Chapter 89

Lila’s POV

The silence he left behind was worse than his anger.

As soon as the door clicked shut, it was like the air in the hospital room shifted, thickening until it pressed down on me. I could still hear his voice echoing in my head, sharp and furious, tearing through me like shards of glass.

Is the child mine?

Did Max know all along?

The questions replayed, over and over again until my chest felt raw.

I pulled the blanket up to my chin, trying to steady the tremor in my hands, but nothing helped. My eyes burned, swollen from the tears I had already shed, and still more slid down my cheeks. The ache in my body was nothing compared to the ache in my heart.

I was so sure now that he hated me and maybe he would never look at me the same way again.

I buried my face in my hands and sobbed quietly, muffling the sound so the nurses wouldn’t hear. For the first time since Max dragged me into that nightmare car, I felt truly suffocated. At least then I had hope that Drew would come for me. But now? I had no hope left. Nobody was coming to save me and I was all alone.

This was why I didn't want Drew to find out this way, I wanted to tell him myself and maybe it would provide me a chance to explain why I kept his child away from him. But Max had to come and ruin everything.

I couldn't blame Drew for how he reacted because of his past but I just wished he would allow me to explain, I never planned to hurt him or hurt anyone. These days it has just been from one issue to another and each one came with a new level of pain. I was truly exhausted from all the drama and chaos.

I don’t know how long I cried, but eventually the four walls began to close in. The steady beep of the monitors, the sterile brightness of the room began to feel too much and I couldn’t breathe.

I dragged myself from the bed and winced as my feet touched the cold floor. My body was still weak, but I needed air. Just a few steps, I told myself. Just down the hallway.

When I pushed the door open, the hallway was quiet, a little too quiet. The polished tiles reflected the harsh overhead lights, stretching endlessly. My legs felt heavy, but I forced myself forward, one shaky step at a time, until I reached the reception room.

I sat on one of the empty seats at the far end and watched everything that was happening around me. I just needed to distract myself from everything that had happened and also enjoy a little company even though I wasn't exactly talking to anyone.

Suddenly I heard a loud commotion at the entrance.

Raised voices, hurried footsteps, the sharp squeak of wheels on tile.

I frowned, my heart skipping as I turned toward the sound. Down the hall, near the main entrance of the ER, nurses and doctors were rushing in, pushing a stretcher at full speed. A body lay on it, still and motionless.

At first, I couldn’t see. There were too many people crowded around, voices barking orders like “Clear the way!” “Get the crash cart ready!” It looked like they were rushing to save the person's life.

Something in me froze. My chest tightened with dread, even before I caught a glimpse.

Then the stretcher turned slightly, and I saw his face.

Drew.

My breath punched out of me in a broken gasp.

“No…” The word tumbled out before I even realized it. My feet moved on their own, carrying me forward faster than my body could handle. “No, no, no!”

The closer I came, the clearer he was. His shirt stained with something dark near the collar, his skin pale, his head rolling to one side. His eyes were closed. Unconscious.

“Drew!” My voice cracked as I reached them, my hand shooting out to grab the side of the stretcher. “What happened to him? What happened?”

A nurse glanced at me briefly but didn’t slow down. “He was in an accident. Please step back, miss.”

An accident.

The words hit like lightning, my knees buckling beneath me. I stumbled but forced myself upright, clutching the edge of the stretcher as though letting go would mean losing him forever.

“No, please, please tell me he’s okay,” I begged, my voice shrill, breaking. “Don’t take him away from me, please!”

“Miss, we need to move him now. Step back.”

They pushed forward, and I had no choice but to stumble aside, my vision blurring with tears as they wheeled him through the emergency ward doors.

The last thing I saw was his hand, limp against the edge of the stretcher, before the double doors slammed shut between us.

I froze.

The hallway suddenly tilted, my legs giving out entirely. I collapsed onto the floor, the cold tiles biting into my skin, but I barely felt it. The sound that tore out of me wasn’t even human, it was raw, broken and ripped from the depths of my chest.

“This is my fault,” I whispered, shaking violently. “It's all my fault.”

My sobs came harder, my shoulders heaving as I clutched at my stomach. I remembered every moment, every argument, every secret I had held too tightly. If I had told him earlier, if I had trusted him with the truth, maybe none of this would have happened.

Maybe he wouldn’t have left.

Maybe he wouldn’t have gotten into that car, into whatever madness drove him to drink, to drive, to crash.

The guilt consumed me whole. I pressed my forehead to the floor, the sterile coldness a cruel contrast to the heat of my tears.

People walked past, nurses and visitors, their voices distant, muffled, like I was underwater. No one stopped me. No one could.

Because no one could take this weight away from me.

What if he doesn’t wake up?

The thought slammed into me with such force I almost screamed. My chest tightened, my throat closing, and I gasped for air that wouldn’t come.

What if he never opened his eyes again? What if the last words he ever said to me were filled with fury and betrayal?

The memory of his voice echoed again. Is the child mine?

And my silence.

I clutched my stomach instinctively, curling in on myself as more sobs wracked me. I didn’t care who saw. The child inside me, the child I thought I could protect by keeping quiet, was now the reason I might lose him forever.

And so I stayed there. On the ground, broken, terrified.

All I could do was wait.

And pray that Drew would live long enough to hear the truth I should have told him long ago.