

“Good. If you are interested, Brooke will take you there. If you spend more than an hour, you get punished.” He said while picking up his laptop from the table.

“What a good way to ruin my morning, eejit.” He fired at me and I was so scared of how monstrous he looked. And did he just curse me in Irish?

I watched in despair as Killian walked away angrily.