Chapter 3

The hum of the sewing machines in the studio usually acted as a lullaby for my racing thoughts, but today, the noise felt like a frantic heartbeat. It had been four months since that night in Florence. Four months of burying myself in fabric, sketches, and silence. I had tried to scrub the memory of Lucas from my mind, but sometimes, the scent of sandalwood would drift through a doorway, and for a split second, I would stop breathing.

"Ari? Back to earth, Ariana."

I blinked, looking up from the silk I was pinning. My best friend, Lena, was leaning against my workbench, holding two lukewarm coffees. She was the only one who knew I hadn't been 'myself' lately, though she didn't know the dark, sweaty details of why.

"Sorry," I murmured, taking a cup. "Just thinking."

"You’re always thinking," Lena sighed, pushing a pile of scrap fabric aside to sit. "Is it about your mom? You said she was landing today, right?"

I nodded, a small, genuine smile finally touching my lips. "She should be at the house by now. These past few months, she’s been so... mysterious. Every time we talk on the phone, she sounds like she’s glowing, but she won't tell me why. She just keeps saying she has 'the ultimate surprise' for me."

"Maybe she finally bought that villa in Spain she’s been dreaming about," Lena joked.

"Maybe," I said, though a part of me felt a strange tug of anxiety. My mother was a woman of whims, never staying in one place or with one person for long. But this felt different. Her voice had a weight to it lately, a settled, happy tone I hadn't heard in years. "She told me she’s bringing someone to dinner tonight. Someone she wants me to meet properly."

"Ooh, a mystery man!" Lena nudged my shoulder. "Maybe he has a rich brother for me."

I laughed, the sound feeling light in my chest. "I just want her to be happy, Lena. She’s spent so much of her life looking for 'The One.' If she’s found him, I'll be happy for her."

We sat there for a moment, sipping our coffee and planning the evening. I was going to leave work early, pick up some fresh pasta, and finally find out what my mother had been hiding. The atmosphere in the studio was bright, filled with the promise of a reunion.

Then, my phone screamed.

It was a sharp, jagged ringtone that cut through the soft music playing in the background. I reached for it, seeing an unknown number with a local area code.

"Hello?"

"Is this Ariana Meadows?" The voice on the other end was cold, not mean, just clinical. It was the sound of a man who had delivered bad news so many times he had become a machine.

"Yes, this is Ariana."

"Miss Meadows, I'm calling from the Emergency Dispatch. There has been a major multi-vehicle accident on the A1 Highway involving a silver sedan. We identified your mother, Ruby Meadows, through her ID. You need to come to San Giovanni Hospital immediately."

The coffee cup slipped from my hand. I didn't hear it hit the floor. I didn't hear Lena’s startled cry as the brown liquid splashed across her white sneakers. All I could hear was the wail of a siren that seemed to be echoing inside my own skull.

"Is she... is she okay?" I managed to choke out.

"The situation is critical, Miss Meadows. There was a male driver in the car as well, he's… "

The room began to spin. The colorful rolls of fabric on the walls turned into blurred streaks of light. The oxygen felt like it had been sucked out of the room, leaving me gasping in a vacuum.

"Ariana? Ariana!" Lena’s voice sounded like she was underwater.

The world began to tilt. The bright lights of the studio became blindingly white. I heard Lena’s voice calling my name, felt her hands on my shoulders, but I couldn't feel my own legs. The last thing I saw was the spilled coffee on the floor, looking like a dark, growing shadow, before the floor rose up to meet me and everything went black.

.

.

The first thing I smelled was bleach.

It was that sharp, suffocating hospital scent that instantly makes your stomach turn. I opened my eyes to a ceiling of white tiles and the steady rhythmic beep of a heart monitor.

"She’s awake," a soft voice said.

I turned my head. Lena was sitting in a plastic chair by the bed, her eyes red and puffy. The memory of the phone call crashed back into my mind. I bolted upright, my head spinning so violently I almost fell back down.

"My mom," I rasped, my throat feeling like it was filled with sand. "I have to go to her."

"Ari, wait, you fainted," Lena said, putting a hand on my shoulder to keep me down. "The doctors said you had a massive drop in blood pressure from the shock."

"I don't care!" I shoved the thin white blanket off my legs, my movements frantic. "She’s here. Lena, I can feel it."

As if the universe was confirming my fear, the heavy door to the room swung open. A nurse walked in with a clipboard, her face set in a professional mask of sympathy.

"Miss Meadows, I'm glad you're awake," she said. "The doctor needs to run a few quick blood tests and an EKG before we can discharge you. It’s standard procedure after a syncopal episode like yours."

"I don't have time for tests!" I shouted, my voice cracking. "My mother was in a crash, Ruby. Her name is Ruby Meadows. Where is she? Which room is she in? Tell me where she is!"

"She is in the ICU on the fourth floor," the nurse said softly. "I promise, as soon as we get these vitals, I will take you there myself. Please, just sign this consent form for the labs so we can get started. It will take ten minutes."

My hands were shaking so hard I could barely grip the pen. I didn't even read the form. I just scribbled my name at the bottom, my mind already three floors up. I didn't care about my blood pressure or my heart rate. I only cared about the woman who had been my only North Star for twenty-two years.

The "ten minutes" felt like ten years. Every time the door opened, I jumped. Lena held my hand, her grip the only thing keeping me from shattering into a million pieces.

Finally, the nurse returned. "The doctor is reviewing the preliminary results, but you can go up now. Follow me."

I didn't wait for her to finish the sentence. I bolted, ignoring the way the room wobbled.

The ICU was a different world. It was quiet, save for the hum of machines that were doing the work of living for people who couldn't. I followed the nurse to a glass-walled room at the end of the hall.

Inside, my mother looked small. She was hooked up to so many wires and tubes that she looked like a broken doll being held together by strings. Her face was pale, and her beautiful hair a mess.

"Mom?" I whispered, stepping into the room.

I sat by her bed for hours. I talked to her about the studio, the silk I was working on, about how I had spilled coffee on Lena’s shoes. I begged her to wake up so we could have that dinner, promising I wouldn't be annoyed if her "mystery man" was someone I didn't like.

Just before dawn, her hand gave a tiny, weak flutter in mine. Her eyes didn't open, but her breathing changed. The monitor began a long, high-pitched scream.

Doctors and nurses rushed in, pushing me back. I watched through the glass, my hands pressed against the cold surface, as they tried to bring her back. But the line on the screen stayed flat.

At 5:12 AM, the doctor came out, looking exhausted. He didn't have to say anything. The silence told me everything. My mother was gone.

The next few hours were a blur of grief and paperwork. I felt like a ghost walking through a nightmare. Luckily, Lena had already taken care of my hospital bill. I knew my mother didn't have great insurance, and the weight of the ICU costs was a primary mountain I knew I’d have to climb, but decided to deal with it later.

I stood at the counter now fully dressed, clutching my purse. "I'm here for the bill of Ruby Meadows," I said, my voice sounding hollow.

The woman at the desk typed into her computer, then paused. She looked up, confused. "The balance for Ruby Meadows, and the other party in the vehicle, has already been settled, Miss Meadows."

I blinked. "Settled? By who? My mother didn't have that kind of money."

"It was paid by a representative of the Everhart Estate," the woman said, looking at her screen. "The funeral arrangements are also being handled through their office. It says here they were... husband and wife?"

The world stopped spinning. It went dead silent.

"Husband?" I whispered.

"Yes," the clerk said, oblivious to the bomb she had just dropped. "Ruby Meadows Everhart and Silas Everhart. Since they both passed in the same accident, the estate is handling all final expenses for both parties I guess."

I stumbled away from the window. My mother was married? To a man named Everhart? The mystery, the glowing phone calls, the "surprise", all along it was a secret marriage. She had finally found her 'One' she’d always dreamed of, only to die shortly after, before she could even tell me his name. If that wasn’t irony biting you in the ass, I didn't know what was.

I felt sick. I needed to get out. I needed air. I turned toward the exit, my vision blurred by fresh tears. I was walking fast, not looking where I was going, my head down as I tried to zip up my jacket.

I rounded the corner of the lobby at full speed and slammed into a wall of solid muscle.

The impact was so hard it knocked the breath out of me. I stumbled back, my heels catching on the linoleum, but two large, powerful hands caught my upper arms, steadying me.

"Watch where you’re going," a voice snapped.

It was a voice I hadn't heard in four months, but I would know it in a thousand lifetimes. It was deep, smooth, and currently vibrating with a cold, sharp edge.

I gasped, my head snapping up.

Standing in front of me, dressed in a black suit that looked like a shadow, was the man from the hotel. The man who had haunted my dreams. The man I had run away from in the middle of the night.

Lucas.

He was staring down at me, his eyes widening in shock as he recognized me. His grip on my arms tightened, his fingers digging into my skin just like they had that night.

"You," he breathed, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low level.

I couldn't speak. I couldn't move. The grief of my mother’s death and the shock of his presence collided in my chest, making it impossible to breathe.