After Love

Bella Valdez should not have gone down that steep slope.

Dakota Stelter, however, had grabbed her hand as she fell, effectively dragging her into danger. It took a tree to break their roll.

Bella crashed into the trunk hard. Sharp twigs sank deep into her feet. Dakota, meanwhile, had Bella to cushion the impact. So all she got were a few shallow cuts.

By the time Damian Fox arrived, Bella was crying as profusely as she was bleeding. Before she could call out to him, though, she saw Damian carry Dakota in his arms and turn his back against her.

He vanished into the horizon. He hardly acknowledged her existence.

She was later rescued by park rangers after they were notified by her best friend, Claire Jenkins. By that point, she had already blacked out.

-

Bella opened her eyes groggily. She could make out a man's blurry silhouette on the chair next to her sickbed. Sunlight illuminated his profile, cluing her in on his identity.

Her heart skipped a beat in surprise. "Damian?" she asked softly and in anticipation.

He responded with a glance. He frowned worriedly. "Bella, you're up?"

She nodded and pursed her dried lips. "A glass of water, please…?"

He was about to pass her a glass when his attention turned to his phone. He started texting instead, as if it were an urgent message he had to respond to immediately. "Hold up. I need to answer this right now."

Bella gritted through the pain from her foot and considered him. Suddenly, she felt anxious. "Say… What's so important?" she asked tentatively.

He did not look up from the screen. "It's Dakota. She's coming to visit you."

Bella furrowed her brows. "What's she doing here?" she sneered.

Damian frowned and put his phone down. "To apologize to you. She didn't mean to drag you into that accident."

"Oh, she 'didn't mean to?'"

His expression hardened a little. "Yes! It was an accident! Can you not hold a grudge against someone who didn't mean to? Jeez."

Bella took a deep breath. The pain in her chest felt worse than her injury, somehow. She closed her eyes and lay down. "Fine. She can come if she wants."

A while later, someone knocked. A figure made her way inside slowly, her walk aided by a stick.

Dakota's eyes were red with remorse. "Bella? I'm really, really sorry for what happened. You wouldn't have gotten hurt if it weren't for me…"

Bella glared at her. She avoided her gaze.

"I panicked, okay?" She added, her voice thick with tears. "I didn't know what to do! I didn't know I'd hurt you so badly—"

"Get to the point," Bella interjected coldly.

Damian's frown deepened. "For Christ's sake, can't you show some empathy? She's a survivor of the accident, too! And she's apologetic enough as it is!"

"Excuse me?!" Bella scoffed. The pain in her chest intensified with ire. "She's a survivor because she got some scratches? A branch ran deep into my foot!"

"Yeah. You're a survivor, too. So what?"

Bella was at a loss for words. The weight on her chest was crushing.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do this!" Dakota mumbled, her face pale. Her hands were shaking.

"Dakota!" Damian leaped to his feet and held her hands. "Are you okay?"

Dakota rested her head on his shoulder as she gasped for breath. "I… I'm feeling a little faint…"

Worry filled his face. He carried her in his arms immediately. "I'm bringing you to a doctor. Stay with me, okay?"

Bella squared her jaw and tried to get down from her bed. Unfortunately, an overwhelming pain shot up from her foot. Cold sweat potted her forehead from the effort. She gritted her teeth and groaned shakily, "Damian, I…"

He had already left.

It was as if he had not heard her. He did not even notice the dripping blood on the floor around her bandaged foot.

The room was quiet again.

Bella lay down again. Her eyes lingered on the door. It felt like someone stabbed her in the chest.

She considered the bloody bandage and smiled mirthlessly. Her eyes were dry.

This was the second time he’d abandoned her for Dakota when she needed him.

Damian used to treat her as the queen of his heart, but things were different now. A coup had come for that throne, and he had willingly supported it.