Chapter 005

Sleep didn’t come easy. Not with a question that burned through my chest like wildfire. I was still wandering if the two Vanessas were the same person? I tossed and turned all night. The morning sun brought no comfort, only more confusion. I couldn’t keep pretending, just remaining at the house. I needed answers.

After Elijah left for work, I sat alone at the edge of the bed, clutching the small black folder that held every medical record from my surgery. I had never really looked through them before, never felt the need to. Until now.

Tucked between charts and consent forms was a card with the name of the specialist who had handled my transplant.

Dr. Kilan Hanley. Of course I knew the name. He was my father's doctor.

My fingers trembled as I dialed the number. I didn’t know what I was expecting, reassurance maybe, or a lie I could believe. But I needed to hear the truth from the only person who could give it.

He answered, his voice was calm and professional. I tried to keep my voice steady. “Hi, I’m Nina Grayson. You were my father's doctor. You performed my eye transplant few years ago. I just… I needed to ask something.”

There was a pause, and then a soft hum of recognition. “Yes, Mrs. Grayson. I remember.”

“I was wondering… could you tell me the full name of the donor?” My heart thudded hard in my chest. “The person whose corneas I received.”

“I’m afraid that information is confidential,” he replied gently.

I felt my throat tighten. “Please. I just… I think I might already know. I only want to confirm if her name was Vanessa.”

Another long pause. A breath. Then finally, “Her full name was Vanessa Quinn.”

Oh,...Ok. I ended the call with a quiet thank you, barely able to breathe. The room spun around me. But I still wasn't sure about something, if the two Vanessa was one person.

Vanessa Quinn. The girl who gave me her sight and the other Vanessa from Elijah's phone… wouldn't be a coincidence I think.

But something didn’t sit right. I couldn’t sit with the doubt. I had to see for myself. Grabbing my coat, and quickly find my way outside the penthouse. I told the chauffeur to take me straight to St. Aldric Memorial Hospital.

My stomach churned the entire way and my mind kept circling the same question: Could it be the same Vanessa? The one Leonard visited? The one from the message that night?

Part of me hoped I was wrong, that there had been a mistake, some mix up that would unravel this whole nightmare. But deep down I was scared, I was unsure, very confused.

I stepped into the hospital lobby, my palms sweating. With quiet urgency, I approached the nurse at the front desk. The reception area was quiet.

“Hi, I’m looking for someone... Vanessa Quinn. I’m…I'm a relative,” I lied, forcing a smile. The nurse glanced at her computer screen, barely looked up before gesturing toward the elevator.

“Room 308. End of the hall.” I muttered a thank you and made my way there, every step echoing louder than the last. My legs were heavy. My chest, even heavier.

When I reached the door, I stopped. Room 308. Vanessa Quinn. The name was printed neatly with black letters on a white door label.

I froze in place, my heart began to pound, eyes locked on that door. The girl who gave me her sight… was lying just behind it.

This wasn't a memory. Not a name in a folder. She was real. Alive. I still asked myself again. Was this the same Vanessa? From Elijah's Phone, the girl he had visited the other day? Or was it all just a terrible, impossible coincidence?

I was still standing frozen at the door, my hand hovering just inches from the handle. I hadn’t planned what to say, or if I should go in at all. I hadn’t thought this far ahead. But then… A voice drifted through the door, it was fragile and trembling.

“I’m scared,” it whispered. “Everything’s dark. I feel so alone. I want my eyes back…”

My heart dropped. It was her. Vanessa. Her voice cracked with pain, the kind of pain that settled deep into your bones and stayed there. I pressed my back to the wall, breath shallow, eyes wide.

She was crying. She had no sight. She wanted… her eyes back?

I covered my mouth with my hand, the edges of reality folding in on themselves. My vision... my vision was her loss. The gift I thought I, the gift that let me see see again came from a girl who now lived in endless darkness.

But why? The question still troubles my heart. This same Hospital, this name. Why was Elijah here? Why was he connected to her? Why did he lie to me?

I clutched my chest, the ache unbearable now. I wasn’t just piecing together facts anymore, I was holding back the flood of something much bigger than I’d been ready for.

And as her quiet sobs continued through the door, one question still burned hotter than the rest: Why would Elijah have a connection with my organ donor? I was about to step back when I heard it, another voice inside the room. A man’s voice. The voice was steady. Familiar. It was almost too familiar. It was Elijah's.

“I’ve been with your eyes all these years,” he said calmly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Keeping them safe.”

I pressed a hand over my mouth.

“I married her for that reason,” he continued. “To stay close. No one could steal them. But now… you’re awake. And soon, Vanessa, they’ll be yours again. Just like before. I promised you.”

Everything inside me shattered. He married me not for love. Not for me. But because I had her eyes.

He stayed by my side… all these years… just to protect them.Just to return them.

Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. I turned away from the door, stumbling through the hallway as tears blurred everything. My lungs burned, my legs trembled, but I kept running.

Down the corridor. Down the stairs. Down into the darkness that now felt like it belonged to me.

I didn't use the elevator. I was just going down the stairs . My vision flickered. I couldn't feel myself anymore

"My chest began to hurt. my legs felt very weak now. The stairs blurred in front of me...And then... everything went dark."