Lahat ng Kabanata ng GIVING HIM A SECOND CHANCE : Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

The sterile scent of the hospital room assaulted my senses. It was sharp, clinical, and unfamiliar. It cut through the fog of disbelief clouding my mind. The pale walls seemed to close into me, it looked too bright, too clean, offering me no comfort. I lay back against the stiff, white sheets, my hands trembling as I gripped the blanket, clinging onto it so hard that it felt like the only thing that kept me rooted in reality.I had tried so desperately to be able to protect the life growing with me, every careful step I took, every precaution, every quiet moment of care had been for that fragile pulse I had carried within me. And yet, it was gone. Snatched by something I couldn’t fight, something I was told was well beyond my control.The nurse’s soft voice drifted around me, but every of her words felt like noise to my ears. I couldn’t keep my focus on her, I couldn’t focus on anything. The sound of my own heartbeat was deafening enough, it kept echoing through the hollow space insid

At first I didn’t hear any word that was uttered. The only thing I could hear was the soft ticking of the clock. It sounded soft and accusing. It felt like there was a count down before she explodes or I do.Ella stands at the far end of the room, her arms folded so tightly that her knuckles are white. I don’t know if I should feel relived or terrified that she’s refusing to cry.“Ella… I wasn’t aware, I swear it. If you had informed me earlier_”Her eyes flare. “Informed you?”I shut my mouth. Not fast enough.She steps closer, each movement precise, like she’s holding herself together by sheer force. “Cole, I called you,” she says. “I called you several times. I texted you. I believed that you would feel my turmoil through the bond. After all of that, all I got from you was silence. And you stand here to tell me I should’ve informed you?”For just a brief moment it felt like the floor was about to tilt underneath me. It felt like I couldn’t breathe.“I was busy, I missed all the si

ELLA POVI never meant to start a war. At least not the kind of war that’s currently going on between myself and cole, not the kind that’s fought in silence rather than shouting or with fists. But I’ve come to realize that grief has its own gravity, it’s heavy and unforgiving. And every time Cole tries to come close, that gravity pulls me backward, it pulls me away from him, it feels like I’m orbiting a memory I can’t escape from.It’s been eight days since the confrontation.Eight days since I demanded for him to give me space.Eight days since I’ve fully looked him in the eyes.Im tired, tired of pretending to sleep, tired of forcing myself not to cry and wail, tired of everything but nothing I did could make me forget the pain of losing my child.I tried convincing myself that bring back home would help me but it didn’t, instead it seems to have worsen everything.Every corner of this house holds a ghost, every room had something that I wished to forget, the kitchen reminds me of

Cole POVI can’t say for certain how many bottles I’ve gone through.I’ve taken whiskey, vodka just whatever is closest to me. The apartment is dim, the lamps feels too bright for the fog I’m drowning in. My throat burns not from yelling at anyone but from the drink I’ve drank. Every room I walk into only reminds me of what we’ve lost and how I’ve failed her.Ella is refusing to talk to me, she won’t even look at me, it’s like I don’t exist for more than a few seconds even when I’m in the same room with her, every time she walks away it feels like another piece of me is being ripped straight out.But tonight everything inside of me is boiling. It could be because of the alcohol or maybe it the grief, it could even be the sheer terror that she’ll never forgive me.I think it all of it.Now I’m leaning against the wall, my breath uneven, I could feel my anger spike, it felt sharp, wild and uncontrollable. I stagger down the doorway to her closed bedroom door. It’s no longer ours, it’s n

Cole POVAfter she left the room, I have no idea how long I’ve stayed on the floor.Minutes. Hours. Time no longer make any sense when you can feel your chest being ripped apart with a hot blade. All that left of the space where our bond use to sit, which use to feel warm, pulsing, alive is now a time, bleeding void. Every breath feels wrong and every heartbeat sounds empty.I force myself to stand, gripping the wall so hard my knuckles go white.I refuse to let her walk away, I can’t let her leave, I can’t lose her. Not after everything we’ve been through, not after the loss of our baby. I refuse to let her leave. Not ever.My legs feel like they’re trying to fold underneath me, but i manage to push myself forward. I stumbled down to the hallway towards the living room to the couch where she sat, she just stared at the walls blankly. When I enter, she doesn’t bother to look up at me.“Ella.” My voice is cracked, barely a whisper. “Please.”All I got was silence and nothing else, the