004 - Marry Vivienne

DARIUS

My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles went white. Vivienne trembled against my chest in the passenger seat, her bandaged arm cradled carefully between us. Every red light felt like torture, every second stolen from getting her help.

How could Sera do this?

The question burned in my mind as I watched Vivienne's pale face. She was a pianist—her hands were everything. And she was dying. How could my wife be so cruel, so heartless? Just because Vivienne played piano at her birthday party? The jealousy was pathetic!

I thought she was smarter than this!

My jaw clenched as another thought hit me. Sera could go to prison for this. Assault charges. Did she even think about Luna before she lost control? Our four-year-old daughter would grow up with a mother behind bars.

The hospital's emergency room doors slid open with a sharp hiss. I carried Vivienne inside, her blood seeping through the makeshift bandage.

"Help! She's lost a lot of blood!" I called out, my voice desperate.

A nurse rushed over with a wheelchair, and I gently placed Vivienne into it. Her fingers found mine, squeezing weakly.

"Stay with me," she whispered. "Please." She shook, but her soft blue eyes never left mine. I couldn't bring myself to stay away, just like five years ago, I was at the mercy of those eyes. Despite the warning bells in my head, reminding me that I shouldn't get too close, I knew I couldn't leave her, not now.

I followed them into the treatment room, watching as the doctor peeled away the bloody cloth. My stomach dropped.

The wound ran from her wrist almost to her elbow—a vicious, deep gash that made my heart sink even further. Blood welled up and streamed down immediately as the air hit it.

Jesus Christ.

This wasn't some accident from falling into glass. This looked deliberate. Violent. The kind of cut someone makes when they want to cause serious damage.

My hands shook as the full reality hit me. Sera had really tried to hurt her. Badly.

"Miss, you're very lucky," the doctor said, cleaning the wound with gentle precision. "A few millimeters deeper and we'd be looking at tendon damage. Your hand function could have been permanently affected," The doctor explained, his eyes examining every inch of the injury.

Vivienne's face went ashen. "My piano playing—"

"Should be fine with proper healing," the doctor assured her. "But you'll need to be careful for several weeks,"

He looked at me when he said the last sentence, as though he expected it to be my responsibility.

And he was right. This was my fault, for not putting Sera in her place sooner!

I exhaled a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. Thank God. If Sera had destroyed Vivienne's ability to play in her final months...

After the doctor finished stitching and bandaging the wound, I helped Vivienne out of the emergency room. She moved slowly, carefully, like she was afraid of breaking.

"How do you feel? Any dizziness? Nausea?" I asked, searching her face for signs of shock.

She shook her head, but I could see the trauma in her eyes. "I'm okay. Just shaken,” She admits, eyes avoiding mine all of a sudden.

"Vivienne, I'm so sorry this happened. I should have protected you better," I apologized, guilt gnawing at my gut as I regarded her weakened state.

Her smile was sad and tired. "It's not your fault. It's mine, for wanting you despite knowing you belong to another…for thinking I deserve to be loved by you…" Her voice broke, a single tear slid down her cheek as the guilt in her eyes mirrored mine.

I shook my head, taking her uninjured hand in mine, trying not to show how much her words affected me yet, I was just a man who couldn't bear to watch a woman cry.

“Please don't say that.”

Vivienne sighed, the sound deep and exhausted, “Your wife knows it, she doesn't want me in your life and you don't want me either,” More tears fell down her cheek, “Then why am I still here? Why are you?”

“Sera will pay for what she did to you,” My voice came out harsher than I intended, my growing anger dripping off every word before I could control it.

"You're dying, for God's sake. You deserve to spend your remaining time with people who care about you," I held her gently, “And despite everything, I care about you, Viv,” I uttered in a softer voice.

"Then be with me, Darius, love me as you used to…” She pleaded, her voice dangerously close to desperate.

Vivienne was never like this, she was always a proud and confident woman, softer in my arms but never like this.

She seemed so weak now, so uncertain due to her illness and her eyes…

I wished for nothing more than to take the pain out of those eyes.

But.

"I cannot leave my wife and child, Vivienne." The words felt bitter on my tongue. "Sera's jealousy is out of control. And I will make sure she gets punished accordingly," I was unable to keep the irritation out from my words, the thought of my wife made my insides spark as though there were live wires in me.

I'd seen this pattern before. When I had been cold to Sera and she felt threatened, she clung to Luna like a life raft. It was unhealthy—a four-year-old shouldn't be her mother's emotional support system. That's why I'd started having Luna spend more time with me and the nanny. She needed stability, not her mother's anxiety.

Now that Luna was drawn to Vivienne, Sera had completely snapped.

She almost killed a person for fucks sake! Something has to be done!

My phone buzzed. Lucy's name flashed on the screen.

"Mr. Blackwood? Luna insisted on coming to visit Vivienne. We're in the lobby."

I sent her our location, and within minutes, I saw Lucy walking toward us with Luna's small hand in hers.

Luna's face lit up when she spotted us, but her expression fell when she saw Vivienne's bandaged arm.

"Does it hurt really bad?" she asked, standing on her tiptoes to get a better look. "Just a little," Vivienne said softly. "But I might not be able to teach you piano for a while."

Luna's bottom lip jutted out, her little face scrunching with worry. Then I watched her clutch something to her chest—her favorite stuffed rabbit, the one she'd named Sunshine.

She tried to lift it up to show Vivienne, but she was too short to reach properly. I crouched down and scooped Luna into my arms. "What are you trying to do, sweetheart?"

"I want to give Sunshine to Vivienne," Luna said seriously. "She sleeps with me when I have bad dreams. Maybe she can take away Vivienne's hurt."

My chest tightened. This was her most treasured possession—the toy she couldn't sleep without. The fact that she wanted to give it to Vivienne showed how much she'd grown to care for her.

"Are you sure, baby? This is your special rabbit."

Luna nodded firmly and held out the stuffed animal. Vivienne accepted it with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you, little star. I'll take very good care of her." Vivienne smiled, her eyes lighting up for the first time since we came to the hospital.

"Luna, won't your mama be upset that you came to see me?" Vivienne asked gently.

Luna shook her head. "Mama brought me here. She's downstairs."

My heart stuttered. Sera was here? In the hospital?

I found myself scanning the hallway, looking for her familiar figure. Why was I nervous? Maybe because I knew she'd be angry about Luna visiting Vivienne. But that wasn't her decision to make. Luna and I had every right to choose our own friends.

A flash of movement behind one of the support pillars caught my eye, but before I could focus on it, Luna's voice pulled my attention back.

"Daddy?" Her innocent blue eyes looked up at me with complete trust. "When are you going to marry Vivienne?"