CH3

AMELIA 

My father lets go of my arm and opens the door of the ward before pushing me inside. I stumble forward, and the door bangs shut behind me.

The soft beep of monitors drifts around me. Somehow, my legs carry me forward to the bed despite the fear pooling in my stomach. The room is dim, illuminated only by the glow of the machines and the muted afternoon light filtering through half-closed blinds.

“Mom?” I whisper, reaching the bed. Her body looks so fragile in a way that shocks me. Eleanor Bennett has always been sharp-tongued and ruthless, but seeing her like this looking so pale and connected to tubes and wires shows me that she is at her lowest point, and it breaks me.

The green contacts I'm wearing feel like they're burning holes in my eyes, making my vision blur.

Or maybe that's tears. I can't tell anymore.

“Mom?” I whisper again, and this time, her eyelids flutter slowly before they open, revealing eyes the same green shade as Katherine.

"Katherine,” she says in a cracked voice. Her hand shakes as she lifts it from the bed, reaching towards me with trembling fingers. "My Katherine... You finally came back to me...”

The hope in her voice shatters me. The words shouldn't hurt anymore after a year of being treated like the thief who stole my sister's mate, but I'm not numb.

I'm pregnant and terrified and here in a hospital with my mom who thinks I'm Katherine, the daughter she actually loves. The daughter whose absence has been slowly killing her for a year.

“Mom,” I take her hand, feeling how cold her skin is, how fragile the bones feel in my palm. "I'm here.”

"I missed you.” Tears slid down her temples into her hair. "I missed you so much. Please... promise me you won't leave me again."

The guilt crashes over me in waves. This is my fault, not in the way my father thinks, but in a deeper, more complicated way. If I had refused to help Katherine that night, if I had been brave enough to endure her bullying one more time, maybe all this mess would have been prevented.

"I'm sorry," I choke out, because what else can I say? I'm sorry for being born? Sorry for not being the perfect daughter like Katherine? 

"I love you Katherine," she murmurs, and her eyes start to close, “my perfect girl. I love you so-"

“Mum, open your eyes,” Fear hits me as I pat her face gently, trying to keep her awake, but she falls unconscious again, her hand going limp in mine.

I freeze, just standing there and staring at the woman who gave me life but never gave me love. The woman who is dying believing I'm someone else. 

The machine monitors cut me off by suddenly beeping loudly and faster. The ward alarm starts wailing.

“What did you do?!” My father roars and bumps the door open. Before I can blink, he pushes me aside with a force that has me stumbling into a chair that catches me just in time to stop me from hitting my belly on the wall.

Logan brushes past me too, not even sparing me a glance.

Just then, Dr. Morris rushes in, swiftly looking at my stomach and I see a look of relief on her face momentarily before she switches back to panic mode. She shouts orders to nurses who also storm into the room after her and towards the bed.

"Save my wife!" my father yells over the chaos of medical personnel surrounding my mother's bed. His murderous eyes flash in my direction and he storms towards me. He grabs my arm and forces me out of the ward.

Outside, he lets me go and slams his fist into the wall rather than in my face.

“This is your fault!” Spittle flies from his lips and he grips my chin painfully. “You've enjoyed playing Luna, haven't you? You've enjoyed stealing everything from Katherine. And now, you don't even want your mother to die in peace. You had to—”

“Enough Ronan. You'll draw attention if you keep this up.” Logan's voice cuts in from the doorway. 

“This slut,” My father's eyes blaze with hatred so pure it takes my breath away. "She's wicked and I'm done being polite. She drove Katherine away. And now Eleanor is dying because of her evil actions!”

“Calm down Ronan,” Logan says.

“Fuck,” my father curses and storms back into the ward. Logan follows, and I enter inside too, perching on the wall and watching the medical personnel working frantically to save my mother's life. 

Time becomes meaningless, passing in a blur of machines and medical jargon and my father's muttered prayers to the Moon Goddess. Logan is there beside him, and all I can do is stare at my mate, my husband, and the father of my unborn child. He's so close, but the distance between us is like a thousand miles away, separating us with lies, hatred, resentment, and a sister whose ghost stands between us like an impenetrable wall.

I hate that I need Logan. I hate that even now, even when I know that he clearly resents every breath I take, my traitorous heart still beats faster when he's close.

“Alpha Logan, Warrior Ronan, I'm sorry,” Dr. Morris says after an eternity of working on stabilizing my mother. 

“What do you mean you're sorry?” My father asks breathlessly.

Dr. Morris steps back from the bed. Her face tells me everything before she speaks.

“We did everything we could, but her heart... it was just too weak,” she says softly. “I'm sorry, but she's gone.”

The words don't make any sense at first.

Gone? As in… dead?

A loud cry I've never heard before from my father fills the air and worsens the situation. Still wailing, he stumbles towards the bed and gathers my mother's lifeless body into his arms, rocking her like a child as he sobs loudly.

My mother is gone. And me? No tears came. I can't even cry.

I should go to my father. I should comfort him and grieve together with him because that's what family is supposed to do.

But my legs give out instead. And I feel my body falling to the floor.

“Katherine!” Logan screams, and it's funny that even in my current state, he still calls me Katherine to keep up with the lies. He catches me just in time, lowering me to the ground with hands that are finally, finally gentle.

However, it's too late for gentleness. It's too late for so many things. My mother is dead now, I know what comes next.

Katherine will be coming back home to mourn her, and Logan won't spare the opportunity to have her reclaim the position I've been keeping warm. 

If she returns, what happens to me and my baby growing inside me? What happens to my marriage with Logan and everything I have suffered and endured?

As I slip into unconsciousness, I say a prayer I have no right to speak:

Please, Moon Goddess. Please don't let Katherine come back. Please let me keep this one thing even if I don't deserve it.

Please.